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Ladies Kickin' Ass
Welcome to "Ladies Kickin' Ass," the podcast where kickass women in the service and trades industries spill the real tea on making it big. Twice a week, host Tanya Wilson brings you the gritty, the pretty, and everything in between.
Catch us every week for a deep dive with a powerhouse entrepreneur. Hear her raw, unfiltered story—from breaking ground in her field to celebrating the ups and downs while scaling her business. These aren’t just chats but your battle plans for crushing it in your business and life!
Then, swing by later in the week for some fierce coaching. Whether from Tanya or a top-notch industry expert, you get the insider tips you need. We’re talking nitty-gritty business & life tactics—from whipping your systems into shape to mastering the art of a kickass workplace vibe and all the marketing savvy you’re skeptical about but seriously need. But let's not forget, it all starts with our mindset, so we'll pepper in some amazing support from women specializing in health, wellness, parenting, and personal development.
"Ladies Kickin' Ass" isn’t just a podcast; it’s your new squad. Here, you’ll link up with fellow badass women, share war stories, swap wisdom, and find tools to amp up your business and life! For every service-based entrepreneurial woman hustlin' to make her mark—welcome home. Let’s rise up and kick ass together!
Ladies Kickin' Ass
133 - Boosting Business with Virtual Office Support with Shayna Shadowen
Discover how virtual office support can revolutionize your home service business with insights from Shayna Shadowen, co-founder of My Office Help. She takes us through her personal journey, from managing a family electrical business to co-founding a company dedicated to virtual assistance. Learn how virtual services can alleviate the burden of daily tasks, allowing you to focus on growth. Shayna reveals how her team expertly handles everything from customer service to bookkeeping, ensuring business operations run smoothly and efficiently.
Unlock new business potential by leveraging your existing customer base, especially in industries like plumbing, HVAC, and septic services. Often overlooked, these valuable connections can transform into future opportunities when nurtured correctly. Shayna shares how her team utilizes bespoke software integrated with popular CRMs to become an extension of your business seamlessly. Understand the power of a customized onboarding process that ensures your virtual team fully understands and supports your unique operations, driving your business toward enhanced efficiency and success.
Celebrate the transformative impact women bring to the home service industry in roles traditionally dominated by men. Shayna highlights how empathy and nurturing qualities reshape company culture, creating inclusive, supportive environments. Explore stories of female leadership that foster family-like workplaces, encouraging women to seize opportunities and redefine success in this field. With discussions on shifting dynamics and untapped potential, particularly for women in trades, this episode inspires business owners to embrace diverse leadership and consider non-traditional career paths.
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Join the waitlist: BadAss Inner Circle
Welcome to the Ladies Kickin' Ass Podcast, where we help you ignite your inner badass and create the service business of your dreams. I'm your host, tanya Wilson, and together we'll dive into inspiring stories and expert coaching to set your journey on fire. Hey, badasses, welcome back to the podcast. Today we have a goodie, and it's just one that I know that so many people that listen to this podcast definitely need some help with, and that is help inside of the office, because many people that come into the home service industry just run the phones, run the calls, do this, do that. They kind of pawn it off to somebody. There's no one that's really dedicated to doing the phones, the answering they're trying to do and wear all of the hats.
Speaker 1:And today I have an incredible guest for you that is going to help maybe shed some light on why it's important that maybe if you don't hire, even internally, there are other options available for you and it's not just shipping it off to a call center overseas. There's incredible people here that are from the home service industry that are more than happy to help you Today. My guest name is Shaina and she is the co-founder of my Office. Help, shaina. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. Why don't you just give us a little kickoff to today's episode and let us know what your background is a little bit and why you founded my Office Help to provide the services that you do within your company and specifically for the home service industry? Where did you find that need?
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much for allowing me to come on. It was definitely exciting to be able to get this invite and super excited to be here, yeah, so I'll just back up a little bit. I was a third generation owner of an electrical company. It was my grandfather's, my mom's dad who started it in 1964. And we just took my mom and my dad took it over in 93. And then my husband and I took over, starting in 2004. We started taking it from that mom and pop shop, the Excel spreadsheets, to actually having QuickBooks and running things through QuickBooks and manipulating it, and then eventually got a CRM. We started with Housecall Pro and that was in 2016.
