Becoming a Virtual Assistant: An Interview with our Main VA

Hear from Aliyah Aisha Ali, the main VA at it’s a Travel O.D., to find out what steps she took to become a virtual assistant, find her dream clients & work while traveling.

Who is Aliyah?

Hi hi! I am Aliyah, a Digital Marketing Specialist and Web Developer & Designer for travel-based brands and female solopreneurs. I am a typical (but, not really) Fijian brown girl from North Delta but most of you won’t know where that is so let’s just go with Vancouver, Canada.

I am currently writing this from my bed in Canggu, Bali, two cans of coca-cola deep and a 30kg suitcase that needs to go down to 25kg by tomorrow. 

What were you doing before you became a Virtual Assistant?

I’ve always had the dream of having my own creative design agency or business, think of Kimora Lee Simmons from Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane vibes. With that vision in mind I pursued Business school and got my BBA in Marketing, Data Analytics, Supply Chain Management, and Management of Information Systems because I’m little Ms. Indecisive here sprinkled with anxiety and a dash of workaholic. 

Post-grad life sent me to London, England where I worked in Professional Services for a Sales and Marketing healthcare firm. Reflecting back on my time there, I absolutely loved it and am so grateful for the chance I was given (especially since I mentioned in one of my interviews that I wasn’t passionate about healthcare). 

When did you realize you needed a career/life change?

Fast forward to January 2019, I remember sitting at my desk and scrolling through Instagram when I landed on one of Andrea’s stories. She was talking about one of her courses (How to Make Money While Traveling) she had recently released on Udemy that was on sale at the time.

I ended up signing up for it because I also happened to be in the process of getting rid of nearly three suitcases of stuff that I had brought over to London and packing my life into a 65L Berghaus backpack. Coming from someone who religiously keeps up with everything BravoTV and the Kardashians, the experience was honestly, so rude (**Kourtney Kardashian voice**)! 

About five weeks later, I found myself in beautiful Panama….. In some random jungle, living out of a backpack that I wanted to light on fire, an outhouse, and just newly learnt that bats are real (previously, I had honestly thought bats were fictional animals created for Batman). It’s safe to say that backpacking is not my ideal way to travel and that 65L bag has been burnt (mmmm that’s a bit dramatic. It’s actually sitting in a garbage bag back at my mom’s house in her attic).

Storytime aside, at that specific point in my life I was struggling to connect how I would create that “Life in the Fab Lane” version of myself while having absolutely no stability and literally aimlessly wandering through Central America (and in case you forgot, with a backpack). I undoubtedly understand that I am disgustingly privileged and blessed to have experienced, worked, and travelled to parts of the world people could only dream of seeing but that lack of discipline and direction hindered me. 

Do you remember when you actually decided to take steps towards working from home?

On the morning of March 6th 2019, if I can remember correctly I had a flight out to Costa Rica (again, can we say privileged!) later that day and also when I received an email from Esther Inman that her 90 Day VA program was about to close for enrollment in 12 hours.

Naturally, as a person that runs on Starbucks, panic mode, and waits till the last minute to do ANYTHING, I started calculating in my head what time I would be landing in Costa Rica. What time I would probably get wifi again so that I can reread Esther’s email and go back and forth on whether I wanted to spend $600 on some course that’s packaged in millennial pink and a very big promise to change your life. I ended up buying the course before my flight. Baby steps towards progress, I think so. 

Can you tell us about the course you enrolled in, ‘90 Day VA’?

The 90 Day VA course is a 3 month self-paced intensive program that helps ambitious women (and men) gain the skills (or in my case, the confidence, direction, and discipline) required to build an online career solely from your laptop as a Virtual Assistant.

Coming from a business, consulting, and marketing background I personally did not get from the course what many other students do. Rather, I was introduced to a community of women that pushed me towards success, something I lost when I left my family and friends, university, and Vancouver in general and could never find in London. I had no support system, contacts, or sense of community in the UK. It was cold and my vision for myself was very quickly clouded and dimmed to a tiny flicker. 

