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Joines Administration
Curious about Shelby’s background, how she gained her administrative skills or how she launched her company? Shelby shares her backstory in this episode, from her very first admin job in a hair salon as a teenager to thriving in the corporate world for over a decade to the day she knew things had to change drastically for her mental and physical health. If you’re a woman entrepreneur or a woman with entrepreneurial aspirations, you’ll find Shelby’s journey relatable on many levels.
If you’ve ever had the dream of working for yourself but feel scared and anxious about starting, Shelby shares her inspiration to take the leap, along with sharing her sources of motivation, accountability, and strategies to grow her business. She also speaks honestly about why she would never return to the corporate world and the surprising perks of running her own business from home. Shelby doesn’t sugarcoat the realities of being your own boss, especially as a woman, but she shares her best strategies to help you find your purpose to do what you love.
Resources discussed in this episode:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
--
Contact Shelby Joines | Joines Administration:
- Website: JoinesAdministration.ca
- LinkedIn: Joines Administration
- Instagram: @JoinesAdministration
- Facebook: @JoinesAdministration
--
Transcript:
Shelby 0:07
You guys, we are in for a crazy episode on something that I feel I should have probably talked about a while ago. I don't know why I haven't just got so excited about starting this podcast that I did not do an introduction about me. Hi, everyone, my name is Shelby Joines. I am the owner and Operations Manager of Joines Administration. And I am your host on She's Got This a Journey to Success. So stay tuned and listen up. Because this is an amazing episode that goes into a bit of detail about my history, my experiences, corporate administration, why I became a VA and started this company and all the goodies in between.
Shelby 1:00
Hey, everybody, welcome back to She's Got This a Journey to Success. It's me, Shelby Joines. Thank you for joining us. I always have to throw that little spin on my last name there because it's just too good not to. Thinking the other day, I realized that I have gone into this podcast already and I have not shared much information about myself about Joines Administration and it's raining outside at the time of recording this. And it's one of those days where there is just no life and no energy and trying to stay focused is a little bit of a struggle when it's gray outside. But what a great opportunity to take advantage of some downtime in my day, to tell you a little bit about myself how I got to start Joines Administration how this podcast even got started from that huge dream, where I am intending on taking this company to what my dreams and ambitions are. And I can't wait to share with you because I've had, honestly, so many people ask me as of late--I woke up at like two in the morning last night or I guess this morning and was like, "Why have I not done something like this?" So here we are today, discussing all the amazing things about Joines Administration, how I got here, my background, my history. And let's just learn a little bit together today, shall we?
Shelby 2:44
So as most of you know, just from this podcast, my name is Shelby Joines. I am the owner and Operations Manager of Joines Administration, which is a company that provides virtual assistant and online business management to support to female entrepreneurs and small business owners within Alberta and within Canada. It has been such an exciting journey. And also this is super fitting coming up to our one year anniversary in business as well. But let's take it all the way back to the beginning, shall we? My background before starting Joines Administration was in administration. I had been doing administration for about 16 years prior to going out on my own and taking on this entrepreneurial journey. A lot of that experience was within oil and gas is my biggest area that my career started out in many, many fun, challenging learning moments were had in those years. And aside from oil and gas, I've done some work in health care and nonprofit organizations here in Calgary, Alberta as well. So, the experience is there. Through my time in oil and gas, I had various roles such as administrative assistant, Executive Assistant Project Coordinator, Project Support administrator, branch administrators, really the list goes on procurement and logistics, like I touched a little bit of everything in that industry and my time in oil and gas is one of my most fondest memories of my career because that's really where it all began it all the heavy information, the pushing multiple meetings out a day dealing with multiple vendors and service providers and just being that person that was the jack of all trades, that administrator that you could go to at any time, ask me to do something, and it was done. Like, if there's anybody from those oil and gas times that are listening to this podcast right now, I'm sure they're having little visions of me just speed walking around the office, getting signatures, picking up printing, taking things down to the mailroom, doing those fun engineering drawings and things that will get printed on those massive printers. Ah, the good days, the good days, and then oil crashed, and it kind of all went down. But, you know, really all of the skills that I am able to apply now as a virtual assistant and online business manager have truly come from my time in oil and gas. I was able to hound in on time management, dealing with executives, CEOs, senior management positions, doing complex travel arrangements, meeting bookings, taking minutes doing the payroll invoicing, sending documents to other companies that we're helping on projects, like the list goes on. And I am not even scratching the surface of that little bit. But really, I can always and forever attest a lot of my who I am today and how I conduct my work in my professionalism was still having that flexibility to have fun and show my fun personality has all truly stemmed from that time in oil and gas. It was where all of my knowledge came in from. But even before starting in oil and gas, I guess, my administrative career did little things along the lines before that major chapter of my life, kind of doing some support and administrative work for small businesses that my mom was working with. A hair salon, I'd do, you know, reception work on weekends when I was younger and stuff like that, and kind of do the shampoos if nobody was available. But booking people in, taking the payments, making sure that's all done running towels to the laundromat next door to make sure they were washed really fun times. And the whole administrative career truly did start when I was quite young, in my early teens, just doing those odd little jobs for people and finding that my passion in my career truly stems from my love of supporting others.
