March 6, 2023 • 27 mins
Tune in to hear the inspiring story of Natalie Guzman, founder and CEO of two powerhouse businesses. Unsatisfied with her 9-5 job after having children, she decided to make a change for herself and went on an incredible journey - launching NG Virtual Assistant & hitting six figures within three months AND NG Marketing Group one year later! Join us as we delve into how Natalie made it all happen while also juggling family life so you can take action today towards turning your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Seven FigureBuilder Show.
My name is Julie Barick, founderof Seven Figure Builder, where
we help high achieving CEOs freeup their time with gorgeous
automations to scale theirbusiness to seven figures and
beyond.
And I'm here today with myfriend Natalie Gusman.
How are you?
Hey, I'm good.
How are you today, Julie?
I am Awesome.
I'm thrilled to have you on theshow today.
(00:21):
Yeah, thank you much for havingme.
I'm so excited to be here.
Yeah, totally.
So for anyone that has not hadthe pleasure to meet you yet,
can you tell me a little bitabout what you do with your
business?
Sure.
So I own two businesses, NGVirtual Assistant, as well as NG
Marketing Group.
NG Virtual Assistant is avirtual assistant agency.
(00:42):
We have US-based andinternational virtual
assistants.
And NG Marketing Group is wespecialize in website design,
course creation, buildingsummits, basically all the back
end of your business to make itlook beautiful and functional.
Awesome.
And I hear you are like afirecracker.
You went from like zero to 60right away.
(01:04):
Can you tell us a little bitabout how you got started?
Yeah, so it is crazy.
So in 2015 we had a struggle toget pregnant actually, and I
went to my job.
I was finally in like the safezone of pregnancy.
And they I told my job once Iwas 12 weeks and they told me I
had two days to give birth andthen I would have to go back to
(01:27):
work.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
So I of course was like, no way.
I quit right then and there.
And because I didn't want anytype of company to have that
much control of my life.
And that's definitely notsomething that I have value in.
So I quit and right away startedlooking for ways that I can make
(01:48):
money from home while raising myfamily.
And I discovered being a virtualassistant, and within three
months we hit six figures.
And I scaled it into an agency.
Now I have multiple team membersand virtual assistants, and
eventually we started doing somuch web design that I turned it
into a marketing agency.
(02:10):
That's incredible.
That that's absolutelyincredible and it's amazing how,
thank you.
You're welcome.
How those.
Situations where we think mightbe, devastating or you, a boss
tells you that and it's oh myGod, are you kidding me?
And it has launched you intosuch success to be out on your
own and just was, the catalyst,that driver that you needed to
(02:32):
really push yourself.
So that's an incredible story.
Very proud of what you've beenable to accomplish.
Yes, thank you.
It's definitely been a journeyand it's just taught me so much
along the way and has really,created a passion I have for
creating businesses now.
So I love what I do.
That's awesome.
So do you help businessesprimarily in the US or do you
help them around the world orwhere your clients?
(02:53):
I.
So we have clients all over theworld, but primarily in the US
because this is where my networkis.
But yeah, and we even have staffall across the US as well, and
some international.
Awesome.
So other than a hugelymotivating factor of wanting to
be home with your family, whatdo you think helped you reach
that success so quickly?
(03:14):
I think networking.
I always say, your network isyour net worth, and so I just
try to surround myself andconnect with people, and I also
went into every meeting wantingto help people.
So my passion is helpingentrepreneurs similar to yours
so you definitely get where I'mcoming from, but I just love
(03:35):
getting on that one-on-onemeeting with a client and taking
their vision and making it areality on the digital space is
just so much fun for me and myteam.
Absolutely, and I think that'sall the difference.
If you approach somebody with ameans of, or a motivation of
sales, that's one thing where ifyou approach them with a
motivation of helping and trulygenuine wanting to help, it
(03:57):
comes across and it's, a totallydifferent thing.
Oh, definitely.
And it's funny because wheneveryou get into business, they say
sales, right?
That's what's gonna keep yourbusiness going.
But I've always gone from like asoft sales angle where I'm not
really selling, like I'm okay ifmy business is not a fit for you
or you're not a fit for me.
Cuz I go both ways.
(04:18):
But I wanna help you.
And so if my services help youand they're in your price range,
awesome.
And then we're definitely thereto get the ball rolling.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's truly being a fit foreach other.
It's dating where it's, thepersonalities have to gel, the
goals need to gel, like you needto be aligned for it to actually
work.
Definitely.
We're actually rebranding thevirtual assistant agency with
(04:39):
the name VA Matchmakers.
That's awesome.
Because I literally matchmaker.
My, even like on my marketingteam, I match make
personalities, our accountmanagers are make sure they fit
with the client that they'regonna be matched with, just to
make sure it's an easy processand everyone gets along.
Yeah, so I, one thing thatopened my eyes to the value VAs
(05:01):
was one I was reading throughthe four hour work week, which
is one of my favorite books.
And he goes into all thesedifferent ways that you can
outsource your life and getpeople to help.
And what do you find with yourVAs are the ways that they help
people the most?
Yeah, so there's so many things.
A VA is such a general term,right?
They can literally help withanything depending on who you
(05:22):
have.
I always tell everyone yourfirst hire should be an
executive assistant just becausewhen the experience they have is
gonna just make your life somuch easier in the long run.
And they can do a very widerange of things.
And I always love whenever Imatch.
