Ari Meisel

Yeah, so this was 2015, August of 2015. a very large virtual assistant company at the time called Zirtual, which I think is still around in a different form than I thought. But they very suddenly went out of business. They basically ran out of capital. And I guess, you know, requirement-wise, they had to let everybody know, like, hey, we can't pay you, so you got to go home.

So it was like a Sunday night. No, probably like a Wednesday night. Excuse me. They sent out this email. And I had a lot of clients that were using Zirtual, and I had worked with several of the VAs. And so the whole day, the next day I'm getting calls from both sides being like VA's who needed jobs and people who were like, I just lost my assistant. Like my life's over.

So it was like a Sunday night. No, probably like a Wednesday night. Excuse me. They sent out this email. And I had a lot of clients that were using Zirtual, and I had worked with several of the VAs. And so the whole day, the next day I'm getting calls from both sides being like VA's who needed jobs and people who were like, I just lost my assistant. Like my life's over.

So it was like a Sunday night. No, probably like a Wednesday night. Excuse me. They sent out this email. And I had a lot of clients that were using Zirtual, and I had worked with several of the VAs. And so the whole day, the next day I'm getting calls from both sides being like VA's who needed jobs and people who were like, I just lost my assistant. Like my life's over.

And I was connecting different people like throughout the day. And that night I had planned on having dinner with a friend of mine and he and I had dinner and he was, uh, he was working in finance, but he was, he had working on a productivity app. It was kind of in space. So we're talking about it and about the, about Zortral.

And I was connecting different people like throughout the day. And that night I had planned on having dinner with a friend of mine and he and I had dinner and he was, uh, he was working in finance, but he was, he had working on a productivity app. It was kind of in space. So we're talking about it and about the, about Zortral.

And I was connecting different people like throughout the day. And that night I had planned on having dinner with a friend of mine and he and I had dinner and he was, uh, he was working in finance, but he was, he had working on a productivity app. It was kind of in space. So we're talking about it and about the, about Zortral.

And he was like, why don't you just start your own VA company at this point? And I was like, I don't want to do that. I was like, let's do it. He's going, well, my, you know, my wife's pregnant with our fourth child. Like things are good. And he was like, what if we do it together? And I was like, okay, but we got to do it quickly because I'm going away, you know, next week with my family.

And he was like, why don't you just start your own VA company at this point? And I was like, I don't want to do that. I was like, let's do it. He's going, well, my, you know, my wife's pregnant with our fourth child. Like things are good. And he was like, what if we do it together? And I was like, okay, but we got to do it quickly because I'm going away, you know, next week with my family.

And he was like, why don't you just start your own VA company at this point? And I was like, I don't want to do that. I was like, let's do it. He's going, well, my, you know, my wife's pregnant with our fourth child. Like things are good. And he was like, what if we do it together? And I was like, okay, but we got to do it quickly because I'm going away, you know, next week with my family.

And I guess we'll try it. So we launched two days later, a VA company with, with basically two VAs, which was me and my partner. And I took 10 of my coaching clients and brought them into it. And we did everything with free tools and we sort of built everything from the ground up in like a less doing image in a way. And three months later we were operating comfortably.

And I guess we'll try it. So we launched two days later, a VA company with, with basically two VAs, which was me and my partner. And I took 10 of my coaching clients and brought them into it. And we did everything with free tools and we sort of built everything from the ground up in like a less doing image in a way. And three months later we were operating comfortably.

And I guess we'll try it. So we launched two days later, a VA company with, with basically two VAs, which was me and my partner. And I took 10 of my coaching clients and brought them into it. And we did everything with free tools and we sort of built everything from the ground up in like a less doing image in a way. And three months later we were operating comfortably.

We had like three or four assistants and maybe 20 or 30 clients. And then we spoke at this, no, sorry. We had like 20 clients and we spoke at an event at Joe Polish's event, actually, you know, Joe Polish, right. And got 70 clients from that one presentation and quadrupled the business overnight, essentially, and then grew from there.

We had like three or four assistants and maybe 20 or 30 clients. And then we spoke at this, no, sorry. We had like 20 clients and we spoke at an event at Joe Polish's event, actually, you know, Joe Polish, right. And got 70 clients from that one presentation and quadrupled the business overnight, essentially, and then grew from there.

We had like three or four assistants and maybe 20 or 30 clients. And then we spoke at this, no, sorry. We had like 20 clients and we spoke at an event at Joe Polish's event, actually, you know, Joe Polish, right. And got 70 clients from that one presentation and quadrupled the business overnight, essentially, and then grew from there.

So what we wanted to do, the idea was to document month by month what we were doing to build the business because we never put a penny into the company. We did a million dollars the first year. We had 183 people working for us in 17 time zones. And I think at the end of the first year, we had like 300 or 400 clients and everything was being managed with Trello.

So what we wanted to do, the idea was to document month by month what we were doing to build the business because we never put a penny into the company. We did a million dollars the first year. We had 183 people working for us in 17 time zones. And I think at the end of the first year, we had like 300 or 400 clients and everything was being managed with Trello.

So what we wanted to do, the idea was to document month by month what we were doing to build the business because we never put a penny into the company. We did a million dollars the first year. We had 183 people working for us in 17 time zones. And I think at the end of the first year, we had like 300 or 400 clients and everything was being managed with Trello.

and amazing automations that my partner built coded custom stuff so uh that was a big turning point there because at that point not only uh up until then i've been doing a lot of work coaching wise with individuals about their individual issues but at that point not only were we growing our own business but we were starting to service a lot of small business owners so we were just seeing a lot more issues and challenges and i was doing a weekly webinar series for them for all our clients so uh