“It feels great to have a job that you love, pays well, and have your weekends off”

This is what our JasSuccess guest loves about freelancing.

Which is far from what she’s doing before.

Meet Aurea.

She worked as a part-time bookkeeper, admin assistant, and customer service rep.

But her passion to turn her skills and abilities into profitable stuff led her to freelance.

Which hasn’t been easy.

She made a lot of adjustments.

But fast forward to today.

“Freelancing is fun, flexible, and full of opportunities to develop your skills.”

Not only that.

She’s now earning beyond what a managerial employee is getting.

Whoah!

Let’s meet her on this replay.

How an overwork and underpaid freelancer finds her breakthrough.

Meet Mrs. Samonte and find out how an overwork and underpaid freelancer finds her breakthrough.

Notable Quotes:

• After ko po ng VA bootcamp, dumeretso na po ako sa internship. Sa mga Internship na kasama po sa Accelerated Package ni VA bootcamp. So sabi ko, ano ba talaga dapat ginagawa ko kay client. Ano yung mga services na dapat ibigay ko sa kanya. Paano ko sya mag a-apply sa actual. Which is, yun yung sinagot ni internship.

• Lahat ng actual na learnings na binigay sa amin ni internship walang hindi nasayang, walang naitapon  don sa mga natutunan namin. Kaya worth it po.

• After po nung nag decide ako,naka one year din ako kay first clients but then I decided na bibitawan ko na sya. Because I learned po don kay VA Bootcamp Hindi lang 1.5$ per hour yung worth mo. General VA man yan or SMM man yan. So I learned that there. And nag pray po ako kay lord sabi ko lord, Gusto ko po ung client na tama na po ang rate. So nag decide ako na bibitawan ko na si client nag paalam nako sakanya nang maayos. Sabi ko Lord sana po before matapos contract ko dito kay firts client, Makahanap ako ng bagong client. True enough a month before may nag respond po don proposal ko sa upwork with the rate na preferred ko po o binigay ko.

• Prayers, prayer talaga ang aking sandata that time and as always sa lahat po ng ginagawa ko. Prayer is not a last resort. Prayer should be the first solution sa lahat ng gagawin natin.

• Surround yourself with like-minded people.

• Lahat ng trabaho may hardship, lahat ng trabaho mahirap sa umpisa, just wait continue learning, continue to upscale. Dahil sa pag-aantay mo, darating yung time na hindi kana mag sa-sanaol.

• Yung rejection lagi po syang nariyan pero do not let those rejections bring you down. Pag nareject move on lang, thank you next agad.

• Kapag nagsisimula palang aim for the learning and not the earnings.

Miss Samonte’s Journey to Freelancing:

• A two-year course graduate
• She Worked in Western Union as a Customer Service Representative.
• Part-Time Bookkeeper in a Water Station
• Administrative staff in a private lending company.

• She also tried to start her own skincare company. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. So she started working in a large skincare company. The problem is it’s two hours away from her home. So she has to wake up early and travel two hours every night and day.
• By that time she started doubting her work if it’s worth it. 
• She started searching for online opportunities. 
• October 2019, She got her first client. Through her church mate.
  • She grabbed the contract even though she doesn’t have an idea of a virtual assistant rate. 
  • She worked 8 hours a day. Overworked with 1.5$ per hour.
• She decided to enroll in VA Bootcamp and started learning about freelancing while working 8 hours a day.
• With patience and discipline, she finished the course and started applying for internships.
• After being underpaid for a year, she finally enjoys her work at her preferred rate. 

Q&A Highlights:

Let's talk about your story Miss Aurea. What is your story?

Good Evening po, I'm Aurea Samonte from Cavite. So first of all po. Gusto ko po kayong batiin ng magandang gabi po and salamat po sa lahat ng sumama satin tonight. So yun po actually mahaba po yung story ko. Kaya po nag lead ako dito sa freelancing. So nag start po talaga ako sa corporate job. Actually after ko pong mag graduate ng college. Two years course po ako associate degree di po sya master so dahil po don medyo nag kakaroon ako nang struggle sa pag a-apply ng mga trabaho dito sa Pilipinas kasi po mostly kapag mga offices ang ina-accept nila is 4 years course. Ganyan, so more on customer services po ang napapasukan ko na work. So after graduation po na-try ko po na maging part time book keeper sa isang water station. So after po non may nag bigay po sakin ng chance na makapasok po sa corporate sa Western Union as a customer service representative. Yun po first ever Corporate Job ko and then naging administrative staff din po ako sa isang private lending company. So, same parin corporate parin and then after ko po don nag try naman ako mag tayo ng skin care clinic na own business  kaso unfortunately hindi po nag work sakin yung business din and then nung di po sya nag-work sabi ko try ko muna mag work sa isang skin care clinic na sikat na para doon ma-traning ako and then eventually pag marunong nako pwede nako mag tayo ulit.

Nakapasok ako sa isang skin care company. Yun lang po malayo. Malayo sa bahay namin . So everyday ang stuggle ko is gigising ako ng maaga. Babyahe ako ng two hours papunta. Babyahe ako ng two hours pauwi. 