An entrepreneur with anexecutive assistant, cuz they're
(05:42):
like, man, I didn't know I hadall this time.
Now what am I gonna do withmyself?
So I really love that thatmatch.
But yeah, they can help prettymuch with everything.
I started out actually as afamily manager.
So what I did was I scheduledappointments for ACOs kids and I
Signed and handled paperworkfor.
(06:05):
She had a father that waselderly and so I made sure that
the nursing home and thepharmacy, everyone was connected
and on the same page and justthings that I did as a mom that
was starting to do as a mom, cuzI was just a brand new mom.
So that was really cool that myfirst client, I was a family
manager.
That's amazing.
Which really points to, it's notjust your business, right?
(06:25):
There's so much in your lifethat they can help you with.
But the key I would think istrust, right?
Like you need to be able totrust this person and have faith
that they're actually gonna dowhat you want and be in good
faith, cuz they're involved in alot of pieces of your life.
So how do you go about vettingpeople and training people?
What does that look like?
Sure.
(06:45):
So I have a couple differentthings.
So the first is my timerecording software.
That is probably one of the bestthings about my business that
most virtual assistant agenciesdon't.
It takes screen recordings everyfive minutes of their screen,
but everyone knows I use it, myVAs and my clients, and I just
let them know, if there's everan issue.
It's just there for safety onboth ends.
(07:07):
So if one person's sayingsomething wasn't done or it was
done this way, I can just goback to the recordings and show
it.
So that is one of the best ways.
Number two is we use systemslike LastPass for password
protection.
And then the third thing ismatching.
Like I said earlier, thepersonalities is a really big
factor.
Almost all of my virtualassistants have experience as a
(07:29):
virtual assistant, which makesthe process easier.
I also give them training onbusiness because we, I.
Our virtual assistants arebasically doing a lot of the
things in business and we needto support our clients.
And if we don't understand liketerms like, ROI and baby offers
and freebies and all thosedifferent types of systems and
(07:52):
marketing techniques, then Idon't feel like we can
effectively help our clients toour best of our ability.
And then I just make sure I havereally good gut instinct too.
So I do use my gut instinct whenI hire people.
I've been doing this since 2015,so it's nothing new for me.
So I really know, when the rightfit for a virtual assistant is
(08:12):
there and when it's not.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And your gut will tell you alot.
It's important to listen tothat.
Yes.
So along with the couple toolsyou mentioned, do you use
automation in your business orhow has that helped free up your
time?
We save 28 hours a week inautomations.
That's amazing.
And how do you do that?
(08:33):
Yeah we have a lot of differentaspects of our business, right?
So I also have podcasts myself.
I got the virtual assistantagency, I have the marketing
agency.
So I start all my automationsbasically on the freebie baby
offer high ticket kind of salesfunnel.
So as soon as someone schedulesa discovery call with us, they
(08:55):
get automated emails and textreminders of that appointment,
and then they also get put intoa lead funnel.
So where they get differentemails and email marketing
techniques that we have to guidethem along that process.
And then we have, when theybecome a client, we send out the
contract automatically as wellas different terms and things.
(09:17):
We even have a what our processlooks like email.
So they get to see, we use aprogram called Base Camp.
So they get a tutorial of thatprogram and they also get to
know what the next steps is, andthey get the introduction to
their account manager.
As well.
So that's just a little bit ofwhat we do with it, but we have
probably a hundred other waysthat we use automations cuz I
(09:39):
absolutely love them.
That's awesome.
So you're speaking my language,that's my specialty of course.
But what would you say that theproblem that solved for you?
So it definitely solved a lot offorgetting because I have so
much going on, not just in mybusiness.
I'm also a chair coach to fourand six year olds, and I have
(10:01):
goodness, two children.
Yeah.
So my head is all over theplace.
Instead of, and my teams, cuz wehave a lot of clients, a lot of
different things going on.
So this prevents us fromforgetting to do those little
steps that are crucial in abusiness like the contract,
especially if you forget to sendthat out, you're probably a big
trouble.
So those are type of some of thethings also with follow ups.
(10:24):
I love follow ups cuz it'sincreased our conversion rate.
So our clients are more likely,our leads are more likely to
become clients because we have afollow up system in place.
And I imagine it helps buildthat confidence with your
clients also, just that theyknow what to expect.
That gets rid of thatuncertainty of, whether you know
what's happening next.
Like they know that next step.
(10:46):
Yeah, definitely.
Communication is such a bigaspect in the business.
You have to have communicationwith your team and with your
clients, and our automationsreally help bridge that.
That's awesome.
So for anyone that could bethinking of bringing on a VA but
concerned about businessdetails, do you do any type of
like NDAs, non-disclosure actsor things for their privacy?
(11:08):
Yes, we have all those.
So we ha we do, we havenon-compete, we have
non-disclosure.
Our contracts are one of thethings that we invested in just
to make sure everyone is safe onall sides.
And it gives that another waythat we protect our clients is
that I am my company, the agencyis the man.
So we are working on both sidesand we're making sure that is
(11:31):
safe on all ways around.
Fantastic.
Yeah, and that's, it's soincredible, so important for
those business owners to havethat confidence and the people
that are helping them and justcoming into their world, so
That's awesome.
So you mentioned you've got alot of balls in the air, right?
So how do you juggle family andbusiness?
What are your suggestions forthat?
(11:52):
Making sure that you are onlyworking during business hours or
whatever your business hours areto you keep that business.
And then family time reallytrying to be present during
family time.
