A Day in the Life of OBM Ada Wogu – From Copywriting VA to Fully Booked OBM

What does it look like to go from copywriting VA to confident OBM—tripling your revenue and landing your dream clients along the way?

In this episode of The OBM Show, I sit down with Ada Wogu, Accredited OBM and founder of Advance with Ada. With no corporate background and zero “traditional” business experience, Ada’s journey is proof that what you do need to succeed as an OBM is drive, integrity, and a strong foundation of systems.

Ada opens up about her transition from virtual assistant to Online Business Manager, how she blends her copy chops with operations strategy, and why mindset is just as important as skillset in this role. She also shares how she built a niche serving coaches and agencies through what she calls Accelerated SOPs—streamlined systems that save clients time without sacrificing quality.

Inside this episode:
 – How Ada transitioned from VA to OBM (without a corporate background)
 – The real behind-the-scenes of managing client launches and team dynamics
 – Why confidence and communication are non-negotiables for OBMs
 – A look at “Accelerated SOPs” and how they’re changing the way she supports clients
 – The mindset shifts that helped her land 3 OBM clients and a DOO role in under a year

Whether you're still in the VA stage or already stepping into OBM territory, Ada’s story will give you a clear vision of what’s possible—and what it really takes to own your leadership.

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Thanks for tuning in to The OBM Show - your go-to podcast for Online Business Managers and entrepreneurs who want to scale strategically and sustainably.

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It helps more aspiring and established Online Business Managers find this content and grow their businesses with confidence.

✨ Ready to take the next step?

Grab your free OBM Starter Kit → obmschool.com/starter
Explore more tools and trainings → obmschool.com/resources
Learn about becoming a CPD-certified Accredited Online Business Manager → obmaccreditation.com

🧭 Not sure where to start?
Find out your OBM Archetype and get personalized next steps → obmschool.com/quiz

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Until next time, keep building the business behind the business.

Episode Transcript

UNKNOWN (00:01):
you

SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Welcome to the OBM Show, the podcast that pulls
back the curtain on what itreally takes to thrive as an
online business manager and helpbusinesses scale without burning
out.
I'm your host, Sarah Noked,agency owner, OBM mentor, and
founder of OBM School.
I've been working in the backend of online businesses since

(00:23):
2009, building systems, managingremote teams, and mentoring OBMs
who make businesses run likeclockwork.
Now, I've seen what works, whatdoesn't, and the messy middle
that no one talks about.
Here, we get real about thetools, strategies, and stories
that drive sustainable success,plus the tech mishaps, growing

(00:47):
pains, and lessons learned alongthe way.
If you're ready to stop spinningyour wheels, step into your
leadership role, and see whatactually happens behind the
scenes of thriving businesses,you're in the right place.
Let's get started.
Let's get started.
Hey there, and welcome back tothe OBM Show, the podcast where
we shine a light on thebehind-the-scenes leaders

(01:09):
building systems, drivingstrategy, and helping visionary
entrepreneurs scale.
Now, today, I have the absolutepleasure of sitting down with
someone whose journey into theOBM world is not only inspiring,
but it's actually a masterclassin stepping into your potential
with purpose and integrity.
I'm talking about Ada Wogu,founder of Advance with Ada.

(01:29):
Ada started in the with nocorporate background, just pure
drive and curiosity.
She found her groove throughwriting, copy and VA work.
And eventually that sparkbrought her to the world of OBM.
She joined our OBM accreditationprogram in early 2024.
And the results, let's just saythey speak for themselves.

