Corporate job at freelancing, kaya bang pagsabayin?

Is it possible to enjoy a thriving career in your chosen profession while doing a side hustle in the online world? For Joy Gonzales, the answer is a resounding YES!

In 2013, shortly after earning her license, Joy worked as a staff nurse in order to gain clinical experience for a few years. In 2016 she went to Saudi Arabia where some of her relatives were also working. She continued working there as a nurse and then returned to Manila in 2017. When her savings started dwindling, she tried looking for other sources of income. She tried ESL Tutorial but failed.

She found a job as an Occupational Health Nurse in a BPO company but a family crisis opened her eyes and gave her the desire to be financially free. One day, while listening to Bo Sanchez, she discovered that it was possible to earn money while working from home.

She did some research which led to the VA Bootcamp. She got hired in April 2019 and it will be her 6th month as an Upwork freelancer this October! How did she do it? What challenges is she dealing with as a part-time VA with a full-time work? What tips can she share with those who want to pursue online freelancing but can't leave their current jobs yet?

Watch her Joy's interview here.

Notable Quotes: 

• Nag enroll ako sa Truly Rich Club yung kay brother Bo (Bo Sanchez), sabi ko sige magpapamember ako tapos doon ko nalaman yung freelancing yung sa Virtual Assistant. Meron siyang ininterview doon na nagshe-share din ng success story kaya naintriga ako. "Work from home? Pwede pala yun?" Kasi matagal din siya sa corporate niya tapos nagtransition siya sa freelancing which is nakakasama niya na yung family niya while working. So ayun nagsearch ako sa Google tapos bigla na lang akong may nakita na pang Virtual Assistant na course.
• Nanood ako ng mga JAS Success  nun. Halos inisa-isa ko din kung paano rin sila nag succeed. Kasi sobrang effective din talaga, tsaka yung mga nagshe-share ng success story nila sa group. Sabi ko "Sila kaya nila, so siguro kaya ko din na makakuha ng client.” Kaya kahit wala akong knowledge, ang pinanghahawakan ko na lang is yung inaral ko sa course tsaka yung isa sa flinush din sa course na yung  clients hindi naman tinitignan talaga yung skills, kundi yung attitude. Kasi yung skills naman, is natuturo.
• Noong nagkaroon na ko ng motivation din talaga mag apply, naging sunud-sunod na, binalikan ko muna ulit yung mga turo ni sir Jason yung sa VA Bootcamp, yung sa paggawa ng cover letters, tapos sa interview. Inaral ko ulit, binalikan ko ng mabilis bago ulit ako mag apply, tapos pinersonalize ko rin yung mga cover letters, tapos thankfully nakakuha agad ako ng isang client.  
• Nagtry ulit ako mag apply,  try lang tapos yun nung una kinakabahan pa ko pag mga VA jobs pero nung nakita ko yung post, as in parang minutes ago pa lang yung pagkakapost ng client, sabi ko sige gawa na ako ng cover letter. Tapos yun, ako agad ang unang nireplayan niya tapos ininterview agad, sabi ko “hindi pa ako pwede kasi duty pa ako”, hinintay ako ng client pagka uwi ko.
• Nabigla ako kasi within one week nakakuha agad ako ng three clients tapos nag sunod-sunod na din hanggang sa noong April narecognized ako ni Upwork na Rising Talent.
• Nakakareceive na ko ng mga invites, so yung dalawang fixed project ko natapos na rin siya tapos ang ganda rin ng feedback nila sakin kaya siguro yun nga na Rising Talent , which is I'm thankful din sa kanila dahil nakakakuha na ko ng invites, namimili na lang ako kung ano yung kaya kong gawin, kung ano yung kaya sa shedule ko, kasi nga rin full time (corporate job).
• Nagtuloy-tuloy lang na kaya kong pagsabayin, after work gagawin ko yung sa client, kasi flexible din yung schedule ko, yung project saka yung time din, di naman ako sobrang minamanage din ng clients ko sa VA. Nakakatuwa kasi napagsasabay ko. 
• Noong 5th month ko na, trinay ko na ayun nga kasi na Top-Rated na din ako noon sabi ko mag try ako magtaas ng rate, so ayun akala ko wala na akong marereceive na job invite. Tapos yun may nakuha pa rin akong job invite. 
• Minsan pag wala yung sipag ko, hindi okay yung time management ko. So parang everyday sa process pa rin for me is a time management talaga. So ayun pag may kailangan talagang tapusin, tinatanggal ko muna yung distraction para matapos ko talaga yung task na kailangan ko. So naglalaan ako ng oras. Minsan effective din sa akin yung pomodoro technique.
• Sa local job ko ngayon (corporate), medyo di nga siya ganoon ka challenging pero  meron naman akong nagagawa out of that, yun nga may nag bunga “yung sa freelancing”, actually hindi ko alam na mapapasok ko rin tong mundong to pero siguro may plano din talaga si Lord.
• Sinasabi ng iba freelancing is not for everyone. Kaya yun muna FLIP course muna, aral muna pero sana ma dive-in din nila kasi ang ganda rin ng benefits. Ako for the future din pwedeng pwede ko rin talaga din itong ma full time, someday. 
• Naging parang turning point din na yung pag sobrang emergency case, kailangan nandiyan ka diba para sa family mo pero pag tied ka sa employer mo ang hirap. Lalo na pag malayo ka, gusto mo umuwi agad pero di ka makauwi. Ang hirap nun, so ako nag hustle din ako para makapag invest or save para hopefully get here na, para hindi ako habang buhay employee so yun din ang mindset ko. 
• Maraming pagdadaanang challenges, usually kalaban mo talaga yung sarili mo kung itutuloy mo yung course. Tapos yung family mo use them as your inspiration, yung mga struggles mo never stop learning sabi nga. Never give up on your dreams din, kasi ginagawa naman natin ito sa family din natin saka sa future, diba? So kayang-kaya ninyo rin na matapos yung course, tapos makakakuha ka rin ng clients and then makukuha nyo rin yung the one ninyo na clients. Go lang,  wish lang, have faith ganun . Hindi nyo man ito plinano na nandito kayo pero talagang si God din yung mag li-lead sayo kung saan ka talaga magsha-shine din. Mas makakabless pa ng ibang tao. 

