Episode breakdown
Barbara Turley is an investor, entrepreneur, and Founder & CEO of The Virtual Hub – a business she started by accident that exploded in the space of 12 months to become one of the leading companies that recruits, trains, and manages support assistants for businesses who need to free up time and energy so they can go to the next level. With a strong focus on customized training and ongoing career development, Barbara ensures that her team is trained in cutting-edge programs (like Hubspot, Ontraport, etc.) to best meet their clients’ unique needs in digital marketing, social media, personal assistant services, and administrative support.
- Barbara shared the story of “accidentally” launching the business
- What you need to do before you hire anyone
- Mindset shift. The stop doing list and start doing list
- Developing trust with your Support Assistant
- Meeting vs Chat. Delivering effective feedback vs slamming someone because they made a mistake
- The Virtual Hub: Recruit, Train, and Manage
- Process development and Onboarding – Why you should hire Support Assistants
- Delegation game
- Different levels of a support assistant at The Virtual Hub and what they do
Before you hire anyone, you have to figure out what you have to stop ‘doing’ to create your ‘stop doing’ list and ‘start doing’ list.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction and Guest Welcome
Deb Krier introduces the show and warmly welcomes guest Barbara Turley, noting the international time difference. Barbara is introduced as an entrepreneur and founder of The Virtual Hub, a company specializing in recruiting and managing support assistants.
03:08 - Starting a Business by Accident
Barbara shares how she unintentionally founded The Virtual Hub. Originally a financial professional with plans for a wealth platform, she began connecting clients from her consulting work with support assistants and discovered greater demand for that service, leading to the launch and growth of her company.
04:55 - The Mindset Hurdles of Hiring a Support Assistant
They discuss the mental obstacles business owners face when considering hiring a support assistant, such as feeling they should do everything themselves or believing they can’t afford help. Barbara emphasizes shifting mindset toward delegating in order to grow a business and strategically using freed-up time for revenue-generating tasks.
07:37 - Trust and Letting Go
Deb reflects on her own experience of gradually trusting her support assistant, letting go of micromanagement, and being pleasantly surprised at how well tasks were handled. Barbara adds that building systems and processes allows for a controlled, scalable approach to delegating while preserving leadership.
10:24 - Building Systems and Processes
Barbara stresses the importance of having documented procedures and processes for new hires to follow, rather than expecting them to intuitively manage tasks. This structure fosters trust and enables support assistants to eventually suggest improvements once they’re experienced.
12:26 - Delegation and Leadership Mindset
They explore the tension business owners feel in delegating tasks while maintaining control. Barbara advocates embracing a leadership role as “conductor of the orchestra,” even if managing a small team or a single support assistant, and establishing oversight through reporting and regular check-ins.
14:37 - Corporate vs. Small Business Management Skills
Barbara points out that many small business owners haven’t had corporate experience and may lack skills in delegation, team structure, and effective feedback. Her company addresses this gap by providing client onboarding and support assistant training to create productive working relationships.
16:49 - Why Support Assistant Relationships Fail
Deb admits past support assistant partnerships failed because of her own lack of clarity and communication. Barbara outlines the three main causes of support assistant relationship problems: business owners being unprepared, poor recruitment of unqualified support assistants, and misaligned expectations about what a support assistant can realistically handle.
18:51 - Scope Creep and Expectation Management
They highlight the danger of overloading support assistants with responsibilities outside their expertise, like expecting them to strategize Facebook ad campaigns or act as project managers. Properly defining roles and expectations is critical to a successful support assistant relationship.
21:50 - Hiring Support Assistants: Expectations vs. Reality
Deb Krier and Barbara Turley discuss how hiring a support assistant isn’t as simple as it might seem. Deb shares her initial experience, emphasizing the importance of treating the hiring process seriously — creating job descriptions, interviewing, and assessing initiative. Barbara adds that initiative is tough to teach, especially culturally in places like the Philippines, but it’s a crucial quality.
23:51 - Training and Cultural Differences in Support Assistant Roles
Barbara explains the challenges of instilling initiative in support assistants from different cultural backgrounds. She shares how her company runs intensive hiring and training processes, selecting only a small percentage of applicants. She stresses the importance of realistic expectations and the workload involved if business owners choose to hire and manage support assistants independently.
