It’s been raining the past weeks.

Kaya ang sarap matulog at humiga lang. lol

However, if you’re an employee or a corporate worker, you need to go to work whether it’s raining or stormy outside.

We’re paid or hired to do so, we have no choice but to get up early, struggle with traffic, and cope with the ever-changing weather conditions.

All we could do is yearn for a good work-life balance.

Ideally, we should have enough money to pay the bills, time for our family, and time for our social lives as well.

However, things don’t always go our way as we expect them to.

Sometimes, we need to have a trade-off in order to get what we want.

But there are also instances wherein we can have our cake and eat it too.

It may seem impossible but anything we put our mind to is possible.

We simply need to be brave enough to take a leap of faith.

There’s no need to see the whole staircase.

Just take the first step.

Believe.

Take action.

Meet Cel.

She used to work as a medical biller and coder.

During the pandemic, she decided to shift into online freelancing for her family’s safety and to take care of her son as well.

She now works as a general VA and is planning to choose a niche she can focus on next year.

She loves her freelance work as it gives her the freedom of time.

She can now work anytime she wants.

She can have more time with her son.

She can do household chores while working for her client.

Her life as a corporate worker was really filled with struggles.

But now she really loves her online freelancing job.

All her struggles paved the way for where she is right now.

And it was all worth it.

Her persistence, determination, and hard work led to her freedom.

Join us on this replay!

1.                 INTRODUCTION

Babycel is a former Medical Biller that loves her work so much and her work helped her to overcome depression. She also loves her work because the community inside the office is healthy, and they treat each other as a family. Then, the pandemic came and she decided to leave because she was afraid that she would bring the virus into their house, and she also had a child. She decided to resign because of the vaccine and started freelancing. She is now successful as she becomes a General Virtual Assistant in their agency.

1.               NOTABLE QUOTES

• Yung problem ko sa family ko hindi ko siya dinadala talaga sa trabaho.

• Hindi ko inayos yung mga activities hindi pala ok yun na dahil lang sa certificate, hindi pala kagaya sa corporate world certificate lang ok na sa portfolio hindi pala ganun sa freelancing.

• Lahat ng bagay puwede mong pag-aralan kung mag kamali ka man sa bagay na ito puwede ka gumawa ulit ng isa pang bagay, parang trial and error yun yung ginawa ko.

• Yung rejections na yun magiging mirror ko siya titignan ko kung saan ako nagkamali para sa susunod maitama ko siya.

• Yung mga iba siguro na baguhan na takot pumasok sa internship sayang yun pag nagpost po ang VABootcamp ng internship dapat igrab niyo kasi saying malaking tulong yun sa atin sa freelancing.

• Parang math lang yan na kahit may negative laging may positive lagi. Lahat ng positive wag nating isipin lagi na behind that may negative na dapat din bigyan ng pansin, dapat natin isipin na kung positive ano magiging negative impact nito. Siguro po lagi tayo gumitna para ibalance natin yung dapat natin gawin or yung mga bagay na dapat natin pagtuunan ng pansin para maging successful tayo sa freelancing.

•  Hanap kayo ng isang classmate na masasandalan niyo na parehas kayong freelancer na parehas na maiintindihan kung ano yung sitwasyon mo.

• Para kasi sakin mas maganda kasi yung mag trabaho ka na may excitement, mas maganda yung may struggle ka.

• Then pag andun na ako sa time na ready na ako para harapin talaga yung dream ko saka ako lalabas sa box na meron ako ngayon para aralin naman yung part ng dream ko.

JOURNEY TO FREELANCING

• Babycel is a former Medical Biller that loves her work so much.

• She also loves her work so much because the community inside the office is healthy, and they treat each other as a family.

• She quit her work for two main reasons:

• • First is that she decided to leave her work because she was afraid of the virus that she might bring into their house.

• • Second, she is afraid of the vaccine due to her experience during her childhood.

• She started to learn about freelancing when her cousins encouraged her to enrol in VA Bootcamp.
• Learned about the free courses offered by VA Bootcamp but she didn’t pursue them because she doesn’t have a laptop.

• Pandemic came into the picture. She heard that she/he is a freelancer and recommended enrolling in VA Bootcamp, but she doesn’t have the budget.
• At first, she didn’t take activities seriously, which is not a good practice, just because of the certificate of why she finished it.
• She applied to different internships inside VA Bootcamp and was able to pass.
• The internships serve as a stepping stone for her to be confident and become employed by her current agency.

 QUESTION AND ANSWER

What is going on in your head when you are receiving multiple rejections?

Yung nasa isip ko sayang yung pinuhunan ko kung hindi ko maibalik yun, kahit anong rejections man ang dumating sige lang yun yung mindset ko hanggang ngayon, kahit noon pa lahat ng bagay pwede mong pag aralan kung magkamali ka man sa bagay na ito pwede ka gumawa ulit ng isa pang bagay parang trial and error yun yung ginawa ko.