Speaker 2:In 2018, we were very vocal on Facebook helping other contractors, helping other electricians, whatever home service industry they were in, whether it was marketing or just tech advice or whatever it may be. And in 2018, I had another electrician that actually begged me to run his office. At the same time, I ran my office and I was very hesitant at first how do I even do this? But I decided to do it and a couple months later added on another company and then just slowly, slowly, slowly grew from there and now that is really all we do, so we can do anything that can be done virtually. My team can do it for you when it comes to your office.
Speaker 1:That is so incredible. So you've got services like virtual CSRs, customer service representatives. You've got virtual people that help with bookkeeping. They can pull permits, they can order supplies, like. What else is on the list of things that your team can?
Speaker 2:do. We can take care of your maintenance plans for you. We can file the warranty work that needs to be the warranty paperwork that needs to go into new systems that are put in HVA, systems that are put in homes, or even file and warranty Like if you work with warranty companies. We do a lot of that as well. Everything from the start to the finish. The email comes to us, we're contacting the customer all the way to the end where we're going in and we're closing out that job Literally. If it can be done virtually, we can do that.
Speaker 2:I mean we've even had some it's not virtual stuff where, for instance, there are some industries they do have to give a lot of refunds. Appliance industry is one of them have to give a lot of refunds. Appliance industry is one of them. They've actually mailed us checks before and they give us. As long as they give me authorization to mail the check, they sign it. We put the check in the envelope for them. We put it in the mailbox for that refund for those customers. And we've also had people send us paperwork. Like you know, you've ordered materials for a job. You want to make sure that you track where exactly that exhaust fan came from and which exhaust fan it was, and they mail it to us, we scan it in and we file it and to the appropriate place on their CRM so that if they ever have a problem with that exhaust fan they know exactly where to go for. So there are other things that's not really virtual, but yet it is virtual that we can still do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my gosh, there's so much support stuff. If we were talking in a meeting yesterday, we're like, okay, so we have this CSR and I own a septic company, so we've got the service side, we've got the install side and we're like kind of have one person that does both of them, but they're growing so fast. We need attention to both sides because of the permitting and all the supply ordering and stuff on the construction side versus the service side is just a lot of time investment thing. So we're talking about splitting and we're like but then we need the organizer.
Speaker 1:I was like I know that's probably just an office admin position, but it sounds more badass to call the organizer. It's like a Marvel character or something. But I'm like there's that person in between that's like who's doing the paperwork, who's filing the receipts, who's doing this? You know like just all those little odds and ends, things that as an owner operator, lots of times you're like, holy shit, look at that file. It is just getting fatter and fatter by the moment because you haven't had time to get to it. Those little things like that. Are those little things like that that hiring somebody virtually may be a better option than hiring somebody in-house, explain to us kind of the benefits of hiring a virtual CSR versus hiring someone that is actually working in your company.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so well. One of the biggest is the cost savings, because it really depends on how much dedication that you need. But still, no matter how much dedication, you need the cost savings to be able to send it over to our team, which is 100% US-based, to be able to do those tasks for you, versus actually having someone in-house. And another thing I've seen, you know, someone hires someone in-house. They call in sick. Who's answering the phones? Now it's back on the owner right here at my office help. They get a dedicated CSR that is there to help them with whatever it may be, whether it's just checking jobs that are done, because we do have some that that's all we do for them is just we're answering the phones and we're only checking those jobs.
Speaker 2:And we have other companies that we're ordering parts for. But the way to set up so, for instance, alexis orders parts for Pete's and if Alexis calls in sick, she has a backup. Heather, I think, is probably the one that's getting in there and Heather is still ordering the parts even though Alexis isn't here, because we've created those processes and never has to go back to the owner. And then, besides that, the team that's behind them, whether it's four or five to six people behind that person, or 10 to 12, depending on the hours that you want. They're there to support the actual phone calls coming in and they're trained on how you want it done.
Speaker 2:You tell us if you want three hour windows or four hour windows or no windows at all, and then we route the day before. You tell us what you want to have done and we do it. You were talking about splitting your company. You know we've got a roofing company that been with us for four years now. All we do is their sales calls. Their sales calls come to us and we schedule their sales team. If it's anything else, if it's actually scheduling the team itself, the owner's wife and she's got someone else in the office they're handling those teams. And so you know, even sometimes splitting your company up and and doing it that way like it really makes sense to to um to come to us for those cost savings of being able just to to handle it.