Shelby 7:47
Which is really, why I love this job why this new path that I've taken has just been phenomenal because not only am I still providing that support, but I still get more flexibility for myself. Which leads into the part about how Joines Administration kind of came together I was in what was that? I guess June 2022, I had a contract that was just ending, working at a service shop here in Calgary for oil and gas, funny, funny, and covering that leave and stuff like that. So contracts ended. And at that point, I was feeling extremely beat down, I will not lie to you, my not being able, I guess I would say to set true boundaries between my work and my personal life. I'd let that slide a little bit at times throughout my career where I'd end up being that 24/7 admin that was at your beck and call but lo and behold, I'm on salary, so no overtime pay or double time or anything like that for me, which I didn't realize how stressful I was making my job what I was allowing to take over my life and my career and the last several years and it had taken a toll on my health. Not a lot of people know that. Once that, like, summer last year or spring last year, I guess it would have been in 2022, my health had taken a drastic turn, both mentally and physically. The stress that I was not acknowledging was attacking my body to the points where my kidneys and my liver were starting to suffer and on a projection to potentially shutting down or having crazy problems which would lead to just kind of plaguing me for several months or several years down the line and finally took that opportunity after my most recent contract ended to really step back, take at least two weeks, focus on my health reevaluate if administration is even where I wanted to be. Because at this point last year, I was strongly, thinking about a huge career change, huge career change, I felt in some instances that I was doing so much for people and not getting any sort of appreciation or kudos or recognition for the work that I was doing. Which I let slide burry under the rug, push way down in my guts and just not listen to. And of course, we all know that that eventually bubbles up and will explode into either a mental breakdown of some sorts, or a terrible health crisis, or so many other things. And it can affect so many aspects of your life in so many ways for such a long period of time. So I knew I needed to take time before jumping into anything else to really reevaluate what I loved in life, what I wanted out of my life, what I wanted in a career. And given that this was just at the end of the pandemic, and you know, virtual work and working remotely was still really a thing that people were still doing, I guess, for lack of a better word. But people were wanting to work from home, people wanted those legitimate remote work roles, where they didn't have to wake up at five so that they can be ready to leave the house by six to sit in traffic for an hour and a half, just one way to work by the way. And then just wake up and do it all over again, like we're stuck in the matrix or in some kind of simulation or something. And it's just Groundhog Day on repeat. So after taking some time to reflect, I was speaking with my significant other and he just told me, why are you not going into business for yourself? Why are you not taking your skills virtually, and being your own boss? And it had been something that had crossed my mind in previous years, multiple years ago, but I always saw it as how can I afford a lifestyle that I want? Being an administrator at the time assuming I'd only be charging $25 an hour? weighing out the pros and cons? Is it feasible? Am I going to be making enough money being self employed at that rate to really balance out to what a salary would be? And all the questions just start running through my head, right. But once I started looking into it, and it kind of took me to like a weird area of the Internet where I'd never seen where I'm like, Oh my God, there's an entire community around virtual workers, virtual freelancers, I discovered Fiverr and Upwork for the first time and I was like, What is going on? And it just blew my mind and doing some more research in it. And I was like, You know what, I can probably do this I'm going to give myself a year to give it a go and see if I can actually work my tail off in this sort of new environment, be my own boss, be my own time management, my everything and just be the business.
Shelby 13:38
So yeah, I registered the company online for I think it was 200 or $250 or something like that. I don't even know. got everything sorted insurance, business numbers, setting up CRA accountants, bookkeepers, you name it, I ended up over time, obviously, collecting this little little bag of mysteries and magic of all my little helpers that keep me sane and do some back end work for my company. But as I was saying, gave myself a year. Within the first two months, I was able to get in touch with a old coworker of mine who just started her own business, doing a couple things for her to support her. And one thing led to another and word for word of mouth is really what took my business to the next level. And having that super excitement in the first couple of months of being like, Okay, I'm gonna make a proposal I'm making business plans. I'm gonna reach out to contacts I used to know and work with who I knew had their own companies and things like that, that could need my support. And just from what I remember, loved working with me in the back in the day, but yeah, it just took off from there and And by the fall of 2022, I had several clients under my belt. I've been working out well, I've been doing such an amazing array of work that is completely different than what I was doing corporately. I'm not sending emails, really and doing things like that. But I get to be more creative with my time. I support coaches with doing social media and creating any kind of marketing for events they might be having in person, or helping massage therapists really get their voice out there on social media to bring in their new clients or just being involved in different industries where I have more power to accept that client in a sense, and not be judged on my resume. Because with having so much experience in oil and gas, I cannot tell you how many times I had been turned down for opportunities, based on my experience in oil and gas, which is 7, 8, maybe 10 years, if I remember correctly. I'm blonde. So math sometimes slips my mind. But they'd say, "No, you're to niche down" basically into oil and gas when being an administrator, and especially one that went to Bow Valley College and got my whole administrative professional certificate and knowing that my skills are transferable, and no matter how hard I tried to make that come across in my resumes, or cover letters, or just little blurbs, spots, where you can add some more details, I was always getting turned down, because where I was applying wasn't necessarily oil and gas. And they just assume that you've had X amount of years in oil and gas. And that is the only industry you're capable of living in. Take care, goodbye. So having now the ability to really have those discovery calls where I'm able to chat with people and businesses and entrepreneurs about what their needs are, what their vision and mission is for their business where they want to go. What are your goals and aspirations? Where do you want to take your business in the next three to five years and really narrow down if this is not only a person that I would like to work with, but is this a company whose values and belief systems truly align with what I am taking forward in my business.
