#awinewith Jess Byrnes
MEET Jess, Founder of Freedom Unlocked.
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
Jess, welcome to Spark tv.
Jess Byrnes (00:09):
Hello.
Danielle Lewis (00:11):
So lovely to have you here. Thank you for spending the time. I know you're loving it. Very busy woman.
Jess Byrnes (00:18):
It's, I like hanging out with other busy women and other business ladies. It's good.
Danielle Lewis (00:23):
So good. So let's start by telling everyone who you are and what you do.
Jess Byrnes (00:28):
Hello, beautiful people. So my name is Jess Burns and I am a virtual assistant coach. So I have a group called Totally Unleashed because for me, I like to help women start and scale their VA business. So whether they're just getting started or whether they're ready to hire a team or whatever that looks like, my goal is to be the go-to place for that space.
Danielle Lewis (00:50):
That is so good. And how did you actually get started? How did you get into that?
Jess Byrnes (00:56):
The universe gave me a nice big shove as it does. So I realized that I became the Go-to person in my corporate world for spreadsheets. So a formula would break or they'd want it to change color. And so I was like, okay, this is a thing, so there must be other people out there. And I realized there's two people within the world. There's people that love Excel, and there's people that hate Excel.
Danielle Lewis (01:20):
I'm in the Love Excel camp,
Jess Byrnes (01:23):
So as a lover of Excel, I decided it was my mission to go and help the haters. So that's where it all started, and then it grew and evolved. And as I took on some volunteer roles within the organization I was volunteering in, I started doing websites and social media and same sort of thing. I was just like, oh, there must be a bigger world out there for this. And so yeah, then again I got made redundant, partied a little too hard, found out I was pregnant a few weeks into my new job and surprise. And that afternoon, after telling my boss that I was pregnant, I got a letter to say, dear employee number, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I remember
Danielle Lewis (02:07):
You are joking me. Oh my God.
Jess Byrnes (02:10):
So I was working weekends and trying to just catch up and we had all these reports we were behind on and I just remember thinking, oh my God, I never want to feel like this. And so there's always been a niggle for me in the background. So that's how I started in the VA world, and I've had a successful VA business for five years and it still niggles at me and it was like, okay, you can't ignore it anymore. Now it's time to help other women that are in that situation that either don't want to be in full-time job anymore. They want the freedom, which is why it's called Freedom on ops. So whether it's financial freedom, lifestyle freedom, time freedom, whatever that looks like for you, that's my mission and it's to help a hundred women this year in that space.
Danielle Lewis (02:48):
Oh, I love that. So excited. It's so exciting. It's so good when you actually love what you do, when you actually have that vision and mission behind. And I love what you just said about what is freedom for you, whether it's financial, whether it's time, whether it's whatever. That is so true now it doesn't have to look one particular way. I love how having your own business can support any kind of lifestyle you want to live.
Jess Byrnes (03:18):
And look, it's not always been, I did a post the other day, it's not always go lunches and getaways for the weekend. We just booked a trip to Hawaii. It's not always been like that. Early stages. I put in a lot of time, effort, and energy to get to where I am now, but it all pays off. And once people start to know who you are and what you do and what you want to be known for, the world's your oyster.
Danielle Lewis (03:41):
Absolutely. So what was it like when you made the leap, whether you wanted to or not, what were those early days when you were just starting the business?
Jess Byrnes (03:51):
I was really lucky because, and I didn't always think of it like this, but I was really lucky because I had a newborn baby. So I spent a lot of time in a rocking chair breastfeeding, to be honest. And so I would just watch YouTube videos and I realized quite early on that I could work with anyone anywhere. And so I started actually working with the UK because their hours were the opposite. So I would finish the last feed at 10 30 and then work with the UK for a couple of hours. I'd do the midnight, the middle of the night feed at two 3:00 AM and then I'd go to bed and get a couple hours sleep. So look, it was pretty full on as well because I didn't have someone in my corner to guide me. I was really trying to figure it out on my own. And that's a whole adventure in itself, which again is why I created Freedom Unlocked because not only when you have the steps to go through and someone's done it before, it's like, oh, this makes sense. But also we've got the best community as well. The girls are super supportive. You don't really have one coach, you've got 20 in there at the moment. So that's really cool.
