559 Molly Rose Speed

Jeffrey Feldberg: [00:00:00] Every founder says they want freedom. Freedom from the inbox, freedom from the bottlenecks, freedom from being the only person who knows how everything works. But behind the scenes, many successful entrepreneurs are quietly trapped inside a business they built, serving the systems instead of being served by them.

Molly Rose Speed understands that world because she's lived on the operational front lines of entrepreneurship. As the founder of Molly Rose Virtual Assistant Academy and Virtual Assistant Management, She helps entrepreneurs, founders, speakers, authors, coaches, and online business owners reclaim the one resource no founder can ever get back: time.

Molly Rose goes far beyond task support. She helps founders turn scattered operations into clean systems, convert overwhelm into delegation, and build teams that create capacity instead of complexity. She's worked behind the scenes with major names in the personal development and [00:01:00] online business world, including Jack Canfield and Patty Aubrey, helping bring structure, execution, and leverage to big ideas.

Her story is about building freedom before burnout forces the issue. And for any founder who feels like the company owns them more than they own the company, her insights may be the wake-up call they didn't know they needed.

And before we start this episode, a quick word from our sponsor, Deep Wealth and the 90 Day Deep Wealth Mastery Program. Here's Jane, a graduate who says, and I quote, the Deep Wealth Mastery Program prevented me from making what would have been one of the biggest mistakes of my career. I almost signed on the dotted line with an unsolicited offer that I now realized would have shortchanged my hard work and my future had I accepted that offer. Deep Wealth Mastery has tilted the playing field to my advantage.

Or how about Lyn? Wow, he gets right to the point, and I quote, Deep Wealth Mastery is one of the best investments ever made because you'll get an ROI of a hundred times that. Anyone who [00:02:00] doesn't go through this will lose millions. 

And as you're listening to these testimonials, are you wondering if you have the time? Are you even thinking that you've got this covered, you have the advisors or people in your network? Well, I got to tell you, these myths, they're often behind the 90 percent failure rate for liquidity events. Think about it. You have one chance to get it right for your financial freedom. You really want to make it count.

And when it comes to time, let's hear what William has to say. We just got in this testimonial, William says, and I quote, I didn't have the time for Deep Wealth Mastery. But I made the time and I'm glad I did. What I learned goes far beyond any other executive program or coach I've experienced. 

So what do you think?

As I hear that, that's exactly what gets me out of bed every day. That's my mission. That's the team's mission here at Deep Wealth to literally change the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time, and my Deep Wealth Nation, what I want you to know, the Deep Wealth Mastery Program, it isn't theory.

It's from the trenches. It's the only one based on a [00:03:00] nine figure deal. And that deal, that was my deal. You know my story. I said no to a seven figure offer. I created the system that later on, myself and my business partners, we said yes to a different buyer, a different offer, a nine figure deal. That's what we now call the Deep Wealth Mastery Program or the Scale For Ultimate Sales system.

It's built by business owners, for business owners, so if you're interested in growing your profits for preparing for a future liquidity event, and that may be two years away, it could be 22 years away, whatever the time may be, you want to do this now, and you want to optimize your post exit life, Deep Wealth Mastery is for you.

To get started, email success at deepwealth. com. Again, that's success. S U C C E S S at DeepWealth. com. You'll receive all the information about the Deep Wealth Mastery Program or better yet, why not hop on a complimentary strategy call.

We'll go through exactly where your business is today and what's standing between you and your financial independence and your [00:04:00] dreams. So that's where you want to be. You want to be with other successful business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders, just like you they're looking to grow their businesses, create markets.

Market disruptions and unlock their financial freedom to get what they deserve. And whether you've been in business for three years, 40 years, you're a startup, you're manufacturing you're in high tech, low tech, whatever the case may be, coming in and network with other business owners, it's a safe space.

It's a confidential space with business owners, with businesses just like you, because they all wanna lock in their financial freedom and enjoy both success and fulfillment. So again, the 90 Day Deep Wealth Mastery Program, it has your name on it. All you need to do is take the next step. Please send an email to success at deepwealth. com.

Deep Wealth Nation, welcome to another episode of the Deep Wealth Podcast. Well, Deep Wealth Nation, let me ask you this. You started your business. You had a lifestyle in mind, these grandiose dreams. How's it going? How's your time? Or do you have a jail sentence, otherwise known as a full-time J-O-B? I don't [00:05:00] even want to say the word J-O-B.

Is your time not your own? Would you like to get, let me use the F word, freedom? Would you like to get some freedom back? Would you like to get that lifestyle that you always wanted? Do you want to fire yourself from certain positions you probably shouldn't be doing to get people in that are far better than you to help take your company to the next level?

And of course, you're saying, "Yes, Jeffrey, but what do I do? Where do I begin? I failed before. It doesn't work. Where should we go?" You've come to the right place. We have a very special guest in the House of Deep Wealth. We have a fellow founder and visionary. I'm gonna put a plug in it right there.

Welcome to the Deep Wealth Podcast. An absolute pleasure to have you with us. There's always a story behind the story. What's your story? What got you from where you were to where you are today?

Molly Rose Speed: Hi, Jeffrey. Hi Deep Wealth Nation. I'm so happy to be here. My story started when I was tw- well, it started way before this, but the real stuff started when I was 23. I called myself a corporate cubicle dweller. Doing that 45-minute commute to work, crying my eyes out by the time I was there nine months, and doing the same thing [00:06:00] on the way home.

And I was also finding myself entering a marriage with a guy in the military who was deploying nonstop. This was 15 years ago now. And I realized really quickly, and I'm... Probably the best thing I taught myself at a young age was, "This is not the life that I want." I still live my life on responsibility, and I'm like, "This is irresponsible.