(01:50):
She's tripled her revenue,landed three OBM clients and one
DOO role.
And she's carving out a nichesupporting coaches and agencies
through smart systems andautomation.
One of the most exciting thingsAda's doing right now is what
she calls accelerated SOPs,which is a brilliant fusion of
her writing background andsystems knowledge to help

(02:12):
clients create high-impact,time-saving workflows that still
preserve quality.
So if you've ever thought SOPswere dry, you have not met Ada.
Now, in this conversation,you'll hear the truth about
mindset, confidence, and thesoft skills in the OBM role and
how Ada navigates them all withhonesty and grace.
We're talking about launches,team dynamics, automation, and

(02:35):
so much more.
So let's dive in.
Hey, Ada, welcome to the OBMshow.
I'm so, so excited to interviewyou because I mean, much like a
lot of our students inside ofOBM school, you and I, we have a
little bit of a closerrelationship because you have
also worked inside of our agencyas an accredited OBM.
So I've sort of had the honor ofgetting to know you much better.

(02:57):
And also because you're based inToronto, I hope But at some
point, Our paths will cross.
So welcome, welcome.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout how you knew it was time
to make the transition from VAto OBM.

SPEAKER_00 (03:13):
Oh my gosh, thank you for that intro.
Thank you for having me.
And I'm really excited to beable to actually meet in
Toronto.
I love that opportunity that weboth have.
And yeah, I think that for a lotof just making big changes in
your career, in your life, itreally just comes down to
knowing yourself and acceptingwho you are and what your
strengths are, understandingwhat you like and don't like.

(03:37):
And that's when I decided tomake that change from being more
of a virtual assistant intobeing an online business
manager.
I mean, I believe that when youlisten to who you are and what
you really like, and you reallyunderstand that you get a lot of
pleasure from the day-to-daywork that you are doing, then

(03:57):
that positivity that you'refeeling internally can compound
into external validation as welland the external material things
that matter.
So it's really important to beable to understand if you do
like the OBM role.
And I, for me, find it a verypersonally creative role.
There's a lot of strategy that'shappening within that OBM role.

(04:20):
There's a lot of systemsthinking there's different
things that you're doing at anygiven time, even though it's,
you know, definitely coming fromthe same place.
So that's why I decided to kindof switch into that OBM role.
I was kind of tired of, well, asa VA, a lot of the time it can
be, I love, I love being a VA.
I loved kind of writing fordoing copywriting for clients as

(04:41):
well.
I just kind of found thatsometimes their repetitiveness
of it.
And also just the fact that Ifelt like I couldn't really kind
of bring in a strategy aspectthat I felt like some clients
really needed felt like ithindered me.
So I quickly switched into beingan OBM role when I realized that
just like a couple years ago in2023.

SPEAKER_01 (05:02):
Yeah, that's so how long were you a VA before you
made the transition?

SPEAKER_00 (05:05):
In 2020, 2021 is when I became a VA kind of like
December, January.
So it was about a couple years,right?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:14):
That's awesome.
Yeah.
And I mean, for anyone listeningor watching this on YouTube,
like I'd love to know know, whatwas like that feeling inside
where you knew it was reallytime to make the change?
Like, I get that, you know, youwanted to do a little bit more
strategy, but for some of us,it's really hard to sort of
bridge the gap between, youknow, what am I doing as a VA?

(05:36):
What am I doing as an OBM?
Was it, you know, just joiningthe accreditation that was like,
you know, kind of fired off fromyou?
Was it a client that you wereOBM in disguise for?
Like, what was sort of thatcatalyst for you?

SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
Definitely, probably the latter OBM in disguise sort
of situation.
I think that for a lot ofbusinesses, for a lot of
business owners, a lot of whatthey have, and it's sometimes
all you need, just like all theyhave is chutzpah.
It's kind of that like chutzpah.
And sometimes you really need tobe able to listen as well as a
business owner.
It's really great.

(06:11):
You can really pursue thatAmerican dream, Canadian dream.
Yeah, because that's all youneed.
But as you're running abusiness, you need other people
as well.
You need other skills.
So sometimes you run intobusiness owners that really do
need that sort of help in thatway.
So I was able, I was working forone of my, like my oldest

(06:35):
clients.
I have more clients now, but Iwas working for them as a VA
initially.
And I was Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
It's not easy.
Like I know for my own journeywhen I was making the transition
from that VA role, you know,kind of like all, I call it the
yes woman role, to more of anOBM role, I was only really able
to retain one client on myroster who was a suitable fit.
And so I know that feeling ofbeing able to, you know, kind of

(07:23):
make that transition with aclient.
But for those of us listening orwatching here today, are there
any, you know, aside from Whatyou just mentioned, which was
like building out a team so thatyou could kind of rise above and
really own the OBM role.
Were there other sort of meansthat you took into account when
you were making the transition?

SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Any sort of means?
Like, what do you mean exactly?
Like

SPEAKER_01 (07:47):
perhaps like a

SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
mindset shift or...
Yeah.
Mindset shift is so important.
If you don't have that mindsetshift, a lot, it has to start in
the mind and then it can happenin the actual like real world
reality.
So I was just doing a lot ofwork with like relationships
with other business owners, withcolleagues and really making

(08:12):
sure it all started in mind whenit came to like owning that OBM
role, you know, really inmeetings, talking about
strategy, saying, I believe ifyou need this, being honest.
A lot of the times as- That's areally

SPEAKER_01 (08:25):
good one.
Being honest is a very good one.

SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
Yeah, a lot of times as OBMs or VAs, you're working
with a business owner who, youknow, there's not a lot of other
people on their team.
Or maybe they have people inhyper-specialized roles.
But as a VA or OBM, it can bekind of a small team.
So even let's say their partneror their closest friend, they're
not going to be working withintheir business.

(08:48):
So they're not going to behaving that perspective that
only you and maybe a coupleother people do.
So it's really important to kindof let them know and be honest
and really just talk about morestrategy a lot of the time,
maybe give them advice.
And that's That's part of likethat mindset shift and like
stepping into that OBM role.
It just happens to be like that.

SPEAKER_01 (09:11):
Yeah.
based on perhaps where they arefinancially in their business or
their trajectory for growth, andthen being able to put yourself
in the right shoes, being honestabout where they need to be,
what role you need to take on,and then who else needs to come

(09:32):
into the business.
I mean, how long did that shifttake you with that particular
client?

SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
I think for a lot of...
A lot of things, you know,relationships with time and
consistency, it kind of buildstrust, especially when you just
work– you're consistent withyourself and you are like,
what's the word?
I don't want to say like workhard, but just work,

(09:57):
consistently show up, just dowhat you are supposed to do
within the contract and reallybuild that relationship with
them and understand that, havethem understand that you are
there for them.
And that will really inevitablybuild trust so that whenever you
do show up in that kind of likeOBM capacity, it just becomes
sort of natural And before youknow it, when you do kind of

(10:21):
like make that officialtransition, it's something that
they're comfortable with andthat they really trust in that
role that, you know, you'll beable to do what the contract
says.

SPEAKER_01 (10:31):
Yeah.
And what the, what the businessneeds

SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
and what the business needs.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 (10:34):
Absolutely.
So I know you have quite a fewclients on your roster.
Do you have your own team now?
Do you have people working underyou?

SPEAKER_00 (10:42):
I'm working on it.
I'm in that transition for sure.
I, I, I, I use, yeah, I havepeople with a team for my
clients, but right now I don'thave a team for myself, but I've
been thinking about it actuallysince like a couple months ago.
So I'm definitely like in thatmindset.

SPEAKER_01 (11:04):
The next horizon is team.

SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
Yeah.
The next horizon is team.
I love that.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (11:10):
So as you know, Being on the day in the life of
an OBM, we would love to hear alittle bit, Ada, about what your
day in the life looks like, likea typical day in the life
starting with waking up.
What does it look like?

SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
Okay.
I wake up.
I scroll.
We all

SPEAKER_01 (11:28):
scroll.
No, we don't.

SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
It's 100%.
There's no, yeah.
A hundred percent for like 20minutes.
And then scrolling throughemails from clients also?
No, we don't really email.
I love Slack.
I use Slack for clients.
And then I do love checkingemails.
I don't know.
If somebody wants to kind oflike be on their phone or
something like that, I findemails exciting.
I'm like, what did I get?
You know, I'm subscribed toSubstack.

