"I want to be the one to take care of my baby."

This is what our JasSuccess guest told herself when she got pregnant.

Which wasn't easy by the way.

Because she was advised to be on bed rest for the 9 months she was pregnant.

And since she doesn't want anyone to take care of her baby, the only option left for her is to work from home.

Meet Estella.

She's a former call center agent and IT programmer.

Who now enjoys staying at home with her family while working.

No need to spend hours on the road.

Thanks to freelancing.

If you're like her who wants to spend more quality time with your family WHILE still providing for their needs...

Watch her interview on this replay.

INTRODUCTION

Estella Dacuba is a loving wife and a mother, whose priority is her family. She was a former IT Programmer from big IT companies here in the Philippines, and now, a full-time freelancer. Let’s take a look at how dedicated Estella was to pursue her career as a freelancer.

Notable Quotes:

• That year na nasa bahay lang ako and we have our own business, syempre medyo mai-inip ka din, so dun ako medyo nag start na magtingin ng pwede pagkakitaan online.
• “Maybe meron pang ibang pwedeng freelancing na pwedeng pagkakitaan”. While searching sa Facebook, dun ko nakita yung mga ano ni Mr. Jason Dulay. Meron ako nakikita about sa kanya sa Facebook.
• Yung nag-strike sakin was,  there was this guy na he was very young, parang he was already setting up small agency dahil nga sa dami na niyang nakukuhang clients, so ang natandaan kong sinabi niya, "Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself” kase pag nag invest ka eh sa’yo nay an, wala nang makakakuha nung knowledge na yun from you. Dun ako nag decide na, “sige mag a-ano ako”
• I know the feeling na wala kang idea kung paano ka mag sstart, kung paano ka ba mag a-apply, ano ba yung gagawin mo. So I decided to apply dun sa course ni Mr. Jason. Pinapanood ko talaga yung video everyday.
•  Yun din naman talaga ang goal ko, to stay at home and take care of the baby, na yung ako talaga ang mag alaga.
•   Binalikan ko yung course, nag try ulit  ako. Syempre sa umpisa, madami ka talaga maencounter na rejection, pero for me kase and mindset ko noon, "practice to”, so nagpapractice ako.
•  I remembered din kase sabi ni Sir Jason na, “wag kang papayag na less than $5 yung ma-offer sa’yo per hour”. Tumatak sakin sabi ko, "oo nga naman, bakit porke Filipino ka dapat mababa yung rate mo”.
• Di naman porket first time mo  mag freelance, eh first time mo mag work. Meron tayong transferable skills.
• Yung naging client ko, kaya ko siya nakuha, kinukuha ko yung pangalan kung sino yung naghahanap ng work, nagre-research ako about them. May website siya, chineck ko yung website niya, page niya, and may podcast din siya, pinakinggan ko yung ibang podcast. So yung naging cover letter ko for her was very personalized, and sabi niya it stood out from the rest, and I tried to relate to her goal to help women, and moms. Hanggang ngayon client ko pa rin siya.
• Sumali ako sa ibang Facebook groups. Very helpful talaga yung community na meron kang laging ka-kwentuhan.
• You can find other clients, so you have to let go of yung mga toxic na tao.
•  Give yourself a title that you should be proud of.
• The thing is, yung kaya mong gawin na akala mo sobrang liit lang sayo, sobrang valuable nun sa isang client lalo na if you take away things na dapat sila yung gumagawa because of their time so wag mo iisipin na ‘deserve ko lang is $3’, hindi. Dahil yung time na naibibigay mo sa kanila is very valuable. Look at them na they are your partner, na you’re helping their business.
• May nabasa ako from Mr. Francis Kong. You can always learn something from everybody no matter kung ano yung standing sa buhay, or age. We can learn something.
• Through the years of learning and from other people also, nag iba na rin yun mindset ko.
• In exchange of your non-negotiable, dapat ipakita mo na you are worth that.
• Continue looking for clients para eventually you will find someone na you really like working with.

Estella’s Journey to Freelancing:

• She worked as an IT Professional or Programmer on big IT companies here in the Philippines
• Resigned from work when she got pregnant, and started to look at how to make money online.
• Started online teaching, but she felt like it is something not meant for her so she searched for other freelance options and found VAB.
• She did research about VAB on YouTube, and was hit by words of wisdom from one of Sir Jason’s students, saying: “Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself”. That’s when she decided to enroll in VABootcamp.
• She had to stop everything because of her sensitive pregnancy, but it didn’t stop her from pursuing freelancing.
• She continued to study and practice everything she had learned about the courses, and finally had her first client - her client up until now.
• She now has her own title that she is proud of - Facebook Ad Strategist, and she is giving value to herself and skills she can provide to the clients.

Q&A Highlights:

So what do you call yourself now?

Yung nilagay ko sa Facebook ko is Facebook Ad Strategist kase it kinda sounds better to me.

Yung pag lean mo sa socialization, are you a very social person?