You're quitting your job. You're in healthcare. What are you doing?" I was in financial analyst at a healthcare agency at at a hospital system at the time. And my mom said to me she goes, "Molly Rose, what's the worst thing that's gonna happen? What is the worst thing? You're gonna be fed, and I'm gonna make sure you have a roof over your head if you have to."

And she was right. She's "Quit your job, come home. Let's plan this wedding and get on with life." And that's what I did. And fast-forward, got married and became what we all know now as a virtual assistant. I had no idea, again, 15 years ago plus, what a virtual assistant was. It wasn't what it is today.

And so I, worked with amazing clients who gave me the ability to figure [00:07:00] it out, one of the best things you can find in a person. And I've served well over 300 clients since. I've built a virtual assistant certification program to train and certify the amazing supporters that all business owners need and professionalize that space.

And now we have a placement agency called Virtual Assistant Management. And today, I do my own client work as well, high-level support for the visionaries to integrate and get their business off the ground and into what they love to do the most and create more time and freedom- and allow them to do what they are meant to do in their business while their teams and systems and automations do the rest.

So that's what brought me to today, and it's been a fun 15 years.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Wow. Absolutely love that story because it starts off with, "Hey, Jeffrey, I found this problem, was curious about this and want to learn more about this, want to, sounds corny, but make the world a better place." And I did a deep dive and did that, and here you are. Very high level, let me ask an unfair question because [00:08:00] every company, every founder is unique and different.

But that said, where are we getting it wrong as founders? It's one of my favorite questions, and some people use the fancy term Pareto's law or the 80/20 principle. Yeah, Jeffrey, you know what? For the founders that we're working with, 80% of the challenges are coming from the same 20% of A, B, and C over here, it may not be 80/20, it could be 90/10 or 95/5, but are there patterns that you're seeing that we're just missing as founders?

And what are they if you're seeing them?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, I think there's a few big things that come to mind. First of all, I think that founders still have their hands in all the cookie jars. So I like to say that, when you start a business, what happens is you start a business for a certain reason. You're passionate about this thing, or you find a problem to solve, as you just mentioned, but along the way, you realize you have to wear 27 hats.

You have to do bookkeeping and billing and marketing and development and sales and build a website and service the client or make the product or whatever it is in your situation, and you lose yourself in that and the reason why you started [00:09:00] the business in the first place. So I think that's still happening with founders.

They're not letting their teams do what they do best, or systems or AI and automation. And that's become a really big problem. And I think the other thing really prominent, my clients love you all dearly, is visionaries are a little squirrely, right? And they have an idea they share it with the team, and we start to execute, and then 12, 14 days later, they're onto the next thing.

It's important to have that forward-looking, you know, have ideas and always enhance the business. However, when you do that with a team, you can't get anywhere. There's no traction. So we help with that.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And you don't quite say it this way. When I was preparing for today, it's really the, quote-unquote, "The Molly Rose method" in terms of what's out there when it comes time for the virtual assistants. We hear so many stories. I'm speaking to founders, and I hear these horror stories of what's going on out there.

So we'll talk about the Molly Rose method and what you've done in just a moment. But let's go to the glass is [00:10:00] not half full, but half empty. And when we're either speaking to another organization who is offering virtual assistants or we're speaking to one ourselves, what would be some red flags that are out there?

Because I know at first blush, everything looks great. "Hey, this person sounds wonderful. Look at what they've done." Put them in place, and a short while later, "Wow, what was I thinking?" Or, "What wasn't I thinking? That was... What a disaster." Time, money all out the window. So what would be some red flags that we should, "Hey, yeah, Jeffrey, if you're seeing this, run, but run the opposite direction as fast as you can"?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, I think this starts especially when you're sourcing a virtual assistant or even a higher level. Paying attention to what you're asking them in an interview process is extremely important, and I teach my assistants to interview the client as well. They need to be thinking like a business owner, in my professional opinion.

are they asking questions like, "What are your revenue streams? What systems do you use? What's the biggest pain point [00:11:00] for you right now?" They need to be understanding this so that you have someone coming into your business at a high level that can support you and the things that you need most, and also someone that understands business.

You're bringing in an executive assistant if you will. That's what I think a vir- virtual assistant really should be stepping into, especially in the day and age of AI. So you really need to really get a, an understanding that they understand business and what you're trying to achieve, and that's the biggest red flag.

then the second thing I will share that's coming to mind is communication. So if you're 60 days in and you don't have a cadence for how you're communicating with your assistant and they're not coming to you saying, "Hey, I found this, I fixed this. You reminded me to you to do this."

If they're not following up with you instead of just being tasked with certain things, you have the wrong person in in your position, and you need to reevaluate that.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And let me ask you this, because there's that old saying, when we point a finger at someone, we have three or four fingers pointing right back at us. [00:12:00] So we can have the world's absolute best executive assistant, virtual assistant, whatever the case may be. We are doing a terrible job making it incredibly difficult that we're setting it up for failure.

It's not the other person, it's for us. So as founders, what would you want us to know of what either we should stop doing or what we should start doing in terms of paving a way that, yes, it's likely gonna be successful? Hey, Jeffrey, before you onboard this person, here's what I want you to do. Here's what I want you to know of what you can do to have absolute success.

Molly Rose Speed: Yes. So, starts with kind of what I shared earlier about having holding a vision and holding it strong and not coming in with every different option every 12 to 14 days. So having clarity is what that means in what we're doing and what you're expecting of your team to do. And then th- taking communication a step further it's having a delegation process.

So where I see things really break down, and I've experienced this [00:13:00] personally, is you're working with a business owner as an assistant, and they're tasking you on your Google Chat, your Asana, your Trello board, a text message, a phone call, a Zoom call, an Asa- and it goes on, and I'm not kidding, a Voxer message.

