Owning my mistakes

Normalising the f*ck up

Wow - how are we on newsletter #3?!

Thank you for staying with us and being a part of the Upsource community. I am truly passionate about giving back to the assistant community and seeing what we can achieve together!

Let us know what we can bring to our newsletter - experts, templates Upsource loves and use to create excellent service, insider tips and tricks as a VA turned agency owner. Share it in the comments 👇🏼

We have been back to business here at Upsource after celebrating some amazing wins. As well as Speaking at the PA show on a Panel with lovely ladies from Strategic PA moderating, all on my favourite…networking. I’m going to talk about my key take aways in another newsletter, but for me, it’s all about authenticity. 

Before we get to our P.O.B, I wanted to be real for a moment and acknowledge that business has been hard for many of us, self employed, employers and clients. There’s been a lot of uncertainty and tight budgets, which may only be getting tighter. But, I think we’re moving into a market that will value freelancers more than ever; where there’s challenge there is also opportunity for us as an industry.

Wherever you’re at with your business and/or career - please know: You are not alone.

We are all doing amazing, doing this, trying this and keeping going. If you need a cheer squad, that is exactly what this community is about.

Caroline x

Points of Business:

One of the first regular pieces of content I knew I wanted to include in this newsletter was F*ck Up of the Month. 

As an ex-performer, I was used to failing publicly. It was par for the course, sometimes embarrassing yes, sometimes slightly devastating, but nothing unusual; the failures always outweighed the wins. For everyone.

In my career as an EA, I brought that openness with me, and struggled when others thought they were something to be avoided, smoothed over quickly, not something to grow from. For themselves and those around them.

It takes a certain amount of confidence to own your mistakes, especially if you’re in an atmosphere that encourages shame. Sometimes I think that Assistants aren’t ‘allowed’ to make mistakes in the same way that other roles and industries are. 

But mistakes happen. All. The. Time. We’re human. And honestly, mistakes are one of the best ways to learn something, quickly and deeply. The point isn’t making them, the point is how we handle mistakes and learn from them.

I put my hands up: I make mistakes almost every day. Some big, some small, some really really silly, sometimes the same ones more than I really should. In my business, my relationships, (not) packing school bags, you name it.

But I try to own them. To recognise them, apologise, and use them as a springboard to do better next time.

I’m happy to discuss in detail the latest sh*t show of my own creation when I’m meeting with my team on a more personal level. But I’m aware that a lot of my wider team don’t see that in their day to day. How can I expect them to come to me with mistakes if they aren’t seeing mine?

Enter, F*ck Up of the Month

To normalise f*ck ups, because they are…normal. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough, you’re not trying anything new, you’re maybe not learning anything new.

I encourage you to share your f*ck ups too, no matter how small, how embarrassing. This is a safe space: It’s OK, we’ve all been there. You’ll probably find scores of other VAs who have made that exact same mistake. Without sharing you won’t know. 

Let’s learn from one another’s mistakes, what better way is there?

Actions:

• You guessed it: Share your f*ck ups here

• 29th November: Tell your would-be/newbie VA friends! I’ll be sharing a Black Friday discount on Friday with this community for my Your VA Journey: Start Here webinar. All the advice I give to new VAs and new Upsource recruits in one place for a strong career foundation

• 3rd December: If you’re scaling your VA business into an agency and you’re looking for support, I’m speaking as part of a panel hosted by Visionary VA Circle on creating an associate team. More info and tickets here.

• 4th December: Join me and some of the Upsource team for some Christmas co-working and a festive breakfast. Networking, goal sharing, support and collaboration. Book your tickets here. Spaces are very limited, so move quick!

Next Steps:

Strong business foundations are made with strong legal foundations. If you haven’t already, check out Lucy Legal for legal templates for you, and for your start up clients.

Questions/Comments:

Is there a subject you’d like to discuss? How do you feel about sharing mistakes? I’d love to hear more from you, share your thoughts in the comments

Suggested Reading:

For more on learning from other’s missteps, read eight women’s career mistakes (including one of mine!)

F*ck up of the month:

More often that I’d like, I do admin evenings and weekends. And usually, when I am working ‘out of hours’ I am all about scheduling emails and Slacks. I don’t want my team to think it’s expected of them to pick up comms on the weekends. But, I forgot. I messaged one of the team about client billing on a Sunday. And she saw it. I disrupted her work free weekend, and felt terrible about it. It was not important enough for that. Lesson learnt: check scheduling!

Any (completely anonymous!) mistakes you want to get off your chest? It will make you feel better, I promise!

AOB:

Share this newsletter with your fellow VAs or friends that are looking to change career, and they’ll get the webinar discount code on Friday 29th November. Tell your friends!

And, in the name of collaboration I am going to be on Holly Copsey, Founder of Virtually Priceless and The Visionary VA Circle - NEW podcast - watch out for the link soon.

Next month, I’ll be sharing Upsource’s internal processes, maybe the most important one.

Speak soon,
Caroline x