Magpapahinga Pero Di Susuko: After 10 Years, She's Now Free From Corporate Slavery

December 11, 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.
Subscribe to updates
Get updates of interviews and tips via email


Powered by the Simple Social Press

Did you know that if you try to lose 1kg of body weight per year, you'd lose 22 lbs in 10 years?

Haha. ANTAGAL NAMAN!

If you're trying to manage your weight, long term goals are great, but it's probably best to lose as much weight as you can in the early stages of your journey to keep you motivated.

Ten years to hit your ideal weight maybe a little too long, but that's the length of time Nestly spent working in the corporate world before she started freelancing.

"I worked in 6 different companies as Purchaser/Buyer. Okay naman po ang work I was able to get some skills needed for freelancing. But stress and presure are always there for 10 years. Hirap din po ng promotion kasi pag corporate palakasan system."

It's a sad reality that in the corporate world, if you are not good at handling office politics, you'll have difficulty climbing up the so-called corporate ladder. Sometimes, being skilled and performing your job well is not enough.

"So when I started my own family, my husband and I looked for another source of income. Luckily he learned about online freelancing. He enrolled me in the VA Bootcamp program in 2016."

She got 4 clients at that time but her internet service was not reliable so she lost ALL of them!

How did she bounce back?

How is she doing right now?

What lessons can we learn from her freelancing journey?

Find out on this replay of her JSU interview.

Nestly was a corporate employee for ten years. She worked with six different companies where she spent most of her time as a Buyer/Purchaser/Procurement specialist, and some years as a Customer Service Representative and an Admin Assistant.  She experienced office politics and discrimination because she doesn't have a Bachelor's degree. Presently, she is one of the successful freelancers working at home with her family.

Notable Quotes

  • Siguro po sa experience ko ngayon parang feeling ko ayoko na talaga. Dito na lang ako. Kasi kung i-cocompare ko po 'yong salary ko before sa corporate job sa salary ko po ngayon na na-rereceive, parang sobrang layo po talaga. Sabihin na nating 20 plus y'ong suweldo mo doon sa corporate job, pag sinipagan ko po ng sinipagan is talagang sa isang linggo nakukuha ko po siya, pag minsan doble, minsan triple. Tapos hindi pa po ako masyadong stress, hindi ako pagod mag-commute, and then ang masaya lang po kasi is 'yong sa mga client, maliit na bagay lang po na-appreciate ka nila. Iyon bang sobrang liit na bagay na hindi mo ma-iimagine na big deal sa kanila na sobrang thankful sila at na-sesendan ka ng email na i-cocompliment ka nila, “good job!” 'yong mga ganon po. Sobrang dalang ko pong naranasan talaga 'yon sa corporate world.
  • Sa ngayon po is masaya po ako kasi sobrang magaan yong buhay. Kagaya nga po ng sabi ko kanina kung i-cocompare mo 'yong income ko before sa income ko ngayon is talagang napakalayo, although hindi naman po siya all about the money. Sa ngayon po kasi is nakakasama ko 'yong family ko nakakapamasyal kami, kasi dati po hanggang Saturday may work ako,eh, tas nakaka-attend po ako ng mga activities ng anak ko sa school. Tapos ‘pag may emergency hindi na kailangang magsanla ng ATM. Parang prepared ka na. May konting savings. Dati iikot ka pa, maghahanap ng sasanglaan ng ATM. Tapos malaking tulong po talaga, medyo guminhawa po 'yong buhay. Sana lang po is magtuloy-tuloy.
  • Iyon pong full-time is okay naman kasi, kahit medyo maraming trabaho at least nasa bahay ka. Kahit pagod ka at least nasa comfort ka ng bahay unlike before pagod ka na mag-cocommute ka pa pauwi makikipag agawan ka pa sa pagsakay ng jeep, ng bus. At least dito diba, ‘pag after mo magduty pagod ka man upo ka na, kain tapos diretso tulog.
  •  Iyong sa full-time ko po siguro ang nagustuhan lang din nila sa akin is anytime na mag-email sila or mag-message  mabilis po akong mag-response. Kahit anong oras, kahit hindi na siya yung duty time ko ba, na as long as may inquiry sila mag-reresponse po ako.
  • Sa experience ko po sa mga interviews never naman po silang nagtanong ng educational background. As long as kaya mong i-present 'yong sarili mo sa kanila properly and then kapag may mga trial tasks sila na gustong ipagawa as long as nagawa mo po siya ng tama, i-hahire ka naman nila.
  • Ang message ko po sa kanila is kapag talagang gusto ninyo i-push n'yo lang po. ‘Wag mawalan ng pag-asa. Kagaya ko nga po hindi ako graduate ng 4-year course pero kailangan kong magtrabaho so pinush ko talaga 'yon, lahat ng challenges talagang pinilit kong malagpasan kasi ang goal ko is makapagtrabaho at makatulong sa family ko. Doon naman po sa mga gustong mag freelancing, ‘wag din po mawawalan ng pag asa ‘pag ginusto po marami pong paraan, and pray lang po tayo and tutulungan tayo ni God na ma-achieve 'yong mga goals natin.

