Episode breakdown
Support Assistants to help you run and grow your small business with Barbara Turley. Barbara explains how to leverage support assistants for your business, including how to work effectively with support assistants and the importance of developing systems and processes which a support assistant can help you execute. Barbara also shares her interesting entrepreneurial journey, from a highly successful 15-year career in the financial markets to launching her latest venture The Virtual Hub – one of the leading companies that recruits, trains and manages offshore support assistants in the digital marketing and social media space for businesses who need to free up time and energy so they can go to the next level.
Barbara is an investor, entrepreneur and the 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 in the digital marketing and social media space for businesses who need to free up time and energy so they can go to the next level.
During her 15 year financial markets career she was a trader for some of the world’s largest investment banks, successfully traded her own money, managed relationships with some of Australia’s largest wealth management businesses and became an early stage investor in a number of very successful, disruptive financial services companies.
- Barbara’s career journey in the corporate world and building her own business accidentally
- How Barbara felt overwhelmed after leaving corporate life with all the opportunities showing and wanting to be a mum
- Her success with Digital Marketing
- What a support assistant is and how she decided on what service to offer
- Building a scalable business with the help of Support Assistants
- Helping clients get set up and getting a Support Assistant
- The importance of mindset to get things right
- Recruiting a support assistant
- Creating space and time to grow
- The fear of losing an employee or your Support Assistant
- Services offered at The Virtual Hub
The desire to do it has to become stronger than the fear to stay.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction & Episode Overview
Henry Lopez introduces Barbara Turley, founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub, noting her journey from equity trader to entrepreneur. The episode will explore her career path and the role of support assistants in helping small business owners and solopreneurs scale and regain balance.
01:23 - Barbara’s Background & Career Shift
Barbara recounts her 15-year career in financial markets, from equity trading to asset management sales. She describes her growing desire to build her own company, influenced by observing how businesses succeed or fail.
03:15 - Catalyst for Entrepreneurship
During the 2008 financial crisis, Barbara joined a management buyout, gaining shareholder experience while remaining an employee. After five years, she left corporate life, having financially prepared herself, driven by a stronger desire to create something of her own.
07:11 - Mindset & Focus Evolution
Barbara explains how maturity and personal vision shaped her business decisions. Initially overwhelmed by too many opportunities, she refocused on lifestyle goals, motherhood, and building one core service—Support Assistants for digital marketing and social media—leading to rapid growth.
12:54 - Niche Specialization
She describes narrowing The Virtual Hub’s focus to digital marketing support assistants, particularly skilled in platforms like Ontraport and HubSpot, after finding these placements most successful.
14:18 - Accidental Launch of The Virtual Hub
Barbara shares how the business began unintentionally while she was coaching clients. Seeing their struggles with workload, she started sourcing support assistants from the Philippines, which quickly turned into a high-demand service.
18:10 - Common Obstacles in Using Support Assistants
She stresses that support assistants succeed when plugged into strong systems and processes. Many business owners fail by expecting support assistants to operate without clear structures, mistaking them for strategists or project managers.
21:18 - Building Systems & Processes
Barbara advises that owners can hire a support assistant before systems are perfect, but must work collaboratively to build them. She emphasizes “internal leverage”—creating a repeatable machine that anyone can be plugged into.
24:47 - Where Support Assistant Relationships Break Down
Breakdowns often stem from unclear communication, ad hoc tasking, or lack of commitment to process documentation. She recommends simple, clear instructions and avoiding overcomplication.
28:46 - Effective Support Assistant Use Cases & Mindset
Successful clients approach support assistant hiring with positivity, responsibility, and willingness to invest time. Those who fail often expect instant results without structured onboarding.
32:07 - Affordability & Commitment Levels
Barbara addresses cost concerns, suggesting budgeting for support assistant support early. She explains The Virtual Hub’s 20-hour/week minimum and contrasts it with the risks of ultra-low-hour arrangements.
36:24 - Measuring Support Assistant Success
She recommends assessing after three months whether the support assistant has removed workload and freed the owner for higher-value tasks. Growth in the owner’s capacity is a key success metric.
40:37 - Handling Support Assistant Turnover
Barbara advises building systems so no one is indispensable, reducing disruption if a support assistant leaves. Life events, not just dissatisfaction, can cause turnover.
43:46 - The Virtual Hub’s Service Offering
The company specializes in three Support Assistant levels:
– Level 1: General admin (email, calendar, documentation)
– Level 2: Digital content management, social media, WordPress
– Level 3: Advanced CRM and automation (Ontraport, HubSpot, Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign)
46:05 - Recommended Resources
Barbara recommends Built to Sell and Traction for building scalable systems, noting that The 4-Hour Workweek oversimplifies outsourcing realities.
48:07 - Key Takeaway
Integrating an offshore team can significantly improve profitability and scalability when paired with strong systems, benefiting both the business and the support assistant’s local economy.
49:44 - Closing & Contact Information
Barbara offers free resources and strategy calls via thevirtualhub.com, encouraging listeners to explore offshore staffing as a strategic advantage.