Speaker 1:That way, absolutely so. When you're talking about sales calls stuff too, I instantly tap into like so many people forget that their existing customer list is a goldmine, and especially in something like revolving like septic stuff, it's not like, oh, they're going to call me again in six months, like they need me three years from now. People that have been in business for a specific amount of time regardless of whether it's electrical, plumbing, hvac just checking back in with a phone call from people saying, hey, you know how is the system working for you? Do you have any other issues that are going on there? It's like out of sight, out of mind situation that a team like yours could provide some incredible sales support. For many people think that's like one of those hard ones that when you hire people to call out to people, they're like you know you really got to get somebody that is confident in what they're talking about and being able to do that. How does your team support kind of that work, or does it?
Speaker 2:So we do some. We don't do a whole lot of that. Um, most of our companies are smaller, although we do have larger companies, and most of our larger companies, like, for instance, the roofing company, they've got someone in house and so that's a lot of the stuff that they're doing. But really, for us, when we do that, we actually will pull, for instance, um, we'll, we'll pull off, I'll just say Ashley, we'll pull Ashley off of the inbound phone calls. We'll dedicate her to a company, we'll give her the list and she'll just start rolling through.
Speaker 2:And then we've got processes for her to keep track of who's answered and who's not answered and what the responses are, to be able to get them back on track. And I mean, it's really no differently. Even the maintenance plans how many times have you know the companies out there? We get maintenance plans and then we forget to call them when it's time to call them. We're just we just, all of a sudden the phones blow up, right, we're just too busy answering the phones to even make those outbound phone calls. And that's the same process. So you know, putting those people on the phones that truly already know your company, that have been answering the phones for your company that get it that, and a lot of times we even know the technicians that are out there too. So that that also helps too, because we become family with these companies and being able to say, to go out there and take care of them. The way that the companies, the individual companies, want to be taken care of is our ultimate goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that is something I've tried several answering services in the past and like helping with you know some after hours stuff or same thing like backup support, and it's like if they don't get to know the company, it can be very difficult and sometimes cause more work for you to do that. When you're onboarding companies to work with them, how do you get to know their businesses so that you can provide the best support for them?
Speaker 2:Yep, so we actually have a custom built software. We've taken the last four years really truly dedicated to with, with, with, but with me coming from the industry, I know what, for the most part, we need, but we really truly built it based off of what contractors need. So we're connected currently with three CRMs. So we're connected to Housecall Pro, workiz and Jobber, and what that means is, for instance, I use EJ's appliance a lot for my demos because I'm in his system. He's four hours from here and I will if I was to call EJ's. It actually recognizes that I'm in his Housecall Pro and it pulls in my name and my address right away so I can start that first name basis without even having to ask him how to spell their name, even though we've been doing work for them for 20 years. It puts my address on the service map and those service maps are custom made and it's custom made by the owners themselves. They can get in there and change it every single day if they wanted to change them every day, and I've had some that have done that. You can do it by zones, you can do it by whichever way you want.
Speaker 2:The bottom piece is our intake. So we go through and we ask you questions. So, for instance, with heating and cooling, you tell us what systems that you work on. Do you work on boilers? Do you work on geothermal?
Speaker 2:And sometimes you have some technicians that will work on geothermal and some that don't, and within our intake system we completely lay out exactly what each of those companies do, how we need to schedule them, what technicians if there's certain technicians that do certain things and don't do certain things everything is laid out to a T the first month there's always going to be missing pieces and sometimes some companies even two months, because there are some companies with a lot of details. They've been around for a long, long time and we just take that and we start building it. And we build it until we get it down so that no matter, like when people call in, like we don't tell people, we're an answering service that we can confidently get in there and just do their systems roll through their platform, the same as if we were really sitting in that same exact city that they're sitting in, that's incredible.
Speaker 1:I'm just processing all the businesses I can think of that I just want to connect you with because there's so many people that need that support. So if, let's say, someone is listening to this podcast and they're like that sounds good, I need to get a hold of them. I need to have this conversation. What is it that the owner can prepare when discussing this kind of service, like with a company like yours, to make sure that they get the most out of it? Because I know a lot of companies are kind of like fly by the seat of their pants situation I got a notebook and a pen and I'm writing while I'm trying to drive and I'm trying to do all these things.
Speaker 1:What is the best thing for them to prepare in order to get the most out of these services? Because I think a lot of times business owners will sign up for incredible services but they kind of don't play with them and the expectation is high for the service to deliver, but their expectation for themselves to show up is kind of like drops out of the bottom of the floor. So I always love to ask this question, because a lot of times it's kind of like am I prepared to be able to work with a company like this.