And you are 1,000% setting up your assistant for failure. It is impossible to manage expectations in that regard, so you have to have a delegation system that you you all hold to, you all own. It's transparent. You're accountable to it. And then from there I have recommendations for you.

You have your SOS channel "Oh, man, I need you right now," so you know if I'm calling you or if I'm texting you it's I need you. And then there's your regular cadence of communication, which usually is a Zoom check-in every Monday or a phone call or something like that outside of your task manager.

I know that that might sound not novel, but the amount of times that I don't see this set up and the amount of relationships that fail and great visionaries with assistants it's a shame that's the [00:14:00] reason why things go awry. So I think that's extremely important.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And let me address the elephant in the room, and I don't subscribe to this. I know a lot of people are talking about this, artificial intelligence, AI. And in some circles, I'm hearing things like, "Hey, who needs an actual human assistant or executive assistant? We got this thing called AI, and AI is gonna do everything for me.

Life will be grand, and it'll be twenty-four/seven, and wow, look what's gonna happen." So talk to us about that. What is fact, fiction, science fiction? Where are you on that? What do you think?

Molly Rose Speed: I'm-- probably heard this before. I'm one of those people that we have to work with it. So teaching your assistants or your team or hiring someone that isn't afraid of it, and they're using it to be way more efficient than they ever have will only make your business more profitable because you don't have to pay as much and more excellent because AI is producing results beyond what the average person can do.

We all know that. That's extremely [00:15:00] important. But as far as replacing us, I still think there's this beautiful thing between our ears that is creative and exciting and doing things that AI is not capable of from everything I've read and heard that the creation level isn't there. So you need to have that person on your team that can think critically with the help of artificial intelligence.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And, you know, Molly Rose, to that point, what you're saying is spot on because the latest research that's coming out is showing, okay, sure, Jeffrey, you can do it on your own, no problem there, or you can have AI do it on its own, no problem there. You get the best of both worlds when you combine forces, now you're more productive, now you're more creative.

This is where the magic happens, where the two of you are working together, that AI can do some of the heavy lifting. You're gonna come in, refine some things, take it to the next level. Sometimes you have those hallucinations or who knows what, but you can make sure that it stays on [00:16:00] course. And so to your point, absolutely, it's really a curated approach.

And so let me ask you this, because when you put someone in front of me, "Okay, Molly Rose, here's what's going on with my company. Here's what I'm looking for, and now you're gonna come back and present some choices for me." Let's take the curtain, let's roll it back. So before anyone ever gets your gold star, your seal of approval, what's going on behind the scenes that you want us to know in terms of what you're not accepting, what you are accepting, what that looks like?

Molly Rose Speed: So all of our certified assistants go through a formal training program where they not only learn the latest technology and all the systems and processes that business owners are... have in high demand, like artificial intelligence and running... building a website and updating a blog and doing social media and all the things that we need.

I could go on and on. The list is probably a thousand lines deep. But they also learn how to run their own business, and I think that's what's extremely important and a differentiator between someone just picking up a [00:17:00] laptop one day and sitting at their kitchen table saying, "I can be an assistant. I know how to use Facebook," and professionalizing their own business.

So they understand, "This is how you run a business, and this is what my client is also doing." It just makes them that much stronger to be able to do that. So that's the foundation that we set, and then we test against with case studies for our assistants. So they're submitting w- work i- in the specialization that they're wanting to do.

So for example if you're a social media assistant, you're submitting, you know, We give them a brand, and they have to go out and create the assets that a business owner would ask them to do and then we're approving them or coaching them through it. If they're someone that's helping a public speaker run their business, they would be then tested in, okay, how do you handle booking travel?

How do you handle negotiating a speaker engagement? How do you market your speaker or email back and forth while a speaker is getting booked to make sure that they have all the assets they need? So we do these real-life case studies [00:18:00] that happen every day to put them to the test on how they do it.

We interview them and put them through prep to make sure they're formal and, they have a ring light and they're showing up right because that's just how they're gonna show up, not only to get an interview but then working with a client and representing their brand as well. So it's everything that you can imagine from running a business to having the technology to making sure that they're educated and can speak to what they've been taught to then showing up polished for not only themselves or, but for the business that they represent.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And generally speaking, in terms of when you're looking for assistance that get the Molly Rolz seal of approval, here you go, Jeffrey, I've vetted these people, will be terrific for you. Where are they coming from? What's their background? What's going on from that side of things?

Molly Rose Speed: Love this. So the reason I started this is I was a military spouse, and I had my peers were coming up to me saying, "Can I take you to Starbucks? I wanna... You're traveling the world. You're working from your laptop. You seem very happy. You're [00:19:00] making money. I wanna do that." And so that's the market that I started in.

I'm like, there's this untapped potential in the military spouse. These women have graduate degrees. They have college degrees. They're teachers that don't wanna do that, or they had worked at a corporation, and now they're living in a small town. So that's the pool that I really pull from, US-based virtual assistants, military spouses.

And then it's, grown from there through referrals of, you know, moms that have preschoolers that are going to school full time and they need something, or digital nomads that wanna, travel the world and do this for a while before settling down. So yeah, that's our marketplace.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And what's interesting about that is for the men and women in military service, and our hearts go out to them, and God bless them for what they're doing and how they're putting their lives on the line so that they do what we do so we can do what we do. It's really the unspoken world of that with how you're helping with the spouses of the military people that are in service, of you reaching out to them and having [00:20:00] them make a difference.

And hey, it's a win for them wherever they're gonna be. It's a win for us and the made in the USA it sounds like for the most part, which is terrific, although they may be abroad. How's that been going for you? What's going on with that? That's a, a fascinating angle.

