When we see someone posts about travel, food trip or mukbang, at shopping galore — we usually say sana all.

We can’t help but get envious and transform into a green-eyed monster.

Especially if we’re always faced with overworked but underpaid scenarios, lack of time with the family, and mounting debts.

It can be overwhelming at times but we need to keep on going.

For the sake of our family and loved ones.

For the hope that someday our dreams will come to fruition.

American poet Carl Sandburg said, “nothing happens unless first, we dream.”

Always bear in mind that we are capable of anything we set out minds into.

Meet Rosemary Joyce.

She’s a pharmacist by profession who used to dream of freedom of a flexible time.

Now, as a freelancer, she’s able to experience and fulfill this freedom.

She discovered several skills through continuous self-development and improvement.

She feels fulfilled in having the opportunity to help others.

She faced several opportunities and great earnings.

And all that freedom led to an improved quality of life.

Her dream and hope for a better life gave her the courage to get out of her comfort zone.

She took action and made it happen.

She wasn’t afraid to start anew.

Keep on growing and evolving.

Be inspired by her courage, hard work, and success.

Join our JasSuccess on this replay!

Introduction

Discover how a pharmacist made the switch from corporate to freelance by creating a page for her adopted kitties. You'll also learn how she developed a number of skills through self-improvement and dedication.

Notable Quotes:

• Hinintay ko yung panahon ang mag decide sakin, dumating din ako sa point na kinausap nila ako, sabi hindi ko daw naabot yong standards nila. Initially, yung unang tanong ko kung kailan ang last day ko. Sabi ko “this is it”. Ito na yun. Pini prepare ko na yung self ko, everything! Bumili na ako ng gamit ko, laptop ko. Inequipped ko na yung sarili ko sa pupuntahan ko. Kasi gusto ko maayos ang paglipat ko.

• Nkaka depressed kasi wala kang client, Bakit wala akong client? Kasi I don’t want to let go yung mga doubts ko sa buhay ko. Ang dami kung tanong kung kaya ko ba to, kaya ko bang sagutin ang mga tanong ng client ko, ang dami kung ganun.

• Yung ginawa ko, nag apply na ako sa lahat ng platform during that time while working, gusto ko lang  i-try, para malaman kung paano mag freelancing. At yung nga nangyari na, nag resign na ako, so, nag aapply na ako sa lahat ng platform. Everynight gagawa ka ng profile mo at mag aapply ka. Kinabukasan mag che-check sa email mo kung may nag email ba. Siguro, ganun ng ganun lang.

• Pinabayaan ko muna yung freelancing. Since may mga cats ako sa bahay, ang ginawa ko, gumawa ako ng page sa cats ko, ginawan ko ng page sa instagram, youtube at FB. Lahat, dun ko nag practice sa kanila. Everyday, gumagawa ako ng content nila. Everyday, nagreresearch ako sa kanila. From there, iniisip ko, mag aantay at mag aantay ako ng client oh wala, nka iinip naman. Na.dedepress ka lang everyday. So, kailangan ko umisip ako ng paraan, yun yung ginawa ko. 

• Yung mga struggle ko sa freelancing, yung mga doubts ko before, tinanggal ko. Hinayaan ko yun ano ako, yun ako. Kung hindi ako marunong mag salita, kung hindi ko alam yung task sasabihin ko sa client ko. Right upfront sa kanya, para alam nya weakness and strength ko. If I want flexible time, sinasabi ko ka.agad sa kanya. At the end mas maayos yung usapan. 
• Kailangan alam mo yung mga task na sinasabi nila. Kailangan yung skills mo mag improve. Kung ganun ka mag demand, it’s useless.

• Do what you love doing. Provided you have time, hanapin ninyo ang nagpapaligaya sa inyo. Ang mahirap kasi sa mindset natin, itinuro sa atin na lumaki tayo na ang dapat nkasiksik satin is mag-trabaho, paghirapan mo, kaya ang hirap e-embrace yung gawin natin kung ano ang nagpapaligaya sa atin at ang kumita.