(11:53):
So definitely like if you wantto like stop scrolling, you can
like scroll on your emails andit's kind of like short.
It's only like probably fiveminutes.
So, but I do that.
And then obviously, you know,get ready for the day, shower.
Sometimes I might makebreakfast.
Sometimes I might just likedrink matcha.
I'm obsessed with that now.
Oh, hey.
I usually start the day at like10 a.m., which is a bit, it's

(12:16):
kind of like more mid-morning.
And then obviously I'm working,talking with clients, all of
that.

SPEAKER_01 (12:21):
meetings?
What does that look like?
Because many of our listenersare not, they haven't, they
don't have as much experience asyou have.
So

SPEAKER_00 (12:30):
yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (12:31):
What does it look like?
Is it like scheduled meetingswith clients?
You check in every day withevery client?

SPEAKER_00 (12:36):
No, I couldn't do an, I couldn't do an everyday
thing.
And I think, I mean, yeah, some,some, some, I know some clients
they do everyday meetings.
I don't think, you know, whoknows, but I think that's for,
for more like employees in myopinion.
Right.

(13:20):
work from home taking breaks allof that obviously going out to
like grab something from theconvenience store and then I um
I usually round it off at about6 p.m just like slowly just
working through all the day'stasks and then I kind of like
wind down just naturally um

SPEAKER_01 (13:38):
so you're like yeah so so when you talk about the
day's tasks is it likeimplementing systems like let's
get into the nitty-gritty whatdoes it look like

SPEAKER_00 (13:46):
yes of course somebody's

SPEAKER_01 (13:48):
project management tool like what's What's on tap
for the day?

SPEAKER_00 (13:51):
Okay.
I will tell you for a newerclient, what I'm really doing
for them as they are a grouptravel company, I'm really
helping them with vendormanagement.
It's really, yeah, it's reallyinteresting.
Yeah, that's my directiveoperations role.
And it's really interesting whenyou are kind of working for us

(14:12):
in OBM because you can do somuch, obviously, like you can be
that generalist role, thatspecialist role.
So it's It's really interestingto be able to come in and work
for somebody, and it's somethingdifferent.
So I usually do, say, somethinglike system setup, vendor
management of the team.
I talk to team members, catch upon what they're doing for the

(14:35):
day, just follow up on the tasksthat I had let them know that
they should do.
I create a lot of SOPs as well,especially in that newer phase
when you're trying to set thingsup.
Yeah.

UNKNOWN (14:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
Yeah, so that's a lot of what I'm doing.
That SOP creation, systemmanagement.
Now with the new client, likevendor management as well.
And that like involves, it getscrazy.
Like I'm doing like, you have tolike, to kind of talk to about
40 vendors per trip.

SPEAKER_01 (15:04):
What is, yeah, travel vendors.
They're like restaurants and-

SPEAKER_00 (15:08):
Restaurants,

SPEAKER_01 (15:09):
hotels,

SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
transportation.
So you have to like-

SPEAKER_01 (15:13):
Sort of like, it sounds like event planning on
steroids.

SPEAKER_00 (15:15):
Event planning on steroids, exactly.
Yeah.
Because it's

SPEAKER_01 (15:18):
like...
You're not even here.
You're like locations.

SPEAKER_00 (15:21):
I was I just had a meeting with like last week with
the client.
She was laughing.
She was like she was trying totalk to somebody who was in who
was in Italy for like some kindof job.
And the local kind of said toher, like, you're not going to
get anybody like look outside.
It's too nice out.

SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
Yeah, it was really nice.

SPEAKER_00 (15:40):
Yeah.
It's like it's not because it'sraining.
It's because it's too sunnyoutside.
So it's yeah, it's a lot of likeworking with different cultures
and all of that.
But

SPEAKER_01 (15:48):
yeah, it's really It must be so inspiring to want to
just pick up and relocate.

