Latest / Do Small Business Like a Big Boss Podcast / Stop Drowning in Tasks — How to Delegate Like a Boss with Tanya Thomas
Transcript
- Aisha Massengill: What do you think are some of the first signs that an entrepreneur or small business owner is ready to start thinking about hiring a VA? Whenever you get to the point where just to give some tangible things, you get to the end of the day and you don't feel like you got everything accomplished. And that thought and feeling of I've got so much in my head, I've got so much to do, I'm just feeling overwhelmed because I'm not able to get it all done. That's the first sign I would say that you are to the point where you could start thinking about getting some help, some support, so that you can have some of that free head space to even be able to think about your business as opposed to just working and doing everything in it. Welcome to Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, where we explore the real stories, hard earned lessons, and game changing strategies of entrepreneurs who've moved beyond the side hustle and built businesses that scale with confidence. This show is proudly sponsored by Project Icon. I'm your host, Ayesha Jorge Massengil, your Small Business Legal Guide. Let's dive in. Welcome to Do Small Business Like a Big Boss. I am your host, Aisha Jorge Massengill, your Small Business Legal Guide. And today I am excited to chat with Tanya Thomas, founder of TeamDelegate. TeamDelegate is a US-based virtual assistant company founded in 2001 that provides executive level administrative support to entrepreneurs and small business owners to eliminate administrative overwhelm. Welcome, Tanya. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's so wonderful to have you. And I think... your organization, I'm really excited to learn about because it's one of the first things I think people think about doing when they start on their entrepreneurial journey. So what I wanted to hear about from you was, could you take us back to the moment where you first thought, hey, I want to build something of my own. Like what was happening for you at that time? Sure. I was going to date myself. This was a long time ago. a safe space. It was the early 2000s and at that particular time, my husband worked for a construction company that required us to move a lot. You know, when the project was over, we moved to a different location to do another project. Well, that's when the entrepreneurial bug hit me and the internet was kind of new. I had been playing around on there, come across, I met someone that owned a staffing agency and that just fascinated me. So that's when I knew. I had the entrepreneurial bug, but I couldn't do anything with it because we were moving and I really thought about it. You know, I looked at doing that myself, what she was doing, but it would have required me to stay behind. Didn't want to do that as my husband moved. I wanted to continue to, you know, be with him. So I just kind of tabled it. And I guess fast forward maybe six or seven years and then I had my first son. I was home for maternity leave. and surfing the internet and came across a training program to be a virtual assistant. So I still had that entrepreneurial bug in me, but it's like, okay, after reading that, I'd never heard of it, but it's like, this fits me perfectly. I have the background and it's remote so it can move with me. And I took that training program and I've been in the industry ever since and that was like 2001. Wow. Did you encounter like a specific fear in your first few months as a founder? How did you navigate that space if you did? I mean, it was just exciting. I was so excited about starting my business. So there really wasn't a fear. And I think there was a lot of naivete to me at the time. You know, you're thinking I'm going open my doors and clients are just going to beat the door down. I'm going to be doing all this work for people. So There was no fear there. I was just excited to be, you know, working on it, learning about the industry and starting the business. So the fear part really wasn't there initially. And you talked about the internet being a little bit new. In those early days, what were some of the things you did to get clients? Networking. Once I started the business, we had kind of worked stuff out. We were off the road, so to speak. So we had gotten... located to a place permanently. So it was a decent sized town. I thought, you know, I'll get out and go to networking events because I had been reading books and everything, you know, about how to market and networking was one of the things. So I thought I'd go to networking events. I did that. And I did meet people, did pick up some business, but it was still because the industry was so new. I spent a lot of time educating myself. I did align with business coaches because that industry was new too at the time. So we kind of had that alignment and I met a few people who were doing that and that was helpful as well because we were all navigating that space and educating people on what we did. But networking was the first thing that I did. Something that you just described is a little bit of a next level networking strategy. Generally when you think of networking, it's like, you know, being in room where it happens and you're going and you're meeting people. But that second step of also finding people that your businesses may naturally align is like the, I think a next level piece of networking. Because otherwise you're just collecting