Danielle Lewis (04:56):
I love that because I'm such a huge believer in shortcutting your success. If somebody's done it, learn from them. Don't go out. Yes, you can go out and watch every YouTube video, consume every blog article, follow all of the people, but if someone's done what you want to do, go just steal the framework.
Jess Byrnes (05:17):
And I think it's a balance too, because there's a level of what you learn that you need to apply to your business versus taking the advice from someone else. So even for me, you still need to apply it your own way. I've got business mentors that help me and I take what I want to take and I leave what I want to leave. But it's also as well, I leave space to make those mistakes because I learn so much when I do that.
Danielle Lewis (05:38):
And also to our point before, it does look different. Life does look different for everybody. So yes, you can say, here are the steps to follow. They've done what I want to do. But you're right, apply it to your own life so that it supports the dream you have, not just their dream.
Jess Byrnes (05:54):
Yeah, absolutely.
Danielle Lewis (05:56):
That's so good. Were there any challenges along the way that you can reveal when growing your business?
Jess Byrnes (06:02):
I mean like a hundred million, I guess cashflow early on was a massive challenge. I'd just lost my job. I had just had a newborn baby, so all my money had gone. We were doing it really tough. We'd been evicted from our house, so we had to move in with my dad who was also really sick.
Danielle Lewis (06:21):
Oh my God.
Jess Byrnes (06:22):
So not only did I have a newborn baby, then I had to look after my old man as well who couldn't do a lot on his own.
(06:29):
And I think the thing is, if you're really intentional with your time, if you're like, right, I'm going to do this. This is what needs to happen today. People ask me that all the time. They're like, Jess, you're so busy. How do you get it all done? If it's not in my calendar, it doesn't happen. So I think as well, trying to find what works for me was a big thing. That was a big challenge in itself. Like I'm a yes girl, I say yes to so many things. My plate is so full and it's like, okay, what do I do here? How do I make that work?
Danielle Lewis (07:00):
Yeah, yeah. I love that thought. Being intentional with your time. It's so true. Can I find time expands and contracts? You can make a two minute task, take four hours some days because you're just not intentional about how long you've got to do a certain thing. I love that idea of calendarizing everything and actually planning out what you're going to do to make sure that you're the most productive or get the things done that are important to you.
Jess Byrnes (07:35):
And so prioritizing is a big part of that, right? It is actually looking at all the things you need to do and going, what is the most important. And I think the other thing I was going to say on that around challenges too is everyone has a product or a service that they can sell you. You have to be really mindful of what's going to work for you. You don't have to rush into anything. Go and spend some time in their group or go and spend some time on a call with them if you need to have a second call. I've had ladies come to me a couple of times, I've spoken to husbands, you don't have to rush into it. But I definitely have over the years. And then I felt like my hard earned money at that point was so caught up and I was like, oh man, I didn't really get anything out of that.
Danielle Lewis (08:17):
Yeah, I know. It's so true. You are right. I bought so many courses and memberships that just sit on the shelf collecting dust. Oh my god, I know I did that. I went on a course ban. I banned myself at the end of last year. I'm like, okay, you have no time to do these. Let's just park it to next year. And then again, be intentional about the ones that you actually need to move you forward.
Jess Byrnes (08:44):
It goes in my calendar, it goes in my calendar and it's there. And then I have to prioritize in my workday what's important. Is it going to actually move me forward or am I doing it just because I bought it? And if it's just because I bought it, then it goes to the bottom of the pile basically. But it's usually prioritized when it's like, okay, I'm implementing a new funnel or I am doing something that needs that information is when I go back and listen to it.
Danielle Lewis (09:11):
I love that. I love that so much. What do you think has been the biggest driver of growth in your business? So I was just having a chat to a product-based business before, and they were like, it's very heavily social and word of mouth, but I'm keen on yours because it is more of a digital business. What have you found has been really successful for driving growth?