SPEAKER_00 (15:54):
Yeah, I know.
No, I love Toronto, though.
I just love it.
I was in Mississauga like twoyears ago.
So I'm still like enjoying a newplace.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (16:04):
So yeah.
So a lot of vendors.
What about some of your otherclients?
What does that look sort of looklike?
It's so hard to explainsometimes how different the OBM
roles can be depending onsomebody's goals or depending on
the entrepreneur strength.
So this one in particular,you're managing the vendors.
But like, what's another justanother example of a client that
you're currently working withand what your day to day looks

(16:26):
like?
Because I know you do theseaccelerated systems.
I know that's a big part of whatyou do.

SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
Exactly.
So it's really cool, especiallywith the accelerated systems
now.
I feel like I feel like, youknow, that movie Slumdog
Millennial, like just bycoincidence, like my life
experiences have like led meinto this like point where I can
really be able to create systemsfor myself.
And as a product, you reallyhave to kind of think of
yourself, I think, in general,as that kind of person, you have

(16:53):
to really like, leverage yourlife experiences and, you know,
be able to hue them for what youwant in the near future.
So I've been doing that.
And I created that acceleratedSOP.
It's been really great.
I realized that with somethinglike social media management, if
you really think about theprocesses, it's uploading.
Let's say if a client submitteda form for a social media

(17:16):
management package, and theysaid, these are the pictures I
want to use for this month.
This is the angle I want to takefor this post.
You can be able to take thatprocess of uploading those
photos into Canva or whateverlike photo editing tool and
upload it from that Google formto Canva automatically and then

(17:38):
upload that to let's say ascheduling form automatically as
well and something like ChatGPTI know you started like talking
about that last year yeah we hadan AI

SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
yeah yes we had a couple years ago we had an AI we
do it every quarter an AI nowsince then oh really yes and it
But Gemini, I hear, is all thelatest and greatest, which is a
couple weeks ago they rolled outquite a few upgrades.
Oh,

SPEAKER_00 (18:06):
my God.
I'm like half excited, halfscared at all times.

SPEAKER_01 (18:09):
Toby's son, Toby, who is our sort of internal OBM,
one of our internal OBMs in OBMschool.
She's the program director.
Her son, who I believe he's, Iwant to say he must be 13 now,
14.
He's learning Gemini in school.
Like, it's amazing.
So, I mean, anything is possiblenow.
Really?
But I feel like Gemini'sdefinitely sort of surpassed

(18:31):
Chachi BD at the time ofrecording this.

SPEAKER_00 (18:34):
What?
Okay, I'm going to go check thatout.
Yeah, check it out.

SPEAKER_01 (18:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
It's so important, by the way, also to really keep
on what's going on with AIbecause it's changing.

SPEAKER_01 (18:43):
Yeah.
Well, we do it every quarter ifyou're, you know, maybe join us
inside of Momentum so that youcan continue to get access to
those workshops because we are,Lynn, one of our other students
inside of OBM School had a lotof, you know, it's just such a
like shared wisdom inside witheverybody contributing and
talking about exactly how we'reusing it and how actually I'm
using it more for strategicplanning with clients and goal

(19:06):
setting.

SPEAKER_00 (19:07):
Yes.
It's massive.
And it's made the breakthroughsessions a lot easier.
And I feel like I kind of havebeen able to expand it and offer
more because it's something thatI can like spend more, spend
less time on.
So I

SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
agree.
Also the whole due diligencepiece as well.
It really helps to speed up thewhole process.

