Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brittany Bartholomew. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brittany, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Am I happier as a business owner? It’s not really a question I considered until this moment.

Of course, I’ve had thoughts about going back to having a regular job many times over, but I can’t remember the last time I sat with myself to think about if I am in fact happier. The reason for that is because, a majority of the time I am happy even when things are tough or I’m feeling stressed.

The last time I thought about giving up my business and going back to a regular job, I was really struggling with feeling connected to my work. I started dreading my designated workdays , doubting my skills and 2nd guessing most of my decisions. The problem was that I started shifting my business to follow the advice of people who had made it to where I was aspiring to be without considering whether or not the shifts actually made sense for the business and life I was aspiring to build. This approach led to burn out and that disconnected feeling.

I learned a lot during this time, but my biggest take away was to always be mindful of the clutter. There is so much information/advice available about how to make your business successful, but not all of the advice can be applied to every business. It’s very easy to develop idea clutter. Now, everytime I learn something new or come across something I’m considering implementing in my business I start by asking myself how doing that thing will get me closer to my ultimate goal.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a system strategist and virtual assistant agency owner. I started my agency, The Blk List, in 2020 as a way to build on my freelance virtual assistant business that I started in 2018. As a freelancer, I came across so many entrepreneurs struggling to reach their full potential due to lack of know-how and struggling to streamline. It was during that time that I found my lane as a system strategist, who specializes in operational structure. My favorite part of my work is being able to bring order to chaos through systems, processes and workflow creation.

Currently I have four options available for people to work with me: Clarity Coaching, DIY Audit, VIP Day or monthly retainer services. Clarity coaching is for the entrepreneur that is struggling with direction and execution. The DIY audit is for the entrepreneur that needs to develop or refine their current systems and processes. The VIP Day is for the entrepreneur that is looking for a done for you service. And for the entrepreneur in need of VA services or who is looking to add a system strategist to their team, then the monthly retainer option would be the best fit.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started my journey as a freelance virtual assistant as a side hustle to earn extra money to travel. After about a year of working as a freelancer, I started to consider taking it from a side hustle to a full time hustle. My first milestone was to get at least 1 monthly retainer client, and I told myself if I managed to do it I would seriously considered transitioning to a full time business.

Once I fully committed to building my business I focused on creating an excellent customer experience and delivery exceptional service. Since that day 90% of my clients have come from referrals.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always struggled with sharing and celebrating my accomplishments. My therapist helped me to see that, that struggle is directly tied to my learned definition of humility. Because of how I was raised I always felt like talking about and celebrating accomplishments was being prideful and for me that was the opposite of humility. As I’ve continued to work on this mindset, I have realized that there is nothing prideful about sharing nor celebrating your accomplishments, and that humility is simply realizing that I do not know it all and can always learn and grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theblklist.co
• Instagram: www.instragram.com/authenticallybritt

Image Credits
Sophie K Hunter Photography