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, it's been really rewarding. I was talking to my, partner that helps run the management side of things, and I was like, "I never would've believed impact." was so unexpected. You know, military spouses saying, "I was able to take my family to Disney World this year because I have this job," or, "I was able to show up for my husband the whole week after a six-month deployment."

And have a flexible career to be able to do that. So the flexibility to... it's provided for people to show up differently and earn money and be independent women, and most of them are women alongside their husband that's serving, has been really unexpectedly rewarding

Jeffrey Feldberg: And when it comes to that as a founder with whomever I'm gonna be working with, sometimes as founders we get it so right. We're incredibly smart. We can also get it so [00:21:00] wrong, which is a polite way of saying, "What are you bonkers? Are you crazy? Are you nuts? What are you thinking?" In terms of hours and work hours and the early Jeffrey, the founder, I was around the clock, and I was sending emails all hours of the night.

I had very, looking back almost embarrassed to say it, unrealistic, unfair expectations that if I sent an email and it was 11 o'clock at night, and if I got a reply 10 o'clock the next morning, what is this person slacking off here? What's going on? Today's very different. Anyone in any of my companies, if it's after work hours, unless it's an emergency, there should not be an email going on.

I want them with their family, their loved ones. I want them with some R&R and just relaxing. Very different, but that's me. What would you want us to know as founders in terms of how do we get the best out of our executive assistants, our virtual assistants in terms of hours and expectations? What would you want us to know that we're probably not hearing?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, so being crystal clear about what you truly expect. [00:22:00] If you want someone that's available at certain hours of the day, that we're gonna hire to that and be clear about that. The relationships I see that work the best is humanizing it, right? It's really easy this day and age to just converse via email or in your Asana channel, it's a project management tool if you're not familiar, and never communicate with them.

And so I always challenge, connect for a minimum of 20 minutes early in the week. Before noon on Tuesday, you should chat with your client, either on a team call or together. You know, And most of our assistants know their client's dog's name and whether their kid's birthday is coming up, and most of them end up having their credit card information.

And it gets very personal, and that's why the US-based virtual assistant, stamp of approval is so important for those relationships. But I think that's what's not necessarily happening, especially with AI, and we're all kind of sitting in our own offices operating when we have these beautiful teams working all over the world, and we're not even getting to know each other.

So I think that's my personal key to any [00:23:00] successful, team relationship bui- going. And they'll ... when I see that happen, the assistants and the people that are being hired work that much harder, that much smarter. They invest in your business. They become proud of the work and the success. I think that's super important.

Also, I think letting them celebrate in the wins. So if you have a great year, don't forget about your team. A little bit goes a long way. I've had clients give me $100 gifts, and I've ended up working for them far longer than I was intending, just because I was like, "This was the nicest thing. Wow," you know?

all the way up to bonusing out at the end of the year unexpectedly, or buying me a Mac when I was 27. I had a client that bought me a huge iMac for Christmas. And I'm like, this is the kind of people I wanna work with." So, so think about that, be generous with your team.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And it really gets to the point of, hey, not just with my assistant coming through Molly Rose, but my whole team. We talk a lot about this in our 9-step roadmap. Step 2, X-Factor is a [00:24:00] culture. Part of the culture as the founder, as a leader Well, what really drives my people? What's their currency? Because for some, it's not money.

As we're talking about this, Molly Rose I'm thinking of one particular team member, and her currency was time off. "Jeffrey, I don't want a bonus and money. I don't necessarily want a raise. Yeah, I'll take that, of course, I'm not gonna complain. But if you really wanna have me appreciate something, give me more time off.

That's what I want. I want more time off." And that was her particular currency, so it's really getting to know for each of our team members what they want and what really works for them. And so I'm now speaking directly to the founder in Deep Wealth Nation who's saying, "Okay, yeah, Molly Rose, Jeffrey, I hear you, but I gotta tell you..."

And here we go, Molly Rose. Here we go. "I gotta tell you, it's just faster if I do it myself." What would you say to that founder in Deep Wealth Nation? What would you want them to know?

Molly Rose Speed: I've been there. I think you're gonna wake up in five years and wonder what you've been doing, [00:25:00] that is exactly what doing it yourself for that long looks like. By hiring and outsourcing and have people help you with what they're brilliant at and you should not be doing, 'cause we should not do everything in our business, you will move further faster.

You will have a life. You'll be able to show up fully and be more present. you'll run a beautiful business in most cases, and you'll have balance and have a personal life if you want it. So taking the, nitty-gritty time to, teach for 45 minutes when it could take you five minutes to do it yourself saves you Over and over again.

So you just have to get through it. I was listening to a podcast this morning, and he shared that his producer of his podcast, She's been with him for years. He's like, "I respected her so much because when she delegated something to the team and they didn't do it exactly how she wanted her, them to do it, she would go over to their desk and sit next to them, and for an hour say, 'This is why I'm changing this.

This is why we're changing this.'" And then they would learn, and you'd have this amazing [00:26:00] team member come up the ranks with you. Those are the types of things that you need to start thinking about when you're delegating and helping people grow with you in your business.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And so to that extent, let me ask you this, because at Deep Wealth we have this saying: you can delegate, you can automate, you can eliminate, we don't wanna abdicate. And so all these fancy words. So abdicate is, "Hey, Molly Rose, go do this task. I'm gonna check with you in a year. Let me know how it's going."

I'm completely abdicating. I've got no input at all whatsoever. As founders, though, no one really tells us or teaches us how it's properly done in terms of delegating. And I know going back to that founder that I fictitiously made up, but not so much, they're really out there, I can do it faster myself. It probably comes from a place of, hey, I've tried this before, brought somebody on, and it was a disaster.