Kahit rejected ako sa mga inaaplyan ko tapos ano ba naman itong mga rejections na ito madami narin naman akong pinagdaanan dati. Yung rejections nayun magiging mirror ko siya titignan ko kung saan ako nagkamali para sa susunod Maitama ko siya.

You ended with one client, how are you able to recover financially?

May trabaho naman yung asawa ko pero ayaw ko talagang umasa sa kanya, ako din yung taong ayaw ko na walang income kahit konti atleast meron ako narereceive masaya na ako doon, atleast yung mga pansarili ko hindi ko na iaasa sa asawa ko.

Was it good to become part of the internship? Did it serve you well?

Yes, siya yung naging stepping stone ko kasi kahit mag-aral tayo kung hindi natin siya naeexperience hindi natin siya maaaply kaya para saakin mas okay na mag internship kasi yun yung magiging stepping stone niyo at magboost ng confidence niyo na kaya niyo lahat ng gagawin niyo kasi hindi niyo alam yung ginagawa niyo sa loob kahit na sabihin natin na inaral natin. Katulad nalang nung may client na kami may part parin na inaaral namin yung mga tools ng client kailangan mo siyang aralin, paglaanan ng oras kasi yung iba hindi naman lahat natuturo.

Yung mga iba siguro na baguhan na takot pumasok sa internship saying yun pag nagpost po ang VABootcamp ng internship dapat igrab niyo kasi saying Malaki pong tulong yun sa atin sa freelancing.

You joined the Hustle Challenge, how was it?

Unang apply ko September yata yun na reject ako kasi may limited slot, tapos October nakasali ako sa Guided Hustle Challenge maganda po na boost yung confidence ko kasi diba nag-aapply po kami nag hustle din kami ng sarili namin  simula nung natapos kami sa pag-aaral.

Yung Guided Hustle Challenge sila po yung nagturo samin ng kung paano gumawa ng talagang tamang cover letter, profiling, tapos dun sa interview doon ko nakita na mali pala yung way ng pagsasagot ko sa client yun po yung natutunan ko doon sa GHC tapos yung community mag tatanong ka tapos andun sila para sagutin ka. 

Wala bang dumating sayon a problem ana nagbigay sayo ng doubt na tama ba ang decision mo?

Nung nawala yung dalawang client ko binlame ko yung sarili ko nung time na yun kasi hindi ko talaga alam kung binigay ko ba yung best performance para magawa ko yung mga task sakanila, baguhan pa lang ako noon pero yung motivation galing sa agency ko mismong CEO naming yun nalang yung nagpalakas sakin  na sige yun pala may reason yung client dun ako nag isip na tama ba itong pinasok ko, tama bang nag resign ako?

Yun yung mga tanong ko noon buti nalang nandiyan yung asawa ko na laging mag explain sakin kung bakit ka ba pumasok diyan? Ano ba yung dahilan mo talaga bakit andiyan ka? Ano yung rason mo bakit ka nag resign?

Yun din kahit may negative thoughts ako may mga taong nasasandalan ako. Parang math lang yan na kahit may negative laging may positive lagi. Lahat ng positive wag nating isipin lagi na behind that may negative na dapat din bigyan ng pansin, dapat natin isipin na kung positive ano magiging negative impact nito. Siguro po lagi tayo gumitna para Ibalance natin yung dapat natin gawin or yung mga bagay na dapat natin pag tuunan ng pansin para maging successful tayo sa freelancing.

Hanap kayo ng isang classmate na masasandalan niyo na parehas kayong freelancer na parehas na maiintindihan kung ano yung sitwasyon mo.

How did you become successful?

Sa ngayon po kasi GVA ako napaka broad niya po, pag sinabi ng agency naming kaya mo ba yung trabaho na to? Kahit hindi ko siya alam, wala akong idea sa task nay un sasabihin ko “Opo kaya ko yan” pagkatapos ng interview ibibigay yung task doon ko palang aaralin paano ba siya inavigate dahil sa attitude ko na sige kaya ko yan siguro ngayon successful ako sa freelancing.

What comes next?

Ako po ang plan ko next year, kasi may dalawa talaga akong gustong niche na gustong pasukin which is bookkeeping kasi since 2009 more on reporting kasi cashier about billing kaya love ko yung bookkeeping pero pinaka love ko po talaga is yung sa programming which is web development talaga, siguro next year magsisimula ako mag aral feeling ko po talaga doon ako suitable dun ko nakikita yung sarili ko in the future na magiging web developer, game developer yung ganun po next year dun po ako mag focus.

What made you decide web development is the niche that you wanted?

Since high school yun na po talaga yung gusto ko programming yun na talaga yung gusto kong pasukin na course kaso hindi lang natuloy, tapos isa pa meron kasi kaming freelance community si kuya Felix dun siya nagtuturo ng ng free training sa web development naeexcite ako na wow ang ganda nito kasi gusto ko talaga yung coding exciting siyang gawin though mahirap kasi lahat naman mahirap though pag pinag aralan mo Madali naman yun.

Para kasi sakin mas maganda kasi yung mag trabaho ka na may excitement, mas maganda yung may struggle ka yun po talaga yung gusto kong ganun.