Shelby 17:36
So there's Joines Administration, there, just getting clients and things. And, you know, I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late because of our one year--"our", I say that all the time. and it's still just me in this business--but our one year anniversary is coming up. And it's been a lot of taking time to reflect and be grateful and express my gratitude for the people who have supported me and really been my cheerleaders because being a female entrepreneur period, is not easy. Let alone being a female entrepreneur who was a young mother has a 10 year old at home, trying to pay the bills on a house that she just moved into last year. Keeping it all together, bringing in the money feeding the people paying the bills, I am sure there are countless people listening to this podcast right now who can absolutely relate to the struggle of just being a woman, woman in business, a woman entrepreneur, female entrepreneur, whatever you'd like to call it, there are obstacles and barricades that we need to face and that we come in contact with throughout our journey. I've been extremely fortunate and I thank the universe every single day that I am, where I am, and that it has been a very smooth transition for me. Part of that, I attest to my previous career in corporate administration and obtaining the skills there that I can then transfer into my virtual world. And having the absolute love and support of not only my family, but my friends, and old co-workers that are just cheering me on, even if we haven't talked in a really long time. They're there, they're sending messages, all of the love and positivity. And as well as just having great mentors. I have been super fortunate to stay in contact with a lot of people I've worked with in the past and be able to have those conversations about where they are in their business, how they're running things. If they're in a specific role within their company, whether that's like procurement team, a manager or supervisor, what are the skills that you find the most invaluable to your job. I've always told people that when it comes to learning new things, no matter how old I get, I will forever be a sponge. I will be that person that is sitting there intently staring at you probably drool coming out my mouth. Because I'm so invested in the knowledge that you were sharing with me. And I feel like it's a very rare thing to find in people that they are truly invested when you talk about something, and that I get excited about you being excited about what you do. But that may just come from my holistic loved of supporting people, period. But regardless, the journey has been fantastic. I tell myself every day, "Why have... why did I not do this sooner?" "Why did I wait so long to go into business for myself?" But really, you can ask why all day long. And I just have to keep reminding myself that you know what I am here, and I am loving it. And I'm enjoying it and I am taking the waves I am riding the bumps, I am sticking through it. Have I wanted to cry myself to sleep at night and quit because it just seems like too much. And I may have bitten off more than I can chew? 100%. But that is why I have a therapist where I can finally let all of that emotion out. And she helps me get back to where my vision is, where my why is, who I am and that I am in control. It's my life and the whole why behind starting Joines Administration truly just comes from wanting that flexibility. We all say it, I am sure I am not the first person that you've heard, say it and I'm sure I will not be the last. But until you're in it and you understand it. Having the flexibility, for me. anyways, my day usually starts at 530 in the morning, I will work for two hours and then I get my son off to school, go back down, take a couple meetings or calls, do another hour of work. And honestly, I am in a position where I have truly put things in my calendar, like naptime. I take a nap Monday through Friday, from 1pm until 120. And it has been life changing. And it's what works for me. I'm a morning person, I punch out all my energy into my work first thing by noon, one o'clock, I'm sure a lot can relate as well, you start hitting a wall where you're going to the break room, you're drinking coffee, you're trying to do little water enhancement, Energy Shots, anything like that just to keep going and having the ability for me to, without guilt, take that 20 minutes to myself throughout the day, and recharge my batteries so that I can get right back to it if there's anything else I need to do that afternoon. Honestly, that is the biggest part of my why it may be weird, there may be people out there who think that you shouldn't be taking a nap in the middle of the day, there's work to do. And you could be right. But this is what works for me in my business. And that's one of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and a business owner is that you get to do a lot of trial and error. And I could not go back to a nine to five job because of how well I've now trained my life and my schedule to get my client work done while still having that time for me. And another beautiful thing is if my son is sick or needs to be picked up from school or anything, I also don't have the guilt and the dread of having to go to a manager or supervisor and saying, Hey, I have to leave. I might be off tomorrow too because my son is sick. Again. I'm sure numerous of you have been in situations like that. And it might not even be your son but you just feel the guilt and the shame for having to leave work to deal with something that is not work related. And it's, I was getting so tired of that. The anxiety that I would have and the amount of times I'd spend at my computer just sitting there after a phone call from my son's school, thinking are they going to fire me for leaving to take care of my family? I could not imagine going back to that and putting my body through the unnecessary stress, unnecessary anxiety for something that is really so minimal. But sometimes our brains just run with something.
