When Corporate Suits Don't Fit

In this episode of Briefing In, we are joined by Lawrence, a golden retriever to his friends and a secret weapon to his clients. Prior to being a VA, he was set on a career path in Finance and was a struggling corporate worker who wanted to make a name in the business world. However, he had to make several career pivots, and the rest, as you know, is history.

Get ready to listen to Lawrence and his empowering journey of self-discovery. Amidst the pandemic-induced lows, he realized the importance of self-care and by prioritizing his well-being and nurturing himself, he began to rebuild his confidence and sense of self-worth. This is an open conversation with Lawrence who shares his story, his rejected applications, and his ticket to the world of virtual assistance, packed with lessons on balancing success and personal well-being.

Don’t miss an episode and get access to exclusive Briefing In content by subscribing to our newsletter!

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) - Opening Spiel
(00:58) - Introducing Lawrence
(02:01) - Chapter 1: Being a part of the corporate world
(06:36) - Chapter 2: Pandemic and digital marketing shift
(11:24) - Chapter 3: Transition to a VA career
(16:05) - Chapter 4: Joining Wedding Workflows and client relationships
(22:26) - Chapter 5: Taking on a leadership role
(28:07) - Chapter 6: Challenges of leadership
(32:19) - Chapter 7: What is your definition of success?

START YOUR VA JOURNEY:

As part of “The VA’s Playbook: Productivity Series”, you can now get a FREE copy of The 5 Essentials Guide for Virtual Assistants! Head over to our Instagram and click the link in our bio to access this guide!

Read the full transcript of Episode 2 here.

Music in episode from TELL YOUR STORY music by ikson™

Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briefinginpod/

Find us on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briefinginpod

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:58 Introducing Lawrence
• 2:01 Chapter 1: Being a part of the corporate world
• 6:36 Chapter 2: Pandemic and digital marketing shift
• 11:24 Chapter 3: Transition to a VA career
• 16:05 Chapter 4: Joining Wedding Workflows and client relationships
• 22:26 Chapter 5: Taking on a leadership role
• 28:07 Chapter 6: Challenges of leadership
• 32:19 Chapter 7: What is your definition of success?

Transcript

Intro
Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Briefing In podcast. Today, we're joined by someone who has a very fascinating and moving story. He's going to share his life during post grad, as well as his years in the corporate world. Definitely buckle up for this episode because our guest has a many years of experience under belt and he's going to be sharing his stories of triumphs and challenges, so you'll definitely have a life lesson or two. This is your host Chelsea, and this is a Briefing In.

So for today's episode, I'm joined by someone who is a member of the Wedding Workflows company, so I'm joined by Lawrence, and this is vital informatio – Lawrence is half Korean, half Filipino who lives in the beautiful city of Olongapo.

Lawrence graduated from the Far Eastern University with a degree in business administration. And before being an amazing VA, he was a struggling corporate worker who wanted to make a name in the business world. But little did he know, he was destined for greater things. His journey in Wedding Workflows started with the awesome Andrew, his very first client.

From there he's become a team lead and is currently working with two incredible clients, Alicia and Peeta. Lawrence's hobbies include watching K-dramas, and he has proclaimed that he's watched over a hundred of them. He stans K-pop groups. He does home workouts. He plays with his dogs. He loves to sing and especially loves having a drink or 20 with his friends. He's known as the human golden retriever amongst his nearest and dearest. And today I'm sitting down with Lawrence.

Hi, Lawrence. Thank you so much for agreeing to be on the podcast.

Chapter 1: Being a Part of the Corporate World
Yes. Anything for you.

So we have a lot of things to talk about, but I hope you liked that little intro. Maybe you'd also like to share a bit about yourself.

What's going on in your life, Lawrence?

Actually, nothing much. Tonight, I'm going out with my friends as always. To end the week right, every week.

So yeah, I'm living my life.

Nice, for the listeners, we're recording on a Friday. So we're about to start our weekend.

So Lawrence, you have been a financial marketing trainee. You've been a real estate agent. You've worked for the UN. You've been an assistant director of sales. How did all of that happen?

Actually, it all started when I joined our training in Singapore for Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. When I saw the corporate workers in Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, I was so fascinated by the way they looked, they looked so professional, they looked so amazing.

Plus, I was so in love with their pantry, like the unlimited food. So right there and then I told myself, I'm going to be one of the corporate workers. Little did I know I became –

Because of the pantry.

Yeah, because of the pantry.

So the pantry was a trap.

