Barbara Turley is the Founder and CEO of The Virtual Hub, whose mission it is to eradicate business overwhelm and remove operational friction using a team of virtual assistants, clever automations, and streamlined processes.
In this podcast, we explore Barbara’s transition from equity trading into entrepreneurship and how her background influenced her business approach. We also dive into the challenges of remote work, what it means to advocate for “trustless environments”, and the use of OKRs in moving your business forward. Last but certainly not least, Barbara reflects on her journey balancing motherhood with business, challenging traditional norms, and trusting one's intuition through the journey of her career.
Key Points in the Conversation with Ariana Cofone of the Secret Ops Podcast:
- Barbara's background and the connection between equity trading and virtual assistants
- The leap from equity trading to starting a business
- Identifying the need for virtual assistants and starting The Virtual Hub
- Developing and systematizing the process of hiring virtual assistants
- Identifying the right people for virtual assistant roles
- Challenges of managing support roles and micromanagement
- Building trustless environments using objectives and key results
- Remote Work Challenges
- Navigating Work-Life Balance
- Balancing Motherhood and Business
Key Takeaways:
“A system really is made up of a series of processes that are a series of steps and then a couple of tools, and then you've got to figure out, like who's running, who's running the system and who's who's doing the thing. So my philosophy really, over the years is to say to businesses in every business, there are departments on the inside, every department, there are recurring tasks and project tasks”
“Nobody wants to be a micromanager and nobody wants to be micromanaged. However, It depends on the role. So obviously when you're hiring someone who's coming in with expertise, you want to allow them the space and creativity and to come up with a strategy and then roll it out. However, from an operational point of view, I think in a company, we all need to agree on how we work, how we communicate, how we collaborate, and how we play this game inside this company together”
"When I did become a mother, I was very much like, okay, I want to be a mum first. However, the rulebook will tell you that you can't be, can't have it all, can't be a mom and grow a big business. But I really was like, I'm going to throw the rulebook out the window and I'm going to be mum most of the time, and then I'm going to get really good at systems, processes, delegation and building a business as a machine to free me to do the things I want to do with my life and to free my teams"