• Gumawa lang ako ng Facebook Page, Instagram, lahat pati Youtube, from that nalibang ako, nawala sa isip ko si client. Tapos natuwa ako kasi gumawa ako ng page.. Lahat ng ginawa kung yun ngayon na-aaply ko na sa mga client ko.
• Natuto lang ako everyday at the same time may nagings friend din ako. 

• I kept myself busy all the time. Kasi ganun lang naman talaga.  

• If you think ginawa nyo na lahat and nothing seems to be working, why not try something supposed to. Relax lang, kung sabihin may trabaho, di may trabaho ka. Kung wala di wala kang trabaho, but at the same time hindi ninyo ini.stress ang sarili ninyo sa kakaantay. 

• Although nag apply ka pero walang nangyari, it's a good thing in my opinion because of that na-trigger ka and you were able to create a successful endeavor. The delay helped you build pages and I think yan yung silver lining mo. 

• Wag ninyo haya-an na aabot kayo sa part na maging despirate na kayo. Yung gutom na gutom na. If we are starting our freelancing Journey wag tayo mag expect na ito magbibigay sayo ng one hundred thousand kinabukasan. None of those are real. 

Journey to Freelancing

• She's a pharmacist by profession.
• A graduate pharmacist and have worked in a corporate job for 13 years. After that, she felt like she wanted something new. At first, it came to seeing herself in a diving lesson because she wanted to challenge herself and see if she could do it or not.
• Then an advertisement kept appearing on her Facebook. Upon checking, she was shocked when she saw that they had a common friend, her schoolmate Ms. Bong Isleta. That made her think about the possibilities of being a freelancer. 
• She began her journey at VABootcamp in 2019 and participated in almost all of the internships while working her day job.
• After she earned all her certificates, she started to look for clients. It wasn't an easy journey, but she did get clients little by little. The process was quite hard for her considering that she still has her day job and all the long interviews. She just wanted to experience it.
• When she had a clearer view of what it was going to be like to be a freelancer, she started to question if she still wanted to stay in her day job or wanted to pursue freelancing.

• It just so happened that the branch where she used to work had closed. So, their admin has them to decide whether she will be rehired or whether she will resign. When she got rehired, after six months of probation, she eventually didn't meet the standard for regularization and asked for her last day.

• When this happened, Rosemary prepared herself mentally, bought equipment for her freelancing journey, and eventually started her freelancing journey.

Q&A Highlights

Let me ask you what’s your story?

pharmacist by profession and then since na graduate ako. So, yun yung naging parang pinawork ko. Since then. Then 13 years sa corporate then after that, sabi ko, bakit ganon? Parang naghahanap ako ng something new. Kasi nga monotonous yung buhay, nkakainip. I want something new. Mag diving lesson ako, parang kaya ko ba to, dun kasi ako na-chachallenge.

How's the life of a freelancer na ang flatform nya is Fiver?

Okay naman siya, actually yung first client ko, yung sinasabi mo nga na may package siya dba? tinaasan ko siya, piro di ko naman sinusunod. Nagbibigay na ako sarili kong rate. Ayaw ko rin kasi ng per hour. Yung mga regular client ko, gusto ko monthly sila. Piro may dumating na one time gig lang, ok lang din.

How does that feel? mas okay ba sayo yung sangkatutak na one-time gigs or do you think that this so advance na para sa mga skilled freelancers yung ganung style?

Actually, yung fiver ay pwede siyang pangmatagalan. Pag sinabi mo fiver one-time-gig, paiba-iba. No, sakin yung client ko, nag iivolved lang sa kanila. Siguro, five lang sila paulit-ulit lang, may five na regular lang ako na everyday nag wowork ako sa kanila. Pwede naman pangmatagalan, ang ginagawa ko I send friend requests to them. Kahit hindi ko na sila client, I consistently chat with them, kamustahin din sila.

How did you start thinking that way? How were you able to say, No, I'm going to wake up and do something creative?