It took up a lot of time. Things didn't work. So to set expectations, what would an onboarding process ideally look like? And Molly Rose, if you said, "Yeah, Jeffrey, look, everyone is different. Every [00:27:00] company's gonna be different, and you're unique a- as a person." I get all that. But generally speaking, the onboarding process from me as the founder and bringing someone on board, how long would it typically take, and what am I doing?

What can I expect? And then we'll wave the magic wand after that prep phase.

Molly Rose Speed: so before you even hire,

Jeffrey Feldberg: Let's fast-forward a little bit down the road of the return on investment that I'm getting. So firstly, in terms of the preparation, what would be in my best interest to, in my mind, prepare to invest time-wise and resource-wise with whomever I'm bringing on board from you?

Molly Rose Speed: Start documenting what you do and the processes that you're putting in place for even for yourself. Create systems out of what you're doing repeatedly, that stuff that they'll eventually be off boarded. The stuff that y- is repeatable is what starts first.

So that can start before you're even spending a dollar on a team member or an assistant. And then when you make that hire, hiring to those needs. we get a lot of clients that come in and say, "I have this laundry list of things." Well, if you start delegating 25, 50 things to [00:28:00] someone right when they start, you're not setting them up for success.

That's not gonna work. So we have to prioritize what's most important and then drip out, as they go. So you make a plan when you work with us on What are the first five tasks? Let's master those, get comfortable with each other, and then we'll drop in the next and the next, and then it evolves into project work and new initiatives and everything else that's going on.

So there's prioritizing what's gonna be delegated, and then having this on-ramp period of, I like to see 90 days, where you know that every 30 days there's a start, stop, continue conversation that doesn't just go one way. So I don't wanna see the business owner having that conversation directly with the VA and it doesn't go the other direction.

I want the assistant to be able to say, "Hey, this actually isn't working for me," or, "Can we move our time to this time because it's more effective?" Or, " when you delegate for me to create this sales page on your website but you didn't give me the copy to do so, that's why this was late."

All those little things that we can start to clean up that we don't even realize we're doing because we're moving so fast. And so [00:29:00] having those scheduled on the calendar when the assistant starts, 60, 90, and then maybe they continue. Maybe that's something that you see so much value in.

I love it. And you just continue to get better and support one another, but it's a two-way street when you're bringing someone in. I think that those people have way more success than just becoming, "Here's your task list. Get it done, and that's how it is."

Jeffrey Feldberg: Oh, okay. So I'm hearing a 30, 60, 90-day onboarding process and we're documenting everything along the way, checking in. And yes, we're likely gonna be slower than doing it ourselves, but we're looking for the long term of, hey, once that's done, once that's mastered, it's documented. Hopefully, I'm never revisiting that again.

It's being taken care of. So let's now fast-forward. So this has been in place now for a while, and maybe it's four months out, eight months out, it's been 12 months out. Is there any particular client or a success story that you have in mind? "Yeah, Jeffrey, when they first came here, they were like this," and fast-forward, here's what began to happen.

Anything that you can [00:30:00] share with us, the light at the end of the tunnel?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, so, working with a client ... I'll share my own experience. I'm working with a client, she was the brains behind the series Chicken Soup for the Soul. I was so excited to start working with her. And her business was an absolute mess. no systems, three different websites. I'm like, "What is happening here?"

And coming in and cleaning that up for her, but we didn't necessarily have that open dialogue. "Are you liking what I'm doing? Are you happy with this? Is this working?" And I realized really quickly we had to schedule those things and schedule them out. So we started having those conversations.

I implemented Asana, taught her how to use it. It was a lot. You will run into that too. You'll find assistants who know tech that you don't know, and lean on them. They're the experts. They're the, the, linear, analytical, people that find systems and you can learn from them, so started organizing and getting things cleaned up and putting systems in place for her and I to consistently run this business together. And she had to teach me a lot about her business, a lot about how her [00:31:00] clients ran, how her coaching worked out. I needed to understand the programs that were being delivered and taught.

So I had to do a lot of learning myself how she wanted me to create the guides or create the sales pages or the funnels and the systems. And that was a little painful. She could have just, outsourced this and had someone build the funnel and someone build a website and someone do this, all based on her guidance, but she wanted to have one person that was the point person for the business.

And today I, talk to her maybe every other week, and everything just runs. It's ... I had a call with her just before this, and it's just an update of what's happening in her business, and she doesn't have to do as much anymore. So that exists.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Absolutely love that and Deep Wealth Nation, no spoiler alerts here, but your client is also a wonderful guest on this podcast, an alumnus of this podcast. Absolutely love what she's doing,

Molly Rose Speed: I love it

Jeffrey Feldberg: is great to see behind the scenes that you're behind there and helping with that, and that's what we love to see in terms of what's out there.

And so in terms of [00:32:00] when we're speaking with different candidates for virtual assistant, and Maldoror, hopefully we're going through you and you're giving us some choices. As I like to say, one is never a choice, two's a dilemma. It's only when I have three or more options on the table, that's a real choice.

So that said, there's also that other saying of, hey, hire on personality, train on skills. And so when it comes to a virtual assistant or a VA, what would be some telltale signs of, yes, this is a terrific potential VA. They're showing all the right signs. What would be some traits that I should be looking for?

Molly Rose Speed: This is an awesome question, and throughout all the placements we've done, we've gotten really good at the personality match first because that's most important. I truly believe, for the most part, everyone can learn the skill sets, right? We can all have the ability to figure it out if we want to.

 the client's really, really extroverted, and they don't want that kind of energy. They want someone that's, " Hey, just tell me what to do. I'm really excited to work with you. I'm a little more poised," and yep, this...