SPEAKER_00 (19:29):
Yeah, exactly.
So yeah.
So with ChatGBT, I realizedthat, Um, I, as a writer, I'm
somebody who can still like,obviously understand like what
output, um, chat GPC is giving.
And there's a lot of likefallbacks when it comes to, even
though it's great in so manyways, but I realized that with
an outline, if I was able tocreate, like, I kind of dubbed

(19:49):
it the skeleton outline.
So instead of actually likenecessarily writing for me,
let's say I'm creating like anemail.
So I will like kind of prompt itto create an, a skeleton outline
for me, which is basicallytalking about what's going to be
happening in this paragraph.
And then maybe give me anexample as well.
And then just with that, I'mable to collapse the time that

(20:11):
I'm writing an email from, let'ssay, just writing it and
thinking about what's going tobe happening each paragraph.
So let's say I know when I didlike my copywriting and I was
talking to other copywriters andI was doing copywriting like
super manually, it was like thatcopywriter was bragging about
like writing an email in like anhour.
And now it's probably like ifI'm writing something and I
still want it to be highquality, seven to 10 minutes.

(20:34):
So yeah, so it's insane.
Just like the kind of like,yeah, I've been able to make
with that.
And then with the automated SOP,I've been able to take that and
like create ChatGPT bot.
And that is able to likeautomatically create that
outline from that client's likeangle that they had put in the
form and just like upload it onMetricool in the caption

(20:57):
section.
And it's something you can justeasily ban So it's like being
able to collapse the time likereally greatly, obviously
depends on what you're doing.
I've done other things like youcan apply it to that 90 day
evergreen funnel, which is sucha cornerstone for other clients
as well.
And there's other likeprocesses, but so it depends,

(21:17):
but you can really collapse it.
Obviously, it's like 90% lesstime than what you were doing if
it was just like manual.

SPEAKER_01 (21:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you can really focus more onthe strategy or refining things,
which I love.
Yeah.
I think that AI is really suchan exceptional tool for us as
OBMs, but also in kind ofhelping to show our clients how
to best utilize it for theirbusiness as well as all of the

(21:44):
other tools.
Yeah, so just a couple weeksago, we had a really big AI
workshop and we shared a lot ofprompts and templates and stuff
that we are using inside of OBMSchool.
So you should definitely checkthat out.
So tell me a little bit moreabout this transition because
what's so remarkable about you,Ada, is that I feel like you

(22:06):
have the entrepreneurial spirit.
Like, have you always been verykeen on working for yourself?

SPEAKER_00 (22:20):
2018, 2019, when I was kind of graduating
university, I was also going tosay I'm kind of more different
than like a lot, maybe someother OBMs.
I kind of came out of universityand I got recruited into a
hospital.
I kind of, I was working at avaccine clinic.
So I knew it was going to betemporary, but it was still like
pretty long, honestly, likemaybe longer than it should have

(22:41):
been.
But I was working there for likea more longer than a year, a bit
more than a year.
And I was getting paid well, butI obviously knew it was going to
end.
So I then started liketransitioning to the VA stuff.
So that's how all that happened.
And I was only working.
How did you find the VA thing?
It was, I forgot her name now,but you know, do you know Erin

(23:03):
Mortensen?
There was an Erin Mortensen.
She's a VA coach and she hadthis student, this like star
student who was doing really,really well on social media.
So that's how I found her.
But when I reached out to her,she wasn't, she didn't reply.
So I found her coach somehow.
And then that's how I got intothe VA world And then, yeah, so
but it was really crazy to beable to kind of get into that.

SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
Make money working from home legitimately.

SPEAKER_00 (23:30):
Yeah, legitimately.
And I thought that, well, how doI put it?
I just felt like with school, itwas I had I maybe it was coming
from a negative mindset.
And honestly, there was timeswhen I thought like maybe the
corporate lifestyle was kind ofdreaming about it because I
haven't really done corporate,like, which is kind of like
crazy to say.

(23:50):
But I thought that if I couldgo, I wanted to make, I wanted
to take my own career to my ownhands more.
And I thought if I

SPEAKER_01 (23:59):
just,

SPEAKER_00 (24:00):
yeah, I thought, I just figured like if I just went
into a nine to five, I didn'tunderstand how I was going to be
able to take that into my ownhands.
You

SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
wouldn't have been able to, that's how it happened.
Exactly.
my VA business from the side,like you were building it from

(24:29):
the side of working in thathealth clinic.
And then just at some pointhaving the confidence and the
insight to make the transitionto recognize that you have
clients that are suitable forOBM services to step in and
become accredited inside of OBMschool.
And we'll leave all those linksbelow in case you guys want to
check out the program.

