We recently connected with Alexis Butler-Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alexis thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Starting a business today would seem like the normal thing to do, but starting a successful business is the hardest thing to do. It all starts with having an idea and putting it into action by believing it can be all that you’ve hoped for. I had a strong desire to step away from my stable career as an Insurance Agent and tap into a world of uncertainty and pressures to execute and deliver by starting my business as a Virtual Assistant. The idea came to me casually, but then again it was purposeful because it aligned with who I am and how I operated in my day-to-day life. It honestly made sense. I didn’t know where to start but youtube had one video that gave me enough information to see Virtual Assisting as my reality. I quickly leaped into action, before fear kicked in because I refused to believe I wasn’t capable. I came up with my official name: Alexis Williams VA Services, designed my logo in Canva, went onto the department of state website and applied for my business to become an LLC, and took to my personal Instagram to announce that I was stepping out in faith and officially launching my business. By making one simple in-feed post, I got my first contracted client within 2 days of saying I was in business! That lit me up! By one person taking a chance on me boosted my confidence to give my business 110% to ensure that when I landed another client I would be everything, they needed to grow/succeed as an entrepreneur. After 10 months of taking an idea to execution, I have successfully converted like-minded women into long-term clients that have seen substantial growth in their businesses with me alongside them paving the way to their success! I am thrilled that I believed and now get to be an owner of a business that is scaling and growing. I challenge every woman to believe in themselves and take that idea from paper to being their reality! Believe me, it will be worth it!

Alexis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After having my daughter, I knew I did not want to return back to work, but focus on staying home with her and with much conversation and understanding my current employer at the time agreed and I left my position on a mutual agreement. I had been an Insurance Agent for three years, and finding something I wanted to do had to feel worth it to me. I knew I wanted to do something that was considered my own, but at first I wasn’t sure what that looked like. One day I was browsing online at looking up “ways SAHM can make money online” and of course a ton of different things pulled up but one that caught my attention was becoming a Copy-Writer. I love writing and when it comes to captions and marketing pieces, I knew this was something that could be fun but fulfilling. As I continued to research, I came across a Youtube video of a young mom who was discussing her first month as a Virtual Assistant and long story short, I was sold. I launch my business pretty fast and with the help of my husband I was able to start pretty quickly. I love administration work, I am really good at it so I knew I could thrive as a VA especially since I could decide on what I wanted to provide as services. I mainly focus on social media management + newsletters + graphic/reel creation + collab opportunities for my clients along with other backend business matters that makes a business whole. I enjoy walking along with young women who are aspiring to elevate their business + show up for their brand authentically. I have even started to pivoting into mentoring other Online Service Provides (Social Media Managers, Virtual Assistants ,Online Business Managers and more) and that has been fun and seeing women take tools that I learned along the way and use them to be just as effective is eye-opening and gives me such reassurance that there is enough space for us all in the online word to thrive and succeed. The quote “Empowered Women, Empower Women” sums up how I show up for my business daily and just being in the presence of other women even if I am there to be their VA/SMM or Mentor it lights me up and fuel me to do my best to be a helpmate to them!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building your audience on social media can be a long and hard process. You have to have tenacity and grit to remain positive and motivated to even do it. It starts with showing up as yourself as much as possible. I did that, I showed up on a schedule that felt natural to me and I started engaging with women that were in my industry and women I desired to work with. I also created content for the type of person I wanted as a client. Doing these three things allow me to build community and relationships that were genuine and allowed my audience to naturally grow over time. Also, not taking your social media so seriously will help you find your people a lot faster. I don’t mean doing things that are inappropriate or that will negatively impact your brand appearance. But I mean, show yourself as a human. I shared what books I was reading, what changes I was making to my home decor, my daughter’s milestones, and my favorite Starbucks order, and it naturally help me build my audience.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep in touch with my clients on a weekly basis. It’s mandatory for me because I always want to be accessible and hands-on. I never want my client to feel as though, they can never get in touch with me. Having set client meetings is a part of all of my offers and it gives the client a standing meeting time to chat with me and voice all needs and upcoming projects. It shows that they are important to me and that their business needs will be met. This in itself fosters brand loyalty because it shows I am available and ready to serve. Also, my client experience fosters brand loyalty – I have built my brand on honesty, quick response time to client needs, and created space to give my clients the extra mile of service.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://msha.ke/alexiswilliamsva/