Shelby 25:15
But regardless, this journey of Joines Aministration has been amazing. I've been so grateful, like I mentioned before, reflecting on everything this last year has been phenomenal. And I am so excited for countless, countless years to come. I'm only one in and I've already got three to five year plans running around in my brain right now. But you know, the future of Joines Administration. There's some big things in the works. One, I'm gonna take this podcast and I'm gonna make it something great, you mark your you mark your calendar, and mark my words. That's totally what I meant to say before. But this is going to be big, this podcast is going to blow up in the next year, I am so dedicated to it. And aside from that, I am super excited to be looking into creating more of an agency with Joines Administration and getting some subcontractors coming on to support me and the business so that I can focus on being that face of the company and working for my business, not in my business. That makes sense. But one day, one day, I will be working from the beaches of Mexico, that is my ultimate goal is to be that VA that Canadian VA on a beach, living her best life, hashtag YOLO. But there are so many exciting things that I've got running around in my brain, I don't want to share all of them yet because who knows when or if they will come to flourish. And but they're there. And all I can say is that I am excited. I am excited for our future. We're hoping to in the next year get more involved and make impacts within our community as well here in Calgary and Alberta. supporting local artists and things like that whatever we can do to really get our name out there, get involved support amazing causes. Being my own boss, this is one of the exciting things that I get to think about and plan and just build from the ground up is any way that I can support others, whether that's on a community level, a sports team, other businesses, anything to just show that we care, because we do, we're not your average, here and you as a client are seen as a transaction, we truly believe that transparency and having that work life balance, as well as knowing where and when boundaries need to be set. We want to build those long term relationships with our clients. And we hope that they feel the same way working with us, but only time will tell and every day we are getting better and better at follow ups talking to people how to word things, how to talk about what we do, how we can truly support businesses and entrepreneurs like yourself. It is really, I run out of words at times and I just say I'm so grateful. This journey has been amazing. Because that's all I can say it's such a new experience. But I am so thrilled that I was not necessarily pushed but guided into this new career path. And ever since taking it, I, like i said, could never ever go back to a nine to five having a boss being overworked, underpaid, underappreciated. Being in dramatic situations, the nice thing is that I can just be dramatic with myself which is probably just me talking to myself about all my client work, but you know, you gotta keep guy keep the office bumping it sometimes and exciting.
Shelby 29:43
But what is truly amazing to me is that I am not the only person who has been in a situation where the corporate world just broke them down to a point where it was damaging to their mind to health or physical health or family relationships, home relationships, anything, but it is so important as women and women entrepreneurs who have taken this leap to truly share our stories and be vulnerable with them. Because if we don't share this information, we're still just damaging ourselves. You can't keep that bottled up in your heart and your soul in your gut and not have negative repercussions from it. So this is me, Shelby Joines telling you that you need to let go. Be vulnerable. Now, I'm not saying go into like, super deep, nitty gritty details, if that makes you uncomfortable, but be vulnerable in saying you know what, my life may look perfect on social media, or wherever. But it is farthest from that 90% of the time, 98% of the time, maybe in my case, but just have that ability to be vulnerable. Whether that's on Instagram Story, you do a YouTube video, Facebook Live, Instagram, or LinkedIn, whatever it may be. Just learn to share, be vulnerable and let go. Because I can tell you, once you--I know it's dreadful getting to that point, but once you do it, you feel like there has been an entire weight lifted off your shoulders.
Shelby 31:44
Oh, but thank you, you guys for taking this time to listen to me talk about myself, I probably missed out on a lot of topics. Because I'm never one of those people who is super keen to talk about myself. I am one of those people who's always keen to learn about you. But what I would love to have you do is if you've got a story about being vulnerable, or you've got something that you want to share, or you want to engage, or you've got additional questions or comments about something that I may have just not touched on, or briefly touched on in this episode. Drop me a line. And I would be so thrilled to answer any of those questions on an upcoming podcast. I think that might be one of the things that we are going to do coming up is a Q&A type question podcast where people will get the opportunity to ask any other questions about whether it's my life, business, my career choice, what I'm doing, programs I'm using, literally anything. And I have the opportunity for me to answer those and really go in deep about specific things that you guys are curious about. So thank you, everyone, for listening, wherever you are. It has always and will always be my pleasure to talk to you on whichever platform you are listening to this podcast on. My name is Shelby Joines and this is She's Got This: a Journey to Success. I will catch you next time.
Shelby 33:34
Well, you guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode where I went into a little bit more detail and some information about my background, Joines Administration, how I got here and all that fun stuff. So thank you for being here listening with me being a committed follower. And if you are not following She's Got This: A Journey to Success. Right now. Once you're done hearing this, I want you to go and favorite, follow, like, subscribe to our podcast on Google, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple podcasts. Truly you guys this podcast would not be successful without you my wonderful listeners. So anything to support me would be so much appreciated. So not only go follow, subscribe, like whatever it may be to this podcast. Tell your friends, share this podcast on social media with the hashtag: #shesgotthisajourneytosuccess. Can't wait to talk to you guys soon. Take care.
