We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jaydee Betances a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jaydee , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

I believe the education system should teach students about finances and entrepreneurship, instead of telling them to go to school, get good grades, to go to college and get a good job that you’ll work at for 30-40 years so then you can retire and then start enjoying life. In a perfect world that sounds great but now I believe kids are more advanced and they are exposed to more due to social media and I believe the educational system should be more appealing to the younger generations by preparing them and giving them options. Not all kids have the option to have good grades and go to a university because of their living situation doesn’t allow them to, or maybe they don’t have the finances or resources to do that. Instead they should be educated in finances so they know how to manage and invest money in the case they don’t go to school and just work. They should learn entrepreneurship/business so they know they have options and they don’t always have to have a degree to be successful. I believe we would be more advanced as a nation if life skills are taught in the educational system.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I started my company, I was in a strange place in life. I just had lost my job during a pandemic and I didn’t know what was next for me. I always had two and three jobs since the age of 16, so not having a job at 30 was strange but at the same time I knew there was a purpose for me and I had to just walk into it. I had recently moved back into my parents house so I knew I didn’t have to stress over bills. I was going to take the time to figure out what was next for me in life. A few months later I was on the phone with one of my friends that own multiple businesses and at the time she was telling me about how busy she was and wished she had someone that can assist her with tedious projects and to organize her schedule. I then told her that I can help since I had a lot of free time, as long as she explained exactly what she needed done. After a few weeks of helping her out, organizing her schedule and assisting with smaller projects she asked how am I so good at it if I never ran my own business. I then told her I helped run and start multiple businesses for an employer I worked with for 10yrs and he fired me because he couldn’t afford me anymore.

Months later she asked me, if I had a business what type of business would I have. I told her I wasn’t sure but I always knew I loved serving and helping people that wanted to start a business and didn’t have guidance, like me. I was always infatuated with entrepreneurs, the lifestyle, the freedom, and the character that they had I wanted. She then said why don’t you start a business doing what you do for me? Helping business owners get organized, assisting them with projects and incorporating helping people with the process of starting their own business. After that conversation there were doubts, self sabotaging and lots of fears, but she kept reminding me how many people need what I have to offer. I then met someone that really encouraged me even more and she even offered to help me set up my LLC. After that it was history, I started branding myself, learning the craft and doing jobs sometimes for free just to get my name out there and build clientele. I knew that I was great at assisting people I just never had the confidence to make it a business, until I was encouraged by the people I met after getting fired.

Since then I’ve grown so much! not just with clients but as an entrepreneur. Since starting my business I’ve learned that perseverance is what makes you a successful business owner, not just the amount of money you make. There’s so many hurdles you have to overcome. It’s such a rollercoaster and every time you dip low you learn something new about who you are and about your business. Knowing why you started and the difference you’ve made sometimes is the only thing to hold on to when you are ready to throw in the towel. I remind myself that it is part of being an entrepreneur and what makes me different from others is not giving up. So no matter how low I get in my business I continue to push through and keep going.

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

Part of what I do as a Virtual Assistant is social media management. It’s by far one of the projects I enjoy doing the most. Not just because you are growing to your audience but because with social media things are always changing and evolving and I love learning new things. Building your audience on social media is simply knowing who your core audience is. The only way to know who they are and what they like is by posting. Being consistent, and giving quality. Invest in yourself and your brand. People have a small attention span so learning how to grab attention in the first 10 seconds of someone visiting your page is key.

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 had to learn that poverty is just a mindset. Growing in a Hispanic household with immigrant parents I was taught that the only way to be successful is by getting an education and working a 9-5. Not until I was able to explore and travel and meet people around the world simply doing what makes them happy is when I realized that you don’t need and education and great job to be successful

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Jaydee__b
• Facebook: Jaydee Be
• Twitter: @Jaydeeb_
• Youtube: JaydeeB

Image Credits
Nine Five Photography