Panic-Proof Radio

Andy Crestodina is the Co-Founder and CMO of

As a digital marketing innovator, Andy shares the standard practices that must be maintained to ensure smooth workflows. He also talks about how delegation and outsourcing tasks with a VA has allowed him to free up mental space and time for personal and professional

Key Takeaways:  

Resources from this Episode:

Lee LeBreton is a multi-talented creator. As a playwright, actor, and producer in the New York theater scene, finding a flexible job that allows him to pay the bills is paramount. After moving to the city following grad school, he considered the prototypical day-job gig waiting tables, but fortunately, a number of Lee’s friends were already doing some virtual assistant work with a young Don’t Panic Management.

Since joining the team, Lee's found an interesting symbiosis between creative work and virtual assistant life. He writes, produces podcasts, manages social media, and does graphic design for clients—all work that plays directly into his talents as a playwright and theater producer. Plus, Lee is able to apply what he’s learned about marketing writing to his work as a theater producer, promoting performances online. Hear more about how Lee's created harmony across all areas of life in this episode of Panic-Proof Radio.

Freelance science journalist Catherine Price has worked for herself almost her entire career. Since she’s always been a team of one, she never considered the possibility of hiring help.

She was vaguely familiar with the concept of virtual assistants, but she thought they were people who could help with calendar management or booking flights. The things Catherine needed a hand with weren’t logistical, so she assumed she would be doing it all by herself forever.

That is until she met a fellow freelancer on a work trip abroad. A conversation with this compatriot about how she used a VA to help her stay on top of all her work opened Catherine's eyes to the possibility of partnering with a VA. Now, Catherine credits her VA relationship with reducing stress in her life, something she knows a lot about: It's her area of focus in her scientific writing.

Digital futurist, keynote speaker, and multi-hyphenate Brian Fanzo has done a lot of soul-searching over the years. He knows that being brutally honest with yourself is one of the keys to successful entrepreneurship (and successful human-hood, honestly). He has done many of the things we at Don’t Panic Management recommend to those who are thinking about hiring a VA. He’s tracked his time to see where his hours go each week. He’s identified the tasks he dreads doing that could probably be delegated. But Brian has come out on the other side of this work still firm in his conviction that a VA is not the right fit for him right now. Hear why that is on his episode.

Louisa Mfum-Mensah found her way to VA work because she was eager to tap into different parts of her brain and expand her productivity and expertise outside of her 9-to-5 job. She's since become one of our expert VAs at Don't Panic Management, and while Louisa’s clients get a lot from working with her, she gets something equally valuable in return. In addition to supporting women entrepreneurs she admires, Louisa says that her VA work has exposed her to new interests.

Being a VA has helped her realize how much she enjoys strategy, operations, and implementation work. It’s even opened up a new career path for her: She recently accepted the role of Director of Executive Operations with the Urban Affairs Coalition, the largest nonprofit organization in Philadelphia.

Hear more about Louisa's journey as a VA, how she remains positive and focused with so much on her plate, and why she's so passionate about serving her VA clients.

Author, speaker, entrepreneur, and thought leader Nilofer Merchant is passionate about the benefits that hiring a virtual assistant can provide to solopreneurs. For Nilofer, it’s about more than knowing your flight itinerary is correct and a car will be waiting for you at the airport. It’s bigger than waking up to a tidy inbox with only the emails you want to see. Yes, those are some of the tangible benefits of hiring a virtual assistant, but Nilofer sees even deeper value. Making the decision to bring a VA on board opens you up to a world of new possibilities. “Until you learn to value yourself, you can’t offer your highest value to the world,” she says.

Heather Whaling founded Geben Communication at her dining room table. As she's built the company over the years, she's discovered that a business's needs change as it grows.

Heather shares the story of first seeking the help of a virtual assistant in the early days, and eventually realizing she'd outgrown virtual support and was in need of in-person assistance as her team's physical footprint expanded.

Kimberly Voorhis had always worked in a traditional office setting, so when she first heard about virtual work she thought it was crazy. But outside of work, Kimberly is also a loving foster mom, and when she and her husband opened their homes and hearts to three children, Kimberly was suddenly struggling to manage the commute and 9 to 5 life she was accustomed to.

That's when she decided to give virtual assistant life a try, and she hasn't looked back since. Being a virtual assistant empowers her to be present in all aspects of her life--work and personal. Kimberly shares more about what keeps her motivated and why she loves having a flexible job that allows her to pursue the life she loves.

Like many ambitious entrepreneurs, Amy Landino (author, speaker, and founder of AmyTV and Aftermarq) started her business all by herself, armed with nothing more than her grit and determination. As time went on, she took on more and more responsibility and found herself struggling to delegate.

After finally reaching a breaking point, Amy decided to hire outside help, and she hasn't looked back! She sits down with Jess Tyson to talk about the moment she realized she needed a hand, how she's learned to delegate, and what advice she has for overworked entrepreneurs.

Jay Baer founded his second company, Convince & Convert, out of his bedroom. He knew he needed some assistance running operations, but given his office setup, he preferred to keep it virtual.

A Twitter job posting led Jay to connect with Jess Tyson, and the rest is history. They sit down today to discuss their shared journey into the world of virtual assisting, and how having help frees Jay up to focus on what he's uniquely qualified to do.