So one thing that we do everynight is read to our kids.
That is something that.
I keep consistent one, becauseif I missed a day, my daughter
(12:14):
would be on my butt.
And then number two is justbecause it's really that bonding
time, that special time for myfamily.
So I know sometimes I do work,sometimes I break my rules and
I'll just say, Hey kids, this,it's a really busy week.
I just need to take one or twocalls and then I'm gonna be done
and I'll be present on you.
So also like that communication,letting your kids know.
(12:37):
When it's spilling over and youdon't want it to, is really
important.
They need to know what's goingon and I think that really helps
my children as well.
And they love it.
They love that their mom is abusiness owner.
I think they think it, mydaughter thinks it's the coolest
thing and wants to have her ownlittle business one day, so
that's awesome.
Yeah, and I think, as a mom's,and I'm a mother of three, so I,
(12:57):
we struggle with letting ourwork bleed into our family time,
which I agree with you.
It's so important to have thoseboundaries.
But I think it's also importantfor the kids to learn that they
can't always have yourattention, right?
To have the boundaries for them,like they need to know, okay, I
can have your attention now and,be able to really be present for
them, which is hugely importanttoo.
(13:18):
Yeah, I am very open with mychildren, so I tell them
everything that's going on inour lives in a kid appropriate
way.
Of course.
But so they know, like when wehad to struggle with money, they
know when those times were,they're like, oh, mommy's
working a little bit morebecause, it's not as much money
right now because it's holidayseason or something like that.
So my kids have been able tounderstand that and they're
(13:42):
like, oh, let's come up with newways to make money so that we do
it together as a family.
And that's like the coolestthing is when you can make your
business into a family project.
I think it's like the coolestthing.
My daughter will jump onmeetings sometimes and say hi to
our clients.
And my son likes to go on thecomputer and I, he's in he's
(14:02):
done some coding classes, soeventually he might be designing
websites for us.
Who knows?
But I really like that it's not,the business isn't just about
me, it's about my families, andthen it's about my employee and
their families as well.
Yeah.
That's so awesome.
I know my kids were younger.
I didn't do that as much as Ifeel like I probably should
have.
Like I tried to shield them andkeep things normal and not have
(14:25):
them worry about that.
But in hindsight, and as my kidsgot older, obviously I shared
more with them and thosestruggles, but I think it also
helps teach them perspective andresilience of this is not the
end of the world, right?
So what is your favorite leadgeneration strategy?
You had said networking beforehas been really key with your
business, but what do you findworks best for you?
(14:46):
Sure.
So when I first started, thiswas at the point where we were
starting to do a couple websitedesign things.
So what I would do, it'sactually, I haven't really heard
of anyone else getting so muchtraction as I have or utilizing
the strategy, but I found techstartups, Facebook groups, and I
would join them.
I would learn the software, andthen I would answer their
(15:08):
members' questions like, Andtroubleshooting for them.
And I ended up creating packagesaround those softwares and
offering it to the people inthat group that I was helping.
Yeah, which is awesome from botha market research perspective
and also from a solutionperspective.
Like you knew exactly what theywere looking for in the moment
and could help them, which makesa lot of sense as to why things
(15:31):
took off for you.
Yeah.
And then another aspect of thatwas the CEOs, because a lot of
times when you're a techstartup, you don't really have
all the resources in place tosupport those members.
So I see a lot of companies arestruggling with their customer
support services because, Theyhaven't had that in place.
They're so focused on the techportion of their business.
(15:52):
So that's where I came, came inand then those tech CEOs ended
up reaching out to me andstarted making deals in
collaborations with me.
And that's really what built themarketing group.
And it just took off just asquickly as the virtual assistant
agency.
Wow, that's incredible.
Now, with the marketing, yousaid you do web design,
(16:13):
development, all of that.
Do you help people come up withthe initial concepts and take
them all the way through?
Or where do you help them inthat, that journey?
Yeah, so we do a lot of thebackend buildouts, right?
So we do, we have a website anda day package where you can get
a website created in a day,which is pretty cool.
That's my favorite thing cuz Ilove the shock on my client's
faces when they see it.
(16:34):
And then we have course creationand summit design, all those fun
things.
And we, I'm sorry, I lost mytrain of thought cause my
thought that's okay.
My dog scratched.
You're good.
What was your question?
Can you remind me?
Yeah, for web design, where doyou help them in that journey?
(16:55):
Web design.
Okay.
Okay, so we do all the backendfor our clients.
We create these websites in aday.
They're amazing packages.
They're one of my favorites.
I love seeing my client'sexpressions when they can see a
website built in a day.
It's.
Awesome.
We do the course creation,summit creation.
(17:16):
Basically anything that isdigitally designed, we do it and
we do help with, so a lot of ourclients were asking for course
creation, but they neededsomeone to really guide them
through the process.
So that's where my businessconsulting kind of came in and
took off because I was able tocreate a package off my personal
website where I could just.
(17:37):
Really guide them throughcreating the course.
Cuz I've created so many when Istarted as a virtual assistant.
Yeah, that has been reallypopular.
But we basically, anytime aclient comes to us and they say,
I need help with this.
If we have the team and thecapabilities to do it, we'll
just create a package rightthere on the spot and make sure
that we're there to help them.
(17:58):
That's amazing, and I'm sureseeing those results so quickly
and getting the help they needso quickly is just huge, so
that's really great.
Yeah, definitely.
