Working in abroad seems a typical dream of every Filipino. Being in abroad usually equates to greener pasture for us. Find out how Mhona Kris Villareal, an OFW in Dubai, discovered a greener pasture back in the Philippines through freelancing.

Learn how she earned four times her salary in Dubai while doing something she really loves, in the comforts of her home.

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Notable Quotes:

• I think that's the beauty of online freelancing. You can earn as much as  you want, as long as you can handle them.
• We, as virtual assistant, should  always know how much our value in the market really is. We should always know our worth.
• For OFWs,  know the the whole profession (freelancing) first. How it's going to work. I'm not telling them to drop off their work, quit their job or resign immediately.
• For newbies in freelancing, don't hesitate to try new courses,  pay for your course that could really help you because it's like a reference guide to what you're going to do next.

Mhona Kris Villareal’s Journey to Freelancing

• A nurse by profession but worked as an administrative assistant for five years when she was in Dubai. She’s now based in Caloocan, working from home as an E-commerce Manager, earning 4 times her salary in Dubai.
• Learned about freelancing through an article posted in GMA News Facebook Page where a home-based programmer earning P7.5M per month was featured. She eventually applied for jobs at Odesk and Elance (now Upwork) and found a client after two weeks.
• After months of having two full time jobs (online freelancer, and admin assistant in Dubai), she got sick and discovered she has a breast tumor. She needed to leave her work in Dubai, go back to the Philippines, and undergo an operation.
• Her online client back then (up to now), made her a GoFundMe Account which helped her a lot in her operation expenses. So, her transition from Dubai to the Philippines is not quite good, but she’s very glad that she has a client who can understand her situation.
• After her successful operation, she discovered the beauty of freelancing – having different clients, and earning as much as you want along the way. Despite that people kept telling her to rest and not to work too hard, she had seven clients – the maximum number of clients she had. She says “It’s the first time in my life I got something that I really love doing.” She realized that her clients are appreciative of her work and at the same time she got compensated well for it.
• Being new to freelancing, she was confused the first time she was asked what kind of bonus she wants to receive. After telling her client about the bonuses being received by employees here in the Philippines such as the 13th month pay, her client sent the money without hesitation. She then realized that she’d worked in Dubai for 5 years but she hadn’t received that much.

Q&A Highlights

How you got started back from when you were an OFW?

It started when I was still working as an administrative assistant when I was in Dubai. I just recently got a job there, a Lead Generation Specialist in call center. Transitioning to administrative assistant, I got a back pay from that company, and bought an expensive laptop. I was thinking “I need to earn money out of this”, and that’s when I saw a news (article) in GMA News Facebook Page and found out about (freelancing platforms), it was Odesk and Elance that time.  So, I started looking for jobs online and I realized back then that I can do some of it, some of it I still need to learn, so I tried.  I was glad that after two weeks, I found a client.

What are you doing right now for your clients, your main role, your job description?

For my first client, I was a bookkeeper. So, I do accounting stuff for her—business reports, financial statements, and everything.

But right now, I can say my forte is E-commerce Management – Ebay, Amazon, Shopify, that kind of thing.

To work in the Middle East, most Filipinos think “I’m gonna earn so much money and it’s gonna be the best thing ever.” As someone, who’s actually been there, what was your experience?

Dubai is a great place, if you’re going to go there for a vacation. It’s a great place but there’s too much politics. We are still living in a world (where there is) discrimination. Let’s say, you’re a Filipino working abroad as an admin assistant, and somebody from another country will be offered the same job, but (that somebody) will be (able to get) like three times higher than your salary though we can deliver the same results and we can do the same job.

I haven’t had anything like that in freelancing except for one instance.

What was that one instance you’ve felt like you’re discriminated as a freelancer?

I applied in this job post which says they’re looking for an E-commerce Manager to assist a group of virtual assistants. They have this budget for the job offer. They asked to interview me and ask me how much my rate is, so I gave them my rate which could meet their budget. I was like, “I think I can go for like $5.5 per hour,” which is really not my rate. I just want to meet their budget. But then, they replied “We cannot have a new hire for $5.5 per hour. We have someone to look into this for $2.5 per hour.” At the end of the sentence is “Good luck!” That just really ticks me off. So, I answered back, “Good luck with that too – hiring someone who doesn’t even know the worth of their work.” Considering it’s a managerial post, it’s really kinda discriminating.

That’s the first and only experience I’ve had for the past three years (of being a freelancer). I guess, as Virtual Assistants, we should always know how much our value. Not just because we are unemployed or we really want to start something in the freelancing world, we’ll just go for it and accept the job. We should always know our worth. 

What is your advice for aspiring freelancers or existing freelancers who want to succeed in the freelancing world?

For OFWs, I really want them to know the whole profession (freelancing) first—how it’s going to work. I’m not telling them to drop off their work, quit their job, or resign immediately. I’m just saying to test the waters (first). There are fixed price jobs in Upwork that you can do, so that you can work in the office, and when you’re back home as well. It’s really a start. That’s where I started.

For newbies in freelancing, don’t hesitate to explore other skills, like for me, I’m a nurse, but I’m also an accountant, and an E-commerce Manager. Also, don’t hesitate to try new courses. Pay for a course that can really help you because it’s like a reference guide to what you’re going to do next.