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

Hi Sharael, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

As a product of corporate America, I have learned so much from my time there. They teach you the preliminary skills required in the workplace. It’s a great place to start when you get out of school or are starting your career.

As a now small business owner, I’ve come to realize that corporate America doesn’t always have the most efficient practices, especially when it comes to administrative work. Like myself, I’m sure many of you have also have finished your work for the day and have started to scroll on your phone with nothing else to do while you wait for the time to pass til you can finally clock off at 5p to go home. That right there is where corporate America gets it wrong. I’ve had so many colleagues talk about being stuck in the office even though the work is finished because they can’t leave 5p. Time is wasted by employees and money is being burned by companies. There’s no reason why both parties need to suffer.

The way to go is implementing a virtual assistant (VA). This is someone who can take care of all or most of your administrative tasks remotely. A lot virtual assistants are paid hourly or by project. By hiring a VA, companies don’t have to waste money with paying someone a salary. They pay for a certain amount of hours and those hours paid for are only used when the VA is working on your tasks. No more wasted time and unnecessary money spent.

Sharael, 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 based out of Greenville, SC. I share my life with my husband Jake and our 2 fur babies. I got started with virtual assisting last summer when a friend of mine had asked me to do a freelance remote project for her. A few months later when the project ended, I asked myself how can continue this and what services can I add? From this, True Task was born in November of 2023.

I offer serval different services including email management, lead tracking, and platform management. I help small businesses streamline their tasks so they can get their time back and go back to doing what they love.

I have a wide variety of clientele from all different industries. Being so versatile, I am able to help create a customized workflow for your specific needs, because every business is unique. I help set up different streamlined processes to help your business run more efficiently as well as take tasks off your plate so you have more time for other projects.

What sets me apart from others in my industry is the fact that I genuinely want to meet my clients in person. I understand that post covid, everything has mostly moved to being remote, hence my business. But I make it a priority to put myself out there and meet my clients, if possible, in person in order to create that relationship physically. People crave a real connection, and with True Task, you actually get that in-person feel and not just a zoom call meeting.

I’m most proud of choosing to do the “hard thing.” It’s not easy running a business let alone taking the risk to even start it and making it your full time career. I am proud of putting myself out there in front of other business leaders and showing them the value of what I have to offer. I work with small business owners because they understand what it’s like to grind and do the “hard thing” and when they decide to work with me best believe I treat their business like my own because I know exactly what they’re going through.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Networking groups! These groups have truly been where I get ALL my clients from, even those that are out of state. They are the gateway to people who either need your services directly or they know of others that may need your services. Most people would rather go with a recommendations from someone they know versus going with someone whom they googled offering the same service. Building rapport and trust in these groups by going to 1:1 meetings is key to growing your clientele and your network.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In the beginning of my business journey, I would get really good leads. I met with them, built rapport, and most of them ended up becoming clients of mine. The hard part was the ones that didn’t become clients. I was so fixated on what I did wrong at the meeting that I didn’t even consider that maybe what if they weren’t right for me? It was so easy for me to be so hard on myself for not getting the sale, rather than focus on what I was able to achieve on that call. Whether it be building that connection, learning about their industry, or even what I did or did not want to implement in my business. In the end, I had to program my brain to understand that not every person that shows interest and have a meeting or call with will turn into a client. I needed to accept that not everyone is for me and that’s okay. It’s okay not to land every client because it wasn’t meant for you in the beginning anyways. You want to be picky about who you work with and spend time investing in because it could be detrimental to your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.truetaskva.com/
• Instagram: @truetaskva
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553441332113
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/true-task/

Image Credits

Leslie Franklin, Siuzanna Grigorian, and Christi Johnson