Nathaleen Joy’s Journey to Freelancing:

• "Work from home? Is that even possible?" These were Joy's first questions to herself before she decided to enter the world of freelancing.
• At first, Joy had no intention of becoming a freelancer or Virtual Assistant since she grew up in a family that includes nurses, her Mama and sister, she also became a registered nurse.
• In 2013, Joy began as a volunteer nurse. She also had three months of unpaid volunteer work, but she learned a lot from it. And because she had no wages yet, she was still asking for her parent's allowance.
• After three months, Joy was promoted and became a nurse trainee who handles patients. Then her volunteer salary was increased as well somehow. But it was still not enough for her and she had to nurse more than 7 patients per duty. Usually she was experiencing overtime with no pay too which she was calling OT-TY. (Overtime thank you).
• When she was finally able to manage the daily routine and was able to build up her confidence in handling patients, she applied for nurse and got the job in the nursery hospital which was also the school where she graduated.
• She worked there for more than two years. She learned so much from that experience, which has had been very helpful in her nursing career like time management, prioritization, especially when she was on solo duty. Then she could handle the entire ward, which made her move 350 degrees. Sometimes she forgets not to eat, and sometimes she could not manage to go to the CR and could no longer be able to sit. 
• She recalled once, when she was coming home late for a ride, she suddenly burst into tears and said to her Dad “Papa toxic sa duty”. It was tiring, but because she also liked what she was doing, she was able to do and enjoyed the job.
• In 2016, she went to Saudi Arabia where some of her relatives were also working. She continued working there as a nurse and then returned to Manila in 2017.
• When her savings started dwindling, she tried looking for other sources of income. She tried ESL Tutorial but failed.
• She found a job as an Occupational Health Nurse in a BPO company but a family crisis opened her eyes and gave her the desire to be financially free.
• In 2017, Joy heard about Brother Bo's Truly Rich Club. And because she had a close friend there, she finally decided to be part of it as well. There she learned about the stock market. She also listened to webinars and learned about freelancing Virtual Assistants. Joy was intrigued as she listened to Brother Bo's interview with a successful freelancer. 
• She had browsed the internet and had found a course about Virtual Assistants. At first, she was still skeptical about whether she would be able to combine nursing and freelancing because that was two different jobs. So she first tried to subscribe to two courses she had researched to get an idea about freelancing. And because she received an email from Sir Jason saying that she had a discount, she decided to enroll in his course, which is the VA Bootcamp.
• She got hired in April 2019, and it will be her 6th month as an Upwork freelancer this October. After having three clients in one week, she was recognized by Upwork as Rising Talent, and currently, she is a Top-rated freelancer working as part-time with two clients while working as a full-time corporate.

Q&A Highlights:

How do you compare yung studies mo sa VA Bootcamp? How do you rate it? When it comes to difficulty, diba nag aral ka as nursing and so mahirap talaga ang nursing, how do you compare yung pag aaral mo naman sa VA Bootcamp?