And [00:33:00] but that's the energy that they want. They're like, "I don't wanna work with another introvert," as an example, "because that would shut me down, and I wouldn't be as motivated." So, or there's people that need that liveliness. So we ask those questions. We've done DiSC for clients. We've done Enneagram for clients that have asked, and it's really cool to see the themes that come up.

So most virtual assistants are twos if you're in, into the Enneagram. We're the helpers, or we're the loyalist, and business owners are, like, the achievers and the enthusiasts. So we do things like that to see how that goes. So hire on personality 1,000%.

 when I meet people, and they're like, "How do I hire someone?" Or, "What do I do?" I'm like, "Find the person, and then train them in what you want them to do." find amazing, hardworking, lovely people that you want to have represent you and your business, and then bring them up to speed.

It's a bonus if they already have those skill sets.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And Smally Rose, what I'm hearing as part of your secret sauce in terms of what you're doing, you have a very unique angle in terms of, hey, let's find military spouses who [00:34:00] are in the services here in the US and their spouses who may have some time on their hands, are really smart, lots of time on their hands, they want to put that to good use.

I'm also hearing, yeah, Jeffrey, we'll do some personality tests and who are you, Jeffrey, in terms of your traits? And let's see if we can find someone that's gonna be complementary to that. What would be some of your other secret sauce ingredients that you're throwing into the mix that would make you perhaps different or unique relative to some of the other choices out there when I'm looking around, hey, I want to find someone to help me find a virtual assistant?

Molly Rose Speed: So I think we ask a lot of questions that the standard, you know, Google it agency would necessarily do. So we really get to know our clients, and majority of them have worked with assistants in the past, and it didn't work out for them, so we wanna know why that happened and what they're really looking for now.

But we're really realistic about what are their expectations. we've done so many placements now that... but really knowing what they... And honestly taking an intake of what the business owner needs is extremely important, and that starts with you. [00:35:00] If you're a business owner listening to this, getting clear, it's okay to say, "No, I want an assistant that's gonna work from 5 to 9 PM US time," and that's a qualifier.

Or, "I need someone that speaks a different language," or, "I want someone who has this type of personality set or this Myers-Briggs," or y- the things that everyone wants is someone who's responsible, has a figure-it-out attitude, is prompt with communication. Those are the standard important things that need to be addressed.

But how do they work? What experience have they had? What industry have they been a part of? What's a win for them? Where do they wanna go with their career? I always ask that question from clients and VAs. Are there VAs that just wanna be assistants, and they wanna, clock in at 8:00 and end at 3:00, and that's all they wanna do?

Or are, they more looking for businesses to grow within? I was an assistant starting at $15 an hour, and now I'm an outsourced COO for many clients. You have the ability to hire someone into your team that can [00:36:00] develop into that, and is that what you're looking for?

So it's so much more than just your assistant. It's so much more than the admin that you're just bringing in. It's someone that can truly run your business with you, for you, i- if that's the right fit for you.

Jeffrey Feldberg: And all that said, hey, everyone has things that happen in life, things changes. So I'm thinking now things have been going great. It's been a number of years with my virtual assistant here or executive assistant or COO, whatever the case is gonna be, and opportunity knocks, they're going somewhere else or they can no longer do this.

When I'm working with a virtual assistant, when things are locked down, what should I be doing just to make sure that, okay, if there's gonna be a new player, same game, new player who's gonna be coming in to replace whoever's there, how do I minimize the training and getting them on board again that I can actually have the person in the role doing, the virtual assistant can actually do it so it's really effortless on everyone's part?

What would that look like?

Molly Rose Speed: [00:37:00] Yes, so a lot of knowledge leaves when a team member leaves, so making sure when you are working with your assistant, document things. It's 101, but no one does it. We don't take the time to create processes and systems, and this is the SOP and this is why it happens. And there's so many great tools out there now that are just recording our work and creating training videos.

Use them if you are thinking that this is either someone in your business that's gonna move up and on or and you're gonna backfill it or you have that fear of, any time a partnership can go its separate ways. Also I love, building that relationship with a VA or anyone on your team to where if they do decide to leave, it's an okay conversation to have

They don't just leave.

It's a, "Hey I've eight-week runway," or, "I have a month before I'm gonna leave," or, "Hey, actually they want me to start in two weeks, but I'm gonna stay on with you for three hours a week to help you out." Whatever that looks like. There's all these opportunities to have that crossover make the next person coming in [00:38:00] successful.

Jeffrey Feldberg: love about that, and a shameless plug for the Deep Wealth Mastery Growth and Deep Wealth Mastery Exit, Step 2 X-Factors. One of the X-Factors is documentation, exactly to your point, where it could be an online wiki or online document, and we're adding things to it, or a question comes up, "Hey, check the FAQs first, and then from there, if you don't have the question, come to me, speak to me, and see what's there."

Or let's "Hey, Jeffrey, this came up, never been asked before. Talk to me about this. What does this look like? Where does it go from that?" And so with all of that said, as we look ahead, Molly Rose, in terms of, well, what's down the road and with artificial intelligence, who the heck knows? But when it comes to, on the one hand, virtual assistants and helping a business grow, freeing up my time, we also have the human condition.

So no matter how technology changes, the human condition generally stays the same. But any predictions in this area in terms of any trends that you're seeing in the next, call it three to five years, that may impact [00:39:00] this?

Molly Rose Speed: If you're an assistant, you're gonna have multiple clients if you're not- fully integrated with one business owner because AI is such a great companion. And that could be if you are an assistant listening to this, that could be a great service offering that you're bringing to the table to clients or if you're a client looking.