(24:50):
But I think it's just sofantastic.
And I think it really is animportant aspect when you are a
virtual assistant for some of usnot all of us there is this
little inkling this little sortof voice that's talking to you
that's saying you know maybe youcould do more or perhaps you
come across the right clientlike for me part of and this was

(25:13):
back in my god like 2013 butpart of what it was for me was
recognizing that like getting aclient that was at the OBM level
and really then embracing beingable to strategically offer more
higher caliber managerial likeservices, because I had that
right kind of client too.

(25:34):
So yeah, so we've sort of talkedabout the VA piece.
We've talked about, you know,your your day to day and what
that looks like and the buildingof a team.
If there was any sort of wordsof advice you could offer
somebody maybe in your shoes, ormaybe even your younger self,
what would it be?
I

SPEAKER_00 (25:52):
feel like good things happen when I really
started listening to my likemyself and my heart and who I
was and understanding that.
I think like, you know, what Ihad just talked about deciding
to go into freelance was reallylike, well, yeah, there's
probably a lot of other times.
It was one of the first likemain times that I was able to

(26:12):
like make that decision formyself and really understand it
truly and just understand thefacts of both my reality with
the job market even back thenand my strengths as well.
I wasn't enthused by the idea ofapplying to like 100,000 jobs.
Just to get, you know,underpriced anyway.

(26:34):
But it would have been just kindof like the path of being in
your early 20s.
But yeah, so that's kind of likehow I became kind of into this
role.
And that's kind of the advicethat I felt like.
I always listen to you and goodthings happens really just being
able to understand, like you canliterally like write it down.
It's not just woo woo.

(26:55):
You can like write down yourstrengths, your skills.
You can write down what's goingon in your environment.
You can write down your, yoursituation, whatever's going on
with your family and just makethe decision that's right for
you with your eyes wide open.
You know, it's fine as well tobe able to make those decisions
with reality, but justunderstanding your strengths.

SPEAKER_01 (27:16):
Yeah, I love that you mentioned that because one
of the things that came up inour conversation around AI was
kind of putting your skills into AI and using it as somewhat
of a friend, right?
AI friend, you know, to sort ofreflect back to you what would
be a good role for you.
And it's so funny because notonce, not twice, and maybe more

(27:38):
than three times people havesaid that they have found me and
OBM school through like thingslike ChatGPT just by sort of
putting in their transferableskills and what they're good at
and what kind of experience theyhave in life.
Because, you know, it's not justobviously corporate experience
is important.
You know, it's all stuffy.
Like, you're obviously notmissing anything.

(28:01):
But I think for a lot of uscoming from corporate, you have
a lot of the project managementor you have experience dealing
with teams.
So there's sort of a lot oftransferable skills there.
But in actuality, when I lookback, and I also started off in
my early 20s because I hadrelocated across the world and I
was like, I got to be able totravel home when I need to.

(28:23):
And in my corporate job, I wasdoing a lot of overseas work.
So we were using really clunkytools to do it, but they did
exist.
These SaaS products even existedback in the day.
But it's so interesting to mebecause so much of the skill
that I have is from like workingat my first job was working at
Kernels, which is like, youknow, famous popcorn.

SPEAKER_00 (28:44):
I love Kernels.
I love

SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
Kernels.
So I don't think Kernels is inthe States, but it's definitely
a Canadian thing.
And so I worked at Kernels and Iwas like, I think I was like 15
at the time.
Like, I think it was just...
Like I was, you know, I was 15or 16.
It was legal.
But I was like learning.
I was like learning to like talkto people and like a little bit

(29:06):
of sales experience and likeresponsibilities of like opening
and closing things and cashingout.
So, you know, I just I say thatbecause I think a lot of us
think we need to have some fancyrepertoire of skills to become
an OBM.
But the really just need likewhat you had mentioned in your

(29:30):
heart and in your mind goals anda real drive to make it work.
And now in today's day and age,you have like so many different
you know, programs and schools,you know, obviously not just OBM
school, but a whole wide rangeof things.
And, you know, a lot of peopledo start in the VA space, but
arguably I don't think that it'snecessarily like, did you know

(29:51):
about the OBM when you got intothe VA stuff?

SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
I had, it had been mentioned that as like a
possible pathway, actually.
I don't remember how I foundyou.
Maybe, I think you might haveactually been referenced
somewhere and I had noted itdown, you know.
Yeah, because yeah, so and thenI had like joined your email
list and all of that.

(30:14):
But that's yeah, that's how Ifound you was through like the
VA space.
It was kind of like the anglethat she used as well.
It was like you can kind of likebe VA and then if you

SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
want to, you can do other things past that.
Right.
Like, I mean, you live inToronto.
There's probably amazingconferences.
Do you ever get out and sort ofgive

SPEAKER_00 (30:45):
me a look?
I'm going to my first one,Sarah.
You've been telling me for ages.
For ages.
And now you're going.
So where are you going?
OK, so I actually shout outButtered Branding.
They reached out to me aboutsocial media management and then
they do mixers as well.

(31:05):
They call it mixers.
And it's these events for peoplearound Toronto who are kind of
like in that space and doingsocial media management.
So I'm going like June 19th.

SPEAKER_01 (31:16):
That's really good.
I'm you have to like.
Catch me up on how that goes.

SPEAKER_00 (31:20):
OK, I'll send you an email about how

SPEAKER_01 (31:22):
it went.
Like next week already.
I

SPEAKER_00 (31:24):
know.
Amazing.
That's my first one.
So I'm excited, really.

SPEAKER_01 (31:29):
Yeah.
And like, that's great.
I mean, it's so sounds like likethings are really moving in the
right direction for you.

SPEAKER_00 (31:35):
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (31:37):
Thank you, Ada, for being on the show.
It is just a pleasure alwayschatting with you.
You're always so insightful.
You always have like the bestlittle tech wizard gems to
share.
And, you know, I know you wellbecause we've worked in the
agency together.
So just really appreciate havingyou on.

SPEAKER_00 (31:53):
Yes.
So excited.
I'm really happy that I was ableto come in here and like talk
about my story and share somelittle like things that I've
been having like going on that Ihaven't really talked about with
anyone yet.

SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
Yeah.
And so if anyone in to find youin the online space, where can
they do that?

SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
I'm on Instagram.
I'm everywhere.
Advanced with Ada.
I'm on Instagram and my emailAda at advancedwithada.com.

SPEAKER_01 (32:17):
And then we'll leave all that in the show notes.

SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
Yes, exactly.
And then the automated SOP, I'mlaunching that.
It should be launched by thetime probably this comes out.
And so that's on my website aswell for any OBMs who might want
to be able to use it for theirclients or like OBM clients as
well who might want to use itfor their business.
So

SPEAKER_01 (32:35):
well, thank you so much, Ada.
That was like such a grounded,generous and powerful
conversation.
conversation.
So what I love about Ada is howshe brings heart and logic
together, whether it's throughher SOPs, her eye for
automation, or her deepunderstanding that being an OPM
isn't just about strategy andsystems.
It's about people.
It's about leadership.
It's about confidence and howthose things really evolve when

(32:59):
we give ourselves permission togo in.
If Ada's story sparked somethingin you, if you're thinking, I
want to build a business likethat too, then check out OBM
School.
You can also check out ouraccreditation at
obmacreditation.com.
Whether you're coming from a VAbackground or starting fresh,
you'll find a path that feelslike yours, just like Ada did.

(33:20):
And of course, if this episoderesonated, don't keep it to
yourself.
Share it with a fellow OBM orsomebody ready to step into a
leadership role online.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep evolving, and keep
owning your space like theleader you are.
Thank you, Ada.

SPEAKER_00 (33:38):
Thank you.