“Ease up on the brakes”
“Let the vehicle do the work”
“No, we won’t crash”
Those were the words I uttered during my almost daily test drives as an Intelligent Mobility Master for a leading automotive brand. The white-faced clients almost always slam on the brakes before the smart electric vehicle has the chance to perform its state-of-the-art brake intervention system. I can’t blame them though. No matter how many times I have witnessed the trusty and shiny vehicle do its magic, it’s extremely hard and scary to let go and relinquish control. Everyone is afraid to crash and burn, no matter what assurances are on the table.
The same white-faced, panicked expression has been my inner face from the moment I decided to let go of that comfortable and familiar job. I have been with my previous employer for years. In a way, being employed with them is a ready and safe foot on the brakes of my vehicle called life.
And yet, I let go. I closed my eyes and let go. I left a comfortable space and let fate take over. I braced for impact. Luckily, it never came. Never in my wildest dreams that at that moment, my life is about to change.
Even when the pandemic is just a dark horizon in the last few months of 2019, I was toying with the idea of working and making something of myself out of the constraints of offices and Mondays to Saturdays rigid work schedules. I know there is someone out there who would trust me enough to let me work outside, in the sun, while still being able to produce indispensable output. I have heard about remote assistants, working from home operations executives, and roaming call center agents. I wanted in on the game. I just didn’t know where to start.
I dabbled with freelancing at the start of 2021. I was hooked. It fed my ego and my need to be appreciated for something that I am passionate about. And it paid extremely well. For a while, I was content with it. I was doing it as a side hustle, an additional income source, and a way to let my creative juices flow. It gave me a respite from the hyper-masculine world of brakes, crankshafts, horsepower, and engine brakes.
One fine day, as I was lazily scrolling through endless Facebook posts, taking in image after image of pretensions and half-truths, I happened upon a post from a friend. It was a hiring post for 2xYou. I got curious. Some inner force prodded me to click on the link and apply. I got nothing to lose and everything to gain. That particular click not only brought me to an application form web page. It was more than that. It opened a door of opportunity.
Here I am, not even a month into officially being a Remote Executive Assistant. I am typing this piece on a Sunday, on my spanking new tablet. I am doing this beyond my required working hour. Why? Because I want to. Because I do not think of this as work. Today is my fun time. Right here and now is my time to relax. Writing is a great catharsis. And boy, do I love this job.
You might think, what is so great about your job? Are you being paid tons of money? And here is my answer, it is beyond that. I won’t be a hypocrite and say that money is no issue, although I am paid plenty. It's even beyond the fact that I could go and pack my bags, drive to a seaside resort and just prop up my laptop and gadgets, connect to the wifi, and go do some work in my skivvies under a palm tree. It's even beyond the simple freedom of taking a mid-morning nap after a few minutes’ work just because I want to. Do you know what is in it for me? Let me tell you a little secret. When you’ve worked for big, corporate giants long enough, there will come a time when all you do is just work. You miss something that even a big fat wad of cash will never replace. Want to know what it is, it's the sense of accomplishment, of making a difference, of feeling that you’ve done something that will leave a mark. Are you familiar with the feeling of dread because it’s gonna be Monday again, and you would rather curl and die than start the cycle again? Yeah, you lost it. You lost that sweet, sweet sense of accomplishment.
Working as an Executive Assistant is not easy. It is hectic, detail-oriented, and extremely documented. We are often confused with Virtual Assistants. Here’s the catch though, unlike VAs, we do not just schedule our client’s appointments, or book their tickets. EAs are more than that. EAs are trained to be outcome-oriented instead of focusing on the output.
In my measly, barely-a-month experience of being an EA, I was inundated with tasks, software, applications, and ideas I was not even aware of. Admittedly, it's not always walking in flower fields and rainbows. There are times when I even forgot to eat because I was so engrossed in research. Beyond all that, I learned a whole lot of skills. I honed some and explored new ones. But if pressed, I would say that the most impressive skill I learned and still learning is being able to express myself verbally in a foreign language.
Do I need to reply to tons of emails and direct messages? A walk in the park. Create engaging and eye-catching one-liners for social media posting? I barely broke a sweat. Write full-length articles on obscure and unfamiliar topics? Please, give me something challenging. But as an introvert without call center experience, I struggled with expressing myself in English. I have tons of thoughts running through my head, but there are inevitable times when I just cannot quite make my mouth enunciate the correct words. It’s frustrating, and it’s making me hate myself. Sure I had plenty of speaking and training experience. But talking with a full-blown American is just not the same. I cannot just resort to funny jokes in vernacular or say side comments in Tagalog. I have to show my personality while speaking in a foreign tongue.
My just-passable English language speaking skills have always been my little insecurity. I excelled academically. I spoke and understood English. But when a native speaker is in front of me? Little Wella the Timid will have her pants on fire. Luckily, 2xYou never even gave me the chance to hand her the matches to start the fire. From the very first interview, I was encouraged to speak. The most amazing thing? Everyone on the tribe was so supportive that I had no time to feel sorry for myself. By the time I had to communicate with my client, Little Wella the Timid was nowhere to be found. I might have committed many grammatical and pronunciation errors and may continue to do so, but one thing is for sure. The belief the team has given me made me confident and comfortable in my skin. They made me believe in myself. I am not afraid to speak up anymore.
Being an Executive Assistant not only helped me be a confident speaker. As I have previously mentioned, it has helped me rediscover my sense of accomplishment. It has given me the chance to make a positive difference, to contribute something towards a favorable outcome for my client’s business. Now, I work because I want to and not because I have to.
This job has resonated with me so much because I have always wanted to leave something behind, not just the accumulated waste and the biological matter. With all the death and loss that is going around, it’s pretty obvious we don’t get to live forever. Now the question is, will you come and go like the wind and leave nothing? Or be brave enough to make something out of nothing, to let go of the brakes and be free to do some positive change? Maybe like me, it’s just one teeny-tiny click away.
About the Author:
Welena Villasoto is a lover of stray dogs, especially those that are about to be fed into the snakes, as was the exact case of her adorable Aspin, Kali, short for Kaliana Marie Villasoto. She has bravely ziplined from one island to another in a desperate and lame attempt to cure her fear of heights, a condition that has been getting the best of her up to this day.
A newbie in remote working, Welena gladly joined 2xYou amidst the aftermath of Typhoon Odette. She currently lives in the beautiful island of Mactan.
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