But I think that assistant space i-is going to come with AI, like it is going to be a package. If you're an assistant or you're working with an assistant that isn't using the capability of this, you're completely missing out on so much efficiency and so much excellence in the way that your business can be ran.

And that's... I just think we have to start working with it to continue to be great in our businesses.

Jeffrey Feldberg: It brings up a great question because depending on the particular role, hey, yeah, Molly Rose, I need some help. Probably not full-time, maybe it'll grow to be full-time, but with AI now and with this person being an expert in what they're doing, maybe it's only a few hours a week. So how do you work with your virtual assistants that they're working with different companies?

How do we [00:40:00] keep confidentiality and the privacy and, okay, now Jeffrey has something he needs done. It's kind of out of the blue and not the ordinary, and another client for the same virtual assistant, "Yeah, I also need this at the same time." Maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. Maybe it comes up every now and again.

How do you deal with that? What does that look like? What would you want me to know as a founder to give me some comfort, some reassurance?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah. So contracts are everything, agreements are everything, and you need to review them every year. So that's just basic running your own business. But make sure that that happens with your a-assistant as well. And then as far as confidentiality, I think having that agreement's really important.

When working with a new assistant is don't hire them for less than 20 hours a month, five hours a week.

And that just a-allows enough exchange of energy for them to care and make your business a priority each week, but also them to have dedicated time to support you, and that's really important on a retainer. And then those flex months where you know something's gonna happen that's big, you just communicate [00:41:00] and buy more of their time.

I think that's really important. And then crossover with other clients. I've never experienced an issue if I'm working with three clients at a time, which is quite frequent. It's just having someone professional working for you that manages that flow and isn't sending emails to the wrong person in the wrong account, as an example.

That just comes with who you hire.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Interesting. Okay, so it's a really valuable tip. Deep Wealth Nation, did you pick up on that? In the beginning, maybe you're thinking, "Well, I only need a few hours a week." Molly Rose, I'm hearing you say, "Well, Jeffrey, five hours a week would probably be the minimum that you would want, and even if you're not using it You're doing two things.

Number one, you're reserving the hours for that person that if an unexpected task or a project comes up, you now have some bandwidth for that because the virtual assistant has put aside that time for you, and terrific. But you can also grow into that, but it's also, let's be open and honest about this, follow the money.

We're in business to be in business, to earn a profit, as is [00:42:00] the virtual assistant. And so when they have that, we're now a serious concern for them. "Okay, I've got Jeffrey and his team. I know I have a minimum of five hours a week every week in terms of what's going on, and I can grow into that. I'm gonna have the commitment."

Instead of, "Okay, I need a half hour here, I need another half hour there," and it's piecemeal along the way. How am I doing with that? Of having a block of time, it may cost more in the short run, but it's peace of mind and a higher return of investment in the long run and a shorter turnover. Am I getting that right?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. When I see relationships just do, or partnerships that are two hours a week, they fizzle out. The business owner isn't serious. They're not getting any traction with really getting things taken off of their plate. So it's important to, to start with that. And it's amazing, if you're a new founder or business owner and you're like, "Oh, I'm making this investment.

This is a big deal for me," start with that. it just start... Real quickly, those clients turn into 10 hours a week and 'cause they're getting their feet wet. They're like, "Ooh, this feels good. I [00:43:00] just outsourced that and my inbox is at zero on Friday. Wow. Okay, what else can they do?"

You just start and you'll start to feel the relief, and it gets really fun.

Jeffrey Feldberg: go back to the F-word, freedom. I suspect that when we taste that freedom, "Wow, I never knew it could be this good." Another F-word, fun. "I never knew it could be this fun. Did I say five hours a week? I really meant 10 hours or 20 hours." And we go on from there in terms of once we see what's there that we lock that in and get that out there.

Molly-Rose, is there a question that you and I, an important question that you and I haven't yet covered, or even a theme or a topic that you want to get out to Deep Wealth Nation?

Molly Rose Speed: Yeah, I think a question that a lot of business owners ask me is, what about overseas support? So we can get really cost-effective labor from brilliant people all over the world and I'm all for that. I outsource overseas as well. And my response to that is do it when it makes sense. So for [00:44:00] example, on most occasions you have to be extremely specific about what you're outsourcing, how you're outsourcing it what you need, your specs, exactly what it is when you're outsourcing to overseas.

So for example, I have a podcast assistant. I have someone that does my WordPress. I have someone that does my social media graphics. Those are three different individuals that do those things very well. Whereas what I'm talking about with US-based virtual assistants is a s- executive assistant that's coming into your business who cares about you, what you do, your services, your clients.

Like I said, knows your dog's name, knows your kid has a ballet practice on Friday night, manages your personal schedule in some regard. It's that personal touch within your business that then could go manage all of those contractors if needed as the relationship goes on. So I do wanna address that 'cause it comes up.

It's a beautiful thing to outsource overseas, but just know you're getting a, in most times, a different level of assistant than I'm talking about.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Mother Rose, it's a great insight, and let's take off the political correctness and all those other [00:45:00] things. And I agree with you, there's a time and a place for everything, and I've been in both situations. And yes, for certain tasks, we can change a life in terms of someone overseas because we have the exchange rate.

It's a big deal. It's actually something that's valued over there. It's not looked down upon, and it's a win-win-win that they can do these things. It's incredible. And truth of the matter is, a lot of Americans don't necessarily want to be doing that anyways in, in the first place. And I know also as myself now, speaking as a consumer, and I'll put myself under the microscope, when I speak to someone who sounds like me and who thinks like me, and there's small little nuances because we were born in the same country, and we understand what maybe can go over the heads of a lot of people who weren't.

