SHOWNOTES
Lyndsay is a busy business owner who travels and speaks at industry events on top of running her successful business. Jen and Lyndsay discuss why she hired not one but two VA’s and how they started.
Lyndsay shares the first things implemented.
How they mapped out (and created) their content plan for the entire year
Providing a tool each month for the email list
Uploading prepared content (for the year) so it’s ready to go
Repurposing videos (this is genius)
Changing her content process is saving her 15 hours a month and 2020 is completely planned and prepared.
Lyndsay enjoys the collaboration and partnership from her VA’s. The next steps include:
Building out a new site on Kajabi
Creating animations for her site
Adding automation tools
Lyndsay said the Front Row CEO course was the first training that showed her how to hire the help she needed so she could implement all the strategies she’s learned.
Use Lyndsay’s method to keep track of tasks with her team (no fancy software required)
Find out how leveraging her team is making travel easier
Use Loom to create your training library
Find out how her team is building systems as they learn (and how it will accelerate growth!)
Lyndsay surprised Jen with news about her 2020 plans already in the works. She credits the Front Row CEO course for helping her make it happen. In her words it’s “life-changing.”
RESOURCES
TRANSCRIPT
Gary Vee:
00:00 Hey guys, it's Gary Vaynerchuck and you're listening to the front row entrepreneur podcast with our girl, Jen.
Jen Lehner:
00:13 So excited for you to meet today's guest, Lyndsay Morris. Lyndsay founded generation wellness in 2014 and it inspires students and staff to live a life of less stress and more success with her live trainings, online courses and uh, her app, which is called generation wellness. She's helped thousands of classrooms and companies implement simple brain-based practices that increase wellbeing, connection and happiness. Lyndsay was a student in my front row CEO program and was really so generous and always sharing in our community what was working for her and how she was progressing through the program. And as you're going to hear, she has some pretty unique ways of working with her virtual assistants that I think you are going to find it. Super helpful.
Lyndsay Morris:
01:05 Hey Lyndsay, thanks so much for joining us today.
Lyndsay Morris:
01:08 Yeah, glad to be here.
Jen Lehner:
01:10 So you went all the way through the front row CEO program and at the end of it you came out with not one but two virtual assistants, is that right?
Lyndsay Morris:
01:20 Yes, that is correct.
Read more...
Jen Lehner:
01:23 Okie dokie. Well, I want to hear, um, I want to hear it. I want to hear everything, but I really am very curious, uh, about how, how you're working with these VA's. Like what specifically are they doing in your business day to day?
Lyndsay Morris:
01:38 Okay. So I've only had VAs for a couple months now, but it has been completely life changing and right now we've just been working on clearing out what's not working in the business, getting organized, getting a social media plan. So we're really focused on the big picture right now and my hope is once we get decluttered and the business is run much more smoothly, it already is. But um, once we have a set system and everything is cleared out, then it's going to be more of the daily tasks. So what I've started out with is just a Google drive document. And so every day I write in different tasks for my main VA to do. So then at nighttime she's working from midnight to 4:00 AM. So when I wake up, I wake up to her complete a task document. And the biggest thing that she has helped me with is creating a new email and blog strategy because that was a negative one every single month for me.
Lyndsay Morris:
02:47 It was sucking the joy out of my life. It was taking me 10 to 15 hours to do, and I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of, of reading blogs personally and they can Google most of the information on blogs. So I wanted to come up with something fresh, something new, something innovated that my educators could use. So we've scratched the blog strategy and now she creates six graphics for me each month. And we've already created this for the entire year. So imagine saving 10 to 15 hours per month. I've already done that for my entire year. It's already done, ready to go. Um, but she makes these graphics that educators, principals, teachers can put on their smart boards or their, um, or share on a staff meeting to create more connection in the workplace or create more connection in the classroom setting. So now my email list, every time I email them each month, they're so excited cause they're getting a ready made tool rather than something to read.
Lyndsay Morris:
03:56 So it just wasn't so like I feel like I'm giving them a tool every single month. And not only does she make the graphics, she uploads them to Kajabi and she hides them. So they're all there for 2020 January, February, March. She hides all of them except for January. We're in January right now. And then she does the rough draft of the monthly email and then she puts all the links. Cause not only am I showcasing the graphics, I showcase a few more things that they can use and it has changed everything because that 10 to 15 hours a month I get to use elsewhere on my gifts now.
