Starting a family is one of the greatest feelings that one could ever experience.
However, it’s not always an easy thing to do.
For many Filipino moms, balancing work and taking care of their kids can be difficult. Which is why they would rather become a full-time mom to make sure that they can focus their attention on their family.
But as always, a growing family means growing expenses.
There’s now a dilemma when it comes to choosing between family and financial stability. If you’re a full-time mom, more often than not, you’re faced with this kind of decision.
The good this is that there’s a way for you to choose both.
For Giselle, a full-time mommy, her husband, and her three kids mean the most to her. But at the same time, she has to find some means to work to help her husband save up for their kids’ futures.
“Sa bahay lang talaga ako. Wala akong work. Tapos tumitingin-tingin din ako sa Internet. Sabi ko, pwede kaya ako mag-work?…Lumalaki ang mga bata. Unang-una kailangan maging stable ‘yung financial mo. Syempre, iisipin mo rin ‘yung future nung bata. Kaya habang nasa bahay ako, naisip ko na baka pwede rin akong kumita.”
The dream for Giselle is to earn at least enough to help her husband with the expenses but still not take away her attention to her kids, especially when one of them is still a baby.
Like many other people looking for a work-at-home job, she thought of online teaching. It’s the most common option especially for those who haven’t had the experience working an online job.
“Wala talaga akong alam sa freelancing. Kaya ang nauna ko lang naisip, dahil in-demand, ay ang online teaching. At doon na nagsunod-sunod lahat.”
Which watching free online tutorials about job interviews for online teaching, Giselle found out about Amazon Seller Virtual Assistant Masterclass. There, she was able to catch a glimpse of success stories of other virtual assistants.
Because you have to pay for the course, Giselle had to weight her risks. After all, there are a lot of online scams that you have to watch out for especially now where a lot of people have to look jobs online because of the pandemic.
However, her curiosity and determination pushed her to continue.
“Nandoon ‘yung part ng risk. Pero nasa isip ko, nacu-curious talaga ako. Alam mo ‘yun? Bakit sila nagawa nila ito at paano nila nagawa iyon? So sabi ko, kung nagawa nila pwede rin sa akin. Kahit alam ko na medyo mabigat sa bulsa, syempre may mga anak ako at ‘yung halagang iyon ay malaking tulong na para sa kanila. Pero, kung susugal ako…baka ‘yung nainvest ko, malay mo dumoble o trumiple pa.”
So after being a five-year stay at home mom without any online work experience, Giselle decided to invest with her skills and try to find work as an Amazon Seller virtual assistant.
Her husband was very much happy to support her.
Her ASVA Masterclass is an eight-week course that introduces and guides you to Amazon and how to become an effective virtual assistant. Throughout her course, Giselle finds it incredibly helpful for her.
“Sa umpisa, ipapaintindi sayo kung ano talaga ‘yung papasukan mo. Kung ano ba ‘yung mga skills na malalaman mo at kung anong future ‘yung pwede mong makuha. Talagang malaki ‘yung help niya. Detailed at beginner-friendly.”
Despite this, she had to adjust. With the help of the ASVA community, she was able to take things one step at a time.
“Actually, hindi talaga siya madali. Una, wala akong alam at wala akong experience. As in wala talaga. Nagtataka ako kung saan ba ako mag-uumpisa. Saana ko magtatanong, ano ba ‘yung una kong gagawin, at paano ba makakapag-land ng client. Sunod-sunod ko ginawa. Pinanood ko ‘yung video ng ASVA. Kung may tanong ako, nagpopost talaga ako sa community. Thankfully, napakabait nila. Kahit anong tanong mo, i-eentertain talaga nila ‘yung mga dapat mong matutunan.”
Four weeks into her eight-week course, Giselle decided to try her new skills out and look for her very first Amazon Seller client. For her, applying will help enhance the skills that she learned in theory from her Masterclass.
Giselle tried everything. From looking at Upwork for virtual assistant jobs and combing through local online job postings, everything that she thinks she’s capable of, she applied for it.
It wasn’t easy for her. She faced rejections after rejection. The same with any kind of job-hunting, physical or online, she had to experienced ghost employers who don’t reply to their applicants. It became a low point for her, but she didn’t let herself to be too discouraged.
“Napakadaming rejections. Sa sampung a-applyan mo, bihira lang ‘yung sasagot sayo. Minsan nga sa sampung iyon, walang sasagot. Pero sige lang. Go lang ng go.”
A trait that moms are known at, Giselle continued to be persistent when it comes to her job-hunting. After a month with her ASVA course, she already landed her Amazon client.
Recalling her experience with the client, Giselle’s employment was far from what she imagined. While she was expecting a traditional interview via Skype, complete with a detailed resume and cover letter, it was all done through a chat.