Jess Byrnes (09:33):
Covid where everyone's allowed to work from home. It wasn't a thing before. I've got family that worked for Bullas and it was like, you have to be in the office every day from eight till five. That is where, and now they don't even want you in the office. So that plays a big part because people think that working from home is quite serious, but it's quite difficult when you have to be the one to get your butt up. You have to get up and get dressed. You've got to be really disciplined. I think that really gave people a taste of what it's really like to work from home opposed to just sitting here in your gym dams and your slippers every day.
Danielle Lewis (10:09):
Yes, I still have my slippers on
Jess Byrnes (10:12):
And definitely the course and coaching space. It's a billion dollar industry now. It's huge. So where you didn't have that knowledge at your fingertips before, you really do now. And there's a lot of people in the VA space, but there's not a lot of mentors that are actually really helping women to step into that. I guess there's probably three that I really know about. One in the US and a couple here that are really strong in the industry and they do an amazing job. So I think that's a big part of it. Now you can actually access all that information and it's just not as expensive as it used to be. If you want to know how to do a funnel, you can go and buy something for a hundred bucks versus 10 years ago I spent thousands of dollars on courses and things to be part of communities where it's just not like that anymore.
Danielle Lewis (11:02):
Yeah, I love that. It is so much more accessible now, isn't it? And it's kind of, I think it's a double-edged sword. Sometimes people go, oh my god, my market's saturated. Is there any room for me? But the other side is there is so much opportunity and there's everything readily available and you can get started today without actually all of these barriers that we had a decade ago.
Jess Byrnes (11:28):
And I hear that all the time in the VA world. They'd say, oh, there's all these people that are already VAs. What does that look like? And I remember my background is Coca-Cola and Wrigley. I've been a rep for a million years and I had hundreds of customers on my books at any one time. I had a hundred to three. So I came into this business thinking I need 300 people on my books because that's what I've always done, and I know how to manage that level. And I got my first five clients and I was like, oh my God, I'm so flat out now what I do. So I think the thing is here is you find your space on the internet that you want to play in. You're really clear and you talk to the right person, which is obviously what we teach in Freedom Unlocked. But you are really intentional that if you are the Excel wizard for small to medium businesses, that's who you talk to. There's always a place. There's always a place for someone to be because everyone's really unique. And I teach a four pillar framework around what your experiences are and what and who you have connected with and what your belief system is. There's VAs out there that are faith-based VAs, and they only work with people in that faith based community.
(12:40):
And again, all you really need is five or 10 clients a month and you are earning those big numbers that you really want to earn. And then it's actually, yeah, it's not as hard as I think it used to be because now there's a lot of proven strategies out there,
Danielle Lewis (12:57):
But also to your point as well, you actually don't need thousands of clients. It is actually how much do I want to make? What do I charge, do the math, and I've only got so much time in the day to deliver on said work, and I want to do an amazing job. So they stay around forever. And then it's like, yeah, that's my number, that's how many clients I need and how many I actually want to service every month. And then it's kind of done.
Jess Byrnes (13:24):
And that's a big part too. And it goes back to that freedom. What do you want your life to look like? Do you want to work 40 hours a week and be flat out from drop off to pick up and all the things? Or do you want to only work 10 hours a week or 15 hours a week? That's a big part of it. And I beg you leave time to work on your business. Don't just be flat out with all the clients. You got to make time to fix the little things and tweak things and implement automation and do all that sort of stuff. People just forget that. And it actually makes all the difference to how you structure your day and your life. But yeah, you don't need a huge amount.
Danielle Lewis (14:05):
I love that. It's such a good point as well, because I think especially in service-based industries, people often go, I'm going to start a business in a service-based industry, my skillset. And then they do forget about that while I also have to do my bookkeeping and I also have to do my marketing and I also have to do the admin. And sometimes people do forget that you've got a business to run as well. It's not just servicing the clients.
Jess Byrnes (14:32):
And do you get caught up with, I mean, again, my examples were corporate, so there was people that did that stuff. I was never exposed to the bookkeeping and I knew about the marketing team, but I wasn't hanging out with them. I was in sales. It was all about going to see the clients and then you kind of come back to ground zero, if you will, and it's like, oh, now I wear all the hats. I've never had put that hat on before. What does that even mean?