View all episodes
By Shelby JoinesCurious about Shelby’s background, how she gained her administrative skills or how she launched her company? Shelby shares her backstory in this episode, from her very first admin job in a hair salon as a teenager to thriving in the corporate world for over a decade to the day she knew things had to change drastically for her mental and physical health. If you’re a woman entrepreneur or a woman with entrepreneurial aspirations, you’ll find Shelby’s journey relatable on many levels.
If you’ve ever had the dream of working for yourself but feel scared and anxious about starting, Shelby shares her inspiration to take the leap, along with sharing her sources of motivation, accountability, and strategies to grow her business. She also speaks honestly about why she would never return to the corporate world and the surprising perks of running her own business from home. Shelby doesn’t sugarcoat the realities of being your own boss, especially as a woman, but she shares her best strategies to help you find your purpose to do what you love.
Resources discussed in this episode:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
--
Contact Shelby Joines | Joines Administration:
- Website: JoinesAdministration.ca
- LinkedIn: Joines Administration
- Instagram: @JoinesAdministration
- Facebook: @JoinesAdministration
--
Transcript:
Shelby 0:07
You guys, we are in for a crazy episode on something that I feel I should have probably talked about a while ago. I don't know why I haven't just got so excited about starting this podcast that I did not do an introduction about me. Hi, everyone, my name is Shelby Joines. I am the owner and Operations Manager of Joines Administration. And I am your host on She's Got This a Journey to Success. So stay tuned and listen up. Because this is an amazing episode that goes into a bit of detail about my history, my experiences, corporate administration, why I became a VA and started this company and all the goodies in between.
Shelby 1:00
Hey, everybody, welcome back to She's Got This a Journey to Success. It's me, Shelby Joines. Thank you for joining us. I always have to throw that little spin on my last name there because it's just too good not to. Thinking the other day, I realized that I have gone into this podcast already and I have not shared much information about myself about Joines Administration and it's raining outside at the time of recording this. And it's one of those days where there is just no life and no energy and trying to stay focused is a little bit of a struggle when it's gray outside. But what a great opportunity to take advantage of some downtime in my day, to tell you a little bit about myself how I got to start Joines Administration how this podcast even got started from that huge dream, where I am intending on taking this company to what my dreams and ambitions are. And I can't wait to share with you because I've had, honestly, so many people ask me as of late--I woke up at like two in the morning last night or I guess this morning and was like, "Why have I not done something like this?" So here we are today, discussing all the amazing things about Joines Administration, how I got here, my background, my history. And let's just learn a little bit together today, shall we?
Shelby 2:44
So as most of you know, just from this podcast, my name is Shelby Joines. I am the owner and Operations Manager of Joines Administration, which is a company that provides virtual assistant and online business management to support to female entrepreneurs and small business owners within Alberta and within Canada. It has been such an exciting journey. And also this is super fitting coming up to our one year anniversary in business as well. But let's take it all the way back to the beginning, shall we? My background before starting Joines Administration was in administration. I had been doing administration for about 16 years prior to going out on my own and taking on this entrepreneurial journey. A lot of that experience was within oil and gas is my biggest area that my career started out in many, many fun, challenging learning moments were had in those years. And aside from oil and gas, I've done some work in health care and nonprofit organizations here in Calgary, Alberta as well. So, the experience is there. Through my time in oil and gas, I had various roles such as administrative assistant, Executive Assistant Project Coordinator, Project Support administrator, branch administrators, really the list goes on procurement and logistics, like I touched a little bit of everything in that industry and my time in oil and gas is one of my most fondest memories of my career because that's really where it all began it all the heavy information, the pushing multiple meetings out a day dealing with multiple vendors and service providers and just being that person that was the jack of all trades, that administrator that you could go to at any time, ask me to do something, and it was done. Like, if there's anybody from those oil and gas times that are listening to this podcast right now, I'm sure they're having little visions of me just speed walking around the office, getting signatures, picking up printing, taking things down to the mailroom, doing those fun engineering drawings and things that will get printed on those massive printers. Ah, the good days, the good days, and then oil crashed, and it kind of all went down. But, you know, really all of the skills that I am able to apply now as a virtual assistant and online business manager have truly come from my time in oil and gas. I was able to hound in on time management, dealing with executives, CEOs, senior management positions, doing complex travel arrangements, meeting bookings, taking minutes doing the payroll invoicing, sending documents to other companies that we're helping on projects, like the list goes on. And I am not even scratching the surface of that little bit. But really, I can always and forever attest a lot of my who I am today and how I conduct my work in my professionalism was still having that flexibility to have fun and show my fun personality has all truly stemmed from that time in oil and gas. It was where all of my knowledge came in from. But even before starting in oil and gas, I guess, my administrative career did little things along the lines before that major chapter of my life, kind of doing some support and administrative work for small businesses that my mom was working with. A hair salon, I'd do, you know, reception work on weekends when I was younger and stuff like that, and kind of do the shampoos if nobody was available. But booking people in, taking the payments, making sure that's all done running towels to the laundromat next door to make sure they were washed really fun times. And the whole administrative career truly did start when I was quite young, in my early teens, just doing those odd little jobs for people and finding that my passion in my career truly stems from my love of supporting others.