Out of ten, yung ten ang pinaka mahirap mga nasa seven din po. Mahirap din kasi yung iba hindi ko alam eh. Hindi ko alam yung iba sa mga social media tapos yung sa e-commerce parang di ko parin talaga ganun naaaral. Tapos katulad ng pag aaral sa nursing talagang mahilig akong mag notes, bale noong nag-aaral din ako sa mga courses kay sir Jayson nag nonotes din talaga ako, pinopost ko tapos sinusulat ko sa notebook.

So ilang oras ang tulog mo sa isang araw?

Minsan nakaka 6 hours naman, pag weekend bumabawi.

Do you have like a routine in a day na parang from 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock work ko yan and then 4 o'clock to 6 o'clock sa freelancing yan. Do you have something like that? 

Opo, yung ngayon po ang ginagawa ko 4 am gumigising tapos papasok sa work 6 am to 3 pm yung work ko tapos babyahe pauwi. Tapos nagrerelax muna ako, bonding sa family tapos video call kay mama at kay ate kasi nasa ibang bansa po sila. Tapos medyo titingin ng mga updates sa social media. Tapos ayun after ng dinner, doon ko na ginagawa yung tasks ko sa kwarto, minsan pag kailangan ko ng calls (freelancing) naglalagay ako ng post sa wall sa door na “do not disturb”.

So meron ka pa bang night life? May gimmick ka pa ba with friends?

Opo pag Friday saka weekend. Opo nakakatravel pa rin po ako. Nagpapaalam po ako sa client ko.

Papaano nag kick-in sayo ang pag mamanage ng time mo? Natural ba yan na basta instinctive na lang ba na dumating sayo na, "Ay dapat ang freelancing 2 hours a day lang ang gawain ko dyan". Ganoon ka ba? or may point in time ba na dumating sayo na kailangang i-manage ko ang time ko so how do I formulate this? Ganon ba ang nangyari sayo?

Opo, ako po minsan pag wala yung sipag ko hindi okay yung time management ko. So parang everyday sa process pa rin for me is a time management talaga. So ayun pag may kailangan talagang tapusin, tinatanggal ko muna yung distraction para matapos ko talaga yung task na kailangan ko. So naglalaan ako ng oras. Minsan effective din sa akin yung pomodoro technique.

Anong reaksyon ng pamilya mo Joy sa pag frifreelancing mo? Initially, when they discovered that you are entering freelancing, anong reaksyon nila?

Noong una nagtataka sila , may kita ba diyan? Parang sa computer ka lang, parang ganun,questionable pero yun noong sinabi ko ok naman six months naman na ako dito, support naman na sila.

Are there any reasons, any people out there na nagbigay ng  doubt sayo sa pagpasok sa freelancing, like maybe your friend, your co-workers?

Wala, wala naman po. Parang naintriga din sila, anong ginagawa mo? Ganun. Pero hindi naman po yung talagang, "May pera ba diyan?" So siguro mas naging open na rin sila sa freelancing ngayon compare before.

How do you compare your life now to your nursing life here in the Philippines and your nursing life abroad?

Yun po, nursing sa abroad doon talaga independent ako, doon ako yung gumagawa lahat ng chores, malaking kita pero ikaw din talaga gagalaw lahat, maglalaba , magluluto and all. Less yung support system, kasi nga malayo. Homesick din, pero ok naman sa trabaho, nakaka adjust din, ok yung mga katrabaho, naka survive naman. Tapos yung dito, yung sa local sa job ko ngayon medyo di nga siya ganoon ka challenging pero  meron naman akong nagagawa out of that, yun nga may nagbunga yung sa freelancing, actually hindi ko alam na mapapasok ko rin tong mundong to pero siguro may plano din talaga si Lord.

Do you strongly recommend freelancing part-time sa mga kasama mo? Sa mga workmates mo? To everybody, yung mga nurses for example?

Opo kasi hindi naman talaga sapat din yung kinikita ng nursing. Kung kaya na pwedeng isingit mo part-time job  why not, 'di ba?

What made you decide to enroll to VA Bootcamp?

Noong nakinig po ako noon sa success story (kay brother Bo). Naantig ako doon sa story nung nagkukwento.

Anong masasabi mo or tips para sa mga newbies?

Maraming pagdadaanang challenges. Usually kalaban mo talaga yung sarili mo kung itutuloy mo yung course. Tapos yung family mo use them as your inspiration, yung mga struggles mo never stop learning sabi nga. Never give up on your dreams din, kasi ginagawa naman natin ito sa family din natin saka sa future, diba?  So kayang-kaya nyo rin na matapos yung course tapos makakakuha ka rin ng clients and then makukuha nyo rin yung the one ninyo na clients, go lang, wish lang, have faith ganun. Hindi nyo man ito plinano na nandito kayo pero talagang si God din yung mag li-lead sayo kung saan ka talaga magsha-shine din. Mas makakabless pa ng ibang tao.