Danielle Lewis (14:56):
Yes, it can be very stressful.
Jess Byrnes (15:00):
Well, I was just going to say that's why you need someone in your corner that's done it before because it's a whole new landscape to navigate.
Danielle Lewis (15:07):
Do you still have mentors now that you're this far into business?
Jess Byrnes (15:11):
Absolutely. So almost probably too many. So I've got a mindset coach who's fabulous, and she does all things mindset and energy because the energy space wasn't really anything that I knew about until I got into business. I mean, you hear about the law of attraction, but how does it actually apply to you, which is what she teaches because I am a little bit crazy. Maybe I have another business. So I have a separate coach specifically for that business, which is a food truck business. And he is a very masculine coach, but is very, he works with those kind of businesses. So that's where he is. And then I've got a coach in the uk, sorry, in the US because I want to impact more people. And again, she's been there, she's done it. I've followed her for a long time and I was like, right, this is the year that I'm going to spend time with her.
Danielle Lewis (16:06):
That's so cool. Now hold the phone. Second business. What the hell?
Jess Byrnes (16:11):
So
Danielle Lewis (16:11):
You don't sleep?
Jess Byrnes (16:14):
Not a lot. Not a lot. No, I do. I do because it's important now that I'm in a position where the business is somewhat under control. I can manage my time across the businesses. So again, when I started my VA business, I came across this beautiful lady who had this food truck business and she needed help with the bookings and making the phone calls. So what we do is we connect event organizers and food trucks together so the event organizers don't have to spend hours on the phone and the food trucks find jobs really easily. That's our whole purpose.
Danielle Lewis (16:45):
Awesome. That's so cool.
Jess Byrnes (16:47):
So cool. And then Covid happened and she'd kind of had enough anyway and wanted to pivot, and that was the whole theme of covid. So it just came at the opportune time that I was able to buy that business. So we'd had it somewhat set up already, and I love it. I really love it. So again, we want to impact 500 food trucks this year. Wow,
Danielle Lewis (17:10):
That's so cool. I love how your goals for the year are impact driven. I do not get a lot of people saying that. That's so cool.
Jess Byrnes (17:20):
Yeah, I think it comes with loving Excel. I love numbers and that's just how I work.
Danielle Lewis (17:27):
It's so cool. No, I love it. Because so much of what you see online is here's how to make a million dollars in 17 seconds, and it's a lot of the time we're chasing a goal that's not really ours, that's kind of built on a bit of crap. So it's actually so lovely to hear, no, these are the two businesses I have and this is who I'm going to impact. And having that as the driving force behind what you do.
Jess Byrnes (17:52):
If I show up and serve these people at my highest level and I can give them the outcomes that I'm promised, the numbers will come, the money will come regardless. So for me, it's about service. It's not really about the dollar value. I know my products are priced at the right price and I know my worth and I know what we deliver on. So that takes care of itself. I have to focus on working with these business owners and helping and supporting them. And it means that I have such a high level conversation with these people and I love it. I love the strategy and I love going through all that sort of stuff with them. And so it just fills my cup and I don't feel like I go to work every day. I'm super lucky.
Danielle Lewis (18:34):
That's so cool. And I love service as a sales strategy. It is. If I show up as the highest form of myself, if I'm in service, if I'm looking after these people, if I'm creating impact, the money will take care of itself. That is so true. I love that. I love it. Because a lot of women in business actually struggle with the word sales. They struggle with, I don't want to be salesy, I don't want to be pushy, but I feel like you don't have to be.
Jess Byrnes (19:02):
No. And it's a big thing that my mindset coach and she comes into freedom on lockdown, teaches the girls around this. So one of the things that I've learned from her that has had a really big impact is around just taking those words out that feel really yuck to you and replace it with something. That's right. So I know one of the girls, she doesn't do discovery calls, she does service calls because she wants to show up and serve these people.
Danielle Lewis (19:25):
Oh, I love that.
Jess Byrnes (19:26):
Such a game changer.