Shelby 7:47
Which is really, why I love this job why this new path that I've taken has just been phenomenal because not only am I still providing that support, but I still get more flexibility for myself. Which leads into the part about how Joines Administration kind of came together I was in what was that? I guess June 2022, I had a contract that was just ending, working at a service shop here in Calgary for oil and gas, funny, funny, and covering that leave and stuff like that. So contracts ended. And at that point, I was feeling extremely beat down, I will not lie to you, my not being able, I guess I would say to set true boundaries between my work and my personal life. I'd let that slide a little bit at times throughout my career where I'd end up being that 24/7 admin that was at your beck and call but lo and behold, I'm on salary, so no overtime pay or double time or anything like that for me, which I didn't realize how stressful I was making my job what I was allowing to take over my life and my career and the last several years and it had taken a toll on my health. Not a lot of people know that. Once that, like, summer last year or spring last year, I guess it would have been in 2022, my health had taken a drastic turn, both mentally and physically. The stress that I was not acknowledging was attacking my body to the points where my kidneys and my liver were starting to suffer and on a projection to potentially shutting down or having crazy problems which would lead to just kind of plaguing me for several months or several years down the line and finally took that opportunity after my most recent contract ended to really step back, take at least two weeks, focus on my health reevaluate if administration is even where I wanted to be. Because at this point last year, I was strongly, thinking about a huge career change, huge career change, I felt in some instances that I was doing so much for people and not getting any sort of appreciation or kudos or recognition for the work that I was doing. Which I let slide burry under the rug, push way down in my guts and just not listen to. And of course, we all know that that eventually bubbles up and will explode into either a mental breakdown of some sorts, or a terrible health crisis, or so many other things. And it can affect so many aspects of your life in so many ways for such a long period of time. So I knew I needed to take time before jumping into anything else to really reevaluate what I loved in life, what I wanted out of my life, what I wanted in a career. And given that this was just at the end of the pandemic, and you know, virtual work and working remotely was still really a thing that people were still doing, I guess, for lack of a better word. But people were wanting to work from home, people wanted those legitimate remote work roles, where they didn't have to wake up at five so that they can be ready to leave the house by six to sit in traffic for an hour and a half, just one way to work by the way. And then just wake up and do it all over again, like we're stuck in the matrix or in some kind of simulation or something. And it's just Groundhog Day on repeat. So after taking some time to reflect, I was speaking with my significant other and he just told me, why are you not going into business for yourself? Why are you not taking your skills virtually, and being your own boss? And it had been something that had crossed my mind in previous years, multiple years ago, but I always saw it as how can I afford a lifestyle that I want? Being an administrator at the time assuming I'd only be charging $25 an hour? weighing out the pros and cons? Is it feasible? Am I going to be making enough money being self employed at that rate to really balance out to what a salary would be? And all the questions just start running through my head, right. But once I started looking into it, and it kind of took me to like a weird area of the Internet where I'd never seen where I'm like, Oh my God, there's an entire community around virtual workers, virtual freelancers, I discovered Fiverr and Upwork for the first time and I was like, What is going on? And it just blew my mind and doing some more research in it. And I was like, You know what, I can probably do this I'm going to give myself a year to give it a go and see if I can actually work my tail off in this sort of new environment, be my own boss, be my own time management, my everything and just be the business.
Shelby 13:38
So yeah, I registered the company online for I think it was 200 or $250 or something like that. I don't even know. got everything sorted insurance, business numbers, setting up CRA accountants, bookkeepers, you name it, I ended up over time, obviously, collecting this little little bag of mysteries and magic of all my little helpers that keep me sane and do some back end work for my company. But as I was saying, gave myself a year. Within the first two months, I was able to get in touch with a old coworker of mine who just started her own business, doing a couple things for her to support her. And one thing led to another and word for word of mouth is really what took my business to the next level. And having that super excitement in the first couple of months of being like, Okay, I'm gonna make a proposal I'm making business plans. I'm gonna reach out to contacts I used to know and work with who I knew had their own companies and things like that, that could need my support. And just from what I remember, loved working with me in the back in the day, but yeah, it just took off from there and And by the fall of 2022, I had several clients under my belt. I've been working out well, I've been doing such an amazing array of work that is completely different than what I was doing corporately. I'm not sending emails, really and doing things like that. But I get to be more creative with my time. I support coaches with doing social media and creating any kind of marketing for events they might be having in person, or helping massage therapists really get their voice out there on social media to bring in their new clients or just being involved in different industries where I have more power to accept that client in a sense, and not be judged on my resume. Because with having so much experience in oil and gas, I cannot tell you how many times I had been turned down for opportunities, based on my experience in oil and gas, which is 7, 8, maybe 10 years, if I remember correctly. I'm blonde. So math sometimes slips my mind. But they'd say, "No, you're to niche down" basically into oil and gas when being an administrator, and especially one that went to Bow Valley College and got my whole administrative professional certificate and knowing that my skills are transferable, and no matter how hard I tried to make that come across in my resumes, or cover letters, or just little blurbs, spots, where you can add some more details, I was always getting turned down, because where I was applying wasn't necessarily oil and gas. And they just assume that you've had X amount of years in oil and gas. And that is the only industry you're capable of living in. Take care, goodbye. So having now the ability to really have those discovery calls where I'm able to chat with people and businesses and entrepreneurs about what their needs are, what their vision and mission is for their business where they want to go. What are your goals and aspirations? Where do you want to take your business in the next three to five years and really narrow down if this is not only a person that I would like to work with, but is this a company whose values and belief systems truly align with what I am taking forward in my business.