Jen Lehner:
04:38 Wow. Wow. I mean so these graphics that she's creating, I mean, could that also become like a, a product in and of itself? Like definitely a subscription program of some sort. I mean that is, that's fantastic.
Lyndsay Morris:
04:54 Yes. Yeah. And we're already talking about making some short videos cause like for instance, January's theme is habits. So they're quotes on habits. They can talk about them with their students, their staff. But then the membership in the future could be a short, like three minute video on habits and experiment that they could try for setting their own habits and then these graphics. So for now it's just covering my email system and I feel good about giving a gift. But in the future it could definitely be a subscription.
Jen Lehner:
05:26 That's amazing. So that's your main VA, I think you said. So what are some of the things you're other
Lyndsay Morris:
05:33 virtual assistant as is tackling? Yes. So the other one is tackling more of headliner videos. So I have created so many videos. I have my own app and I never had the time to go through my app. I have about 50 videos on the app and take out little pieces that could be used for social media. So my other VA working on all those little clips, 30 seconds to 60 seconds, creating little memes and posting them to social media. So she's more focused on, um, videos at this time. And, um, they both have helped me with my social media strategy. I'd never heard of. I think it's called plant plan Ali. Yes. And they actually shared that with me. And not only have they created my whole email strategy for 2020, they have inputted every image, every video that I will be posting for 2020 for my social media, which is like,
Jen Lehner:
06:38 Oh my gosh, it's getting too good. Yeah, that's pretty much sounds like the definition of freedom to me. Just to be able to hand that over.
Lyndsay Morris:
06:52 Hmm.
Jen Lehner:
06:52 On those posts, are you, are you writing like for your Instagram posts, they're posting images but all the copy that goes with it and the hashtags, how are you handling that?
Lyndsay Morris:
07:02 So they imported all the pictures and the quotes and the videos. And then I went in and I just, I'm about, I don't like fluff. So my captions are like two sentences and then they go in and do the hashtags for me. So we tried at first for them to do the captions, but it was complicated. So I was just like, I'll just do this. It didn't take me very much time at all. Um, cause it's about two sentences. And then they do all the hashtags and the, the greatest thing is it, we get to collaborate together. They teach me so many new things. And so it's, it's really neat because it's not just like they're doing all of these different things, but they're teaching me too. It's a great partnership.
Jen Lehner:
07:49 That's fantastic. So what do you, what do you see like in the near distant future for what you're going to be working on and headed towards with them as a team?
Lyndsay Morris:
07:58 More of the daily to do's. So I'm posting in our groups daily. Right now they're actually working, I subscribe to Kajabi. So Kajabi just released a new pages. The new patients came, so they're taking my entire website and they're creating all the new pages and we're doing all these really cool animations on the website. Um, I will have freedom to do so many more things that have been on my to do list for years, but I never could get to them because I was stuck in all of these details of the business that, that now they are taken care of.
Jen Lehner:
08:36 Yeah. You had mentioned that to me before that like you know the strategies, you know all the things like and you've got like a wealth of information floating around in your brain, but you haven't been able to really execute any of that stuff in the way that you would like because you've been bogged down, which is like we all could tell that story thousand.
Lyndsay Morris:
08:56 Yes, so this is the year for me that I've gone from my calendar running my life to I'm running my calendar and it's really because of these VAs. I finally had time to sit down and go through my calendar last year and highlight what was a plus one, what was a negative one? What are like what brought you joy, what sucked joy from your life and then from that create my new calendar for 2020 where 80% it is a non negotiable. 80% of what I'm going to be doing is a plus one because otherwise I don't feel like I can be sustainable in the speaking business. A lot of my days are spent speaking and traveling around the country. And so I needed this support because I was really starting to burn out. I was becoming so overwhelmed. And the funny thing is is I, I teach about self care and wellness and education and mindfulness.
Lyndsay Morris:
09:55 And there were days where my tank was not full and I was speaking about self care. So in order for me to feel good about what I was speaking about and really feel like I had integrity, I needed this support so that they're doing the details and I could stick to my zone of genius. And that's really what's happened. I'm just, I know I've said it over and over again, but this is the ticket to freedom. I'm not just saying it. I have purchased so many courses. I've had so many business mentors and like you said, I've, I've learned the strategy but I couldn't implement it until I got help. So life changing. Wow.