It makes'em feel like, we'rethere to support them.
We're always there to help, andthat's exactly what I want my
company to be.
For sure.
So looking towards the yearahead, it sounds like you've got
lots of things in the works, butwhat's the most life-changing
(18:19):
goal for you this year?
I think I definitely, we arefocusing on NG marketing group
and just really building ourclientele because with the
virtual assistant agency, a lotof our clients are long-term,
but marketing agency is moreshort-term.
It's per project.
So I really want to startbuilding that and also getting
(18:42):
to that seven figure goal is soimportant to me and I really
hope we can get there.
That's amazing.
Amazing.
And what would you say has beenthe hardest challenge that
you've had to overcome throughall this?
I think definitely keeping upwith supply and demand, so
making sure I have enough stafffor how many clients and then
(19:05):
how many clients versus how manystaff is a constant battle
you're usually struggling inone, if not the other,
especially on a service-basedindustry that this is one of the
things I probably struggle withthe most.
Yeah.
And if you could go back andgive your 18 year old self one
piece of advice, what would itbe?
Oh gosh.
Just keep doing what you'redoing.
(19:27):
So I think I, I did not have aeasy childhood.
My story's actually prettycrazy, and so I think at 18 was
one of the years that I justfelt really hopeless.
And but I was on the rightjourney to get to where I am
today.
So I think I'm very thankful forevery age that I went through
(19:48):
struggles because it brought meto where I am today, and it's
pretty fantastic.
For sure.
Yeah.
And I really believe thosestruggles really shape who we
are and our personality and ourresilience and being able to
take on those struggles and makeyou the person that can handle
all of this and be able tojuggle so much.
So I think that's amazing.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm definitely appreciative forit.
(20:09):
Yeah.
Now, looking over your business,your family, everything you've
got going on, how would youdefine success?
Oh man, that is a hard one.
Ooh.
I would say success is beinghappy and content with where you
are.
So I was happy and content ondifferent, I'm really success.
(20:32):
I would consider myself prettysuccessful right now, and I
might be super more exsuccessful in the future.
And so I believe, hold on, letme start over.
That's fine.
I have a stutter.
So what did I say to, oh, you'regood.
S words.
You're good.
No worries.
All right.
(20:53):
Okay.
How would I define success?
I know it's a tough question,that's why I save it for the
end, but it's honestly reallycool to hear how people define
it cuz so often it's not afinancial goal, right?
It's, there's so much more thatplays into it.
Exactly.
So yeah, definitely for me,being content is what defines
success for me, being content inexactly where I am today and
(21:17):
being happy with everything Ihave going on, even.
During the chaos, right?
Because life is always gonna bechaotic, but if you have the
things that make you feelsupportive, supported, and
content, I feel like that's whatsuccesses to me.
Like right now, I have myfamily, I have my dog, which I
don't know if you can hear inthe background, but she's going
(21:38):
crazy and I have, an amazinghusband.
And I have this business andthen I also have my employees
that be, have become like thesecond family to me.
And I'm, I feel like even thoughI've been doing this for so
long, I'm really only in thebeginning of my journey and I am
really excited to see where myjourney takes me from here.
(21:59):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And that's so true that we're ona continual journey, right?
Like that definition of successtends to change and shift over
the years as far as where we'reheaded.
And that financial goal willoftentimes continue to move as
you're heading that direction,which is awesome.
But there's so much more thatplays into feeling that success
and contentment in where youare.
(22:20):
So I love that.
I love that definition.
Yeah, definitely.
Thank you.
Sure.
So if you had the attention ofthe whole world for five
minutes, what would you tellthem?
Oh gosh.
Yeah.
I thought the last question washard.
So I would say if I had theattention of the whole world for
five minutes, I would tell themto appreciate every step of the
(22:44):
journey that you're on.
And life is hard, it's messy,it's, and to always start ugly.
I think that's one of myfavorite sayings is if you are
starting a business or you'retrying to grow your business, Or
you're trying to start newaspects of your business.
Like when I design thismarketing agency, always start
(23:05):
ugly.
You can perfect it later on.
You don't need to start rightnow, or no, you do need to start
right now.
You don't need to startperfectly.
Yeah, so that's definitely, Ithink one of the things that
have helped me grow so quicklyis that I did it when it was
messy.
I did it before I had a websiteand a landing page.
I did it before I had socialmedia and my.
(23:27):
I don't even fo everyone says tofocus on social media and I
actually don't.
I focus on relationships.
So I think those are definitelythe aspects that are really
important to grow in life.
A thousand percent.
Yeah.
If we wait until things areperfect to start, we're never
gonna start.
That's just the reality of it.
Yeah.
And then you're gonna have somuch anxiety and the anxiety is
just gonna tear you down.
(23:49):
For sure.
For sure.
So how can listeners bestsupport you in your work?
Yeah, definitely.
So we have so many things goingon in my businesses, so the best
way to find everything is at mypersonal website.
Its Natalie guzman.com.
It's natalie guzman.com and we,I have all the links to all the
(24:11):
different businesses and thingsthat I am doing there.
So you can see if maybe, you canalways reach out to me if you
have any questions or if you'reinterested in collaborating.
I love working with otherentrepreneurs, awesome, Natalie,
and we can see my dog behind metoo.
Yeah, and I'm, yeah, we'll haveall the links below for you, so
(24:31):
make it easy for people to reachout to you, and I really
appreciate having you on today.
It was a lot of fun to chat.
