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

Hi Shanya, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

During the global pandemic of COVID-19, many businesses were shutting down and products and services were being provided virtually. When I decided to become a Virtual Assistant and build an agency with other virtual assistants, I was working for two separate companies. With one company, I worked as an Executive Administrative Assistant and the other as a Front Desk Receptionist before being promoted to General Manager. While working for these companies, I was sharpening my skills administratively and creatively. Making sure that tasks were completed, building a presence on social media, and ensuring that clients and customers were satisfied were the gifts that I contributed to both companies.

Soon, I began to say to myself, “I can do this for other people.” Friends and other colleagues noticed the amount of effort I was putting into these companies and suggested that I look into becoming a business owner. They suggested that with the skillset I already had, and the tasks I was already performing, I could package them and service other business owners in this same manner. Being one to always dive into research and figure out my next moves, I became familiar with virtual assistance. People were already hopping on the trend of becoming virtual assistants, but it was more towards social media. Quite naturally, living in a more tech-savvy generation, it was the ideal move. However, I didn’t see anyone combining the two services. Again, this was something that I was already doing as an Executive Administrative Assistant for a small business owner.

I knew that if I strategically performed market research to find the gap that I would fill, I would be successful at it. The problem that I would then solve would be a packaged deal that a business owner could not deny; someone to handle both administrative and social media tasks altogether. While this was a newfound and very exciting journey for me, I faced adversity as far as competing with a now highly saturated market, but with my uniqueness and authenticity, there was little to no doubt about finding my ideal clients.

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.

For starters, my name is Shanya. I am a 24-year-old native of South Florida. I was born and raised in the city of Fort Lauderdale, where I graduated from Dillard High School and went off to Bethune-Cookman University to study Psychology. While obtaining my degree in Psychology, I experienced a heartbreaking loss that completely changed the trajectory of my life. Mentally, I needed to take some time off, so I decided to come back home to regroup and restrategize.

I have since been fortunate enough to become a successful owner of a virtual assistant agency that provides virtual services to business professionals. These services include completing administrative tasks such as inbound and outbound calling, email management, calendar and booking management, and forms and document editing. We also assist business professionals with automation and social media management, which includes scheduling and creating content, caption writing, and hashtag research. This was especially helpful during the pandemic with those not as tech-savvy as others. I started my journey of becoming a virtual assistant in 2021 amidst the global pandemic of COVID-19. Everything in the world was shifted virtually at this time: businesses, products, and other services, that is. I officially launched Sapphire Virtual Assistant Services in August of 2021 and went through many different obstacles and changes until I found what worked for me and those I was servicing.

Before launching my business, I was still working two 9-5s. I was an Executive Administrative Assistant at a business consulting firm, as well as a General Manager of an escape room at the time. These positions helped sharpen the skills necessary for my company. Performing administrative and social media tasks for both companies, my friends and colleagues began encouraging me to go into business for myself. With my skills and determination, I took the advice and ran with it. Again, with the world being shut down and services being virtual, what better way to go into business than being a Virtual Assistant? Working both jobs while completing the groundwork of my business behind the scenes was indeed challenging; however, God had different plans for me. By March of 2022, things took a drastic turn, and I was released to become a full-time entrepreneur. While this push was necessary and has been worth it and extremely rewarding, it was scary to begin with.

Since the launching of Sapphire Virtual Assistant Services, I’ve been proud that our clients have been able to focus more on revenue generation. The testimony of our clients is that the combination of our services has helped them decrease the levels of stress of the completion of small yet tedious tasks. Providing our services has lowered the probability of our clients experiencing burnout and has given them the much-needed and necessary work-life balance. A year after becoming a full-time entrepreneur, Sapphire Virtual Assistant Services has had the opportunity to work with amazing clients and business owners and is growing daily.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As the owner of Sapphire Virtual Assistant Services, quite naturally, I started the company by completing the tasks and performing the services myself, a one-man band. When I first began providing services, competing with virtual assistants in the Philippines, I set my prices similar to those of virtual assistants overseas ($8 an hour). I quickly learned that this was something that I did not want and was worth more than. You know the saying, “You get what you pay for.” Well, that’s how I felt concerning the attraction that I received. I had to understand that the value of my services, the time and effort it takes to complete those services, and the cost of living in the United States were completely different than those living overseas.

While the attraction was decent, the ideal client that I desired could not find me if I didn’t first know of my value and worth. So, I began to configure packages that at first ranged from $600 to $1250 per month. These packages performed well, too; however, there were limits on the number of hours a client could reach per month. For example, with the basic package, which at the time was the bronze package, a client could receive either administrative services or social media services for up to 40 hours per month. Of course, the number of hours increased as the subscription was upgraded. Again, realizing that this was now not fair to my clients, at least in my opinion, I began to lay everything out, all of the trials and errors, and I finally decided to combine both the administrative and social media services together for a monthly subscription with an unlimited amount of hours. Not only have subscriptions changed, but agreements as well. Compared to other virtual assistant agencies that do not have agreements, thinking of ways to protect my agents, clients, and myself, the decision to have one was made and implemented. During the completion of projects and services for $8 an hour, many things flew over my head and I had to let certain situations go due to there not being an agreement set in stone.

These pivotal moments in my business have allowed me to creatively work behind the scenes, ensuring that everyone is satisfied and protected. It has allowed me to place myself in my ideal client’s shoes to perform better and strategize on ways to increase the productivity and revenue of the company.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Each quarter, Sapphire’s team of agents sends out newsletters. This keeps our clients and potential clients knowledgeable of what Sapphire has been up to, what we’re offering, and how to stay connected to us. Clients who renew their subscriptions with us speak with our team regularly as we prepare weekly meetings to connect personally and professionally. During our meetings with our clients, we don’t dive right into business, but we take time to listen to how their families and personal lives have been, giving them room to digress from the work day or to relieve a bit of stress. Afterward, we go into the tasks that need to be completed or covered for the week; if it’s a month’s worth of recurring tasks, we’re good to go. Clients who have since paused their subscriptions hear from us once or twice a month, depending on the schedule of emails.

Sapphire’s overall objective is to profit both financially and relationally. Building long-lasting relationships with clients and other business professionals is essential to our growth, which helps to increase our brand loyalty. Being the solution that the business professionals we come in contact with and that we service need, whether being a listening ear in the middle of a stressful business day or being one who completes tasks that would take away efforts from other areas of their company, is what Sapphire is centered and grounded on.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sapphirevaservices.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowth.coach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sapphirevaservices/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapphirevaservices/
• Other: LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/thegrowth.coach