26:31 - Why Use a Support Assistant Service and The Importance of Training
The conversation shifts to why businesses might prefer a professional support assistant service. Deb and Barbara highlight how gaps in skills — especially communication — can cause problems. They underline the significance of comprehensive training and the value added when support assistants take initiative within clearly defined roles.
29:26 - Clarifying the Support Assistant Role and Scope of Responsibilities
Barbara unpacks the blurry definition of “support assistant,” noting how the title covers a wide range of skills. She distinguishes between process execution and business advice, explaining what is appropriate for a support assistant versus higher-level roles like online business managers.
31:32 - Onboarding and Managing Expectations
Both speakers discuss the lengthy onboarding process required for a support assistant to truly understand a business. They advise against expecting immediate initiative or perfect alignment with a business’s voice and processes, stressing patience and clear communication.
33:32 - Time Zones, Office Environments, and Well-Being
Barbara talks about the benefits of having support assistants in office environments versus working night shifts at home, particularly in the Philippines. She highlights how her agency ensures a supportive, engaging space for VAs working US hours to maintain productivity and well-being.
34:59 - Leveraging Support Assistants for Research and Tech Projects
The conversation turns to using support assistants for projects like chatbot research and implementation. Deb and Barbara discuss how business owners often lack time and expertise in new technologies, making support assistants valuable for research and setup of tools that optimize operations.
36:42 - Delegation and Shifting Business Mindsets
Barbara reflects on how many entrepreneurs remain stuck in technician roles and resist delegating. She advocates for starting with simple admin tasks and affordable offshore support assistants to learn delegation skills before taking on higher-level hires, highlighting the cost advantages of offshore support.
40:34 - Examples of Support Assistants in Client-Facing Roles
Barbara shares a story about her husband’s tennis coaching business in Sydney, where a support assistant named Mervyn from the Philippines handles everything except the actual coaching — including client calls. This challenges assumptions about the limitations of offshore support assistants and showcases the range of roles they can successfully fill.
44:29 - Common Mistakes with Support Assistants
Barbara discusses the anxiety many business owners feel after hiring a support assistant without a clear plan for daily tasks. She explains the importance of establishing recurring operational tasks for support assistants and mapping them into structured systems so that both the owner and the support assistant avoid confusion and inefficiency.
45:48 - Tactical Guidance for Managing Support Assistants
Barbara shares how her training program, originally seen as overly basic, turned out to be a game-changer for clients. She highlights topics like using LastPass, project management tools, and setting communication expectations with Support Assistants, which address common, overlooked questions business owners have.
47:00 - Reasons Support Assistant Relationships Fail
The conversation turns to why support assistant arrangements often don’t work. Barbara points out how failures are usually due to a lack of clear direction, micromanagement, or misplaced expectations. She encourages owners not to feel embarrassed when things go wrong but to identify and address the root causes.
48:19 - Overview of Support Assistant Roles and Levels
Barbara explains the different types and levels of Support Assistants offered by The Virtual Hub. Level 1 Support Assistants handle general admin, Level 2 focus on digital marketing implementation like podcast production and social media content, and Level 3 handle technical tasks like CRM management and funnel setup. She also warns against expecting Support Assistants to handle specialist roles like writing or coding.
53:22 - Creating a Simple Business Framework for Delegation
A practical framework is shared where business owners map out their business “departments” and list repetitive, tedious tasks in each. Delegating these allows owners to either scale their business or reclaim personal time, depending on their goals.
54:47 - Scaling vs. Maintaining Work-Life Balance
Barbara acknowledges that not every entrepreneur wants to scale. Many are happy at their current business size but still want to reduce their workload. She emphasizes how even small delegations to a support assistant can provide valuable personal freedom without necessarily growing the business.
56:44 - Resources and Getting Started with The Virtual Hub
Barbara outlines the resources available on their website: a free eBook on support assistant pitfalls, a seven-part email course for scaling with support assistants, and a free strategy call. She stresses the importance of assessing readiness before hiring a support assistant and how these resources help clarify that.
58:29 - Mindset Shift for Successful Delegation
In closing, Barbara encourages listeners to embrace a mindset shift. She acknowledges common concerns like trust and security, affirming they’re valid but manageable. She stresses that with the right approach, hiring a support assistant delivers dividends in freedom, productivity, and business growth.