It's a trap.

So how did you find your training in Singapore?

Actually, I only joined the training in Singapore because my friends are joining and also, it is also a way to cut off my OJT hours to, I don't know, 50 hours? So I joined that training and I really enjoyed the financial markets during that time because it was still so fresh in my mind because we have a subject about financial markets.

Yeah, so I thought I would be having a career in financial markets. That's why I am a certified financial markets professional until now. But I don't know anything about financial markets anymore. I don't know anything about financial markets anymore, so yeah.

And when was this, if you could maybe like, name the specific year?

2018, before I graduated.

Wow, and I think you've mentioned once to me that right after you graduated, maybe a week or two after you started working.

No, the day after my graduation, because even before, I was absorbed by the Bureau of Customs to work with them. And yeah, so after my OJT, I was still studying and working in the Bureau of Customs’ Department of Finance at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as a tax credit secretariat.

Wow. That's so interesting because I think I've known you, in the past couple of years that we've been working together, I've known you as someone who's very fluent or just really is seasoned in the digital and marketing and sales world. So to hear about your financial background, it’s so different.

No, actually before the pandemic, I knew nothing about the digital marketing world, like I had no idea at all.

I was so focused on the financial markets world, real estate sales, and things like that. So I really have no idea about anything about digital marketing. So, yeah, I don't know how it all happened.

Wow! Okay. Lawrence. So did you always have an interest in the digital marketing world or was that something that also came about, you know, when the pandemic happened?

No, zero interest.

So what was it then? Like, what was the like, maybe was there a specific moment?

I don't know. Actually, I don't know how it all happened. I just know that I'm here right now in the digital world. But I know the pandemic happened. That's when it all started.

Chapter 2: Pandemic and Digital Marketing Shift
Pandemic happened.

Yeah.

We all transitioned from the brick and mortar type of office to remote work.

Yeah.

And I think that's when it all started. Like I started enrolling in online courses about being a virtual assistant, being a social media manager. So yeah.

And I heard that the pay was good.

So it was kind of like –

Actually yeah, the pay.

So it was kind of liken a “you'll never know if you don't try” moment.

Yeah, I feel like that's a really common thing for a lot of us who at least are working in our company.

I want to talk a bit about your time, as we've kind of labeled your time as a corporate slave. I had the chance to like to hear a bit about your years during your time in the corporate industry. So it sounded really tough. And it sounded very rigorous and you sounded overworked and underappreciated.

Yeah.

You were there in that industry for like several years, right?

I think it started from 2019 to just a little over a year. But I've been through a lot, yes.

Because I started with a corporate job, I think March 2019. I ended my contract with the Bureau of Customs in March 2019 and I transitioned immediately to the corporate world. So during that time from 2019 to 2020, I had three corporate jobs already. So first, I was a brand ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Wow.

And then after a few months, I realized that it wasn't for me because as a confused young adult, I really don't know what I want in life. So that's why I jump from one job to another.

So yeah, after that, when I realized that being a brand ambassador for the United Nations is not for me, I transitioned from – I think it's kind of related to my last corporate job, which is a telemarketer for real estate. And then after a month I also realized that it's not for me.

So I only worked as a telemarketer for a month. Yes. After a few weeks I landed my third corporate job as a real estate agent and as a sales agent. I actually started liking that job from the start because I really like talking to people. Like I'm really extroverted, I enjoy talking to people so being a sales agent I think it's really for me.

I landed my first two clients – I signed my first two clients on my first week. So my first client was even before I was hired, I was already talking to my clients, so basically I know that I will get the job. So I tried to close a deal even before being hired. So our manager was impressed on my first day working as a real estate agent or as a sales agent. I have my sale already, so after a few weeks or a month, I think a month, he decided that I'm ready for deployment in Dubai.

So that's when all the stress started. Like monthly we have a quota of 10 million, but when you are deployed in another country, your quota doubled. So I don't know anyone in Dubai. So I have to go to the malls or other places to find Filipino clients in Dubai. So only Filipino. Yeah, we can only sell properties to Filipino. So it's really hard because I don't know anyone in Dubai, I don't have friends. I have my family there, like my aunt, she's living in Dubai, but she's not interested in buying a property from me.

So, yeah, it's hard but fortunately, I exceeded my quota. I think my quota in Dubai is only 20 million, but I hit almost 30M.

Chapter 3: Transition to a VA Career
That's insane.

And that's when all the stress happened. I realized that I'm liking this job, but I don't like the stress, the pressure that it's bringing to me.

