00:00 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the OBM Educator. This week I am going to be getting into my second interview on the Road to OBM Success series that I am doing Due to scheduling conflicts. This is actually just going to be the last interview that I'm doing also in the series, but I've been really excited to talk to other OBMs and hear their stories of how they have started and grown their business. And I'm really excited today because I'm going to be talking with someone who I have actually known in the online space for I mean close to five years at this point. Lily Penomeno started her business as a VA and we were kind of coming into, you know, the online space together and you know I remember her when she was a VA and then when she was starting to transition to OBM. You know it was awesome to see her journey and to see where she is now, and so she, you know, has dealt with and struggled with, but also overcome confidence issues which I feel so many OBMs have when they're first starting out. And, honestly, I'm five years in and I still sometimes have confidence issues, so it's not something that necessarily goes away. Have confidence issues so it's not something that necessarily goes away, but you know, she has built this business because she is just so good at what she does. She is so helpful to her clients, she's always wanting to learn more and she's built a business that works for her and her family, and I just I can't wait for you guys to hear her story. So let's get into it.
Welcome to The OBM Educator. I'm your host, Amanda McVicker, a veteran OBM who serves six and seven figure entrepreneurs as well as educates new OBMs with the skills and confidence they need to start and grow their own successful online business management business. Follow along as I share valuable insights behind the scenes, sneak peeks and proven strategies to help you build a better OBM business. Well, thank you so much, Lily, for being here. I'm so excited to chat with you. You are actually one of I feel like kind of like the original people I know in the online space. Like people are like you know they come and go, but I feel like I've known you for a really long time.
02:34 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Amanda, for having me in your podcast and yeah, I've been in business since 2019. So it's almost five years now.
02:44 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
That's so exciting. That's when I started my business too. So share a little bit you know, introduce yourself, but also like share a little bit about your background and how you started, like where you started, what position, all of that stuff.
03:00 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, so I launched my business back in 2019 as a virtual assistant and then I transitioned into a no-BM, but before that I had a full-time job as an accounts manager and it had always been my dream to have my own business. And I tried different business ideas throughout the years and none of them kind of worked or I liked them Right. So it was like doing like many different experiments and just trying to see how I could finally be financially independent, right. But then I ran into the idea of a virtual assistant and I was like this is this sounds really good because my background is in business. So it's like, yeah, I can use like all the knowledge that I have, all the experience, and just put it into this business and just start helping other business owners. And that's how I got started. And um, and then in 2020, well, the pandemic came and all that um, and so that's when my business like started like growing and it's been going like that since then.
04:13 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Awesome. I love that I started in 2019, too, so we really were about the same time. So where did you find? Where did you find VA? Like the whole idea of it.
04:25 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, you know, I was just like looking for online businesses that you know, like that endless Google search.
04:33 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
How to work from home.
04:35 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, exactly, and that's how I found the virtual assistant and it really caught my attention and at the beginning I was like, you know, when you share with your family, oh okay, I want to do this. And they were like what is that? Who's going to hire you? How does that work? Because back in 2019, people were not so used to online businesses or working from home. It's like you had to be in an office. And so I was like no, I have like a feeling that this is it right. And so I was like I'm going to give it my all and just try this idea and see if it works. If it works, then I'm going to be achieving like a lifetime, you know dream, and if not, then it's just well, at least I tried and that's how I got into that, yeah.
05:27 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Oh, I love that. Yeah, it was kind of the same thing with me. Like everyone was like, what are you doing, like working from home? I knew what Zoom was before. Like everyone else, this is like in 2020, everyone was like I guess we're using this thing called Zoom and I'm like I already have a pro account, like you know, yeah, I know. So what made you realize you know, or like kind of start thinking about the transition to OBM?
05:59 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, so when I started as a VA, it's like you start doing like different tasks, you know, and then I realized that I was like starting to suggest things in clients' businesses, like, hey, maybe we could do this to improve these other process and things like that. So I started like coming up with suggestions. And that's when it hit me up with suggestions. And that's when it hit me maybe I like this idea of an online business manager and like start like coming up with solutions or how to improve X thing in a business. And that's how kind of like I realized that that that could be like the next move in my business realize that, that that could be like the next move in my business Awesome.
06:52 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
And so what was kind of the?
06:53 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
the journey to get there. Yeah, well, the journey is like the confidence, right. It's like even when starting a business, it's like, okay, am I going to able to be able to do this? Am I going to mess this up? And it's just having the confidence in yourself and believing that you can figure things out and that you can help others because the intentions you have the good intentions of helping other business owners, right. So it's just a matter of believing in yourself and also preparing right, Like doing the work that you need to do to provide the best service to the clients. So I think that was kind of like the challenge there, right To make the transition, Like, am I really a manager? And I was like, yeah, I mean, I used to be a manager when I was in my day job. So it's like, yeah, you got it.
07:54 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
You can do it, yeah. So what were kind of like the steps you took to like get there? You kind of like mentioned you know like processes and like stepping into the work, Like is there any special things that you did to kind of like help your confidence, Like maybe a little bit of a fake it till you make it type thing?