How did you end up working with Andrea from @itsatravelod?

As I progressed through the program, I remember one module where we had to really paint an image of our ideal client. I knew right away who this “dream client” was! Andrea Valeria. She embodied everything FAB in my eyes. Humble, hardworking, smart, and funny and we had a shared interest of not aimlessly travelling through life.

I wasn’t sure of how it would happen but I was ready to make Andrea mine (hopefully that doesn’t come off as too possessive)! And I guess it was meant to be, because come summertime Andrea was out there looking for a HR/Recruiting Assistant. Immediately, I got that crazy look in my eyes, as my sister likes to say and pounced on that opportunity. 

With my newly refreshed and upgraded pitching skills thanks to 90 Day VA, I got me a call with ANDREA VALERIA! 

Andrea & Aliyah (in Colombia) brainstorming the design of the next landing page. LOL, kidding, we were figuring out what to order at a restaurant!

I wasn’t planning on going into the call as some basic candidate that she could potentially discard. Rather I used everything that was taught in literally every single module of the course and drafted out a business strategy plan. Since I was already familiar with the “it’s a Travel O.D.” bran,  it came naturally and easy. I considered everything from social media, email marketing, blogging, website management, project management, and repurposing content to create value on multiple mediums and platforms. These are all skills and topics that are taught throughout the 90 day program while you are simultaneously building a portfolio of work samples and a media kit to secure clients. 

Our interview went great, and we’ve been inseparable since July 2019. 

Who is the 90 Day VA course for?

Although my experience and story is not entirely unique I can’t promise the same results to anyone considering the program. This course is for anyone and everyone who is looking to change that tiny flicker inside of them and light it on fire with a tank of gasoline and then go and have 2-for-1 espresso martinis in a Greek restaurant in Bali overlooking rice fields. 

I’ve known exactly what I’ve wanted since I was probably 11 or 12 years old. The vision has definitely morphed into something more overtime, but my underlying desire has always remained stable. To wake up every morning and have the freedom to do whatever I want! Simple and super basic, I know! 

How’s life after 90 Day VA?

Fostering and developing relationships with people who I aspire and look up to has been a game-changer. Once Andrea and I began working together, not soon after was she introducing me to other travel-based brands, clients, and entrepreneurs I would have never had access to on my own. 

After completing 90 Day VA, I knew I had a strong interest in delving into my creativity and design so I pivoted into offering social media and graphic design services. That snowballed into me ending up in Cartagena, Colombia at a business retreat called “Hit Publish” hosted by Andrea and her retreat business partner Cassandra Le (also known as @thequirkypineapplestudio). 

What other cool things have you experienced since?

Initially, I thought nothing could top what 90 Day VA did for me, but Colombia was a whole other level of fabulousness. Again life was changing for the better and I was signing on more clients, getting invited to an exclusive web development and coding program in Bali, and heading out into the world again. I won’t stop travelling anytime soon. Just like the next person I do enjoy exploring and seeing new places, but you can bet it won’t involve shoving all my stuff in a bag, hauling it around on my back, and aimlessly wandering countries (because that is so basic).     

Today, I use my passion for creativity and design through offering branding, graphic design, social media, and web development and design services. Basically, I code custom-made websites, design, and develop brand strategies for travel-brands, female entrepreneurs, and bloggers.

I’ve accomplished so much in the past year that I continue to shock and amaze myself. Once I rekindled my relationship with my confidence last summer, I realized that I am the Fijian Kimora Lee Simmons, so you better get out of my “Fab Lane”! 

A note from Andrea: Links in this post are affiliate links and if you end up enrolling in the course, I will earn a commission. You won’t pay a penny more, though. I know the course content is amazing (also based on everything Aliyah brought to the table as a VA), but I wanted her to share her own experience with 90 Day VA course. Whether or not you decide to enroll, is completely up to you!