Yeah, thanks for having me,Julie.
I've enjoyed this puppy partywe've had.
Totally.
And you can findme@sevenfigurebuilder.com and I
look forward to seeing you onthe next episode.
Welcome to the Seven FigureBuilder Show.
My name is Julie Barick, founderof Seven Figure Builder, where
we help high achieving CEOs freeup their time with gorgeous
automations to scale theirbusiness to seven figures and
beyond.
And I'm here today with myfriend Natalie Gusman.
How are you?
Hey, I'm good.
How are you today, Julie?
I am Awesome.
I'm thrilled to have you on theshow today.
(00:21):
Yeah, thank you much for havingme.
I'm so excited to be here.
Yeah, totally.
So for anyone that has not hadthe pleasure to meet you yet,
can you tell me a little bitabout what you do with your
business?
Sure.
So I own two businesses, NGVirtual Assistant, as well as NG
Marketing Group.
NG Virtual Assistant is avirtual assistant agency.
(00:42):
We have US-based andinternational virtual
assistants.
And NG Marketing Group is wespecialize in website design,
course creation, buildingsummits, basically all the back
end of your business to make itlook beautiful and functional.
Awesome.
And I hear you are like afirecracker.
You went from like zero to 60right away.
(01:04):
Can you tell us a little bitabout how you got started?
Yeah, so it is crazy.
So in 2015 we had a struggle toget pregnant actually, and I
went to my job.
I was finally in like the safezone of pregnancy.
And they I told my job once Iwas 12 weeks and they told me I
had two days to give birth andthen I would have to go back to
(01:27):
work.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
So I of course was like, no way.
I quit right then and there.
And because I didn't want anytype of company to have that
much control of my life.
And that's definitely notsomething that I have value in.
So I quit and right away startedlooking for ways that I can make
(01:48):
money from home while raising myfamily.
And I discovered being a virtualassistant, and within three
months we hit six figures.
And I scaled it into an agency.
Now I have multiple team membersand virtual assistants, and
eventually we started doing somuch web design that I turned it
into a marketing agency.
(02:10):
That's incredible.
That that's absolutelyincredible and it's amazing how,
thank you.
You're welcome.
How those.
Situations where we think mightbe, devastating or you, a boss
tells you that and it's oh myGod, are you kidding me?
And it has launched you intosuch success to be out on your
own and just was, the catalyst,that driver that you needed to
(02:32):
really push yourself.
So that's an incredible story.
Very proud of what you've beenable to accomplish.
Yes, thank you.
It's definitely been a journeyand it's just taught me so much
along the way and has really,created a passion I have for
creating businesses now.
So I love what I do.
That's awesome.
So do you help businessesprimarily in the US or do you
help them around the world orwhere your clients?
(02:53):
I.
So we have clients all over theworld, but primarily in the US
because this is where my networkis.
But yeah, and we even have staffall across the US as well, and
some international.
Awesome.
So other than a hugelymotivating factor of wanting to
be home with your family, whatdo you think helped you reach
that success so quickly?
(03:14):
I think networking.
I always say, your network isyour net worth, and so I just
try to surround myself andconnect with people, and I also
went into every meeting wantingto help people.
So my passion is helpingentrepreneurs similar to yours
so you definitely get where I'mcoming from, but I just love
(03:35):
getting on that one-on-onemeeting with a client and taking
their vision and making it areality on the digital space is
just so much fun for me and myteam.
Absolutely, and I think that'sall the difference.
If you approach somebody with ameans of, or a motivation of
sales, that's one thing where ifyou approach them with a
motivation of helping and trulygenuine wanting to help, it
(03:57):
comes across and it's, a totallydifferent thing.
Oh, definitely.
And it's funny because wheneveryou get into business, they say
sales, right?
That's what's gonna keep yourbusiness going.
But I've always gone from like asoft sales angle where I'm not
really selling, like I'm okay ifmy business is not a fit for you
or you're not a fit for me.
Cuz I go both ways.
(04:18):
But I wanna help you.
And so if my services help youand they're in your price range,
awesome.
And then we're definitely thereto get the ball rolling.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's truly being a fit foreach other.
It's dating where it's, thepersonalities have to gel, the
goals need to gel, like you needto be aligned for it to actually
work.
Definitely.
We're actually rebranding thevirtual assistant agency with
(04:39):
the name VA Matchmakers.
That's awesome.
Because I literally matchmaker.
My, even like on my marketingteam, I match make
personalities, our accountmanagers are make sure they fit
with the client that they'regonna be matched with, just to
make sure it's an easy processand everyone gets along.
Yeah, so I, one thing thatopened my eyes to the value VAs
(05:01):
was one I was reading throughthe four hour work week, which
is one of my favorite books.
And he goes into all thesedifferent ways that you can
outsource your life and getpeople to help.
And what do you find with yourVAs are the ways that they help
people the most?
Yeah, so there's so many things.
A VA is such a general term,right?
They can literally help withanything depending on who you
(05:22):
have.
I always tell everyone yourfirst hire should be an
executive assistant just becausewhen the experience they have is
gonna just make your life somuch easier in the long run.
And they can do a very widerange of things.
And I always love whenever Imatch.
An entrepreneur with anexecutive assistant, cuz they're
(05:42):
like, man, I didn't know I hadall this time.
Now what am I gonna do withmyself?
So I really love that thatmatch.
But yeah, they can help prettymuch with everything.
I started out actually as afamily manager.