people to know. It's kind of like being on social media and collecting friends and followers. If there's not that alignment, it may not have the. value that you hope that it has is more like I hope one day we'll have a need to work together with no plan. Right. Well, but just I should have allowed you to tell me in your own words. Tell me about Team Delegate. Sure. Team Delegate actually wasn't my first business. Okay. So when I first, the industry is the same. But going back to what I was talking about earlier, the name of my business was the Small Office Assistant. And that was because my intent was to do this myself. And I remember my husband telling me, you're limiting yourself. It's like, what do you know I'm not because, you we were just starting our family. That was my goal to be flexible, you know, as I was doing that. And that's what I saw myself doing long-term. Well, 2009, I guess. At that point in time, I'm what, eight, nine years in, and I'm meeting with my business coach at the time. And she says, you don't have a business, you just have a job you've created for yourself. And it's like, what are you talking about? I have clients, I'm doing this full time now. So I do have a business, and it just didn't make sense. Well, about three years later, I start feeling some type of way about coming in here to the office. I would find myself dreading it. And then her words came back and they resonated. I knew exactly what she was talking about. And it's like, well, you know, I kind of kept doing it because of course at the time this was my income source so I couldn't just stop. But I was thinking about what do I want to do? Do I want to do something different? Do I want to do something else? But then I realized that I liked what I did. It was just what she said. I had a job and I didn't want to be the person doing the service anymore. And so it took me about three years to come to that conclusion. And that's when I decided to form the agency model. so team delegate was fully formed in 2019. So what we do is we do provide remote virtual executive assistant support services. My clients are other small business owners and We work with them proactively. All of our EAs are based in the U.S. and most of the clients are wanting like that right-hand support, somebody to help them stay on task with their schedule, their email inbox that they travel, all of those things to just help them stay organized and have the capacity that they need to lead their companies. what were some of the first steps that you began to make as you pulled yourself out of working in the business? versus working on the business? The first thing that came to mind for me was like, okay, again, she's right. This is like a job for me. I have clients. I can't just tell them, hey, you're gonna be working with somebody else. So that's really kind of why it took me a while to transition. So it was that. The other thing was I knew I needed systems because I couldn't, know, people would need to know what to do if I was going to have other people supporting me in the business. So those were the two biggest, I guess, not barriers, but hurdles that I had to get over. The first one just kind of worked itself out in terms of the clients and how that piece went. And then I spent like probably a year building the systems and the structure for how I wanted the company to operate. that building systems part something that you're naturally inclined to do? That's part of your natural DNA? Or is it something that you needed to leverage? a coach or other folks to build out those systems? That's a good question. That's one of my zones of genius. That comes naturally to me. And I didn't realize that that was something that other people struggled with until a few years ago. But yeah, that's just natural for me. So I did it myself. And how big is your team now, folks that you work with? We are a boutique agency. We're still growing and adding people to the team. But That part, so I do have like the EAs that work with the clients and then I'm also building the infrastructure for people that work outside of that, if that makes sense, because for a while it was really just the EAs and then I was the back end person. And it took me even a while to get, and that worked for a while, but as the company began to grow and I wanted to scale it even more, I realized that I needed other people to be able to do HR, to be able to... be a client care specialist to be able to help manage the team. So all of those positions as well. So I think about my lifelong process of getting my hair done and that's a trust relationship. So the most I'll let someone else do is shampoo me, right? But then I want my regular person. So what is that conversation like for you when you start trying to pull yourself out of the day to day with people who have like really come to rely on you and have trust in you? And you're saying, no, this is the process for how the team is built and they're great. How do you get them into that trust relationship with the person that you're delegating to? And just to be clear, you're not, you're not talking about the EAs with the clients. You're talking about my internal staff. Talking about you. you were, yeah, when you were, you know, people are like, I love Tanya. I want you, you don't want to talk to me. You sold me the business. We work great together. And now you want to pawn me off on somebody else. Cause I think a lot of entrepreneurs that's part of the mental shift that has to take place where you know