Was that the reason you left?

Yeah. My performance also started to dip during that time because the stress and the pressure is really affecting me. Not only physically, but also mentally and financially. Because if you don't have a sale or if you do not hit your quota, you do not have any salary at all.

And then pandemic happened. That's when I realized that I need to quit this job because we are still continuing to work, continuing to sell properties even though many of our clients aren't interested anymore because of the pandemic. So that's when I realized that I need to find another opportunity.

I think it's so admirable, Lawrence, how you were just brave enough or you just really had the guts to identify when you weren't happy anymore or when something just wasn't serving you anymore and be able to continue to move on from that and like look for something else because I do understand the fear that comes with being unemployed and not having the security of a job–a monthly salary.

At that time, I'm scared to be unemployed, but I think I'm lucky enough to have the support of my family. So that's why I talked to my mom during those times that I wanted to quit my job. And she just told me that I’m still young and I don't have to pressure myself.

I don't have to move fast. I just need to enjoy life. And if I don't enjoy working in that job anymore, then I just quit.

I'm really lucky to have my mom.

Yeah that  kind of support system, right? I had a similar conversation recently about work-life balance and how we tend to, maybe it's because of the hustle culture. Or maybe it's because we're all trying to race against a specific or a non-existing timeline that we all put on ourselves. But it really helped to put into perspective that I'm working not to stress myself out. It's not for, basically I'm working because I'm trying to support myself. And in doing so, I shouldn't be sacrificing my own personal health, my mental health, my personal time, my time with my family and my friends.

Yeah.

And I think sometimes you really do need to be reminded of that because it's so easy to forget. Here you talk about all the different careers you've had during that time, Lawrence. The one thing that really comes to mind or something that I keep thinking about is just what was your main driving force throughout the years when pursuing all those different career paths?

Actually, first of all, I know that it's not my obligation to give my mom a comfortable life. But looking at how much she sacrificed, I really wanted to make it up for her. Like, at least give her a comfortable life. I really want her to do the things that she sacrificed while taking care of us growing up.

So, yeah. So my mom is really my main drive in wanting to succeed in life. And also, I'm a very expensive person. Yeah, just to be honest, I'm materialistic. I go out every weekend. I go out with my friends. I like traveling. I like buying stuff for myself. And I also like treating my family to nice dinners, and I can't support that if I'm unemployed and do not have a good income.

So, yeah, that's my main driving point at the moment.

Chapter 4: Joining Wedding Workflows and Client Relationships
But we love “the” self-awareness. That's so important. Okay, so we have painted a picture of what your corporate life looked like. Now, let's talk about your digital virtual assistant career, which you're currently on. So was Andrew your very first client as a VA or just as a work from home freelancer?

Okay. Actually, in Wedding Workflows, yes he  is my very first client but in the corporate world was actually my uncle. My uncle, who is from Scotland, has his business and he asked me to help him with admin stuff for his business.

Oh wow, so that was like toe dip into that.

Yeah, I have zero experience in remote work during that time. So yeah, that's why I realized that I need to improve my skills, maybe enroll in online courses and then, after his business went bankrupt because of the pandemic, that's when I started for virtual jobs, like VA jobs, social media manager jobs. And to tell you honestly, it's not easy. It's really not easy. I have a lot of rejections. I'm passing my resume or CVs, like, I think 20 times for 20 employers every day. And I'm lucky enough if they reply for an interview. And during the interviews, I know that I won't pass the interview. So I'm lucky enough to see the job listing and even though the salary is not giving, I tried to take all this push through just to give me a little experience. And because the salary is not giving, I told myself that I'll stay here for maybe two months because I started in  November 2021.

I think it's November 2021.

Yeah. So I started November 2021, and I told myself that I will quit January 2022. But because of Andrew, because of Andrew, I really enjoyed working with Andrew. He made my work experience bearable, even though I am undercompensated during that time. So yeah, he made it bearable. So I stayed because of him. And yeah, and then the Wedding Workflows knight in shining armor came to rescue us.

Hi, Rick. Thank you so much.

Yeah, I like that. I like that. You kind of went into it with a plan, which was to stay for the, just to get experience. But it was the clients that saw your value and that really made you want to keep going despite the undesirable working conditions. So what was it about Andrew, Lawrence, if you can remember, like, what was it about him that changed your whole perception of working for a client?