So what I did was I scheduledappointments for ACOs kids and I
Signed and handled paperworkfor.
(06:05):
She had a father that waselderly and so I made sure that
the nursing home and thepharmacy, everyone was connected
and on the same page and justthings that I did as a mom that
was starting to do as a mom, cuzI was just a brand new mom.
So that was really cool that myfirst client, I was a family
manager.
That's amazing.
Which really points to, it's notjust your business, right?
(06:25):
There's so much in your lifethat they can help you with.
But the key I would think istrust, right?
Like you need to be able totrust this person and have faith
that they're actually gonna dowhat you want and be in good
faith, cuz they're involved in alot of pieces of your life.
So how do you go about vettingpeople and training people?
What does that look like?
Sure.
(06:45):
So I have a couple differentthings.
So the first is my timerecording software.
That is probably one of the bestthings about my business that
most virtual assistant agenciesdon't.
It takes screen recordings everyfive minutes of their screen,
but everyone knows I use it, myVAs and my clients, and I just
let them know, if there's everan issue.
It's just there for safety onboth ends.
(07:07):
So if one person's sayingsomething wasn't done or it was
done this way, I can just goback to the recordings and show
it.
So that is one of the best ways.
Number two is we use systemslike LastPass for password
protection.
And then the third thing ismatching.
Like I said earlier, thepersonalities is a really big
factor.
Almost all of my virtualassistants have experience as a
(07:29):
virtual assistant, which makesthe process easier.
I also give them training onbusiness because we, I.
Our virtual assistants arebasically doing a lot of the
things in business and we needto support our clients.
And if we don't understand liketerms like, ROI and baby offers
and freebies and all thosedifferent types of systems and
(07:52):
marketing techniques, then Idon't feel like we can
effectively help our clients toour best of our ability.
And then I just make sure I havereally good gut instinct too.
So I do use my gut instinct whenI hire people.
I've been doing this since 2015,so it's nothing new for me.
So I really know, when the rightfit for a virtual assistant is
(08:12):
there and when it's not.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And your gut will tell you alot.
It's important to listen tothat.
Yes.
So along with the couple toolsyou mentioned, do you use
automation in your business orhow has that helped free up your
time?
We save 28 hours a week inautomations.
That's amazing.
And how do you do that?
(08:33):
Yeah we have a lot of differentaspects of our business, right?
So I also have podcasts myself.
I got the virtual assistantagency, I have the marketing
agency.
So I start all my automationsbasically on the freebie baby
offer high ticket kind of salesfunnel.
So as soon as someone schedulesa discovery call with us, they
(08:55):
get automated emails and textreminders of that appointment,
and then they also get put intoa lead funnel.
So where they get differentemails and email marketing
techniques that we have to guidethem along that process.
And then we have, when theybecome a client, we send out the
contract automatically as wellas different terms and things.
(09:17):
We even have a what our processlooks like email.
So they get to see, we use aprogram called Base Camp.
So they get a tutorial of thatprogram and they also get to
know what the next steps is, andthey get the introduction to
their account manager.
As well.
So that's just a little bit ofwhat we do with it, but we have
probably a hundred other waysthat we use automations cuz I
(09:39):
absolutely love them.
That's awesome.
So you're speaking my language,that's my specialty of course.
But what would you say that theproblem that solved for you?
So it definitely solved a lot offorgetting because I have so
much going on, not just in mybusiness.
I'm also a chair coach to fourand six year olds, and I have
(10:01):
goodness, two children.
Yeah.
So my head is all over theplace.
Instead of, and my teams, cuz wehave a lot of clients, a lot of
different things going on.
So this prevents us fromforgetting to do those little
steps that are crucial in abusiness like the contract,
especially if you forget to sendthat out, you're probably a big
trouble.
So those are type of some of thethings also with follow ups.
(10:24):
I love follow ups cuz it'sincreased our conversion rate.
So our clients are more likely,our leads are more likely to
become clients because we have afollow up system in place.
And I imagine it helps buildthat confidence with your
clients also, just that theyknow what to expect.
That gets rid of thatuncertainty of, whether you know
what's happening next.
Like they know that next step.
(10:46):
Yeah, definitely.
Communication is such a bigaspect in the business.
You have to have communicationwith your team and with your
clients, and our automationsreally help bridge that.
That's awesome.
So for anyone that could bethinking of bringing on a VA but
concerned about businessdetails, do you do any type of
like NDAs, non-disclosure actsor things for their privacy?
(11:08):
Yes, we have all those.
So we ha we do, we havenon-compete, we have
non-disclosure.
Our contracts are one of thethings that we invested in just
to make sure everyone is safe onall sides.
And it gives that another waythat we protect our clients is
that I am my company, the agencyis the man.
So we are working on both sidesand we're making sure that is
(11:31):
safe on all ways around.
Fantastic.
Yeah, and that's, it's soincredible, so important for
those business owners to havethat confidence and the people
that are helping them and justcoming into their world, so
That's awesome.
So you mentioned you've got alot of balls in the air, right?
So how do you juggle family andbusiness?
What are your suggestions forthat?
(11:52):
Making sure that you are onlyworking during business hours or
whatever your business hours areto you keep that business.
And then family time reallytrying to be present during
family time.
So one thing that we do everynight is read to our kids.
That is something that.
I keep consistent one, becauseif I missed a day, my daughter
(12:14):
would be on my butt.