Jen Lehner:
10:38 Well thank you so much for that. Um, and I'm so happy that you've had such, such a success with your virtual assistants. I would say so. You mentioned that when you wake up, like your VA is working 12:00 AM, what did you say 12:00 PM? What were those hours?
Lyndsay Morris:
10:58 My VA works are 12:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and then my other VA works about 10 hours. So I just give her a to do list on Monday and it's nothing that's pressing. It's like whenever she gets to it that week it's fine because it's just more videos, um, or things that, you know, I don't need that day. So, um, I just wake up to my other VA every morning. She has, when I wake up, she's already done the night before his work and she works five days a week. And it is a great feeling to wake up and see all these tasks that have been done overnight while you've been sleeping.
Jen Lehner:
11:36 It's like imagine. Um, so which, so the so, so those, so she's, so it's really noon when she's working, but it's midnight for you, more or less. You're on the west coast, so. Mmm. Do you any overlap when you're working together?
Lyndsay Morris: 11:55 Well, I usually go to bed around midnight. So what we've, what we've decided to do is she checks the task item or the task document every night before I go to sleep. If I'm going to go to bed early, I'll just message her and say, Hey, can you look this over? Make sure you have all the links, make sure you know what to do. And then she'll say yes or she'll ask me a few quick questions on Voxer, which is a free app. And so then she's ready to go midnight to four. So she, we've, we've developed that we need to clarify any questions before I go to sleep. But usually I'm up until midnight.
Jen Lehner:
12:31 Okay. And so what about like with your speaking, I can't imagine that because I know just like when I travel, um, and I'm out of town, uh, for a retreat or a conference or whatever, uh, that's, that's one of the times when I am so grateful for having a team because I can rely on them. First of all, I know everything's being covered, like with, with our clients and our customers and that, that all the questions are being answered while I'm out on the road, but also, and I cannot think of a really good example, but there, there are things that they will do for me remotely. Oh, I know what it is. Like, like I remember I was at a conference, I was speaking at a conference and I realized that I had not given any sort of, uh, opt in like a lead magnet or anything that I had.
Jen Lehner:
13:19 I didn't have anything. I was unprepared to offer that from the stage. So I was able to reach back out to my team and ask them to quickly just, you know, I knew what I wanted to offer. Like, I want to do this. Uh, but can you put together a quick a lead digit, which is like, that's when you say text the word, you know, freebie to four, four, two, two, two. And I was able to just ask her to whip that up and 10 minutes later it was all done. And then, you know, I stepped onto the stage and bam, you know, it was, so that's just a kind of a strange example, but it's just, I guess knowing that you have someone who has your back psychologically is incredibly comforting in this business that is so lonesome. Yeah,
Lyndsay Morris:
14:03 I completely agree. And something similar happened this week when I was in Sacramento, California presenting and I was working with the state on a contract and we just released these trainings for a 400,000 state employees. So they have the opportunity to go get these free trainings through our partnership with the state. Well, on one of the trains we accidentally, it was my fault, it's not we, it was my fault the wrong time and the wrong date. It was cloned from a different event. So all of a sudden I get this email from the state and they're like, Hey, we just found out that the dates and the times are wrong. Can you fix this? And I'm about to go on stage. So I messaged my VA and I'm like, Hey, can you fix this? She had it fixed within two minutes. And that's what like about having the two VAs because one of them is kind of a floater that is there for me when I, whenever I need her. And the other one is there from midnight to 4:00 AM. So Mmm. I messaged the one who is more of a floater and she takes care of it. She knows how to do Kajabi. She's, she's done some automatic emails for me on Kajabi and you know, making offers for events. So she has been amazing.
Jen Lehner:
15:19 So you mentioned Kajabi and I know that Kajabi, like many programs, has all these great free trainings to help you learn how to use the software, which these days, if a company doesn't offer that, like come on, you know, it's like, it's such a smart move to go ahead and build an Academy because they have to look out out their window and see that other people are creating these courses about their software and making tons of money. So there's obviously a demand for it. So why don't they just do it in house? So Kajabi has been doing that and they've been creating these incredible free trainings, well free inside of the, of the platform. So have you been like just basically giving them access to or asking them to watch all these trainings to learn how to use the new feature for web pages inside of the plop?