Speaker 2:A lot of our owners just aren't prepared. They have no clue. You know, and I get all the way from. I've always done it myself. I've always done everything myself. I'm the one man truck.
Speaker 2:I really am so overloaded I don't even know how to start with this right All the way to like I've got every single system and process built, like I this just take my book and run using my book of processes, type of thing. And really I just at the beginning of the call you, I just fill them out, like where are they? Do they have a CRM? And what can I do to help them get on a CRM? Because we can't schedule on your pen and paper and you know.
Speaker 2:And then also, like I actually feel like a lot of times it's easier to talk to those that really don't know exactly what they want because of the fact they don't, they don't, they just don't know, they don't know how to hand it over. And I show them like all you got to do is just this and we'll just do the rest. Like just just let me handle the rest, and so I. There's no right or wrong answer for that, but just just knowing that you need help, that's the biggest thing Getting your mindset that you do need help. Everybody needs help, so, and we're here to help.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh, you touch on a big one there for me with the mindset situation, because a lot of times you have to get out of your own damn way to get some help. You know a lot of people that start businesses are in that because one they like to have the autonomy of doing things on their own and doing things their own way and working with that. But when you're working with a company like this, there has to be processes or else things aren't going to work the way that you need them to, and in order to scale your business, you have got to have processes that can be simple, rinse, repeat, and someone else can do them too.
Speaker 1:So I can imagine that you probably see a lot of growth for companies that you end up working with. What does that look like? Do you have some success stories you can tell us about?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, and that's always my, that was really truly my, my objection whenever my goal when I went into this, like I want to grow and that's we have our, our system set up so that I can grow with these companies. Um, we've had business owners that have gone through divorce and they've had to step back and take care of their family. While they do that, and we've just been in here just running the company, like running the technicians that were out in the field while they were off doing what they need to do. We have had owners with health issues that have arisen and have taken them out of the office, for there was one that it took them out of the office for two months and like he was very, very little interactions that we have with him and we just, we just kept on rolling, we just kept on taking care of of that company and those, those are just always my, those are my favorites, like because we're all about creating freedom for the owners and that freedom looks different for everybody, but in these, like those two instances, those were freedom that they didn't know that they were going to need, but we were there in that time that they did need us, which just is just exciting to even think about the fact that we were able to help them.
Speaker 2:We've seen companies that go from one technician up to five, six technicians within a matter of a year like just being there to support them and to help them. I want to see companies grow, I want to see them flourish in the service industry and, yeah, that's just where we've always had our mindset of just trying to help these owners that don't know. They don't know where to go, they don't know what to do, or even still, they could hire someone to house, but, like you said, you hire them to babysit your company, but yet, on the other hand, a lot of times you end up having to babysit the CSR and do you have the capacity to do that while also doing everything else you got to do too?
Speaker 1:so oh, you make a very good point there, because the more employees you bring in house, the more mini bosses you have too. We always make that as a joke. I'm like I have 13 mini bosses. Yeah, because it is that's a whole nother thing too.
Speaker 1:When you bring on a team, that's a whole nother level of responsibility that you have, versus being able to hire someone out for those positions, and then Shane is taking care of your team for you, which is absolutely incredible, absolutely incredible. What do you think? I kind of want to shift gears a little bit here and talk about the what impact you see with women in the home service industry. I feel like and maybe it's just because I pay so much attention to it now but as a kid growing up I grew up in Wyoming Everybody in my family was in construction the men, the women, were not in construction.
Speaker 1:Like that was a very crazy thing, for like, if a woman would have said like I'm going to own a septic company or an electrical company or a construction company at all when I was a kid, they'd have been like uh, is she serious? Yeah, I mean that's just kind of like how I grew up with stuff. Is she serious? Yeah, I mean that's just kind of like how I grew up with stuff. But the more that I just dive into this and the more I become acquainted with different networking groups in the trades, it is absolutely incredible what women are doing in this, and I know that the workforce of home service still only equals. About four to five percent is actually women. What do you think is unique that women bring to this industry and why women should consider working in this industry? What do you see happening here?