“Nagpost siya sa onlinejob.ph. Sinubukan ko kasi araw-araw talaga akong naghahanap ng aapplyan ko. Lahat ng kaya kong sagutin, sinasagutan ko. Nag-reply siya after three days. Binalikan ko din kasi excited ako. Tapos, hindi na siya nag-reply after one week so nawalan ako ng gana. Noong nag-reply siya, nagulat ako. Sinabi ko na nag-aral ako sa Masterclass so lahat ng skillset na kailangan sa Amazon ay alam ko.”
When it comes to her rates, Giselle tried to place it at $10 to $20 per hour; however, her client can only afford up to $6, but with a 2% commission with every sale that the client closes. Both agreed on the rates and Giselle was accepted as a VA.
Now, Giselle works five hours a day with a flexible schedule.
Without including the commissions, she was able to earn $900 per month which is roughly ₱45,000.
But the best thing about her Amazon Seller VA job is that she could continue to focus on her family. With her flexible schedule, she could divide her working hours throughout the day, and she can take a break whenever she wants.
This is important for Giselle because she’s still able to prioritize her family above others but at the same time, have a salary that’s considered even more for a full-time job.
When it comes to being an Amazon Seller virtual assistant, she doesn’t consider this as work but rather a learning opportunity for her.
“Hindi ko talaga iniisip na work siya. Kasi parang nandoon ‘yung passion ko na kapag ginagawa ko, nag-eenjoy ako kasi natututo ako.”
Now that she considered herself as financially stable, Giselle knows that there’s still room for growth when it comes to her career as an Amazon Seller virtual assistant.
One of the alluring aspects of being an Amazon Seller VA is the opportunity for faster salary growth. Normally, it would take years or work and promotion for someone working in a physical job to be able to raise their salary. But when it comes to being a virtual assistant, after having experience for at least three months, you can start demanding a higher rate.
Considering that being a VA is usually a part-time job, you can increase your hustle and accommodate multiple clients. With the flexible scheduling, it’s something that you can design yourself depending on your time and priorities.
As for aspiring Amazon Seller virtual assistants, Giselle has a thing or two to say for advice especially to her co-full time mommies.
“I’m a full time mom. Nagdadalawang-isip din ako pagdating dyan, pero sundin mo lang ‘yung gut feeling mo na gusto mo talaga. Ang mga rejection at mistakes, andyan na talaga ‘yan. Kasama ‘yan sa mga pinagdadaanan natin. So dapat gagamitin natin ito para ma-sharpen tayo at ma-encourage tayo para makuha natin ‘yun goal natin.”
Remembering Giselle’s countless rejections, she reminded everyone that your first time applying for a job doesn’t have to be perfect. Rather, you should aim for progress.
When it comes to applying for online jobs, everyone expects to be hired immediately. However, that expectation is not realistic for most.
For Giselle, she saw her first interviews as a form of sacrifice for her to test things out. She used that experience to create and fine-tune her strategy when it comes to job-hunting.
She also gave recognition to her ASVA community that made it easy for her to handle rejections.
“Wag matakot na mag-commit ng mistakes. Andyan naman ang community para alalayan ka sa lahat ng gusto mong malaman. Hindi ka nila pababayaan.”
She notes that there’s nothing wrong with receiving rejections when it comes to job applications. Although disheartening, it’s all part of the process. For her, you can’t achieve the success that you’ve been wanting for if you didn’t experience a couple of bumps along the way.
Aside from rejections, Giselle also proved that you don’t need to have any background in any online job to be able to do well.
“Actually, wala talaga akong alam sa Amazon. Sa bahay lang naman ako. Hindi naman ako lumalabas for social gathering or what kasi nga nag-aalaga ako ng mga bata. Talagang full time lang na mom.”
The moment Giselle saw an opportunity to learn, polish, and invest in her skills, it doesn’t matter whether she’s experienced as a virtual assistant. As long as she had the determination and the penchant for learning, her leap of faith became an incredible investment with high returns.
For her, the ASVA course became a lifelong journey because she found a community that she can turn to whenever she needs guidance.
Giselle took advantage of being in a network with other virtual assistants for Amazon sellers. In fact, she encourages everyone to do so. After all, she’s only seeing to it that she makes the most out of her investment.
This way, she gains more personal insights that help her throughout her work and future application process.
Now, Giselle’s life transformed completely after her ASVA course.
“Malaki ang nagbago sa lifestyle ko. Kahit na mommy ako, nagagawa ko ‘yung duty ko as a mom and a wife and at the same time, kumikita ako…Wala ka nang mahihiling pa. Alam mo yun, okay na ‘yung financial niyo tapos alam mo pa na ikaw ‘yung nag-aalaga sa pamilya mo. Napakasarap.”
There are a lot of Filipino full time moms that are constantly looking for online jobs to help ease their family’s financial needs.
If you’re like Giselle who can spare a couple of hours a day for a flexible job and have the determination and grit to pursue a career being an Amazon Seller virtual assistant, then having proven, tried-and-tested strategies through ASVA Masterclass will help jumpstart your career.