Yes. I think working in the corporate world, and then working with Andrew, that's when I realized that I am deprived of appreciation. So for Andrew, even the smallest thing, he would appreciate me. I don't know. I really love our relationship. Like it's not client VA relationship anymore. It's like more of, we're like friends. So I'm treating his business like my own. So basically he hired me because of the livestream business. I handled the livestream business, everything by myself. So from booking clients, sending invoices, making their webpages, and then booking operators, and then after wedding tasks.

Even if Andrew doesn't have any idea at all about when was the shoot, when was the wedding, he's confident enough that everything will be taken care of. Like, for example, one time he asked me, a wedding to shoot and he was surprised that there's also a live stream client during that day and I think he panicked because he didn't know about this client but I took care of everything from start to finish so I think giving my client extra time really makes me happy like extra time doing what they love.

I think that's something that not all VAs can kind of see just how much time we allow or we open up for our clients simply by taking care of their emails or by, you know, doing Instagram engagement where they're able to focus on other things because they know that they have someone that they can trust to take care of that side of the business because everything requires time.

I really like that, that Andrew was able to show you just how important you were, not only to his business, but also to the community.

Yes, actually, even though he's not with Wedding Workflows anymore, we still keep in touch. Like, he messages each other, like, asking how we are, like, or, for example, during the holidays, Merry Christmas, Andrew, something like that.

So, yeah, there's still a good relationship between us.

Chapter 5: Taking on a Leadership Role
And that's actually something that I admire most about you, Lawrence, is your just ability to foster such great, not even work relationship, but a friendship with your clients. And I think there's something about you and just your genuine ability to care for their business.

Maybe also because I'm really extrovert. Like sometimes, I really love talking to them and catching up with them and hearing our catch ups our video calls. I'm just being myself like making jokes being happy go lucky always. And I think they appreciate that. Being your golden retriever self. They appreciate that a lot.

So Lawrence, I also wanted to talk about your time as a team lead. Because you really are kind of one of the pioneer VAs of the company. You were basically handed the responsibility of leading your own team. around the time when Andrew stopped availing of the services. So what went through your mind when you had that call?

Okay, at first, I was scared, actually. I was scared to lead my own team because I'm so used to having Chelsea as my team leader during that time. I was scared, but I realized that how will I grow if I will not accept greater challenges? So, yeah, I just had to accept it. And I know in Wedding Workflows that we help each other and the other team leads and Christine and Barbs will also help me grow.

So, Lawrence, around the time, you know, I was starting out, when I was new, I really looked up to you because you were someone who had a lot of experience for sure and it showed. One of the things I learned the most from you was how to have agency in my job because I think if you're just starting out of course you want to put your best foot forward and you want to please everyone and you want to outperform and you just really want to go above and beyond.

There's also a downside to that sometimes because as a VA, we really want to be effective. We want to be efficient and we want to produce quality work, but all of that takes time. So I think if we always kind of prioritize those three things over our time, it can tend to blur the lines between work boundaries and your work-life balance goes out the door.

And sometimes you just think that your whole value lies on your work and how you perform. And sometimes there are days when my efficiency, my effectiveness and the quality of my work can get affected by that because we don't have all the time in the world unfortunately, but ultimately as well. It's maybe it's like a problem for the short term. Like, not having enough time to do everything, but simply by communicating and being transparent about it. And like, you know, telling clients or telling your team members or telling the people that you work with that you need help also, because you don't have enough time to do everything.

I think it's really nice that when working especially remotely, it's really nice that you're transparent about how you feel, if you feel like you're not on your best self. You also need to let others know if you feel like you can do this task. As for help, I think being transparent, being open to communication really helped me grow.

I think being able to acknowledge your weaknesses as well. For sure. I know even though I always tell people that I am a perfect VA. I still have a lot of shortcomings and I know that I still have a long way to go. I still have a lot to learn. And sometimes, even though I'm already a team leader, I always ask my team for tips on how they do things. Like, for example, in SEO, I always ask them, for example, James, I ask him how he writes captions on Pinterest, something like that. I think being open to learning new things and being open to improving will definitely help you grow.

And yeah, basically.

Yeah. And I think it's so important also that you are surrounded by coworkers who support you in that way and who allows you and gives you the space to be able to be honest and ask them for help and things like that.

I really think that the VAs here in Wedding Workflows, plus Christine and Barb's, I think we're all very accommodating.

Chapter 6: Challenges of Leadership
So you've really grown so much, not just as a VA, but also as a leader, Lawrence, but what were some challenges you face since taking on a leadership role?