Speaker 2:Well, you know one I've seen like because, like you said, women in the industry is very unusual, but the ones that I have seen I think it has to do with the being able to do have sympathy and empathy that a lot of men don't have. In our area we had a heating air company that had a female sales lady I don't know if anybody in this area. She's no longer doing it. She actually moved out of the area. I don't know if anybody else has ever been able to top her sales Like she was amazing and and it wasn't really about selling, right, my husband's huge on that Like he was not, he didn't do sales when he was out in the field, he was an educator and that's the way she really truly took that approach. Um, I just think that, although there are some, some people that do not think that women should be out in the in the field, um and so you will get some of that, but think that women should be out in the field, and so you will get some of that. But for the most part, people love to hear when it's a woman coming out. People love to know that women are stepping up and realizing they can be more than just the bread makers in the industry.
Speaker 2:When you were saying that, like I really thought back because you were talking about you know, when we were a kid, women didn't do this, but even when we took over. So we took over the business in 2004. We've been part of national organizations and through each of those national organizations, I was always Jason's wife, jason's wife, jason's wife, jason's wife. Well, with this now, like, we've been going to trade shows and I had been to this one trade show, um, and then the next year my husband went with me and he was. He came up laughing, he said you're no longer Jason's wife, I'm Shana's husband, because people were coming up and saying so, you're Shana's husband.
Speaker 2:So it's been a really neat seeing the change in the dynamic and people acknowledging even that aspect that women can own businesses and women can be strong when they need to be strong. And women can do this with their husbands as support, behind them or beside them. It doesn't have to be only the man.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my God, I love that story so much. That's so awesome. Thank you for sharing that. I truly feel like there's a shift kind of happening, I think for years that like we kind of grew up with like generational companies like you were in, you know, like grandpa owned it and dad took it over and then it came down to it and it's like the sons didn't want it and I've talked to so many women that the daughter stepped up and took this company over, which I think is so incredibly cool too. But also there's just so much opportunity in women being able to.
Speaker 1:I didn't take over the septic company. I got into this. My ex-husband had learned about this and when he said he wanted to start a septic company, I was like, are you high? Like I don't want to do that. Like as a kid growing up, I was like men, like that's not something, I want to have a pretty job. I, growing up, I was like men, like that's not something, I want to have a pretty job. I don't want to do that. Like it's so weird to me, but the more you get into it and you understand, like how you can play such an incredible role.
Speaker 1:I love what you say about like empathy with things. I really truly think that you can tell a difference too with women home service companies. When there is a woman in leadership or ownership, the culture of that business shifts and it stands out and it's a lot more prevalent and cared for than what you see a lot of the traditional male-ran companies. And I have a great example of this. There is a Facebook group it's called the Pumper Page and it's a whole bunch of septic tankran companies and I have a great example of this. There is a Facebook group it's called the Pumper Page and it's a whole bunch of septic tank pumping companies and it's always every year, christmas time. They always ask the question what do you do for your employees? For like a Christmas bonus or like Christmas incentive or something like that. Right, and it's so funny because the women will be like we put together this party and we give them Christmas bonuses. That equals like a week of their salary and like it's all this detail and just I love these posts every year. And then the guys are like I give them a shovel and a job. You know, like this is like their respect facts thing.
Speaker 1:And I was like and this is, this is like broad generalization. I'm not saying every mail-in company is like this, but when you go right in this three specific groups around Christmas time, you can always tell the difference. Or they're like do for like employee incentives, you know, like, and the ladies are like oh, we have snacks and we have drinks and there's maybe a beer in the fridge or something you know and, and the guys are like I buy them gloves. You know just that the difference between those two things I think is really incredible, and I think women really are those nurturers that you kind of bring, that you know how we take care of our families and how we raise our children and it's really how you raise a business and you really do truly care about those people. You know, like, I never want anybody to leave my company and go to a different company somewhere, because I know the culture that we can provide here is something you're not going to find at any of our competitors and I think that's a really cool place to start at.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of women feel like I've got to be out in the field actually doing the digging or wiring the house or doing these things. You can start this business, girl, and you can hire people to do that. I've never drove a septic truck in my entire life and I've owned three septic companies in 15 years, so like it's like you can find the opportunity with stuff, and I think what we really have to realize is there's a huge opportunity in home service right now. I'm sure you probably hear that. Do people tell you all the time they have a hard time hiring skilled or actually people that want to work come work in their companies? Is that something you hear a lot about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, 100%. I mean wanting to work is, you know, it can be anything from using a shovel to even answering the phones, like let's just be real here. But yeah, 100%, like getting people to actually work. And I think at this point where we're at, like we can't be saying only men can do it or only women can answer the phones, like we really truly have to be open to who is willing to actually work and who is willing to actually use that shovel and get their hands dirty and and and just it, it's okay. Like, if a man answers the phone, like sometimes we we got some, some guys that answer the phones here and every once in a while you get that the older man who doesn't think you know, he thinks he must be a technician, right, if he's answering the phone. I've had to run service calls before and I go out and people are like what I'm? Like it's okay, I'm the owner.