Shelby 17:36
So there's Joines Administration, there, just getting clients and things. And, you know, I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late because of our one year--"our", I say that all the time. and it's still just me in this business--but our one year anniversary is coming up. And it's been a lot of taking time to reflect and be grateful and express my gratitude for the people who have supported me and really been my cheerleaders because being a female entrepreneur period, is not easy. Let alone being a female entrepreneur who was a young mother has a 10 year old at home, trying to pay the bills on a house that she just moved into last year. Keeping it all together, bringing in the money feeding the people paying the bills, I am sure there are countless people listening to this podcast right now who can absolutely relate to the struggle of just being a woman, woman in business, a woman entrepreneur, female entrepreneur, whatever you'd like to call it, there are obstacles and barricades that we need to face and that we come in contact with throughout our journey. I've been extremely fortunate and I thank the universe every single day that I am, where I am, and that it has been a very smooth transition for me. Part of that, I attest to my previous career in corporate administration and obtaining the skills there that I can then transfer into my virtual world. And having the absolute love and support of not only my family, but my friends, and old co-workers that are just cheering me on, even if we haven't talked in a really long time. They're there, they're sending messages, all of the love and positivity. And as well as just having great mentors. I have been super fortunate to stay in contact with a lot of people I've worked with in the past and be able to have those conversations about where they are in their business, how they're running things. If they're in a specific role within their company, whether that's like procurement team, a manager or supervisor, what are the skills that you find the most invaluable to your job. I've always told people that when it comes to learning new things, no matter how old I get, I will forever be a sponge. I will be that person that is sitting there intently staring at you probably drool coming out my mouth. Because I'm so invested in the knowledge that you were sharing with me. And I feel like it's a very rare thing to find in people that they are truly invested when you talk about something, and that I get excited about you being excited about what you do. But that may just come from my holistic loved of supporting people, period. But regardless, the journey has been fantastic. I tell myself every day, "Why have... why did I not do this sooner?" "Why did I wait so long to go into business for myself?" But really, you can ask why all day long. And I just have to keep reminding myself that you know what I am here, and I am loving it. And I'm enjoying it and I am taking the waves I am riding the bumps, I am sticking through it. Have I wanted to cry myself to sleep at night and quit because it just seems like too much. And I may have bitten off more than I can chew? 100%. But that is why I have a therapist where I can finally let all of that emotion out. And she helps me get back to where my vision is, where my why is, who I am and that I am in control. It's my life and the whole why behind starting Joines Administration truly just comes from wanting that flexibility. We all say it, I am sure I am not the first person that you've heard, say it and I'm sure I will not be the last. But until you're in it and you understand it. Having the flexibility, for me. anyways, my day usually starts at 530 in the morning, I will work for two hours and then I get my son off to school, go back down, take a couple meetings or calls, do another hour of work. And honestly, I am in a position where I have truly put things in my calendar, like naptime. I take a nap Monday through Friday, from 1pm until 120. And it has been life changing. And it's what works for me. I'm a morning person, I punch out all my energy into my work first thing by noon, one o'clock, I'm sure a lot can relate as well, you start hitting a wall where you're going to the break room, you're drinking coffee, you're trying to do little water enhancement, Energy Shots, anything like that just to keep going and having the ability for me to, without guilt, take that 20 minutes to myself throughout the day, and recharge my batteries so that I can get right back to it if there's anything else I need to do that afternoon. Honestly, that is the biggest part of my why it may be weird, there may be people out there who think that you shouldn't be taking a nap in the middle of the day, there's work to do. And you could be right. But this is what works for me in my business. And that's one of the cool things about being an entrepreneur and a business owner is that you get to do a lot of trial and error. And I could not go back to a nine to five job because of how well I've now trained my life and my schedule to get my client work done while still having that time for me. And another beautiful thing is if my son is sick or needs to be picked up from school or anything, I also don't have the guilt and the dread of having to go to a manager or supervisor and saying, Hey, I have to leave. I might be off tomorrow too because my son is sick. Again. I'm sure numerous of you have been in situations like that. And it might not even be your son but you just feel the guilt and the shame for having to leave work to deal with something that is not work related. And it's, I was getting so tired of that. The anxiety that I would have and the amount of times I'd spend at my computer just sitting there after a phone call from my son's school, thinking are they going to fire me for leaving to take care of my family? I could not imagine going back to that and putting my body through the unnecessary stress, unnecessary anxiety for something that is really so minimal. But sometimes our brains just run with something.
