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How This Preggy Mom (with 2 toddlers!) Found 3 Clients In Less Than A Month - Interview with Mary Jane Samantila

July 3, 2019
by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.
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When you're working a 9-5 job and you're pregnant plus 2 toddlers, things can get a little overwhelming.

But when you're a super mom like Mary Jane, you'd want to do everything for your family. You would have to be brave to conquer all the struggles you have to go through to take care of and provide for them.

Thanks to her bravery and focused goals for her family, Mary Jane gave up her stable corporate job and opted to find a work from home job.

Discover Mary Jane's super mom story as Holly interviews her for another awe-inspiring #JasSuccess episode. Learn how she's now happily serving several clients plus the true bosses in her life: her kids and family.

Plus you'll learn the following:

✅How She Transitioned from the Corporate World to Freelancing

✅How She Managed Her Time As A Mom with 3 Kids and 90 Hours Client Work Per Week

✅How She Handles Her Daily Routine

And a whole lot more…

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FreeLancing In the Philippines (FLIP) FB Page
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A mother who have struggles working because of her children. She is now earning 6 digits a month as a Shopify Virtual Assistant without having to leave her kids.

Notable Quotes

  • Ang dami kong struggles, sa isip ko ang dami kong mga problema. Alam mo yun…pero kelangan maging strong e para sa kanila.
  • Nagbobrowse sa Facebook hanggang sa nakita ko yung VA Bootcamp na ads. Nakita ko yung ano kasi buntis ako diba. Nakita ko yung mommy tapos may hawak syang baby and then laptop. And then nakita ko na, pwede pala yun. I mean wala. No idea ako sa freelancing, I don't have any friend na nagfrefreelancing. So nagresearch ako about it, nagpamember ako sa FLIP ata yon. And then yung page binabalikan ko sya lahat ng interviews. Lahat pinanood ko before ako magjoin. After a while, siguro mga 1 week lang nag-enroll agad ako.
  • I can be like them. Yung mga pinapanood ko na mga success stories sa Jas Success like this. Yun yung nagmotivate sakin.
  • So while learning sa mga lessons habang nagwowork ako, nakikinig ako, nakaheadset ako. Tapos pag lunch break nag-aaral din ako. Tapos habang nasa byahe papasok pauwi, to think 7 months yung tiyan ko nun.
  • Yun pala yung nagpush sa akin din bukod sa alam kong kaya ko kaya lang di ako naapprove sa Upwork. Once, na declined sya. Second, nadecline ulit. Tapos after kong mapanood yung mga videos, after kong matapos yung VA Bootcamp. Naapproved yung profile ko.
  • Sabi ko ang galing pala. So nalaman ko yung mga kelangan gawin, ilagay sa profile para maapprove sya ganyan. To think basic lang yung nilagay ko skills, actually customer service nga lang. Kasi yun lang ang alam kong io-offer na skills sa client.
  • Oo dapat maingay sa student group.
  • Kasi ang sarap sa feeling nang you're working nasa bahay ka lang tapos makikita mo yung mga anak mo.
  • Yung kinikita ko mas malaki pa sa kinikita ng asawa ko, but di naman ako sa nagyayabang pero freelancing is something na pinagpray ko talaga. And then in God's perfect timing.
  • Alam mo yung di ako masyadong nahirapan sa pagpasok although nagkaron ng client na hindi masyado maganda. Pero uhm I'll take that client as blessing kasi kung diba pag nagkaroon ka na ng contract mas maviview ka na ng ibang client. Ganun kasi yun e. Nagkaron kami ng contract kaya na view ako ng iba at ininvite nila ko for interview and nahire ako. Yes everthing happens for a reason siguro kaya nangyari yun kasi para mahire din ako ng mas ok na clients.
  • Sobrang saya na everyday nahahatid ko sa school mga anak ko kasi may pasok na sila e. Yung 4 and 3 ko nagsschool na sila. So 8-10. So andun ako sa school nila from 8 to 10. Alam mo yun, kung ako nasa work hindi ko yun magagawa, tapos makakapagwork ka pag uwi mo.
  • Pwede akong magdala ng computer at mag work sa labas. That's possible. Yun ang kagandahan dito sa work from home or freelancing. Pwede ka magwork kahit nasan.
  • May personal assistant ako na pumupunta sa bahay. 'Cause we have a 90 hours per week client. Nag iisa lang. Sobrang patayan pero yun nga, naghire ako ng assistant para nag wowork sya ng 8 am to 4 pm that's 8 hours then after nya, ako naman.
  • If you're praying for something and then may mga dumating tapos inignore natin. Baka yun na yung mga answer dun sa prayers mo, hindi natin alam. Kasi ako nagpray ako. Sabi ko, "Lord, ayoko na magwork". Sabi ko, "Gusto ko na mag alaga ng mga anak ko. Gusto ko silang subaybayan because hindi lang sila bata forever". Ayoko naman na hindi sila man lang masubaybayan diba. Pero ngayon na buti nalang nung kumatok yung VA Bootcamp sa Facebook ko. Thankful ako na in-open ko sya.
  • Hindi sya bababa si Lord sa harapan mo and then says, "Eto na anak." Diba hindi naman sya ganun. So gagamit sya ng mga tao na mga group of people na para na yung prayer mo mag grant diba. Syempre patience, and of course you have to trust din the other people to help you.