Danielle Lewis (19:28):
Yeah, reframe. If you don't like it, reframe it. What actually does light you up? That's so cool. I have that actually. I teach a sales course and in one section it's all about closing, so how to ask for the sale. And I'm like, make it feel good. The way I ask for the sale is, oh my God, should we just do this?
Jess Byrnes (19:49):
Yes.
Danielle Lewis (19:51):
Because I'm like, that's my personality. It's excited. I love what I do. I love working with people. So it's like that is how I ask for the sale. I'm like, just be excited. Should we actually get started? This is so much fun. It doesn't have to be that masculine sign on the dotted line. You've got to sign the contract today or you're not going to get XY. It doesn't have to be like that.
Jess Byrnes (20:13):
No, not at all. And for me, it's like, so are we ready to do this? That's how I do it now too. And it hasn't always been that way. It's a skill. It's something to refine. Personally. I don't expect anyone to come to me that doesn't have that background to be able to do those things. It's all things that I learned.
Danielle Lewis (20:34):
And isn't that just a great life philosophy? You can literally learn anything. It doesn't matter if you're not good at it, but it's so true. I feel like sales skills are so important. I feel sales is everywhere, whether it's selling to customers, whether it's convincing employees to come into the business. I know some people raise capital. Sometimes you've got to convince your kids to eat their vegetables. Having just sales skills is just a great life skill, but we don't have to think about it in the Wolf of Wall Street kind of craziness. We just think about it as service and connecting the value we provide with other humans.
Jess Byrnes (21:16):
And it's really understanding what is important to your client. So if it's the dollar value that's important to that person, then you talk around the dollar value that it can bring. And you find that out by asking such basic questions, which I find that's such a big part of sales, is you just ask the right questions. We talk about it all the time. I run a networking meeting as well, and the other day it was like, well, how do you get more visitors? The first thing you do is ask how the business is going.
Danielle Lewis (21:43):
Yes.
Jess Byrnes (21:45):
Oh, I need more leads. Great. Well, I can connect you with a group of people that are happily looking to pass business to someone like you. Would you like to be introduced to them? So easy.
Danielle Lewis (21:55):
Isn't it so easy? And I think we build up in our minds that we can't do it and that we're going to come across sleazy and blah, blah. But it's really just in our head. I love that. It is just a conversation.
Jess Byrnes (22:08):
And I think for me too, what changed was doing daily affirmations around shifting my beliefs was a big part of it. So I am the go-to expert for VAs and how to start a VA business, and I write it every day. And even things like people love what I have to offer, and they will buy it every day. But the more you write it and you do it, it just becomes more ingrained and you'll feel yourself completely shift. Because one day you'll write it and be like, yeah, I am. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (22:39):
I, I'm, yes. Oh my God, I love that so much. And I think sometimes you do have to be your own hype girl. What is the life that I actually want and believe that it's happening now?
Jess Byrnes (22:58):
Do the work. Just get in and do the work. Get a journal. Doesn't have to, it's not a dear diary. Just brain dump whatever's going on. It's a big thing that the girls do in our course too. It's like, just get out of your own way. Get out of your own head. Get rid of all the noise and just get to the thing that is really pressing for you that we want to try and address it. And guess what you do that and all that other stuff goes away.
Danielle Lewis (23:23):
So true. I love that so much. Okay, we could talk all day, but let's leave our beautiful Spark community with one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time in business, what would be the one thing that you would tell another woman in business to help her on her journey?
Jess Byrnes (23:43):
And we kind of already touched on it, but it would be find a community, find that place in the internet that is safe for you to ask the questions, and just to be totally vulnerable. Because business isn't all black and white. It's not a linear journey. It is a rollercoaster. And personally, I just think you need to find that space that you can celebrate the wins, and then you work through the other challenges that come your way. And so many people have so much experience and advice that I think we actually just don't lean in on that enough.
Danielle Lewis (24:15):
That is so true. I absolutely love it. Jess, you are amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your time and wisdom with the Spark community. I really appreciate it.
Jess Byrnes (24:26):
My pleasure. Thank you for having me, and I look forward to connecting with everybody.
✨ Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business ✨
