Using Assistants and processes to optimize your people strategy and scale your business
The Quiet Light Podcast
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Episode breakdown
Barbara Turley is the Founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub, a firm providing fully managed, trained, and dedicated support assistants to business owners and operators to help them scale. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she spent 15 years in the corporate world as an account manager and an equity trader for various brands. Additionally, Barbara is a speaker, podcast host, and operational efficiency enthusiast who passionately helps businesses remove bottlenecks and scale.
Barbara Turley believes support assistants are an essential resource for business owners looking to scale. They help manage your workload and free up your time so you can focus on growing your brand. However, not all support assistants are created equally. Hiring an expert support assistant who specializes in providing valuable insights and suggestions for improving your systems and processes is crucial to help you streamline your workflow and increase efficiency. So why wait? Start exploring the benefits of working with a support assistant today!
- Barbara Turley talks about her professional background and transitioning to entrepreneurship
- The genesis of The Virtual Hub and what it offers
- The assistant culture-building and onboarding process
- Barbara explains how they help entrepreneurs come up with operational frameworks, systems, and processes
- Why business leaders struggle with delegating tasks
- What’s The Virtual Hub’s pricing model?
- The three-step operational efficiency blueprint for a scalable business
- Barbara discusses how having systems, processes, and assistants in place impact selling a business
- The Virtual Hub’s customer success stories
Systems run your business, people run your systems. The stronger your systems and processes, the faster and leaner you can scale.
In this episode
01:39 Using assistants to scale and optimize operations
Pat Yates introduces Barbara Turley, CEO of The Virtual Hub, and discusses the growing need for virtual assistants (assistants) in business. Barbara shares her background, journey from corporate finance to entrepreneurship, and how The Virtual Hub was created out of necessity when she saw entrepreneurs overwhelmed by operational tasks.
09:05 Building a fully remote, scalable business
Barbara explains how she identified common issues in businesses around delegation and operations management. She describes the evolution of The Virtual Hub from recruiting freelance assistants to building an in-house, fully trained assistant team with a strong operational framework to support clients worldwide.
11:54 How The Virtual Hub’s support assistant model works
The conversation dives into how The Virtual Hub differs by employing and training their assistants internally before assigning them to clients. Barbara details their culture-building, employee benefits, and ongoing professional development programs, ensuring high client satisfaction and operational consistency.
13:21 Addressing trust and security concerns with remote work
Pat raises concerns about trust and data security when working with assistants, especially for eCommerce businesses. Barbara addresses how operational frameworks, culture management, and a trust-minimized system help mitigate these risks while preserving control and oversight for business owners.
16:52 Cultural considerations working with Filipino assistants
Barbara outlines important cultural nuances of working with Filipino assistants, such as a tendency to avoid saying “no” and save face, and how The Virtual Hub trains both VAs and clients to communicate openly, fostering transparency and trust within remote teams.
19:22 Process mapping and operational efficiency
Barbara details the importance of breaking down a business into departments, categorizing recurring and project-based tasks, and creating detailed, iterative process maps to streamline operations. She emphasizes that deeper, well-defined processes improve delegation and operational control without constant oversight.
26:45 Overcoming delegation and control challenges
Pat and Barbara discuss entrepreneurs’ reluctance to delegate due to control issues. Barbara counters by showing how detailed processes and centralized management systems like Asana can help founders retain control while offloading tasks to trained assistants.
28:45 Discovery and operational efficiency audits
Barbara explains The Virtual Hub’s client onboarding process, including initial task identification and a free operational efficiency call where their consultant helps analyze processes, systems, and delegation opportunities to optimize workflows.
30:30 Pricing, subscription model, and flexibility
The conversation covers The Virtual Hub’s pricing structure, ranging from $750 to $2,200 per month based on assistant expertise and services. Barbara highlights the subscription-style, no-lock-in model that allows businesses to scale assistant support up or down flexibly without employment obligations.
34:16 Three-step operational efficiency blueprint
Barbara outlines her operational efficiency model: 1) creating a centralized platform architecture, 2) implementing core company-wide processes, and 3) continuously systemizing and optimizing workflows to scale operations effectively.
36:09 Assistant integration benefits for business buyers and sellers
Pat and Barbara discuss how well-documented processes and trained assistant teams increase business value for sellers and simplify post-acquisition transitions for buyers. They highlight how operationally optimized businesses are more resilient, scalable, and attractive to investors.
41:49 Mental health, balance, and the entrepreneur’s role
They explore how assistants not only improve business efficiency but also relieve entrepreneurs from operational stress, freeing up time for strategic thinking and personal well-being. Barbara shares her philosophy on balancing work and personal life by mastering delegation.
46:15 Internal process sharing and continuous improvement
Barbara discusses ongoing efforts within The Virtual Hub to improve internal process sharing and collaboration among assistants, aiming to deliver continuous value and innovation to clients.
48:18 Closing thoughts and contact information
Barbara highlights their growing client base, including notable advocates like Vern Harnish, and reiterates that any business can benefit from a solid operational framework supported by trained assistants. She shares how listeners can reach out via LinkedIn or thevirtualhub.com .