that there's some clients that are just really attached to you, but you need to detach. So I'm just curious for you being in business for two decades, how did you go about that process of detaching the people who love you so much, but still keeping them in your business? Right. And so I'll talk about it twofold to make sure that I cover both bases. I remember having the first conversation that I had with the person that I was gonna make the first assignment to. And he was a referral. And so he came as a way to refer because the person that referred him had been someone that had initially worked with me. And so we had been having this conversation and all of this and that. And he finally said, well, I'm ready to move forward. And I remember him asking, are you going to be the person supporting me? And I paused because it's like, oh my. goodness, if I say someone else, am I going to lose this business? But I had to stand my ground and I said, no, you know, I'm going to assign you someone on my team. They're very capable. You know, she'll be able to support you well. And he said, okay. It's like, okay, well, that was easy. It ⁓ wasn't hard. So it was after that I was able to, to got easier after that first time. Internally, I think sometimes that's still a challenge, especially when the client has met me, developed a relationship me in the sales process. And then it's like, okay, our client care specialist is going to handle, you know, your support from here, any customer service. That part sometimes is still be a challenge because I do find that people will still want to circle back to me and bypass her. And so I think we're still kind of, you know, working with that in terms of how to get people to be trusting with someone else outside of myself. Excellent. What do you think are some of the first signs that an entrepreneur or small business owner is ready to start thinking about hiring? Whenever you get to the point where just to give some tangible things, you get to the end of the day and you don't feel like you got everything accomplished. And that thought and feeling of, I've got so much in my head, I've got so much to do, I'm just feeling overwhelmed because I'm not able to get it all done. That's the first sign I would say that you are to the point where you could start thinking about getting some... help some support so that you can have some of that free head space to even be able to think about your business as opposed to just working and doing everything in it. I feel like you're telling on me. I don't know if I appreciate that. But ⁓ you talk a lot about in the readings, you know, how leaders have to think about delegation before they actually get good at it. So what would you say is some of the biggest misconceptions that founders or business owners have about delegation? That it's easy. And that's what I always say. People think that it is because you hear, you know, well, just find someone and get them to do those tasks for you. That's easier said than done. And I always tell people that delegation is a skill set. It's a learned skill set that you have to be intentional about and learn so that you're doing it properly. Because if you don't, it's going to backfire on you and then you're going to end up frustrated in the process and versus it helping you. tell us about what are some of the top three things, five things that allows a leader to delegate properly. Number one, would say, you know, I'm truly understanding where your needs lie. You know, what are those things that where you really need help? And then having a good way to be able to articulate that to the person that's going to be executing those things for you. And then also having a way to be able to manage that process. I think just from an overview, those three things are important and would be helpful. So you just mentioned that one of the first signs of it's now time to get a VA is it gets it end of the day and like, man, you haven't made a dent in that dag on list. I feel seen. So when someone has like a mile long to do list, how do they figure out what to delegate first? How do they set the priorities of, you know, what things they should? give to the VA first. For me, I would always suggest, what do you feel comfortable releasing? Because that part is important too. And then the next thing to consider, what's going to make the biggest impact for you out of those tasks? So breaking it down, thinking about it from that overview is going to be helpful as you determine what those specific things are. So it's interesting because to me, There are two pieces to control in the context of using a VA as an entrepreneur. First is the inclination that I can do everything better myself. If I had just extra few hours, I could do it and I could do it better. And you know, I don't want somebody messing it up. And then the second thing for me, because I'm a paranoid New Yorker this is just how we move through life is I'm not comfortable giving over passwords, giving people access and all of that kind of stuff that will really enable them to help me in a way that I need to be helped. Thinking about those two things, how do you advise your clients about releasing control so that your can really help them? We'll start with that one. Yeah, I know that is, like I mentioned a few minutes ago, the trust factor is huge for people. This is a personal analogy, but for example, when my boys were young or when they were coming up, teaching them things always seemed to be a hassle. Because it's like, I can