And then number two is justbecause it's really that bonding
time, that special time for myfamily.
So I know sometimes I do work,sometimes I break my rules and
I'll just say, Hey kids, this,it's a really busy week.
I just need to take one or twocalls and then I'm gonna be done
and I'll be present on you.
So also like that communication,letting your kids know.
(12:37):
When it's spilling over and youdon't want it to, is really
important.
They need to know what's goingon and I think that really helps
my children as well.
And they love it.
They love that their mom is abusiness owner.
I think they think it, mydaughter thinks it's the coolest
thing and wants to have her ownlittle business one day, so
that's awesome.
Yeah, and I think, as a mom's,and I'm a mother of three, so I,
(12:57):
we struggle with letting ourwork bleed into our family time,
which I agree with you.
It's so important to have thoseboundaries.
But I think it's also importantfor the kids to learn that they
can't always have yourattention, right?
To have the boundaries for them,like they need to know, okay, I
can have your attention now and,be able to really be present for
them, which is hugely importanttoo.
(13:18):
Yeah, I am very open with mychildren, so I tell them
everything that's going on inour lives in a kid appropriate
way.
Of course.
But so they know, like when wehad to struggle with money, they
know when those times were,they're like, oh, mommy's
working a little bit morebecause, it's not as much money
right now because it's holidayseason or something like that.
So my kids have been able tounderstand that and they're
(13:42):
like, oh, let's come up with newways to make money so that we do
it together as a family.
And that's like the coolestthing is when you can make your
business into a family project.
I think it's like the coolestthing.
My daughter will jump onmeetings sometimes and say hi to
our clients.
And my son likes to go on thecomputer and I, he's in he's
(14:02):
done some coding classes, soeventually he might be designing
websites for us.
Who knows?
But I really like that it's not,the business isn't just about
me, it's about my families, andthen it's about my employee and
their families as well.
Yeah.
That's so awesome.
I know my kids were younger.
I didn't do that as much as Ifeel like I probably should
have.
Like I tried to shield them andkeep things normal and not have
(14:25):
them worry about that.
But in hindsight, and as my kidsgot older, obviously I shared
more with them and thosestruggles, but I think it also
helps teach them perspective andresilience of this is not the
end of the world, right?
So what is your favorite leadgeneration strategy?
You had said networking beforehas been really key with your
business, but what do you findworks best for you?
(14:46):
Sure.
So when I first started, thiswas at the point where we were
starting to do a couple websitedesign things.
So what I would do, it'sactually, I haven't really heard
of anyone else getting so muchtraction as I have or utilizing
the strategy, but I found techstartups, Facebook groups, and I
would join them.
I would learn the software, andthen I would answer their
(15:08):
members' questions like, Andtroubleshooting for them.
And I ended up creating packagesaround those softwares and
offering it to the people inthat group that I was helping.
Yeah, which is awesome from botha market research perspective
and also from a solutionperspective.
Like you knew exactly what theywere looking for in the moment
and could help them, which makesa lot of sense as to why things
(15:31):
took off for you.
Yeah.
And then another aspect of thatwas the CEOs, because a lot of
times when you're a techstartup, you don't really have
all the resources in place tosupport those members.
So I see a lot of companies arestruggling with their customer
support services because, Theyhaven't had that in place.
They're so focused on the techportion of their business.
(15:52):
So that's where I came, came inand then those tech CEOs ended
up reaching out to me andstarted making deals in
collaborations with me.
And that's really what built themarketing group.
And it just took off just asquickly as the virtual assistant
agency.
Wow, that's incredible.
Now, with the marketing, yousaid you do web design,
(16:13):
development, all of that.
Do you help people come up withthe initial concepts and take
them all the way through?
Or where do you help them inthat, that journey?
Yeah, so we do a lot of thebackend buildouts, right?
So we do, we have a website anda day package where you can get
a website created in a day,which is pretty cool.
That's my favorite thing cuz Ilove the shock on my client's
faces when they see it.
(16:34):
And then we have course creationand summit design, all those fun
things.
And we, I'm sorry, I lost mytrain of thought cause my
thought that's okay.
My dog scratched.
You're good.
What was your question?
Can you remind me?
Yeah, for web design, where doyou help them in that journey?
(16:55):
Web design.
Okay.
Okay, so we do all the backendfor our clients.
We create these websites in aday.
They're amazing packages.
They're one of my favorites.
I love seeing my client'sexpressions when they can see a
website built in a day.
It's.
Awesome.
We do the course creation,summit creation.
(17:16):
Basically anything that isdigitally designed, we do it and
we do help with, so a lot of ourclients were asking for course
creation, but they neededsomeone to really guide them
through the process.
So that's where my businessconsulting kind of came in and
took off because I was able tocreate a package off my personal
website where I could just.
(17:37):
Really guide them throughcreating the course.
Cuz I've created so many when Istarted as a virtual assistant.
Yeah, that has been reallypopular.
But we basically, anytime aclient comes to us and they say,
I need help with this.
If we have the team and thecapabilities to do it, we'll
just create a package rightthere on the spot and make sure
that we're there to help them.
(17:58):
That's amazing, and I'm sureseeing those results so quickly
and getting the help they needso quickly is just huge, so
that's really great.
Yeah, definitely.
It makes'em feel like, we'rethere to support them.
We're always there to help, andthat's exactly what I want my
company to be.
For sure.
So looking towards the yearahead, it sounds like you've got
lots of things in the works, butwhat's the most life-changing
(18:19):
goal for you this year?