Naghahanap ako nga matutulungan ko and since most of the time nasa computer ka, so yun. Since may cats ako, ginawan ko ng Facebook page, Instagram, lahat pati Youtube. From that nalibang ako, nawala sa isip ko si client. Yung mga ginagawa ko noon, ngayon na-aaply ko na sa mga client ko.

Were you able to overcome your depression?

Actually, hindi naman ako totally na depressed dahil nga nagpapagod ako. One week wala kapa client then, gumawa ka nalang ng iba bagay. I kept myself busy all the time. Kasi yun lang naman talaga ang dapat natin gawin.

Sinabi mo hindi ikaw ang mag dedicide, hinayaan mo ang tadhana ang mag desisyon sayo.  Has that been working well for you?

Yes. Sometimes needed mo talaga mag decide, ganun piro mararamdaman mo naman, hayaan mo yung situation na mag decide for you.

Is it okay if you share to us kung ano yung kahit isa sa work mo sa Fiver that is related to your cats?

Yung cats ko kasi personal page ko yun. Yung sa client ko, social manager po ang work ko dun. Everyday sa construction sila, yung ang business. So, everyday nagpopost ako ng content nya. Since kinuha nya ako bago palang, hindi pa nag start ang business nya, zero flatform pa siya. As in bago, yun lahat inayos ko lang, everyday gumagawa ako ng content, may followers narin kami.

Can you talk to us more about your cat's social media page?

One year na yung page ko. When I started it, wala lang, nothing lang.  Gumawa lang ako para yung nag aadopt ng cats ko, kasi may nag aadopt narin. Yung mga nakukuha ko, ni-rerequest ko minsan yung mga improvement ng mga cats before ko siya nakuha and after ko siya makuha, and kung ano na ang itsura ng cats. Ini courage ko sila na, please adopt-a-cat. Don't shop, adopt almost stray cats.

How high is your success rate?

If 1 is lowest and 10 is the highest, cguro 8.

Is that because that's what you've been doing on social media?

Yes, aside from that, before kasi mahirap makakita ng clients. Now parang mag cha-chat ka nalang sa kanila sasagutin ka na nila. "Are you looking for a VA?" Yes. So, meron ka na agad client. Unlike before hirap na hirap ako maghanap nga client.

Have you had success in other flatforms?

Actually, yung una kong platform kasi kay Upwork. Ang dami ko proposal kai upwork, kaya lang parang galit kami ni upwork. Hindi kami friends ni upwork. Nagkaroon ako ng clients ni upwork naman talaga. Okay naman din, kaya lang parang madalang kay upwork. Unlike kay fiver na andun na siya. It's up to you kung per hour ka kasi yung iba, sanay sila na per hour. Kay Fiver naman kasi diba minsan kung ganitong rate 3 hours lang, so kung mabilis ka gumawa submit mo agad sa kanya, makakahanap ka ulit ng client. So, for now. hinahanap ko yung pang regular client na.

In your entire journey, is there any advice you can give to our audience today?

First, if you want to land into freelancing kaso wala rin experience, I encourage you to join sa VA Bootcamp. Kung gusto ninyong matoto ng good practices nga freelancing, I'm sure yung VA Bootcamp andyan lang para tumulong sa inyo. Yung advise ko, kailangan physically, emotionally and financially stable ka before you land into freelancing. Physically because, minsan sinasabi natin "you have all the time", piro kung nandun na kayo, kulang yung oras nyo sa isang araw. Kahit gaano pa kadami yung client mo, wag mo kalimutan yung health mo. Kasi health is wealth. Second, emotionally, kasi pag andun ka na, client may come and go so dapat hindi ka malungkot. It's okay kasi may na-gain kang experience. Who knows, babalik yun. Yung skills na binigay mo sa kanya, nabigyan mo ng magandang work. Third, yung pinaka importante talaga yung financially, kung ayaw mo na bumalik sa work mo kung saan ka galing. Mahirap pag nag land ka sa freelancing na hindi ka financially stable, you will have no choice, babalik at babalik ka talaga sa previous work mo and it's totally depressing. You have to be financially stable before ka mag land into freelancing.