Medyo gitna. When I was younger, I was extrovert pero eventually when I get older mas gusto ko nalang yung nasa bahay so I guess I’m more on the middle.

For you, iba ang mindset mo. Iba ang parang nagregister sa utak mo na “Sige lang dahil pinag-aaralan ko pa lang ito”. Is this your character noon pa, even during your IT years?

Kaya ko naisip yun kase feeling ko I’m at my best kapag ang nasa mindset ko pinapractice ko. It’s more on kinokondisyon ko yung mind ko na do your best. Para hindi kabahan.

Any tips po para macondition naming sarili naming before the interview?

Ang ginagawa ko yung kinuwento ko kanina na I really researched kung sino ba yung mga mag iinterview sa akin, or yung company so that ikaw din, makaprepare ka din ng question for them. Di lang naman sila dapat yung magtanong sayo. Ikaw din. You ask them questions if it’s going to be aligned with your goals. Yung time, is it something na flexible ba or meron ba siyang schedule. There could be a lot of different things and then para din sa umpisa maka-relate ka sa kanila so that you would already know about them and alam nila na  “This person really researched about us. Hindi siya basta basta applicant lang”.

How much time did it take for you to research? Maraming mga nagsasabi na, “dapat ano, pag lagpas five (5) applicants, hayaan mo na”, so you are competing against time. Ang sabi naman ng iba is magresearch, and yung ginawa mo discovering that she is a podcaster,  she is an advocate for women, that takes quite some time, you know. How much time did you devote in researching for this client before you approached her?

Siguro it took me more than an hour din. Na-enjoy ko din kase na feeling mo nag iinvestigate ka. Meron kase sa website niya na, dun pa lang ang dami mon ang makukuha na I could relate. Pareho kami. So yun yung nilagay ko sa cover letter ko.

May attitude ka na yung kailangang give and take. Kailangan even. Hindi ka nilalamangan. Was this you even before freelancing?

Hindi lang talaga ako takot mag-fail, mag commit ng mistake. I guess yun yung nadala ko with freelancing na kung magkamali ka man or di mo makuha yung client mo, wala namang nawala sa’yo kase wala ka pa naman talagang client. Pero may na-gain kang experience. 

Medyo mapili ka sa clients kase marami kang terms and conditions na gusto mong ma meet, but in exchange of that I am sure na maraming rejections sa simula. So, how were you able to deal with that?

Syempre magpre-prepare ka and everything. Medyo excited na I don’t know what to expect. May mga ganun din na iisipin mo how’s this interview gonna be. Interesting sa akin makita yung iba’t ibang personality din nila. Mahilig kase ako mag observe ng tao, so it’s something na interesting to me. What I do is kung hindi man kase syempre mag-iintay ka if kukunin ka ba nila, wala naman talaga akong nafe-feel na bad feelings. Talagang okay lang kase iniisip ko na numbers game siya eh. The more you apply, the more you talk to people, the more you get rejected, eventually you’ll get something. Trust the process lang.

Kase yung pregnancy mo affected sa freelancing mo. How were you able to get back? Madali lang ba nung bumalik ka?

Ano siya, something na pinag-usapan talaga namin ng husband ko kung ready na ako, and then syempre kung ilang hours lang pwede. Actually, before nakakapagwork lang ako kung tulog siya. So yung nap time niya tsaka yung tulog nya ng gabi, yun lang yung time akong nagwowork kaya sobrang part-time at saka flexible lang dapat yung schedule ko. Sometimes bumabalik kami sa bahay ng parents ko para there will be someone to take care of her, lalo na kapag may mga meetings na minsan sunod sunod. Hindi lang sa client, iba-iba. Malaking help din talaga yung family, yung community na meron ka right now, especially COVID so talagang family lang naman yung mapupuntahan mo talaga. Wala yung mga pwede mong iwan sa mga laruan sa mall. Struggle din talaga ba magwork tapos may inaalagaan kang baby, tapos magluluto ka for the family, kaya very slow din yung progress ko which is okay lang because and primary ano ko is the family eh. Now I think I can add more time, kaya ngayon lang ulit ako parang nag-aano ng ibang goals. 

Sabihin mo nang with what you learn from before until now. Pag mag-aapply ka sa, let’s pretend na wala ka pang client but with your knowledge right now, wala ka pang client, maghahanap ka ng contracts. What are your non-negotiables?

Una, tinitingnan ko ang ino-offer nilang rate. Chini-check ko din kung mga sinusulat nila what they need, of course hindi lahat mabibigay mo pero at least yung main meron. Kase minsan pag sobrang ikli, medyo doubtful ako na baka scam siya kase wala siya masyado binibigay na details. Mas gusto ko yung detailed, binibigay yung details. Andun yung name niya, hindi niya tinatago yun. Ang ginagawa ko kase talaga nagre-research ako.  I really take my time to research about that company, or that person. If I find worth it naman to apply for them then I’ll go for it. Talagang non-negotiable ko is sa rate talaga.