Today we’d like to introduce you to Cierra Larsen.
Cierra, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2017, I was a stay-at-home mom of 3 kids who was running an online kids boutique of clothes I was creating called “My Fallen Star”. The clothing company was something I had built from the ground up & was something I was super proud of but it was becoming more than I could handle on my own & something I wasn’t enjoying anymore. As much as I enjoyed creating the company & executing the designs I came up with, my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. I decided it was time to sell the company & start down a path I actually enjoyed.
With the skills I gained from creating & running My Fallen Star, I began looking for opportunities I could do from home that piqued my interest. An acquaintance I knew mentioned to me that she had a friend starting up a company called Girl Boss Solutions that was going to provide Virtual Assistants to women who were small business owners. I immediately contacted the owner of the company & set up an interview. With the amount of experience I had gained from My Fallen Star doing graphics, building an Instagram account, marketing the company, & everything else I had learned on my own, I got the job immediately.
I began working with my first client, Amy Grasso, who is a Beachbody coach. Funnily enough, I still work for today. I was new to all things Beachbody, but Amy was absolutely incredible & patient. She taught me everything I needed to know to be able to assist her with the things she needed to be done. With that knowledge, I was able to continue to take on more Beachbody clients, which are the only clients I decided to personally take on since I knew the business so well at that point.
Fast-forward to 2018, I found myself leaving my abusive marriage & suddenly needing to support 3 kids on my own for the first time ever after being married & a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. We made a move to Utah from Iowa & I immediately took on enough clients to begin working full-time but quickly realized that with all of the added expenses that I was either going to need to find a job that paid more or take on a 2nd job. Because of my hectic schedule of being a single mom & without having any family/friends around to lean on for help with the kids, I knew a 2nd job wasn’t in the cards for me. I needed to make more money to support them while working from home so I could continue to care for my young kids on my own.
In 2019, I heard from my sister-in-law, Chandler, who was also a Virtual Assistant of the company, that the owner of Girl Boss Solutions was looking to sell the company. I knew this was the opportunity I needed! I contacted Laura & we immediately began discussing having me buy the company. A few months later in March of 2020, after a bit of self-doubt, a whole lot of panic, & frantically searching for a way to actually purchase the business, I was officially the owner of Girl Boss Solutions.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a business owner has definitely not been a smooth road. There are so many different challenges that arise & unexpected bumps in the road you are not prepared for. In my situation, where I bought a business that needed a lot of love & attention to get it to a better place, it created a lot of late nights & headaches trying to get creative on what changes I needed to implement to grow the business. I was completely relying on this to be successful not only for me & my kids but for the other assistants I was now in charge of, making sure they had the clients they needed to also support their families. I jumped into this whole situation so quickly & was not prepared for how difficult it was going to be.
Some of the struggles I have faced over the last 3 years were trying to figure out the legal & accounting side of things, which was so much more complex than I could have imagined, trying to figure out branding with new logos & color schemes, how to design a professional website within budget, how to market effeciently, Instagram/Facebook strategies that would work for the brand, keeping current clients happy while taking on new clients, training for new assistants…the list goes on & on. There are so many details you don’t consider when owning a business until you are faced with them.
Regardless of the struggles I have faced along the way, I wouldn’t change a thing! I have learned & grown so much from the experience of buying a business & trying to transform it in a way that I could support my family completely on my own. It was never a question of “can I do this?” it was a “I have to do this” situation so I did whatever I had to to be successful.
We’ve been impressed with Girl Boss Solutions, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We match busy Girl Bosses with their perfect Virtual Assistant. If you’re an established business owner or a busy mom who needs someone to take some responsibilities off your plate so you are free to focus on the things you love, we’ve got you! If you want to work from home and want to create a job you love and are in control of, we’ve got you! Our focus is to help women succeed as Girl Bosses…everywhere!
We help many different types of people & businesses. There really isn’t anyone we can’t help! But some of the clients we currently work with are Beachbody Coaches, which is the majority of our business still, other health/wellness coaches, life coaches, podcasters, social media influencers, Realtors, Interior Designers, Photographers, Makeup/Hair artists, MLMs, busy moms, & so many others!
There are a lot of different things we do for clients & of course, each client has different needs that we cater to but some of the top tasks we get asked to help with are Instagram engagement/growth, content creation, bookkeeping, graphic design, leaderboards, social media ads, Facebook group management, blog posts, email correspondence, podcast editing, newsletter creation, invoicing, & so much more!
We know there are a lot of options when it comes to hiring a Virtual Assistant so we do our best to stand out. We will never randomly assign you, someone, to work with. We want you to choose someone who will be your best match. You can’t beat our pricing! Not only are you getting a quality V.A. but you will also be working with the most competitive pricing on the market. We screen meticulously when hiring our assistants, so you are getting a quality V.A. with experience & specialized training. There are no time commitments or terms that you are locked into. If you want to cancel or take a break, you can do so at any point without worrying about fees.
Our process is quick & easy while ensuring you get matched with your perfect VA:
- Fill out client application
- Receive pricing & info to get started
- Schedule a call with us if you have questions
- Select your pricing package
- Receive interviews of Assistants
- Choose who you want to work with
- We get you connected & started!
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We also have an Etsy shop where we sell graphic templates for coaches for their team recognitions & anything else they may need to help run their business successfully. We are always adding in new content & will be adding in monthly posting guides to help run their Facebook groups as well, starting in the new year. We also offer one-time graphic creation if a client is only looking for help with leaderboards/graphics & not necessarily for someone to do their graphics for them each week.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.girlbosssolutions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlbosssolutions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlBossSolutions
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GirlBossSolutions
Image Credits
Cierra Larsen
Jen Kastleman Photography
