Cynthia discusses how she transitioned from a traditional office role, where she was assigned to support specific executives, to a model where she selectively chooses her clients, ensuring a good match for both parties.
She explains the origins of Cynassist, emphasizing her shift to a more personalized approach in providing executive support.
She asserts that successful delegation involves recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses and leveraging team members to handle tasks that do not align with one's core competencies.
Cynthia visualizes building a team of passionate virtual assistants and continuing to support entrepreneurs, especially “mompreneurs,” in balancing their professional and personal lives.
Business Pillar: Operations
Episode Link: unleashing-your-power-through-delegation
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Transcription:
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Cynthia Dixon Teaser 00:00
And because I believed in the power of service, I took my invaluable experience of providing support to top executives and gave life to Cynassist.
It's half of my name and then me assisting. That's how I came up with the name. This time on my terms and for my choosing.
Instead of walking into the office and being told who I was going to support, I now interview my clients to see if they are a match for me and vice versa.
Intro 00:28
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and formerly the CEO Chat Podcast.
So doing something a little bit different as we ease into the fall from the summer and everybody's traveling a lot more. Life is obviously a lot different than it has been in the last four years, definitely since I started this let alone the last two years or so.
But I had a podcast called the CEO Chat Podcast, which is a lot more of a long form podcast. I didn't really reach the 1400 plus episodes that we did with the I AM CEO Podcast.
So there's a lot more long flowing, a lot more conversational, but might be dusting off the CEO Chat Podcast and bringing that back out.
So with that being said, while considering that, what I wanted to do is go through some of the interviews that I had that were some of my favorites and share those.
It's not gonna obviously be the full entire interview. We're gonna have links in the show notes so that you can go and listen to the full interview.
But I wanted to do some snippets that you can get. You're gonna hear, of course the visibility, either the resources or the connections in each of these different snippets.
So it's gonna be one of those things that's really gonna help you to hopefully learn more about the guest that's on the show, what they do, how they do, why they do it, but also get that opportunity to really learn about some resources that can make you more effective and efficient.
So sit back and enjoy this special throwback CEO chat episode.
Gresham Harkless 01:54
One of the first questions that I typically have is to kind of tell us a little bit about you, your background, and what led you to start your business.
Cynthia Dixon 02:04
Okay. Well, I've been an executive assistant for over fourteen plus years where I began as an admin at the local emergency room, while attending Langston University in Oklahoma.
Since then, I've managed front desk, became an office manager, and even supported the president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation here in DC, their board of directors from all across the US, their entire foundation staff, and their affiliates.
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I took pride in it mostly because I wasn't a Latina, assisting all the powerful Latino business owners and dreamed one day that I would be in their shoes.
But it wasn't until I worked for Microsoft, where I truly found my passion for supporting top executives and their teams.
I provided support, up to six VPs at a time, some local, bicoastal, and abroad from our DC office or from my home office.
My manager was local, but the rest of the VPs I supported were in Seattle. I assisted with internal and external meetings, managed calendars, emails, catering, training, travel logistics.
You name it, I did it. I was the the ghost person, even if I didn't support their their team. Once our group transitioned out of Microsoft and into another organization, I became the executive assistant/facilities manager/office manager.
All at one time. I had the same responsibilities plus a little bit more on my plate. I coordinated our move, manage relationships with vendors, property managers, event planning, budget planning.
I maintained a working relationship between the service vendor and the organization itself. I was fully invested.
I even worked the day before, I was due to give birth to my son to make sure the office was prepared for my absence.
They were so prepared that a month later after the birth of my son, I was informed that my assistance was no longer needed as they were moving to a smaller office.
I was devastated, heartbroken, and felt like my life crumbled to pieces. But because I'm a faithful person, I knew God did not make mistakes with my life, so I stood still.
God knew I needed to obtain more flexibility as a new mother, gain family time, because it's important to me and be in charge of my own destiny.
Not to mention the commute killed my soul. I think I commuted about an hour and a half. And because I believed in the power of service, I took my invaluable experience of providing support to top executives and gave life to Cynassist.
It's half of my name and then me assisting. That's how I came up with the name. This time on my terms and for my choosing, instead of walking into the office and being told who I was going to support, I now interview my clients to see if they are a match for me and vice versa.
If they don't align with my legacy or who I am as a person, I won't assist them. I will kindly decline because I wanna give them a hundred and ten percent of my support, and I can't if the service I provide does not interest me.
Gresham Harkless 05:33
Okay. Well, I'm definitely of course, I'm sorry to hear about that. Could you tell us a little bit more about what you do, through Cynassist?
What kind of company is and what kind of products and services you provide?
Cynthia Dixon 05:46
Sure. Cynassist is a virtual assistant company that virtually assists, small to midsize businesses, life and business coaches, holistic and natural healers as they ascend in their success.
My clients are pretty much established, so I can assist them. Our services include, but not limited to administrative support, social media management, website management, project management, and even event planning.