Speaker 1:I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:I don't know what I'm doing. I know how to sell, I don't know how to. Last time I actually used a pair of pliers on electrical. I actually blew a hole in them, so I don't think he ever handed me any pliers after that. Actually, my husband's walking past right now and he heard me say that he's shaking his head.
Speaker 1:No, but it's. It's exactly what you're talking about like there's so much opportunity in the home service industry right now that I just feel is so untapped. There are so many businesses right now ladies too if you're like, oh shit, I don't want to bootstrap that and start that myself, but there's so many businesses right now that are literally just going to die because somebody started them and their kids have zero interest in being part of this and they can't really sell it because they're kind of the business. But if you know anything about processes and hiring and building teams, you can go in and buy these businesses for like super inexpensive and build a team within them and be having a rolling business that's already been in business for 40 years. That just needed a little zhuzhing to it. That I think a lot of women can bring to these kind of dying off older you know, baby boomer owned businesses, do you? What's your opinion on that?
Speaker 2:well, we've actually been toying around with that idea, so I agree with you about that.
Speaker 1:Awesome.
Speaker 1:I think it's a really cool opportunity and I think that there's like this new little wave of like, hey, it is actually cool to kind of work in the home service industry.
Speaker 1:And I think, the more that we continue to talk about it and be advocates about this stuff, like I'm huge with these kids that are like, well, shit, I don't want to go to college, I don't know what I want to do, I don't know but I kind of like then do that, like there doesn't need to be this guilty conscience because you don't go to a university somewhere, like go work with somebody in a home service company and learn a skill. You don't even have to go to the school unless it's required. But, like my industry, we love freshies that come in here that we can teach, that want to work and do stuff, and my pump truck drivers easily can make over six figures a year if they come in and they learn to educate their way to a sale. It's incredible what you can do with stuff and the more we talk about it, the more people perk their ears up, like you mean I don't have to be strapped with six digit student loan debt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things, though, that we are fighting right now is there are so many teachers that are pushing these kids to go to college, even if they aren't made for college, and so, instead of looking and that might be why we're having a little bit more of a drought in the industry because they are really truly pushing these kids to go to college.
Speaker 2:Like you can't graduate unless you fill out the FAFSA, even if you're not planning on going to college, like they wouldn't. My youngest just graduated high school. He could not graduate unless we filled it out and had it 100% complete for him, and so they're pushing these. It is, and they're pushing these kids to go to college because obviously, that's the only way to make a living right Is to get a degree and to work with a degree, and so I think that's another thing that we're fighting, and it really truly is about getting out there, getting the word out there, that it doesn't matter if you're male or female, it doesn't matter if you have a degree. If you're willing to work and to learn, you can make just as much, if not more, than people with six-year degrees.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my gosh. Yes, my daughter's a sophomore in high school and we just recently had that little situation with her too. They have a program here where you can attend a technology college in high school and it counts as high school credits, but they can also graduate basically certified in whatever they're going to the tech college for. So my daughter wants to get her cosmetology license and she's wanted to do this since she was little, little little. She's got more makeup than Ulta, I feel like most days. But it is one of those things that is like she has a plan and she wants to own her own salon and she wants to have her own line of stuff. And like she's got a plan, like how many kids don't have no idea what they want to do?
Speaker 1:This girl's got a plan and when we went in and sat in with her counselor, she's like well, you're not taking any foreign language classes? She's like um, I don't want to take foreign language. Well, in order to go to a university in Arizona you know ASU, u of A, you have to have at least two years of foreign language. She's like but I'm not going to do that, I'm going to even to get my cosmetology license. She's like, yeah, but most people definitely want to attend college after that, so we're going to have to. You could do it for summer school.