Then dahil po nasa mall sya 9:00 pm ang schedule ko. So, dahil malayo minsan pag sakay ko ng jeep in between nung pinagtatrabahuhan ko at nung bahay ko ibaba ako sa high way, dahil dalwa nalang kaming sakay nya.

So doon napaisip ako,worth it ba to? Worth it batong aking pag byahe? Worth it batong pag risk ko ng paguwi ko ng gabi? Worth it batong pag suong ko sa traffic? Pag pasok ko ng sobrang aga. Pag uwi ko ng sobrang late. Tapos for what? Salary ko non is for regular employee. So minsan sapat lang talaga sya. Sapat sa everyday na budget ko. Pero Kunwari magkakasakit ka. Dahil na stress ka dahil napagod ka. Yun kulang pa yung monthly salary pag nagpa check up ka. So nag pray talaga ako non. Sabi ko na lord worth it po ba to? Dahil di ko po kaya na laging ganito. 

Ano pong tools ang una mong ginamit and ginagamit nyo parin until now?

: Actually po Trello, yun po yung isa sa pinaka useful na ginagamit ko for project management and especialy po sa timing naman sa timer kase po hindi tayo laging nababantayan ni client. So, ako po kahit hindi ako ni re-required ni client na mag timer.Nag timer po ako para po-proteksyon both side. Proteksyon for me kapag naghanap sya ng result or kung ano yung nagawa mo within the day or the week. I have proof po ung mga screen shot may time mga ginawa ko sa time nato. So, yun po ung nagugustuhan nila. The Honesty daw po nating mga Pilipino and the quality nung result na binibigay natin. 

Would you think kapag nag youtube ka, nag google ka, naging madali kaya ang buhay mo starting as a freelancer?

: Honestly po, hindi po talaga, I can say na hindi po talaga. Ang pinaka importate po base on my experience is. Nakapasok ako sa course na may sistema po. So, Meron sequence kung ano muna yung dapat kong matutunan basic, mid and then hard. So step by step training yung binigay sakin ng VA Bootcamp. Ako po lagi ko pong binabanggit si VA Bootcamp dahil eto yung course na kinuha ko pero, siguro meron din mga courses na ganon din yung binibigay. Hindi ko lang po alam kung ano. So base on my expierience is VA Bootcamp po yung nag bigay sakin non. From basic knowledge na kailangan kong matutunan hanggang sa pinaka complex na mga task, tinuruan kami kung paano po. Nandon sa course, nandon sa internship at nasa activities ng VA Bootcamp. And kasi po sinasabi natin na pwede nating matutunan ang engagement. Paano magkaroon ng engagement sa facebook ng client mo. Pwede mo syang matutunan pero maraming strategies na ibibigay sayo si youtube, maraming strategies na ibibigay sayo si google. Ano don yung fit sayo. Kung meron kang isang susundan na trainning you can easily apply it. 

Hindi ka ba humantong sa part na ayaw mo na?

:  Actually meron po talaga. Darating po talaga sa time na ganon. Feeling mo andaming kailangan matutunan. Feeling mo andami mo dapat gawin. Tapos hindi ka nakaka breakthrough. Buti nalang yung lagi nilang sinasabi na surround yourself with light-minded people. Kase I surrounded my self with classmate ko sa VA Bootcamp. Sa mga coaches, mga mentors.

Ano ba ang mga Habits na kailangan mong bitawan nung mga habits mo nung corporate?

: First, yung paghihintay po ng task na gagawin tsaka po mababali po talaga yung daily routine. Cause sa corporate pagpasok mo, baba mo lang yung bag mo alam mo na yung gagawin mo sa maghapon, most of the time everyday yun lang po yung ginagawa mo, minsan naiiba pero most of the time diba po? Ready na yung mind mo ito yung task ito yung dapat kong ma-accomplish pag dating ng 5:00pm uwi nako. Sa freelancing yun dun po ako medyo nag adjust. Pag gising mo palang gagana isip mo kung paano ka magiging creative paano ka mag ka-karoon ng bago and hindi everyday yung ginagawa mo. Kunwari po sa SSM pwedeng mag engage ka today pwede kang nag e-email bukas. Nadoon yung complexity ng work and yung grow ay ganon din. Lagi ko pong sinasabi na ang breakthrough is a series of your everyday event na na-overcome mo that’s your breakthrough. When you look back, ay ganon pala ako dati, ang dami ko na palang na overcome. So consistency, mahirap man pero naitatawid mo sya araw-araw. Creativity,consistensy and passion. Yung passion sa pag dedicate mo ng time and pag gawa mo ng work. Yun yung isa sa natutunan ko sa freelancing.

What is a bit of very good advice that you can give to our audience?

: Kapag nagsisimula palang aim for the learning and not the earnings.

 Enjoy lang natin yung process and always appreciate your own view. Wag natin i compare Kase ma pre-pressure lang tayo enjoy your own view. Sabi nga po may nababasa ako na roomie quote sabi po don, Don’t be satisfied with stories of how things have gone to others unfold your own myth.