just do this faster if I, you know, instead of showing them how to do it. But I, even with that, which is still a form of delegation, I had to think to myself, okay, yeah, it may take me a little time up front for the process, but on the back end, I'm going to reap the benefits because once they know how to make their own bed, once they can clean the kitchen, they can clean their own bathroom, I'm saving a bunch of time. And so I advise clients to look at it that way as well. Yeah, there's going to be, and I'm saying to not in the form of training the person because the person that you bring on should have the skillset to be able to do what you need to do. But sometimes you have your own process for how you kind of want things done. So thinking about it in that way, you framing your process about how it's going to be done may take a little time in the beginning, but on the back end. You're going to reap the benefits from time, keeping that motivating factor in mind. And then from the other piece of it in terms of like the security of it, there's a lot of technology tools out there like password managers that allow you to keep your, your information shared safely with people. there a top one or two, like, you know, one password or some other thing that you recommend to folks to use to, for purposes of. sharing passwords, but also protecting your important information when you're working with the VA? Sure. mean, you just mentioned one of them. I mean, there's a few out there. There's that one. There's LastPass. So those two are the top two, I would say, that kind of come to mind in terms that most people are utilizing some tools typically like that, even just for themselves to keep track of their information. So, yes. So it's funny about process, and some folks have actually heard me tell this story before, but I am the mom of three boys. You you try to build, raise them right and have them do chores and things and they would load the dishwasher. And I have a very particular way about how I load the dishwasher because I feel that it facilitates the unloading of the dishwasher and they just put the stuff in there in the old kind of way. But at some point I had to say to myself, the dishes are clean. Is it more important that the dishes are clean or that they did it exactly my way? And so I think that's part of the control. You know, I always just envision like letting my hand go of that control. Like they may not do it exactly the way you'd have them do it. If it's really critical for them to do it the exact way every time, then you should be clear on that. But in some other ways where there's a little bit of fluidity, like focus on get it done so you can be operating in your gifts elsewhere and doing other things. And speaking of operating at GIFS, you talked about how you're like naturally a systems person. I am not. So are there a couple of simple tools that you'd recommend for someone just getting started in terms of like task management, people do click up, people do a sauna, people do blah, blah. Are there certain tools that you use in your own business or that you would recommend to other people that help them with the delegation process? Yes. I mean, I don't think that. There are some tools, but I guess what I would say is you can't mention one there. think a project management tool is good. That way, you know, you have one central location where you can have tasks and communicate with one another. So it's all there together. So that is good. Outside of that, I always tell people to keep it simple as possible because you don't want to have too many things that you're dealing with. So when it comes to tools like that, try and find things that can do. a lot of things, so it's rolled into one as opposed to having several different ones. But yes, a project management platform is one good place to start in terms of being able to collaborate as you work remotely with an EA. And as we think about the onboarding process, right, what are your best practices? And I've read and listened to a couple of your own podcast episodes and read some blogs where you talk about the effective delegation process. So as you, can you tell us about what your onboarding process is when you are onboarding a new client and then how you advise them to create the healthiest working relationship possible with the VA? Yes. And so when they are onboarding, we do provide guidance to the clients in terms of pointers of how to get the best support out of their EA. We share different things with them about that. And I think that's helpful, you know, when they are on boarding, because we give people that a mix, I guess, people who have worked with EAs, but it didn't work out. And so for me, then it's always trying to get a clear understanding of kind of what happened in that situation to be able to help them pinpoint on how to do maybe some pointers to do it differently before, or the people that have never had an EA before. So they're pretty green. So that... That is helpful to know in terms of how to kind of provide them with a little bit of coaching on how to move forward. But I think it is important to know and understand that before you engage and work with an EA. One of the things I'll say is communication. think, you know, people are busy. A lot of times they just want to hear, you know, and set it and forget it. But communication definitely, as they say, is key to me when you're working with an EA, but really with anyone on your team. Yeah. And I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with