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

Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

Working remotely is actually the foundation of my company and was the driving force in its creation. I had previously been in a toxic work environment and was feeling burnt out. I needed to create income while also taking a break from the overwhelm that my work experience had brought so far. So many things had been out of my control, so I started my business to have some sort of say in how my day went, who I would interact with, and how I spent my breaks.

Jessica, 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 am Jessica Rocker, a licensed social worker in the state of Alabama. I have been working as such since 2015. In 2021 I was suffering from burnout from a very demanding and toxic work environment. My love for the community around me was no longer enough to push me through the pure exhaustion and anxiety I was experiencing. I actually ran across a Tiktok, where this person had started her own Virtual Assistant business. She made Tiktoks about how much money she was making at home, and it seemed like something so attainable. So at the beginning of 2022 I left that job, took a leap and started what is now Micro Manage Virtual Assistance.

Instead of only offering reception-type services, I thought “I have a degree, I’m working toward another degree, I am licensed and have so many credentials in the social work field. How can I merge my experience and skills with this?” After bouncing ideas off of my partner and a few close friends, I decided that my niche would be working with therapists, life/health coaches, and any one in a self help field who owned a business. See, one of the reasons I became a social worker was for the potential impact I could have on others lives, and the overall community. I wanted to be a part of something meaningful and positive. By working with these professions I still had the opportunity to assist in people receiving help, encouragement and resources to make them better people. I also quite often get to use all the same skills I acquired as an active social worker.

The services I provide are extensive, but I typically provide phone, email and calendar management, database organization, scheduling, some bookkeeping/billing services, etc. I have also offered specific services such as webinar support and creation, insurance credentialing, policy creation assistance, form/questionnaire creation. I have assisted clients with hiring in their businesses, and even helped clients essentially run parts of their own businesses, which I like to call “project management.

I have created my own social media content and website, but plan to develop those skills more before offering them as a service to clients.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My advice is to just go for it! No one begins anything knowing it all. You will learn what works as you go. If you have the vision and the minimal resources to get going, you should.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Since my business is online, social media has been the primary source of clientele for me. I have done some market research by joining different Facebook groups and following Instagram pages of potential clients to learn their needs. One way I have successfully gained clients is by carefully curating cold calls/messages after reviewing a potential clients social media. Another way has been to interact in social media groups, and share my knowledge where needed. Once others develop rapport and trust for your knowledge and opinions, when their need arises for your service they instantly think of you to fulfil the need! This is some what of a slow burn, but it works. I am also working toward building a more attractive social media presence so that the use hashtags and searches bring more attention and traffic to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.micromanagevirtual.com/home
• Instagram: micromanage__
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-rocker-57758123b/