And this is no judgment that's going on there. It can just make a huge difference. So I'm with you. Context is everything. So what I'm hearing you say is, hey, if it's forward-facing, if it's speaking on your behalf, [00:46:00] if it's higher level kinds of things, you're gonna likely be better off with having someone who, born in the USA, who understands the nuances, the language, can truly represent you without having to have you there.

How am I doing with that?

Molly Rose Speed: Thank you. Love that. I'm gonna, AI that after this and get that soundbite.

Jeffrey Feldberg: it's an important kind of thing to think about. And Deep Wealth Nation, where are you on that? What is the task? And maybe you can say, "Okay, these tasks here Yeah, sure. It doesn't have to be someone who is gonna be forward-facing. It's more back-end. They're not really speaking to anybody, and let's talk about that.

Or these ones here, absolutely essential, representing me, my reputation, my image is everything, and they're an extension of me. And so love what you're saying about that. It's a terrific insight in terms of that, and thank you for sharing that. And speaking of insights, it's a perfect segue as we go into wrap-up mode.

It's our tradition here on the Deep Wealth Podcast. It's my privilege and honor where every guest I ask the same question. And Molly Rose, it's a fun question. Let me set [00:47:00] this up for you. When you think of the movie "Back to the Future," you have that magical DeLorean car that will take you to any point in time.

So imagine now it's tomorrow morning. This is the fun part. You look outside your window, you have the DeLorean car, it's curbside, the door is open, and you hop on in. You're now gonna go to any point in your life, Molly Rose as a young child, a teenager, whatever point in time it would be. What would you tell your younger self in terms of life lessons or life wisdom, or, "Hey, Molly Rose, do this, but don't do that"?

What would it sound like?

Molly Rose Speed: I'm just gonna go stream of consciousness here. I think I'd go back to 14 years old, so starting high school. A personal note, I would've taken way more advantage of all the exciting activities and fun things to do in high school. I started work at a really young age 'cause I was-- I just loved it. I was addicted to it.

And so that came first. But I would've... I think the fear of trusting myself earlier on, and I know that sounds crazy 'cause I did it at 23, but even then I was terrified of doing that. But [00:48:00] trusting myself and building those skill sets and relationships early on would've changed the game for me.

Like trusting myself that I'm capable of more, trusting myself that I should sign up for this debate class or this stick out track or, that's the 14-year-old in me. Like just stick out the hard things, I regret that, and I started doing it as an adult, and I wonder what having those muscles built at a 14-year-old age would've done for me.

That's what's coming to me.

Jeffrey Feldberg: I love that. So trust yourself knowing that you're capable of more.

Molly Rose Speed: Thank you. Yes.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Yeah. How many times are we, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I can do it. Maybe I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't do it." Yeah. Yeah. You can do it. Trust yourself. Absolutely terrific advice and some insights there. And Molly Rose, someone in Deep Wealth Nation, they have a question for you.

Yeah. Hey, heard you on the Deep Wealth Podcast, need your help, want your help, send some help along the way. Where could someone find you online? Where would be the best place to reach out and have that conversation?

Molly Rose Speed: Yes. So mollyrosespeed.com is my [00:49:00] personal website. It's a catch-all for everything. If you're looking for my individual support or looking to hire a virtual assistant or become a virtual assistant, certified virtual assistant, it's the place to go.

Jeffrey Feldberg: Love that, Deep Wealth Nation. So hey, Molly Rose, and go to the s- website, mollyrosespeed.com. And hey, maybe you have some time on your hands right now, you wanna help out, be part of the team, or you need the help. Go there, and Deep Wealth Nation, the great news is, go to the show notes. It's all there.

It's a point and click. It doesn't get any easier. And Molly Rose, congratulations. It's official. This is a wrap. As we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. Thank you so much

Molly Rose Speed: Thank you 

Jeffrey Feldberg: So there you have it, Deep Wealth Nation. 

What did you think? 

So with all that said and as we wrap it up, I have another question for you.

Actually, it's more of a personal favor. 

Did you find this episode helpful? 

Have you found other episodes of the Deep Wealth Podcast empowering and a game changer for your journey? 

And if you said yes, and I really hope you did, I have a small but really meaningful way that you can actually help [00:50:00] us out and keep these episodes coming to you.

Are you ready for it? 

The dramatic pause. I'll just wait a moment. Drumroll, please. Subscribe. Please subscribe to the Deep Wealth podcast on your favorite podcast channel. When you subscribe to the Deep Wealth Podcast, you're saving yourself time. Every episode automatically comes to you, and I want you to know that we meticulously craft Every one of our episodes to have impactful strategies, stories, expert insights that are designed to help you grow your profits, increase the value of your business, and yes, even optimize your post exit life and your life right now, whatever you want that to look like.

And every time you subscribe and a fellow entrepreneur subscribe, it's a testament to how together, Yes, we are. We are changing the social fabric of society. One business owner at a time, one liquidity event at a time. So don't let the momentum stop here. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast channel.

You'll never miss an episode. You'll be the first to hear from the top industry leaders, the innovators, the disruptors that are really changing and shaping the business world, [00:51:00] and maybe you're commuting, maybe you're at the gym, maybe you're taking a well deserved break that we spoke all about on this episode.

The Deep Wealth Podcast, it's your reliable source for the next big idea that could literally revolutionize your business. So once again, please hit that subscribe button, stay connected, inspired, and ahead of the curve. And again, your next big breakthrough moment, it might just be one episode away. Maybe it was even this episode.

So all that said. Thank you so much for listening. And remember your wealth isn't just about the money in the bank. It's about the depth of your journey and the impact that you're creating. So let's continue this journey together. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for listening to this episode.

And as we love to say here at Deep Wealth, may you continue to thrive and prosper while you remain healthy and safe. 

Thank you so much. 

God bless.