Shelby 25:15
But regardless, this journey of Joines Aministration has been amazing. I've been so grateful, like I mentioned before, reflecting on everything this last year has been phenomenal. And I am so excited for countless, countless years to come. I'm only one in and I've already got three to five year plans running around in my brain right now. But you know, the future of Joines Administration. There's some big things in the works. One, I'm gonna take this podcast and I'm gonna make it something great, you mark your you mark your calendar, and mark my words. That's totally what I meant to say before. But this is going to be big, this podcast is going to blow up in the next year, I am so dedicated to it. And aside from that, I am super excited to be looking into creating more of an agency with Joines Administration and getting some subcontractors coming on to support me and the business so that I can focus on being that face of the company and working for my business, not in my business. That makes sense. But one day, one day, I will be working from the beaches of Mexico, that is my ultimate goal is to be that VA that Canadian VA on a beach, living her best life, hashtag YOLO. But there are so many exciting things that I've got running around in my brain, I don't want to share all of them yet because who knows when or if they will come to flourish. And but they're there. And all I can say is that I am excited. I am excited for our future. We're hoping to in the next year get more involved and make impacts within our community as well here in Calgary and Alberta. supporting local artists and things like that whatever we can do to really get our name out there, get involved support amazing causes. Being my own boss, this is one of the exciting things that I get to think about and plan and just build from the ground up is any way that I can support others, whether that's on a community level, a sports team, other businesses, anything to just show that we care, because we do, we're not your average, here and you as a client are seen as a transaction, we truly believe that transparency and having that work life balance, as well as knowing where and when boundaries need to be set. We want to build those long term relationships with our clients. And we hope that they feel the same way working with us, but only time will tell and every day we are getting better and better at follow ups talking to people how to word things, how to talk about what we do, how we can truly support businesses and entrepreneurs like yourself. It is really, I run out of words at times and I just say I'm so grateful. This journey has been amazing. Because that's all I can say it's such a new experience. But I am so thrilled that I was not necessarily pushed but guided into this new career path. And ever since taking it, I, like i said, could never ever go back to a nine to five having a boss being overworked, underpaid, underappreciated. Being in dramatic situations, the nice thing is that I can just be dramatic with myself which is probably just me talking to myself about all my client work, but you know, you gotta keep guy keep the office bumping it sometimes and exciting.
Shelby 29:43
But what is truly amazing to me is that I am not the only person who has been in a situation where the corporate world just broke them down to a point where it was damaging to their mind to health or physical health or family relationships, home relationships, anything, but it is so important as women and women entrepreneurs who have taken this leap to truly share our stories and be vulnerable with them. Because if we don't share this information, we're still just damaging ourselves. You can't keep that bottled up in your heart and your soul in your gut and not have negative repercussions from it. So this is me, Shelby Joines telling you that you need to let go. Be vulnerable. Now, I'm not saying go into like, super deep, nitty gritty details, if that makes you uncomfortable, but be vulnerable in saying you know what, my life may look perfect on social media, or wherever. But it is farthest from that 90% of the time, 98% of the time, maybe in my case, but just have that ability to be vulnerable. Whether that's on Instagram Story, you do a YouTube video, Facebook Live, Instagram, or LinkedIn, whatever it may be. Just learn to share, be vulnerable and let go. Because I can tell you, once you--I know it's dreadful getting to that point, but once you do it, you feel like there has been an entire weight lifted off your shoulders.
Shelby 31:44
Oh, but thank you, you guys for taking this time to listen to me talk about myself, I probably missed out on a lot of topics. Because I'm never one of those people who is super keen to talk about myself. I am one of those people who's always keen to learn about you. But what I would love to have you do is if you've got a story about being vulnerable, or you've got something that you want to share, or you want to engage, or you've got additional questions or comments about something that I may have just not touched on, or briefly touched on in this episode. Drop me a line. And I would be so thrilled to answer any of those questions on an upcoming podcast. I think that might be one of the things that we are going to do coming up is a Q&A type question podcast where people will get the opportunity to ask any other questions about whether it's my life, business, my career choice, what I'm doing, programs I'm using, literally anything. And I have the opportunity for me to answer those and really go in deep about specific things that you guys are curious about. So thank you, everyone, for listening, wherever you are. It has always and will always be my pleasure to talk to you on whichever platform you are listening to this podcast on. My name is Shelby Joines and this is She's Got This: a Journey to Success. I will catch you next time.
Shelby 33:34
Well, you guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode where I went into a little bit more detail and some information about my background, Joines Administration, how I got here and all that fun stuff. So thank you for being here listening with me being a committed follower. And if you are not following She's Got This: A Journey to Success. Right now. Once you're done hearing this, I want you to go and favorite, follow, like, subscribe to our podcast on Google, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple podcasts. Truly you guys this podcast would not be successful without you my wonderful listeners. So anything to support me would be so much appreciated. So not only go follow, subscribe, like whatever it may be to this podcast. Tell your friends, share this podcast on social media with the hashtag: #shesgotthisajourneytosuccess. Can't wait to talk to you guys soon. Take care.