First of all, as someone who's been led by an amazing team lead. One challenge is, first, as someone who really likes talking to people, and stopped, basically, public speaking at all for how many years? And then, I start to lead my own meeting. I think there's a trauma.

Really?

Yeah, I consider that as a trauma. I really got scared talking to a lot of people. Because of what happened to me in the corporate world. So yeah, that's one of the challenges. I need to be comfortable again in talking to people. Another one is, you know, I'm not serious. I think very lightly all the time. I always smile. I always laugh. I always make a joke, but there are some things in being ETL that requires you to be firm sometimes.

Yeah, to be firm, yeah. Because, you know, I'm a golden retriever. Yeah, like a very happy go lucky. But I feel like being serious, being firm is something that I need to learn. And I think that somehow, somehow I know when to be serious. And when to make joke, basically.

That's so important to because I feel like when you not just lead a team of people but manage a team of people. You're not just managing one aspect you're managing so many different aspects. You're managing their time. You're managing their clients in a way because when they have problems or issues or need support you need to help them. You're managing their emotions. You're managing their mistakes. You're managing their behavior all the while also trying to do your part as a VA also.

So, basically, another struggle that I have is my client, Andrew, is a videographer. So I'm so used to using applications from Andrew, which is a videographer. So when it's my time to lead the team when it's my time to help them troubleshoot with their apps. I really have zero idea about big time, about smart album, about anything related to photographers. So it's so hard for me to help them with their issues, the apps that they're using. So I try to research, just learn the things that they use.

But I think you're doing a really great job, Lawrence, and I remember in the beginning you said you were so nervous, but look at you now, look at your team now. I don't think you should undermine all the effort you've put into doing your role as a team lead.

And also, my team is really the sweetest. If there's something that I don't know, like, for example, troubleshooting a specific app, some of them will help the other teammate. So basically we're just helping each other there.

Honestly, that's just how it works, right? That's like a team dynamic, helping each other out. Because ultimately you all just want to be able to do your best.

Yeah.

Chapter 7: What is Your Definition of Success?
So, you know, like with many years of experience under your belt in a variety of positions and now being one of the leaders in the company, what is your definition of success or in what ways has that definition changed over the years?

I think for me, the definition of success for me is being able to drink every weekend without having to worry about the expense.

I love that.

But keeping aside, I think the only time that I considered myself successful was when I started helping my family with the expenses here in the house. And also, I think being able to achieve work-life balance is also another definition of success for me. Helping my family, having work-time balance, being drunk on a weekend.

It's all about, it's all about prioritizing, right? And having that acute self-awareness. This was such an enlightening, but almost therapeutic chat today, Lawrence. And I'm just so grateful that...

I don't know if the listeners can learn something from me.

I'm sure they learned so much. And they were able to take away a lot of things just from your experience that I've said this before and I'll say it again. One of the strengths that you really carry is your story, your story of being able to pursue different career paths and not give up on your driving force and on what you said was your definition of success because it is really hard.

Yeah. So basically, even though I didn't achieve my dream to become a corporate, to be a successful corporate worker, I still want to think, I think wedding workflows for basically redirecting my life and giving me a different point of view of how success looks like. So yeah, so I won't consider myself as a failure, but I think it's some sort of a redirection in life.

For sure, and you know what, that's the great thing about our goals and our dreams or whatever we consider our success because they're not static, they're ever changing, just as often as we're ourselves changing as we get older, and we get more experience, but you know, maybe the next thing on your list should be, get a really nice pantry, Lawrence.

You know, baby steps.

I have.

Oh, you already have that? We have a really nice pantry here at house and I also have a personal chef here.

Oh, wow. See, you're already like...

I don't have food.

Yes.

You're already on your way there. The one thing you really wanted about the corporate world was the pantry. So the next thing is the outfit? The suits?

And also being able to dress up.

Oh yeah, maybe you should start doing that.

So, Chelsea, for inviting me to your podcast and having the chance to wear polo again.

We should make that a thing. Dapat, as much as possible, you should dress up.

Yes, but as you can see, I'm wearing polo right now.

But below it...

Polo. We'll just keep it there.

Yes, keep it there.

Once again, this was such a wonderful chat, Lawrence. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon, to be honest. But yeah, I hope everyone learned a lot from this. And I hope you guys will tune in to the next episode of The Briefing In Podcast.

This has been your host, Chelsea.

And this is Lawrence, and we're now briefing out.

Yes!

Thanks, Lawrence.