Lyndsay Morris:
16:09 I haven't and I joined Kajabi before they had all those new free tutorials so I haven't taken a look at those. Um, so what I've been doing is I just make a loom video and four and my screen and a lot of the time I'm doing, uh, like I'm trying to show them something that
Lyndsay Morris:
16:28 is a little bit different. Um, how do I say it? It's not like cookie cutter, so I'm just showing like, here's where you need to put the CTA button or here's what you need to say. So usually I just create a quick loom video and they, once they watch the loom video, because I went through your course, they create a system and a checklist so that the next person who is going to do this task, they'll have the loom video, they'll have a checklist, and they'll have a system. So they're building systems in my business to run like McDonald's franchise because McDonald's franchise has a book of how to do everything and that's how they're able to franchise. So by the end of all of this, not only will they get tasks done, but I'm going to have a system and a checklist for every single thing in my business.
Jen Lehner:
17:20 Oh, it's like music to my ears. So that is one thing that, that, uh, I teach inside the course is that the, some of the first things that you want to get your VA's to do is to watch a loom video or somebody else's training, like the ones that are inside Kajabi or anywhere else. And, and watch it very carefully, create a, uh, a document of the process and also a checklist so that like Lyndsay says, uh, no matter what happens, that's always there. But you had a really take on this, um, when we last chatted and I loved it. It was, it was, it was so lovely and you said, because the way that I've been teaching this is my language has been like if your VA gets abducted by aliens one day and you know, and you need to hire someone else right away, you could put them in front of this, uh, system that you've created this checklist.
Jen Lehner:
18:12 And that's, you don't ever have to train them again. They'll, they, they, they're off and running because right. There's a checklist. But you said, um, you didn't correct me. You were just, I mean, it wasn't like we were debating about it. It was just your language. You said, what I love about this is what I love about these systems is that when it's time for me to add a person to our team, in other words, you weren't looking at it like from a standpoint of light when somebody you know, up and leaves, but it was like, no, I'm growing, I'm building, we're scaling. So the next person as we add, they're going to access these systems. And I'm like, uh, yeah,
Lyndsay Morris:
18:49 yes, like the training manual I've always wanted to create, but I haven't had time to create it. And that would take me hours and hours, days, months to create all the systems of our business. But they're just doing it as they go along. So it really, it's, it's helping me create space to get clear, which I think is the number one thing in a business. Like getting clear on who you are and what your business stands for and where you want to go next. And it's creating the space to grow massively in a short amount of time. I've been doing this now for five or six years and it's pretty much been me and a couple helpers here and there. And now I haven't shared this with you, but I also have just hired my third VA for more, um, graphic design, like, um, both VA's know Canva very well, but, um, as far as Photoshop and like putting the outline of a picture in front of another picture. So we're growing quickly and I plan to have an entire team of VA's by the end of 2020 because it's, it's just amazing.
Jen Lehner:
19:59 Heck yes, that is fantastic. No, Lyndsay, that is amazing. What a nice surprise. Well, I really appreciate you hanging out with me today and, uh, I know that our listeners, uh, had been inspired by, uh, everything that you shared with us. So thank you.
Lyndsay Morris:
20:17 Thank you. Thank you for creating this course. Thank you for making it so user friendly. Uh, I am all about systems. I don't need a lot of fluff. It was just to the point, here's what you do. And then boom, we had access to you for questions and the board meetings were phenomenal. And by the end of four weeks, my life changed.
Jen Lehner:
20:40 Well, I'm just going to leave that right there. That's like, that's a great place to, uh, to sign off. Thank you much Lyndsay, and best of luck to you as you, as you grow. Uh, can't wait to see where you are at the end of 2020 to learn more about Lyndsay and her business generation wellness, head on over to generationwellness.com all the links to the resources mentioned today, along with all the show notes, can be found at jenlehner.com/lyndsay and that's spelled L , Y, N D S, A, Y. And if you're interested in learning more about the front row CEO program, head over to frontrowceo.com. See you soon.
