Three Big Lessons I Learned From My Assistant

Writing this is bittersweet. My beloved assistant of almost seven years just flew off to greener pastures. I’ve been reflecting a lot on the ups and downs of the last seven years and standing in awe at what we’ve been able to create together.

Through these reflections, I’ve identified three big lessons I’ve learned, thanks to Priscilla.

Lesson One: Hire up!

I have to admit, before I hired Priscilla, I was SO busy in my business that my big reason for not hiring help sooner was that I didn’t have the time to train someone.

If that sounds familiar,  read this.

That was one of the biggest mistakes I made early on on my business. Hiring Priscilla was the reason I doubled my income in a year, and it was thanks to my coach at the time who simply said, “but why wouldn’t you hire someone who already knows what you need them to do?”

Today, I consider that pretty obvious. At the time…mind-blowing.

So, I set out to find an assistant with the skillset I needed to take my business to the next level instead of one that I liked or related to.

That’s not to say I didn’t like or relate to Priscilla. But in the past, I’d hire people based strictly off of their shoes, their personality , or how easy our conversation was. And that’s just not a winning business strategy.

This time, I was looking for an assistant whose strengths were my weaknesses. And that’s what I found in Priscilla.

The Takeaway: When you’re hiring, ask yourself if you’re bringing on someone who knows more than you do. If the answer is yes, you know your business will grow like mine did.

Lesson Two: The devil truly is in the details.

This part is what makes me the most nervous about Priscilla leaving.

Full disclosure: I’m a stickler for details… Okay, that’s inaccurate — I’m basically anal about details, but I have zero patience for fixing details myself.

I know… it’s a dangerous combination.

For example, in the Thriving Artist Circle, I shoot a quick welcome video at the beginning of every month highlighting the upcoming training and events. This video includes 4-5 different announcements with specific dates and times.

Well, after shooting September’s video, uploading it onto our member site, and emailing it to all 500+ members, I got an email from Priscilla saying “I know this is annoying for you, but I watched the video and the dates are wrong for 3 out of the 4 events that you announced.”

I don’t even know how that happened! I thought I triple checked. But apparently, my version of triple checking is not Priscilla’s version of triple checking…

This is something that she is VERY good at. She will take the time and meticulously go through the blogs to make sure all the links work, that everything in the shopping cart is good to go, and all the dates match our master schedule.

She makes sure that any possible hiccup is caught before it’s an actual hiccup and has saved me thousands of dollars and twice as many headaches because of it.

The Takeaway: Have someone other than yourself cross check everything you’re putting out into the world. Sometimes, when you’re too “in it,” you can’t see things clearly.

Lesson Three: It’s your business, but it’s their job.

I used to say my business was my baby.

(Then I actually had a baby and realized it’s ridiculous to compare any inanimate object to a living, breathing human being. But you get my point… )

As entrepreneurs, we all take risks to build a business. And as coaches, we strive to serve people. Our blood, sweat, and sometimes [er…often times!] tears, money, heart, soul, and best parts of our brain are all tied up in our business. It’s very meaningful to us.

You’re lucky if you (like I did) have an assistant who really cares about your business; an assistant who’s invested.

But ultimately for any assistant, it’s just a job. And that’s a good thing. They can help you remember not to make everything so precious. They can reflect to you what boundaries in work-life balance can look like.

And one day, they will walk away from this job to find another one. And that doesn’t mean that the job sucks or that it’s personal in any way, but it’s just a job. And for most jobs, they have a life cycle, and then it’s time to move on.

When Priscilla gave me her notice she said, “I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve realized this isn’t the job for me anymore.” She didn’t make it personal and I was able to see that she was right. This isn’t the job for her anymore.

And now, she will go off and double somebody else’s income. #luckythem.

Thank you, Priscilla.