08:18 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah Well, I started like looking into how could I improve my services right To start promoting them as an OBM and um, and I and well remember we had the intensive as well that you helped me like a lot during that transition and you know, just kind of like, uh, preparing and knowing like what other things I could offer and how I can prepare myself, um, for that, what other platforms to use, what are the things that other businesses are doing to grow their business and how can I be a part of that growth and support them and help them with their back-end business operations. So that's, I think that's what I started doing, like how can I prepare myself to make this transition and to help with confidence? Right, because if you start preparing more, then you start like gaining this confidence.
09:14 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Yeah, Were you able to take any clients with you from VA to OBM, or did you kind of just like have a clean slate?
09:23 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
No, yeah, there are some that have transitioned to OBM. Yeah, because the work started like evolving right, like managing teams or coming up with processes and things like that to improve their business operations. So that's kind of what happened. And then, yeah, I started like booking new clients as an OBM as well.
09:47 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
With the clients that you did transition. Like what? What was the process there? I know like a lot of people get nervous about you know, like talking to their clients about the transition, or like bringing up more money, more responsibility. So like, what was that? What did that look like for you?
10:07 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like talking about the new responsibilities that you have and and just you know, explaining that, like now it's like a more like high end level support and and well, that means that it's the transition is happening, right. It's just that that it needs to be explained, right, and the clients are like super receptive to that and because, yeah, they notice that the level of support is different, right, and it's like they can rely more on you and and the support that you are providing to them. I love that.
10:51 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Do you recall like maybe a specific moment because you know confidence was like a big deal Do you recall like a specific moment of maybe something like you did for a client or something like a client said to you and you were like, yes, I am an OBM. Now, Like this is OBM. Was there like anything specific there?
11:15 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
I think it's like coming up, you know, like when a client says I want to do X thing, I want to do X thing, and then you are like, okay, for this we can do ABC, but we are going to need these other tools, or we can see how we can use what we have to achieve that goal. And that's when it hit me like okay, wait, this is something else.
11:43 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
I'm an OBM, I figured it out. Hit me like, okay, wait, this is something else. I'm an OBM, I figured it out. Yeah, it's kind of like what it is. It's like shifting from like the VA brain not that it's like anything bad or anything like that, but it's so. Here's what the client gave me. Let me do that. Whereas with the OBM, it's like the client's telling you their ideas of this is what I want to do and you switch into okay, well, we have to do all of these things, but that means that we have to change things over here and then we have to adjust this over here and like being able to see like that big picture, like that is such OBM-esque-ness, whatever that I could totally see that. It's like you're going through that and you're like I got it, I got it, you know, I know I know?
12:36 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, it was like that and it's like you know, like having that resourcefulness right, Like to come up with the solutions and the ideas to achieve a goal or a dream that the client has.
12:50 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Yeah, so cool. Looking back, what would you say to your former VA self who was kind of preparing or thinking about this transition to OBM?
13:23 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
to support other people and believe in your resourcefulness and your abilities, your work ethics, and to just don't overthink it. Because it's like we get in our heads and it's like, maybe what if I'm not able to pull this off, and what if I mess up? And that overthinking is what stops you right and you're like, maybe I'm not ready yet, which is something that also happened to me. Maybe I shouldn't be saying that I'm an OBM and it's like but you're already doing the thing right. So it's just like just go for it, because you know, in the end, the goal is to support the client in the best way possible for them to achieve their goals. So you come with good intentions to give your best to the client. It's just that you have to believe that you can really do it and then go do it.
14:13 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Yeah, my next question was going to be like what advice do you have for VAs who are?
14:17 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
going through that, but I feel like that was it.
14:19 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
So rewind and listen to that Like that is the advice.
14:25 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's a lot of mindset work that is required to not just to launch a business, but then to maintain it and then to evolve with it, Right.
14:42 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Yeah. So now that you are full fledged OBM, like when was the transition? Like 2022?
14:52 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, it was like um, yeah, around that, like like around two years ago yeah, yeah.
14:57 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
So you're going two years OBM. So like, what are kind of your plans for the future? Like, what do you see yourself like continuing down like the OBM path? Are you adding in extra things?
15:13 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
well, I'm planning to add extra things like as part of the offerings, and have, like, different services for clients depending on the stage that they are in their business Right now. Well, last year I hired my first team member, so that's been like oh, thank you, it's been the best. Yeah, it's like that move that you got to make and you are just so scared to do it.
But then when you do, it's like, oh my God, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it really helps with the business growth in the future. But yeah, honestly, I really do love the work that I get to do and to work with people that inspire you and that you admire and respect, and just getting to be creative in the work that you do Yay, I love that.
16:12 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Well, thank you so much for being here. Can you share where people can find you?
16:24 - Lily Panameño (Guest)
Yeah, of course, my website is lilyvirtual.com, and you can also find me on Instagram. It's @lilyvirtual, and, yeah, those are the two platforms that I'm most in.
16:32 - Amanda McVicker (Host)
Okay, well, thank you so much for being here. This was such a great conversation. Thank you so much, Amanda. This was such a great conversation. Thank you so much, Amanda, for having for inviting me. Yeah, thanks for joining me for this episode of The OBM Educator. I hope what you heard today is helpful for you on your OBM journey. If you loved today's episode, I would so appreciate you sharing it and leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Want to be a guest on The OBM Educator? Fill out the form in the show notes and I'll be in touch. Join us next time on The OBM Educator.