Journey to Freelancing

  • She is a graduate of an Associate degree in Information Technology, married, and a mother of a child.
  • She had struggles in getting hired because she doesn’t have a Bachelor’s degree but eventually, was able to land a job as a Buyer/Purchaser/Procurement specialist for one of the good companies in her place.
  • She experienced continued discrimination in her workplace because she doesn't have a Bachelor's degree, and was never entitled to promotion for five years in the company because of that.
  • She had little time for her family during weekends because she has to do an OT during Saturdays if needed, and she had to answer job-related phone calls anytime even if it's outside business hours.
  • She was fired three weeks after she returned to work from her 3-month maternity leave because their HR liquidate their department and for possible office politics reason.
  • She moved on to another job but ended up changing her jobs frequently because she was not enjoying anymore with what she was doing.
  • Her husband saw the stress in her, so he started looking for another source of income that she can do from home. Luckily, he has a friend who is a student of the VA Bootcamp and was the one who referred them to the VA Bootcamp courses. Her husband enrolled her in the courses and this was the beginning of her online freelancing journey.
  • She studied the VA Bootcamp courses and completed it in less than 30 days. Two days after the one-on-one coaching with Ms. Anna Soriano, she was hired for data entry tasks and get another client after that. She was excited to work from home full-time, so she decided to quit her corporate job.
  • She lost her clients since she had no laptop that has high performance and internet connection to handle the demands of her job.
  • She went back to work in the corporate world, and this time she applied in the BPO industry since she knows from experience that she can use this as an advantage in her freelancing career. She ended up working as a Customer Service Representative on Amazon.
  • Nestly has three problems to solve in her freelancing job. She had no internet connection, she had schedules conflicting with the job posting in the freelancing platforms, and she had no laptop/computer that functions well. So she started solving all of this by:
  • Banging Globe and PLDT for the internet installation in their place. She made this as a daily routine for six months and finally, have her internet connection installed.
  • Changed her job to a day-job as Admin Assistant so that she could submit proposals at night time.
  • She bought a 6000 pesos second-hand and in good condition computer.
  • She got two part-time clients after hustlin' with the proposal submissions while having a day-job at the same time.
  • She decided to quit her corporate job because of her sensitive pregnancy. After one week of rest from work, she got an Upwork invite from an Australian company that became her first full-time client. She was lucky as she described it, but feels sad at the same time since she lost her baby.
  • She is enjoying working from home now as a Virtual Assistant in the eCommerce field and also grateful for the financial blessings from freelancing. She is also planning to upgrade her skills soon.

Question and Answer

Sabi mo sa sampung application isa ang tanggap, what was your experience in applying for corporate jobs?

Ang masaklap po doon is pakiramdam mo okay naman po 'yong takbo noong interview, 'yong masaya naman 'yong HR habang kausap mo siya, mukhang naimpress naman siya, tapos sasabihin nila tatawag na lang daw 'pag na hire, pero hindi naman sila tatawag. Tapos 'pag nag follow-up ka ini-ignore ka na nila, 'yong mga ganon.

Nestly, ngayon na nasa freelancing ka na sabi mo ayaw mo nang balikan ang dati mong work dahil so far, okay naman ang finances mo. So, what is your next step?

Kasi po General VA po ako, eh. Ang ginagawa ko is more on admin tasks, wala pa pong specific na niche, so ang plan ko po is mag-aaral po ako, yung i-upgrade ko po yong skills ko.

Are there any skills that you've learned from our course, from VA Bootcamp?

Ang nagagamit ko po ngayon is yung sa eCommerce po. May isa po akong client na nag-paproduct research po ako doon, tapos nag-hahandle po ako ng store niya. 'Yon, po.

Any plans on inviting your husband to join our freelancing family?

Sa ngayon po kasi nag aaral din po siya, so hopefully sana ma-pursue din po niya.

Wala ba kayong issue between your husband about this freelancing? Was there no doubt, wala bang na-titrigger na suspicion between your husband and you about freelancing?

Wala naman po. Actually, very supportive naman po siya. ‘Pag may mga kailangan, siya 'yong tagabili, kapag nag-hahang 'yong computer, yung desktop siya 'yong taga-ayos.

What about your family are there any further plans on multiplying?

Actually, 'yong kapatid ko po is gusto na rin niya, kaya lang wala pa rin siyang time, kasi teacher po 'yon, eh. Gusto na rin niyang lumipat dito kasi ang baba daw po ng sweldo ng teacher.

How many hours a day do you work now?

Ngayon po kasi is meron po akong morning shift ‘tsaka night shift so nag-wowork po ako from 6 am to 3 pm, and then tulog po ako ng 4 hanggang 8, and then 9 to 2, duty po ulit ako then, tulog na ako ng 3 hanggang 6.

Are you able to manage your family while you are doing full-time work?

Okay naman po basta as long as weekend is wala pong work. Family time naman po siya.

Papaano itong panggabi mo hindi ba nakaka-ano sa pamilya mo, like your husband? Hindi ka ba hinahanap ng anak mo na dapat katabi ka niya sa pagtulog, 'yong mga ganon?

Sa ano lang din naman po ako nag-wowork eh, sa kwarto. Nandun lang din ako nakaupo. Kasama ko rin 'yong pamilya, 'yon nga lang sila tulog na ako nag-wowork pa.

Are you living a good life now, Nestly?

Yes, definitely.

Follow us on Social:

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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

79 comments on “Magpapahinga Pero Di Susuko: After 10 Years, She's Now Free From Corporate Slavery”

  1. Napanuod ko po minsan na Sabi ni Ms.A na mas maganda po magpasa ng application midnight. Kasi ganun din Ang ginagawa niya B4. 😉 Alive n alive DW po Kasi Ang mga client ng ganung oras 🤣

  2. Napanuod ko po minsan na Sabi ni Ms.A na mas maganda po magpasa ng application midnight. Kasi ganun din Ang ginagawa niya B4. Alive n alive DW po Kasi Ang mga client ng ganung oras

Learn the Basics

Join Our FREE Virtual Assistant Course which will teach you the basics of working from home as on online freelancer
JOIN NOW
menu-circlecross-circle linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram