We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elesa Labanz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elesa below.
Elesa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?
After a lifetime of following my husband from post to overseas post with his job in the U.S. State Department, his retirement meant MY time for a life-change. I spent a couple of years feeling like the lights had been turned off in my life. Ultimately, I found my way to a new life through direct sales, believe it or not. Never having had a business thought in my life, it was all new information and new experiences and I learned that I loved the psychology of marketing and figuring new things out.
When my relatively short time in direct sales came to an end due to my burgeoning interest in artists and in my own art, it was not long before I saw an advertisement for marketing assistance for a local small business, The Craft Lab. Responding to a post, I quickly heard from her that she wanted to meet and I had my first client before I had even created my business! The owner of The Craft Lab believed in my ability to create compelling social media content to spread the word about what she had to offer. I discovered that I loved solving problems and coming up with creative solutions. Her support gave me the confidence to offer my services to an attorney next, based on my decades-old experience as a legal secretary and paralegal (pre-computer!). With each new client, there were new challenges and new ways to market what they had to offer.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I became a virtual assistant before I knew what one was! Being able to offer professional admin and marketing services to a client who only needs assistance a few hours a week was a huge game changer for me and I quickly discovered just how essential this relatively new roles is in today’s business landscape. I love to brainstorm with clients and discover what their goals are for their business and how best to achieve those goals. All businesses are not created equal and all businesses do not need the same services. One business may need more assistance with customer communication while another has no idea where to start on Instagram. The beauty of my role is that I can take on the part of the business that just weighs a business owner down or causes them stress. Whether that is creation of legal documents for their review, planning launch of a new service, optimizing their Instagram profile or creating eye-catching graphics, they can receive – and pay for – only the services they need without the overhead of a full-time, or even part-time, employee.
What sets me apart, I believe, as a virtual assistant is my natural curiosity, my enthusiasm for small business owners themselves, and my ability to generate ideas that will benefit their growth. I’m most proud of the fact that I genuinely like people and want to know more about what makes them tick – what brings them joy – and what next steps can help their business soar.
My academic training in marketing is non-existent. My life training in different cultures and ways of thinking, as a consequence of decades spent overseas, is priceless.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source of new clients for me has always been current clients. In addition, the community volunteer work I have always engaged in has set me up well to have a large network of people who I respect and trust and who seem to respect and trust me in return. When you are authentically yourself, you will attract the perfect clients for YOU. You won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, nor will everyone be yours. Be unabashedly yourself.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My life has been a life of sharp pivots. Directly out of high school I got married and moved from Cincinnati to Washington D.C. That began a 33 year life of settling down and picking back up. I had the chance to reinvent myself with each new post and each new phase of my life. It was a blessing and a challenge. Whether we were living in the outback of Australia or in a skyrise in Kuwait City, I learned to quickly acclimate to a new culture and new experiences. My natural curiosity served me well and I was lucky that my three children were quick to embrace new ways of life as well. Change was all I knew as an adult. When. my husband retired at age 57, I was only 52 years of age. I was not ready to be “done” but I didn’t know what the opposite of “done” was. Life continued to bring new paths to my doorstep – from volunteering at a local mystery library to creating social media content or a paint playground – I discovered I felt ready for anything. I was lucky enough to find a mentor and coach, Brenda Ster, who brought out the best in me and showed me that I had something to offer the world even though my 20’s were far, far behind me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.consistentsocial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consistentsocial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consistentsocial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elesalabanz/
- Other: elesamarie@consistentsocial.com