How I started a freelance VA career before it was trendy

For the past few years, I have seen how becoming a freelancer, especially on the admin and operations side of businesses has blown up and become extremely popular among people looking to work from home or those looking for a side gig that can allow them an extra income.

Seeing this has made me feel in all kinds of ways.

On one side it is amazing that people are looking to get into this space and learn new skills that can help businesses grow from afar while still maintaining a level of independence. On the other side, it makes me feel a bit salty when I remember that back in 2008, not only remote workers weren’t considered actual workers but there was also no way for us to learn the basic skills that we needed for the role other than trial and error. Now there are courses and certifications available everywhere.

If any other veterans in the industry come across this article you won´t let me lie. Back then it was a complete hustle to learn how to use the old social media platforms and a bigger hustle to be taken seriously. I remember all my mom’s cousins looking weirdly at 19-year-old me and saying “Yeah but you will need to go get a real job if you want it to count toward your resume“, or “Is that even a job?“. I’m just glad that I pushed through, it has been an amazing ride!

It all started with one lady from NYC who moved to Antigua Guatemala. A family member knew her because their kids were on the same soccer team. She was looking for a young person to help out with their online travel agency. Apparently, she was having a hard time finding someone with a good level of English, with their own computer and decent home internet. Yes, that is how long ago that was!

I happened to be looking for my first full-time job at the time and took the chance. I was up for a challenge! This lady was tough, pretty demanding, and strict. I also had to learn how to use a lot of platforms in a short amount of time I also struggled with spelling and attention span so I ended up making my share of embarrassing mistakes. Somehow, she kept me around and gave me chance after chance until I got better.

Eventually, I decided to move on because I wanted to try more things and work with people in other sorts of businesses. But I’ll never forget about her, I am so grateful to Marina (The Travel Experta). I’m convinced that the professional, personal, and ethical skills that have allowed me to complete almost 40 projects for other clients and have long-lasting relationships with at least 15 ongoing clients come from how tough she initially was with me. She even introduced me to other amazing people in the travel industry who also taught me so much about being a trustworthy independent contractor.

The only regret I have from my time with her is that I never got a picture with her.

Since then, through a combination of hard work, word of mouth, and good luck, I have been able to keep finding amazing clients from all over the world from whom I’ve learned so much and for whom (hopefully) I’ve been able to improve their businesses in some way.

Sixteen years later I get to see how a new generation of VAs starts coming to the workforce, being as lost as I once was. So, I’ll be constantly sharing articles about my favorite tools, and some tips and tricks that I’ve learned throughout the years. Maybe they will be helpful to someone.