Episode breakdown
Barbara Turley’s mission is to eradicate “small business overwhelm” by simplifying the offshore outsourcing process and facilitating cost-effective business scalability. She is the featured guest on Go For Launch Podcast.
She is the founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub, a support assistant recruitment and management agency that is disrupting a stale industry. Rather than doing business “the usual way,” The Virtual Hub creates their own support assistant successes through deep training programs including software like Hubspot and Ontraport, as well as ongoing career development and customized coaching to best serve each of their clients.
- Why Business Owners fail with their support assistants
- Common Mistakes to Avoid when working with a support assistant
- Why training support assistants is important
- The importance of having the right systems and processes in your business
- Setting up and Managing Expectations
- Common Tasks that a support assistant can do for you
- The gap that people need to overcome mentally in order to offload more of their tasks to a support assistant
- Best productivity apps that you can use to get more done with support assistants
"I realized how important it is to actually find virtual assistants that are talented and smart we don’t even hire people with any experience."
In this episode
00:00 Introduction and Background of Barbara Turley
Barbara Turley introduces herself and her mission to simplify offshore outsourcing for small businesses. She discusses her background in corporate investment banking, her transition to entrepreneurship, and how she inadvertently founded The Virtual Hub after identifying a common challenge among small business clients needing staff to grow.
03:31 The Accidental Birth of The Virtual Hub
Barbara explains how her initial attempts to help coaching clients by connecting them with support assistants evolved into a business. She shifted from coaching to creating a structured recruitment and training agency that eventually scaled to 140 employees.
05:30 Operational Challenges and Growth Without On-Ground Presence
She shares the challenges of starting a support assistant business remotely without initially visiting the Philippines. Despite skepticism, the business grew rapidly. Barbara eventually visited the country to better understand the culture and optimize operations, which now support clients globally around the clock.
07:17 Cultural Nuances and Relationship Building with Support Assistants
The discussion covers cultural aspects of working with Filipino Support Assistants, including the “yes culture” where support assistants may agree to tasks they don’t fully understand to avoid disappointing clients. Barbara stresses the importance of training both support assistants and clients to foster a more productive and honest work relationship.
09:41 Training Philosophy and Structured Onboarding
Barbara outlines her company’s approach to hiring based on character and potential rather than experience. She describes their comprehensive learning and development programs designed to upskill support assistants and ensure alignment with client needs.
11:49 Cost Benefits and Quality Considerations in Outsourcing
The conversation shifts to the cost advantages of hiring support assistants from the Philippines, emphasizing that while low rates can be appealing, quality and value often correlate with slightly higher costs and more structured support systems.
12:18 Delegation, Management, and Lessons from Failure
Brandon shares a personal story of hiring a support assistant informally and the problems he faced, including poor communication, missed deadlines, and a lack of initiative. He reflects on how a more formalized and supportive approach might have yielded better results.
14:07 Addressing Systemic Issues and Professional Standards
Barbara acknowledges that some issues stem from systemic challenges within the developing world context of the Philippines. She highlights the importance of professional vetting and development to avoid pitfalls like divided loyalties or lack of professionalism, which her company actively screens out during recruitment.
16:08 Common Reasons Support Assistant Relationships Fail
The conversation begins with an exploration of why Support Assistant relationships can go wrong. Key issues include unrealistic expectations from clients who want assistants to be mind readers or perform without proper training or processes. Barbara stresses the need for systems, leadership, and structure in a business to set up a support assistant for success. She also notes that clear communication rhythms, like daily huddles, are essential for managing performance and resolving issues effectively.
18:13 The Importance of Trial Periods and Clear Expectations
Brandon shares a personal lesson on implementing trial periods when hiring support assistants. He emphasizes the value of setting a clear timeline for onboarding and performance evaluation, making it easier to assess fit and avoid dragging out underperformance. Barbara agrees, adding that structured expectations and milestones leave no room for ambiguity and help manage relationships respectfully and professionally.
19:55 Cultural Differences and Missed Deliverables
Brandon recounts a failed experience with a support assistant in the Philippines who took payment but failed to deliver work. Barbara acknowledges that such incidents happen and often stem from cultural misunderstandings or differing expectations. She notes the importance of setting expectations clearly and collaboratively from the beginning, ensuring mutual understanding and accountability.
22:12 Clarifying What Tasks Support Assistants Can and Cannot Do
The discussion shifts to what types of tasks are suitable for Support Assistants. Barbara highlights the common misconception that Support Assistants can do everything. She distinguishes between task-based assistant work and expert-level services like graphic design or copywriting. Support Assistants are best suited for process-driven work such as formatting blog posts, creating Canva graphics, or building landing pages from templates.
26:02 Mindset Shift: Identifying Delegable Tasks
Barbara addresses the mental barrier many entrepreneurs face when they believe they only need a few hours of Support Assistant help. She explains that every business has departments with repetitive tasks, and once business owners map these out, they realize there’s plenty to delegate. Delegating frees up high-value time and can significantly boost productivity and growth.
28:02 Tax and Legal Considerations of Hiring Offshore Support Assistants
Brandon asks about the tax implications of hiring Support Assistants abroad. Barbara explains that using a service provider like her company simplifies compliance, as clients are contracting with a service business rather than hiring individuals. This structure avoids potential legal complications related to employee classification and taxes.
29:43 Top Productivity Tools for Working with Support Assistants
Barbara emphasizes the necessity of using a project management tool like Asana, Trello, or Teamwork PM when working with Support Assistants. These tools prevent communication breakdowns and help streamline workflows. She strongly recommends avoiding unstructured communication via email or messaging apps and instead centralizing tasks and updates within one system.
31:02 How to Learn More About The Virtual Hub
Barbara shares how listeners can connect with her and learn more about The Virtual Hub through LinkedIn, their website, or her podcast, The Virtual Success Show. She notes that the website is full of resources for business owners looking to delegate effectively and build successful Support Assistant relationships.
