Today we’d like to introduce you to Betsy Castro.
Betsy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It started with the simple dream of working in my loungewear, not eating out of Tupperware or styrofoam food container, I wanted to eat my lunches while they were still freshly made food at home, I wanted to be able to do my laundry in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week and I also really disliked the fact that if I wanted a day off or take a vacation I had to ask for permission, even if I got approved, I hated the fact I had to ask for permission as if I was a child asking my mother to go out with my friends. I used to work at a group private practice and all of my responsibilities could be done from home (except for watering the plants), however, my boss back then wanted me to be there and did not approve my idea of working from home. But I was longing for true freedom, so I started to research how to start a business, and from what I found, I had two options, to sell a product or sell services. I didn’t have a product to sell, but I had years of experience in Administration and Marketing. Then, I came across the term Virtual Assistant, they had existed since the 90s, and I thought “Hey, I can do that” and I started my Virtual Assistant Journey.
But really, what helped me to be where I am today and have the freedom I have today was taking a bet on myself! Here’s the thing, before I started my business, I partnered up with a lot of different people to create businesses that ultimately failed. And for the longest time, I truly believed that the only way I could start a successful business was if I partnered up with somebody. Because in my head, there was no way I could possibly create a successful business all by myself. Until one day, as I was meditating, a thought came into my head that said “Really Betsy? After all this self-work and development you have done, you still don’t think you’re good enough? You advise people to trust themselves and you can’t even practice what you preach?” It was almost as if my thoughts had slapped me in the face. That’s when I decided to just go for my VA business and by far, it has been the most successful business I’ve ever participated in because it’s the first one that pays my bills. I’m not saying that everyone needs to be a solopreneur, at least not forever. I have an awesome team that helps me run my business, but I wouldn’t be here today if I wouldn’t have taken a bet on myself.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It took me a while to decide the type of people I wanted to work with, so at the beginning, I was just really hungry to make my business work that I would say YES to almost everybody and even accepted less payment than what I deserved, just so I could book the client. I quickly became burnt out with that, and I had to fire a couple of clients and start over again.
Another thing is that when you’re an entrepreneur that has not healed from past traumas, that will reflect on your business. Entrepreneurship takes you on a journey that makes you look within yourself, and sometimes you find things that are ugly and unflattering, and if you want your business to thrive, you have to work on yourself as a person. I’ve been proactive with self-healing, I’ve read countless books on self-help, and while they have made tremendous changes in my life, self-help will only take you so far. Seeing a therapist as helped me a lot, I see my therapists as a fitness coach but for my mind. This is an ongoing process, so I’m still deciding which “ugly” parts of myself I will keep and which ones I will change.
Please tell us about Hello BetsyAnn Virtual Assistant.
I’m known as The Mental Health VA, that’s also my IG handle @TheMentalHealthVA
In my business, I help Mental Health providers with the administrative and social media marketing portion of their business so they can concentrate on their main role in this world, which is to help people heal.
Here’s a list of the things I help them with:
Answering Intake Calls
Booking appointment
Billing
Social Media Marketing/Scheduling
Website Management
Blog writing
My favorite is researching blogs because this research helps me a lot in my personal life, and I love the SM handling because I get to help the therapists share with the rest of the world how we can all live better lives. I also enjoy doing the intake calls because it makes me feel like I’m being part of something bigger than myself. I love being the bridge between the client and the therapist, I know how hard it can feel asking for help, especially if you come from a culture that has a lot of stigma around mental health. I love encouraging people to seek the help they need.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
The only thing I would have done differently was maybe to save more money before quitting my job. I had only saved for three months worth of bills, and those three months went by so quickly, it was a scary time, but I pulled through.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hellobetsyann.com
- Phone: 305-707-7480
- Email: betsy@hellobetsyann.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thementalhealthva/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloBetsyAnn/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellobetsyann/
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