virtual work because I think for me, being an entrepreneur, for example, can sometimes be a very lonely state of being. But I also appreciate the opportunities and the way that the world has opened up to us being remote. So what's one thing that most leaders can do ⁓ to aid that collaboration and that being more human in that VA virtual, that person's out there and I'm over here. Are there tips that you can give to like create touch points that make it feel more real and human? I always suggest meeting. And like I said, that's why I mentioned that before, because oftentimes I see a lot of people feel like they're too busy for that, you know, and they don't make it a priority. But I'll give an example, I guess, when I was doing the support and I was working, I had a client and he had come from the corporate world and he had had executive assistants in corporate. And so they were there in the office and he was used to that. Well, he, you know, adapted to the virtual EA concept, but he kind of tried to bring that same mentality as if there was a daily interaction that needed to happen. And I wasn't fond of that, if I'm being honest, because it's like, obviously I have other people that I'm working with and he said, well, you I'm going to check in daily. And he would call because this was early on, you know, there was no zoom. So he would call and he'd call, I think maybe a couple of times, the beginning of the day, end of the day. It's like, okay, you know, it's a bit much, but that's really where I learned about the communication piece because it ended up being though that He, out of all of my clients, I understood the most. To the point where if someone reached out and wanted a meeting with him, I knew instantly based on that person and what the topic was, whether or not he would even take it. And I couldn't say the same for other clients that I was supporting. So that's when I learned that communicating like that, it gives you the opportunity to have the best support. from the person that's supporting you because that person's really gonna truly understand you and your business. Very true. And I think, especially in corporate America, senior leaders enjoy the admins who almost like anticipate their thoughts before they have them. And so there can be like a level of frustration with someone who's not walking lockstep with you in that way, right? So I really get that example. Thank you for that. If you think back over the course of your career, has there been... one or two moments where you really like stubbed your toe, where you just made a wrong move and had to course correct. And how did that go for you? Yeah, I mean, there's a lot, because that's hard to try to pinpoint one thing that I can think about. Well, that's a tough one. Because like I said, there have been a lot of things, but I'll say this, I guess. I do, since I have scaled my business, from being just me, there did seem to be more of a learning curve. But what I have come to learn is that I can learn from my failures. Prior to, it didn't seem to be as many when it was just me. But now, you know, when I encounter things, it's like, okay, well, what can I do differently to keep this from happening the next time? So. That would be the one thing that I would say that has been helpful for me and I always give that advice to people to learn from your failures if you have one that that's actually a learning curve. We hate going through them, but we always tend to come out better on the other side. That's real. That's very real. In that same vein, if you could go back and whisper one piece of advice to Tanya when you're just starting out, what would it have been? What would it be? I it would have been ⁓ have thicker skin, I guess. And I think in doing this made me, and I remember my husband telling me when I decided to scale and build the agency model, because he's in management. He was like, you don't have to deal with people. And so you're going to find that that's not something that you really care. He was right, as usual. So that part has been challenging. And so that's what I would tell people too. I guess that would be the thing that I would tell myself, that there is a difference between management and leadership. That was one big lesson that I had to learn because I hadn't dealt with anybody when I was a solo entrepreneur. I didn't have to deal with that. But I did have to learn that. And so that was a bit of a learning curve. You know, I'm smiling because I had a boss and for a long time he would just be like, she's just a manager. And I didn't understand what he meant for a long time. as I then became a leader in various roles, I was like, ugh. That's what he's talking about. Like a manager is just telling you, first you pick up the piece over here, then you're supposed to carry it over there, and I need you to do it by one o'clock. And they're making sure that the trains are running on time. And a leader, they may not have that tactical gift, but they can see 10 paces ahead of where you're going and what needs to happen. It's just very, very different roles. There's nothing wrong with being a manager, but it's very different. And it just took me a long time in my career to figure out what the heck he was talking about, because he'd be so passionate about it. And I'm like, talking about, she's good at what she does. What do mean? He's like, she's just a manager. Okay. ⁓ in your materials and when you talk today, it's featured very prominently that you have us based VA's