Mary Jane’s Journey to Freelancing:

  • She was a bank teller for 7 years.
  • She got married in 2011 after a year of being hired in a bank and got pregnant just after 2 weeks.
  • Unfortunately, she miscarried her supposed to be the first baby.
  • She went very heartbroken, depressed and afraid to be pregnant again.
  • But with God’s grace, she got pregnant again after 2 years since the miscarriage.
  • After giving birth to her first child, her husband lost his job.
  • Her family got buried in debt and got scammed.
  • Seven months after, she got pregnant with her second child.
  • When her second child turned 1 year old, she discovered that she is once again pregnant for her third child.
  • She was not able to get a promotion because she often got pregnant resulting in poor performance.
  • She realized that working on a bank or office set-up is not for her anymore because she already had three children.
  • She thought of aborting her third child. But eventually accepted it.
  • She discovered working at home is possible when she saw the VA Bootcamp advertisement on Facebook.
  • She joined FLIP or Freelancers in the Philippines Facebook page and watched all of educational webinars and success stories.
  • She tried to create an Upwork profile but always being declined.
  • After 1 week, she enrolled in the Bootcamp while she still had her job in the bank.
  • She was taking the Bootcamp with just a mobile phone and going to a computer shop if needed.
  • She studied while on work, lunch breaks and in transit while she’s 7-month pregnant.
  • After finishing the course, her account application on Upwork finally got approved.
  • She got her first client but things don’t go as she expected.
  • In her 8th month of her pregnancy, she got a client again. Just after accepting this client, she got one more client. Then after one week, she got another client.
  • She finally quit her job at the bank on December 20.

Q & A Highlights:

What give you the push?

Meron akong self-instinct na magsusucceed ako dito. ”Gusto ko. I want this!" Parang ganun sya. Parang it's possible. "Oh! I can do this then. I can be like them." Yung mga pinapanood ko na mga success stories sa Jas Success like this, 'yun yung nagmotivate sakin.”

How many months of pregnancy when a client invites you?

Siguro September. Kasi mga November ako manganganak e. 7 months. Tas nung 8 months na tiyan ko, October 15--na ano ako… na bed rest. Parang nagcocontract yung tyan ko tapos kelangan ko mag rest. Dun nag start na nung na invite ako ng first client ko uhm natuto ako sa kanya. Dito yung product yung listing kasi yung work ko e tapos nung nakuha ko sya may invite ulit na isa, so habang nakabedrest ako nagwowork na ko, may client na ko nito.

What’s your usual client schedule?

Yes. I usually work 4pm until 9 o 10. Kasi I have P.A. May personal assistant ako na pumupunta sa bahay. Cause we have a 90 hours per week client. Nag iisa lang. Sobrang patayan pero yun nga, naghire ako ng assistant para nag wowork sya ng 8am to 4pm. That's 8 hours then after nya, ako naman.

What’s your suggestion to those who wants to resign to pursue freelancing?

I suggest na wag mo gawin yung ginawa ko na magresign agad. Mag ipon ka muna, iponin mo muna. And then yung pera mo kelangan may backer kasi hindi pwedeng--diba hindi natin alam baka wala ka agad makuhang work, so you have a money na nakasave. But ang masusuggest ko is uhm kelangan may learnings. So you have to enroll sa courses kung talagang gusto mo sya ma pursue kasi ako yun yung una kong ginawa e. I actually have no laptop and I have no internet connection during na nagenroll ako.

How did you do this without laptop?

Yung nagkaron na ko ng client dun palang ako nakahiram ng laptop. But then nung nag aaral ako sa phone pero yung mga assignments ginagawa ko sya sa computer shop pag day off ko.

How do you keep your toddlers busy so you can concentrate on your work?

Meron silang mga toys. Binibigay, nandiyan lang nakakalat kahit makalat okay lang atleast nakakapagwork ako. And then after nalang magliligpit. Mahirap. Actually di ko naman sinasabing madali na madali tong pinagdadaanan ko. Napakahirap po. Sa totoo lang. Tingnan mo naman. Yung focus mo talaga kelangan mo maging pasensyosa, lahat ng pasensya kelangan mong akuin kasi sobrang kukulit po nila. 4,3 and 1. Mag-2 na sya. Mahirap talaga, but then kinakaya. Kasi talaga pag pangarap mo talaga. I mean pag marami kang pangarap kelangan di ka susuko e.

How long before you got a job after you finished the VA Bootcamp course?

Natapos ko yung course September. Nagkawork ako October. So mga 1 month.

Is your salary higher compared to your previous corporate job?

Oo yes! Times 5. 6 digits actually.

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by Jason Dulay 
Jason is the founder and CEO of Work from Home Roadmap and VA Bootcamp. Aside from teaching Filipinos how to succeed working from home, he likes traveling, playing board games, and drinking coffee.

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140 comments on “How This Preggy Mom (with 2 toddlers!) Found 3 Clients In Less Than A Month - Interview with Mary Jane Samantila”

    2. Your welcome. Yes we will Erik Ocaya. 😃 I know for sure this would be inspiring especially to those who want to have work at home 💻 🏡 saying it is not possible for them and thinking about their degree. God bless! 😊 😇

      Reply

  93. Pinanood ko ulit itong interview bec. hindi ko napanood ng buo..Galing ng interview na to. Si ms holly ang galing ng support kay ms. mj..the interaction wow! plus the pa sulpot sulpot na advice ni ms holly i love it...so much interesting and lovely hour.😍

    Reply

  94. Pinanood ko ulit itong interview bec. hindi ko napanood ng buo..Galing ng interview na to. Si ms holly ang galing ng support kay ms. mj..the interaction wow! plus the pa sulpot sulpot na advice ni ms holly i love it...so much interesting and lovely hour.

    Reply

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