I think I definitely, we arefocusing on NG marketing group
and just really building ourclientele because with the
virtual assistant agency, a lotof our clients are long-term,
but marketing agency is moreshort-term.
It's per project.
So I really want to startbuilding that and also getting
(18:42):
to that seven figure goal is soimportant to me and I really
hope we can get there.
That's amazing.
Amazing.
And what would you say has beenthe hardest challenge that
you've had to overcome throughall this?
I think definitely keeping upwith supply and demand, so
making sure I have enough stafffor how many clients and then
(19:05):
how many clients versus how manystaff is a constant battle
you're usually struggling inone, if not the other,
especially on a service-basedindustry that this is one of the
things I probably struggle withthe most.
Yeah.
And if you could go back andgive your 18 year old self one
piece of advice, what would itbe?
Oh gosh.
Just keep doing what you'redoing.
(19:27):
So I think I, I did not have aeasy childhood.
My story's actually prettycrazy, and so I think at 18 was
one of the years that I justfelt really hopeless.
And but I was on the rightjourney to get to where I am
today.
So I think I'm very thankful forevery age that I went through
(19:48):
struggles because it brought meto where I am today, and it's
pretty fantastic.
For sure.
Yeah.
And I really believe thosestruggles really shape who we
are and our personality and ourresilience and being able to
take on those struggles and makeyou the person that can handle
all of this and be able tojuggle so much.
So I think that's amazing.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm definitely appreciative forit.
(20:09):
Yeah.
Now, looking over your business,your family, everything you've
got going on, how would youdefine success?
Oh man, that is a hard one.
Ooh.
I would say success is beinghappy and content with where you
are.
So I was happy and content ondifferent, I'm really success.
(20:32):
I would consider myself prettysuccessful right now, and I
might be super more exsuccessful in the future.
And so I believe, hold on, letme start over.
That's fine.
I have a stutter.
So what did I say to, oh, you'regood.
S words.
You're good.
No worries.
All right.
(20:53):
Okay.
How would I define success?
I know it's a tough question,that's why I save it for the
end, but it's honestly reallycool to hear how people define
it cuz so often it's not afinancial goal, right?
It's, there's so much more thatplays into it.
Exactly.
So yeah, definitely for me,being content is what defines
success for me, being content inexactly where I am today and
(21:17):
being happy with everything Ihave going on, even.
During the chaos, right?
Because life is always gonna bechaotic, but if you have the
things that make you feelsupportive, supported, and
content, I feel like that's whatsuccesses to me.
Like right now, I have myfamily, I have my dog, which I
don't know if you can hear inthe background, but she's going
(21:38):
crazy and I have, an amazinghusband.
And I have this business andthen I also have my employees
that be, have become like thesecond family to me.
And I'm, I feel like even thoughI've been doing this for so
long, I'm really only in thebeginning of my journey and I am
really excited to see where myjourney takes me from here.
(21:59):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And that's so true that we're ona continual journey, right?
Like that definition of successtends to change and shift over
the years as far as where we'reheaded.
And that financial goal willoftentimes continue to move as
you're heading that direction,which is awesome.
But there's so much more thatplays into feeling that success
and contentment in where youare.
(22:20):
So I love that.
I love that definition.
Yeah, definitely.
Thank you.
Sure.
So if you had the attention ofthe whole world for five
minutes, what would you tellthem?
Oh gosh.
Yeah.
I thought the last question washard.
So I would say if I had theattention of the whole world for
five minutes, I would tell themto appreciate every step of the
(22:44):
journey that you're on.
And life is hard, it's messy,it's, and to always start ugly.
I think that's one of myfavorite sayings is if you are
starting a business or you'retrying to grow your business, Or
you're trying to start newaspects of your business.
Like when I design thismarketing agency, always start
(23:05):
ugly.
You can perfect it later on.
You don't need to start rightnow, or no, you do need to start
right now.
You don't need to startperfectly.
Yeah, so that's definitely, Ithink one of the things that
have helped me grow so quicklyis that I did it when it was
messy.
I did it before I had a websiteand a landing page.
I did it before I had socialmedia and my.
(23:27):
I don't even fo everyone says tofocus on social media and I
actually don't.
I focus on relationships.
So I think those are definitelythe aspects that are really
important to grow in life.
A thousand percent.
Yeah.
If we wait until things areperfect to start, we're never
gonna start.
That's just the reality of it.
Yeah.
And then you're gonna have somuch anxiety and the anxiety is
just gonna tear you down.
(23:49):
For sure.
For sure.
So how can listeners bestsupport you in your work?
Yeah, definitely.
So we have so many things goingon in my businesses, so the best
way to find everything is at mypersonal website.
Its Natalie guzman.com.
It's natalie guzman.com and we,I have all the links to all the
(24:11):
different businesses and thingsthat I am doing there.
So you can see if maybe, you canalways reach out to me if you
have any questions or if you'reinterested in collaborating.
I love working with otherentrepreneurs, awesome, Natalie,
and we can see my dog behind metoo.
Yeah, and I'm, yeah, we'll haveall the links below for you, so
(24:31):
make it easy for people to reachout to you, and I really
appreciate having you on today.
It was a lot of fun to chat.
Yeah, thanks for having me,Julie.
I've enjoyed this puppy partywe've had.
Totally.
And you can findme@sevenfigurebuilder.com and I
look forward to seeing you onthe next episode.
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