and what I found, know primarily because of costs, but there's so much talk now, like go to the Philippines and get yourself a VA or go, you know, now I think in Latin America, it's also bubbling up as a lot of VA opportunities there. What are some of the benefits in your view of having US-based VAs help your clients? Sure. think a couple of things. One of the things is the language barrier. We do a lot of written communication on behalf of our clients in terms of scheduling, and that usually is done heavily through email. So having the ability to have a good command on the English written language. is huge and that's one of the benefits and that's what a lot of clients that come to us say when if they're coming from using overseas. And then the other thing is the time difference. I know I talked a bit about the communicating piece and being able to meet and talk with your EA. Sometimes that can be challenging if they're across a lot of different time zones. So I would say those are the two probably that stand out and that especially two that I hear. People say the difference is for them when they've worked with one or the other. Yeah. All right. As you look ahead in your own business, what makes you most excited when it comes to helping founders really unlock delegation and build businesses that they love? Seeing people that come back and say, you know, I can breathe now. You know, I've got the capacity now that I didn't have before, and this feels fantastic. and seeing them be able to even develop additional service offerings that's helping their business because they weren't able to do that before. We had a client that, she used the analogy of the Lucille Ball Show where the episode where Lucy and Ethel were eating the chocolates and all that, because she said, yes, exactly. And she said she felt like them, right? felt like them before we assigned her her EA and then, you know, afterwards, you know, it was manageable again. Hearing stuff like that from people is rewarding. And that's a beautiful thing because it's grounded in providing value. And it's odd, I think sometimes I think how rewarding that becomes for you when you know that you've given value to someone else and enabling them to do better. And that happens to me a lot as a lawyer. where it's like, I'm behind the scenes. You know, I'm not in the front, but I know like I'm enabling people to accomplish great things. And like, there's something really, really rewarding. I will write that in my journal often, like, today I provided value and that feels so good. So good for you for having that perspective. A non-business related habit or ritual that helps keep you grounded and energized as you navigate your business over these decades. Yes. And is it okay if I talk about my faith? Talk, yeah, absolutely. Yes, that would be it. Even before I opened email, and I used to not do this, I have my quiet time before I even look at email, because it's like I've got to get myself grounded to be able to start my day. So that's heavily where I lean. I mean, I even have scripture up on my desk to be able to look at and have that throughout the day, because I think doing this line of work, always say, entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. You really got to be strong and mindful to be able to do this. And so being able to have that, my faith to help me get through it, I had to learn not keeping it separate, because I did need that added in to be able to make it through. That's wonderful. And man, I will tell you, the moment where you go to like, press that email, you're like, ⁓ my God. Because once I open up, it's like letting the cracking in, you know, and then your day then becomes someone else's day because now it's like it's in your head, it's hard to unsee. And I would say, you know, being vulnerable about myself, I guess one of the things I need to work on is when I access my email, because I come from environments where people expect you to respond right away. And when you do that, it takes control over your priorities and... what you're trying to attack for the day. Cause it's always lingering like, my gosh, she needs that document by blah, blah. It's just so good for you for having that ability to, you know, pray and take it to the closet and then... Well, you click open. All right. When you hear, do small business like a big boss, what does it mean to you? To me, it means staying true to yourself and not getting to the point where you're down about... Maybe something didn't go your way or you didn't get the revenues that you wanted to hit. As long as you were staying true to yourself and doing what you can do for your business, to me, you're doing business like a big boss. Because you are in your lane, you're in your element, and you are doing what you can do and do well. And so that's what it means. Awesome. And Tonya, where can people find you help there on the interwebs? Sure. I am a heavy LinkedIn user, so I share a lot of content on LinkedIn. You can follow me there, just at TonyaThomas. And then our website is teamdelegate.com. Well, Tonya, I want to thank you so much for sharing your time with me and your talents. I've really enjoyed this conversation. And to my bosses out there, if you liked this episode, please remember to rate it, to like it, and subscribe. Because it really helps get more ears and eyes on the show, which obviously helps us grow. And most importantly, build that dream messy, build that dream scared, but just don't build it small. We'll see you next time.