We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jakia Durham Kelly. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jakia below.

Jakia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Before I started my business, I worked in a law firm as a paralegal and I absolutely loved it, but I really wanted to travel more, while still being able to work the job I loved, and that wasn’t possible for me realistically because I was also the Office Manager and had to make sure everything in the physical office flowed smoothly, that clients had someone to meet with, mail was being filled, etc., so, I had to be there.

The office I worked for was hybrid, so all of the work I was doing on the backend (minus meeting with clients physically) could be done remotely, and I was guaranteed to find a way to make it happen on my own.

I researched for an entire year on what kind of remote/virtual businesses or positions were called and finally stumbled across a Facebook group of Virtual Assistants, and that’s where I found my motivation and encouragement to start my own business and provide services as a Virtual Assistant, and that’s when the idea JVAN Services was born.

I knew I had the skills, knowledge, and education to provide excellent service, to not only attorneys, but other types of business owners. What made me unique, was that I had plenty years of customer service online and in-person, along with a legal background, which gave me an advantage on some of my competition, and I all I needed to do was start, but I hesitated for a while.

I had a ton of inspiration from the late rapper and pioneer Nipsey Hussle, he had been gunned down around the time I was procrastinating on opening my business, but the legacy of his work in his community and the drive, determination, and ambition he he had, is what assured me that I could do and be the same. Also at the time, I was about 8 months pregnant and on maternity leave, and needed the extra funds, so I started JVAN Services shortly before I had my first son.

Jakia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I worked in customer service/retail since I was 16 years old. I loved helping people and making things easier for them, especially when they couldn’t do it themselves. Then, once I went to college, I shifted my focus to law. I really wanted to make a large impact on the lives of people I help, and I figured becoming an attorney would help me to achieve that.

Fast forward to after graduating, I came back go my community and worked for Microsoft Chat for a while, then a call center, and then eventually became a paralegal based on my law background. My boss at the time was a great mentor to me. She really took me under her wing and taught me how to run a law office like the back of my hand. She has just opened her practice and we basically were learning together, but she had more experience and I learned so much! I worked as her Office Manager for about 2 years and then graduated to becoming her Paralegal and that is where I truly thrived. It was the immigration law field and it was so fulfilling helping families reunite and being part of their journey of living in America. Here is where my love for organization in a business came about. It was kind of like I predicted what a client would ask or what they would think of, and then create different avenues within the structure of our office, to answer those questions. I also would think of and create tools and protocols that made things flow more smoothly for us in the office, so that we could get more work done, and so that if an attorney was our of the office, we could still assist clients as best as we could.

At the time, I didn’t really know that all of the tools and protocols I was creating was so important until I became an entrepreneur and witnessed how not everyone had protocols, let alone tools that would allow them to assist clients faster, or stay organized, or buy themselves time to get other things done, so I figured I’d do that as a Virtual Assistant.

It wasn’t until I started working with a savvy business coach who advised me that what I was doing was not Virtual Assistance but actual Business Management. So, I quickly updated my title, which in my opinion, helped dramatically because I was able to pin point my clients and express the types of services I did, and I gained much more traction, clients, and opportunities to teach and mentor other business owners, which makes me feel and know that I’m walking and working in my purpose.

So, as an Online Business Manager, I assist online coaches and consultants with implementing functional systems, processes, and organization within the backend of their business, so that they can hire and maintain a team, provide excellent customer service, and get back to revenue-generating tasks. This can be anything from choosing the right CRM for their business, creating job descriptions for a position their looking to hire someone for, all the way to storing instructions (or SOPs as we like to call them) on how to run their business, so they they don’t have to do it by themselves or take time away from the important things that they have going on already.

I became a Notary Public when I was working as a Paralegal, so naturally, those services were added to my business, and I’m happy it did because now, I can notarize documents online all throughout the county as long as I’m in New York State, so it’s like an added bonus for my clients and people that I come into contact with.

I am mostly proud of the amount of support I’ve received over the last few years I’ve been in business. Locally and remotely. I’ve been recommended for a ton of clients and other opportunities that I probably never would have been able to do, had I not have started JVAN Services, and I’m so grateful for the people and clients who return who want to learn more from me, and/or want to be mentored by me, it’s such a great feeling.

The main things I want my potential clients, followers, and fans to know about me and JVAN Services are: I’m as friendly as can be, so never be intimidated or afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly you may think they are, JVAN Services main goal is to make sure that you are successful and your wants/needs for your business will be met, whether it’s with us, or with someone from our network, we make sure that you and your business are well taken care of, and lastly, I do offer trainings, courses, and products that can help you if you feel like you don’t need a manager right now, or you feel like you just need a little information to get you started, no matter where you are in your journey, I am here to help!

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

When I was fresh in the Virtual Assistant Industry, I wanted to help EVERYONE! My main goal at the time was to get as many clients as I could so that I could make money and scale my business and make 6 figures lol, I was totally wrong.

I did get clients, and I did make money, but it often led to nightmare clients thay expected a lot from me who paid little or who wanted to penny pinch, and I hated the feeling of anxiety every time pay time came around and they wanted to dispute my time or what I worked on and decided what I should be paid instead. Mind you, I was already charging way less than I should’ve been, but this only made matters worse. So I quickly had to unlearn that.

I learned that it is okay to turn down clients if they are not a good fit for me, and to charge what I’m worth, because I know what value I provide.

Any advice for managing a team?

When managing a team, it is always best to first TRUST who you hired and their capability to bring your vision for the role you hired them for, to life. Secondly, you want to ve sure you’re periodically checking in with them to make sure everything is going well and to offer your help. The best rule of thumb to check in is quarterly or every 6 months. Lastly, be open to new ideas from your team, yes its your business and you know what’s best for it, however, your team members will always offer you ideas that are in the best interest of your business, ans investing in their ideas could possibly help you scale even more.

Maintaining high morale in your business requires you to put yourselves in the shoes of other. If their experience with you or your biz is poor and you think nothing of it, but then you turn around and go to a large establishment and complain the minute you have a terrible experience, can you really blame your customer for being upset?

Get to know the people you hire and your customers because once you do that, it makes it easier to communicate with them, which in return will allow them to thrive and continue working with you and recommending your business. You don’t have to be nosy or completely in their business to get to know them either, just pay attention to them and you’ll start to see.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jvanservices.com
• Instagram: @jvanservices
• Facebook: Jakia Durham Kelly/JVAN Services
• Linkedin: Jakia Durham Kelly / JVAN Services
• Youtube: @jvanservices

Image Credits
Jazmyn Bowens of A and O Photography