Speaker 1:Like totally running over, and I was just like, well, time out, and I think more parents have to be advocates for the kids in this thing. I was like this kid has a beautifully designed plan. She's already been talking to me and her auntie about getting investments to start a salon somewhere. She's been born in and raised in a business atmosphere. That's like the best education you could possibly get. She's got a plan and you're trying to derail business atmosphere. That's like the best education you could possibly get. She's got a plan and you're trying to derail her here. Let's figure out how we can support her instead of trying to steer her in a different direction. If she chooses to do that later, I'm pretty sure they'll still figure out a way to let her in after not having two years of Spanish or something.
Speaker 2:Not like any of us can actually speak Spanish after two years at high school.
Speaker 1:Anyway, let's have the conversation Like where do we get into these schools and really educate people? So if you're in the home service industry and you find an opportunity to be able to do this, so many kids need to hear that there are other options out there. So thank you for having this conversation with me. It is so incredibly important that people understand there is more than just this way of what everybody's supposed to be pointing towards. I think having a lot of women in the industry that have that really close connection with their kids and kind of see the stuff that's going on inside of there. We have a responsibility to continue to keep talking about this so that kids know that there's another option there. We call them kids. They are kids, they're 18. But you know, at some point they still feel like you know they're being ushered into something that they don't want to do. So, yeah, 100%. So let's get these people motivated and get going with building some really awesome businesses.
Speaker 1:It's not like homes are going away. Home services is always going to be needed, whether there's a recession, a war, a anything. Everybody needs to have electricity and a running toilet. So I'd say jobs. Looks pretty awesome right about now on a running toilet. So I'd say job security looks pretty awesome right about now. Yeah, 100% so cool. Well, shana, thank you so much for this conversation today and thank you so much for sharing about the services that you offer. Again, I can think of so many people that I'm going to shoot you a follow up email afterwards and make an intro and see if it might actually be a fit for you guys to work together. If somebody wants to find out more information about my Office Help or check you out on social channels, where can they find?
Speaker 2:you. Well, we're all over the place. So myofficehelpcom, and then you can actually get, click the Get Started link to set up a Discovery Zoom with me. I'll go through our platform so they can see it. But we are on Facebook. We're on TikTok. We do a lot of TikTok videos with our team, so make sure you get in there and check those out and like those. Instagram. I think we're on Twitter too. I don't know how to get on that, but it's there. But yeah, we're on twitter too. I don't know how to get on that, so, but it's there, um, but yeah, we're, we're everywhere. So if you look up my office, help, we are, we're just we're out there. So like us, uh, subscribe and um, then check us out and be happy to to give you a go over conversation and go over you know what options that is available for the size of team that you have. Whether you have people already in the office or you don't, we can, we can fit in with, with wherever you're at.
Speaker 1:Excellent and they're on YouTube because I was watching your YouTube before and your husband has a podcast. So there's all kinds of information as far as business stuff that you can learn from this team, and I think that's so incredible. Thank you for giving back to people so that they can learn more things. There's just there's so many resources out there in today's world that it's like everybody has to want to help themselves for stuff. We can guide you to places, but you still got to do the implementation of things. So there's my office office a lot of great resources. So, shana, at the end of every podcast, I always ask everybody this question because I find it fascinating how people relate to the phrase. So when you hear the phrase ladies kicking ass, what does that mean to you in your life?
Speaker 2:That just means to me that we're going out there and we're just doing what we need to do to get things done. We're plowing through and we're just going to come out in the end and celebrate.
Speaker 1:Oh see, that's a good one, and I think that's what a lot of us forget to do. We're very busy putting our heads down and putting one foot in front of the other and slaying dragons and whatever it is that we do all day, but lots of times we forget to stop and celebrate all of the stuff we've accomplished too. So it is very important that we continue to do that. That's where you get that motivation and that encouragement to go find something else to conquer.
Speaker 2:So it's really cool Very good, very, very good.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much for your wisdom today. I will post all of her links and the website in the show notes here and until next time, ladies, keep kicking ass. Thanks for being part of the Ladies Kickin' Ass community. Cheers to all you badass women out there. Keep rocking your power, igniting your fire and making waves in the service industry. If you loved today's episode, please do me a quick favor. Take a screenshot, post it and tag us at Ladies Kickin' Ass. Be sure to include the link to your favorite episode. Your support in spreading the word means the world to us as we aim to empower even more women. Hit that subscribe button to stay tuned for more kick-ass episodes. And don't forget a five-star review is the ultimate high five. Connect with us on social media. All the links are in the show notes. Thank you for being part of our tribe. Now go kick some serious ass, lady.