I even create marketing flyers for some of my clients. We attack your mundane task, help increase your productivity, and decrease your stress over poor time management by helping you stay on task, organize the different task and responsibilities in your business.
We even assist in balancing your life. I definitely take pride in that. We can help you find your rhythm.
You can visit our website to learn more about Cynassist at www.cynassist.com. You can schedule your needs assessment, consultation at info at cynassist.com, or call us directly at 571 353 1913.
We also have a referral program where anyone can receive a hundred dollars for each new client that you refer to us who uses our services. If you're a client of mine, then you'll receive an additional ten percent off your next invoice.
Gresham Harkless 07:17
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Do you have, like, maybe a success story that you've had with one of your clients or something you can share with us?
Cynthia Dixon 07:25
Sure. I'm actually proud to say that I have many. I run into those clients that one, they don't know how to use an assistant, don't know how to hand over task.
So I've been a stress believer and,psychiatrist, all of those things in one. But one in particular, a client of mine recently launched a new business venture in addition to her full job and the one she owned with her husband.
To say the least, her hands were full, was an understatement. She reached out to me to secure a venue for her upcoming event, prepare media kits, and craft correspondence to her invited guests, speakers, and guests, follow-up with her guests.
She was stressed out at the time, but glad to say after assisting her, she was able to excel, which ultimately led to a successful event.
Gresham Harkless 08:25
That's awesome. That's awesome. How would you define a virtual assistant? And then also too, for those people that might not they might need to or feel like they need to have somebody, like, that's directly there that they can talk through face to face.
How do you feel, being a what are the pros and cons of being a working assistant, and how can you maybe recreate that type of environment?
Cynthia Dixon 08:50
Well okay. Well, a virtual assistant, is a skilled independent contractor who provides administrative technical or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office.
They're your off-site administrative professional. I like to refer to myself as a trusted silent business partner who you can confide in your go to person for your every need, whether it's business or personal. Why is it you said why is it important for business owners?
Gresham Harkless 09:21
Or the benefits.
Cynthia Dixon 09:22
The benefits there's a lot of benefits. Well, normally, when you are, hiring a virtual assist or you have someone in your office, you don't have to provide office space.
You don't have to provide any, taxes, insurance, or benefits. They have to do it themselves. They take it upon themselves. They budget themselves to do that.
So you're not creating space. You're not paying into someone's 401 K, and you're not paying taxes. Then all of that falls back onto the virtual assistant themselves.
Gresham Harkless 10:09
That makes sense. That makes sense. What do you think how would you define, I guess, what delegation is, and why do you think that it's important for business owners?
Cynthia Dixon 10:19
To me, delegation is the assignment of responsibility to another person, for the purpose of carrying out specific job related activities.
It's a mind shift. I think it's a mind shift with that leader of a decision of making authority from one organization level to another.
As a client of mine said in the testimony, being a boss meant working smarter, not harder. So when you can focus on providing the service because as entrepreneurs, I think we have all these promises and we have a vision for ourselves or our vision.
And everybody wants to focus on their client, and we wanna give them this service. But as we grow and grow, if you're doing everything, how that clear you're not clear anymore.
You're missing appointments. You have an unsatisfied client because you're making unkept promises.
I just talked to that person five minutes ago. They said they were gonna send the email, but I haven't received that email.
Gresham Harkless 11:36
Right.
Cynthia Dixon 11:36
When all you have to do is send it to your admin, or someone in your team member and just say, hey. Can you handle this for me? It's being I think it's being honest with who you are and, like you said, your weaknesses.
Knowing what your weaknesses is it's not calling you a weak person, but it's calling you a smarter entrepreneur.
Gresham Harkless 11:55
Right. Right. And, yeah, I just put that on my phone. We're smart, not hard. Because it's so important for me to be like, self aware and know where my strengths and weaknesses are and what things can I help?
And can I be a better leader in bringing on somebody else so that it's a win win for everybody or win win for your client as well too? So I think it's huge, to be able to take the steps to do that.
Cynthia Dixon 12:21
I think you wanna streamline your workload so you can keep you and your team from being burnt out. You have to minimize the crisis atmosphere because if something is not being done, then everybody's up in a crisis because guess what?
Gresham Harkless 12:36
Mhmm.
Cynthia Dixon 12:36
You haven't met your deadline.
Gresham Harkless 12:38
Right.
Cynthia Dixon 12:39
You'll get things done when you delegate. You'll meet your deadlines. You'll reduce the distraction by maximizing your time.
Your clients will be happy. That's what it's all about, your clients and the service you provide. And you can't put a price on satisfied clients.
You have to look at for me I always tell a client, you have to look at at a virtual assistant or delegating your task. You have to look at it as an investment.
Gresham Harkless 13:04
Right. That makes sense. What advice would you give? And it could be around hiring a virtual assistant or being able to delegate tasks.
But what advice would you give to entrepreneurs and business owners whether they're seasoned or maybe just getting started?
Cynthia Dixon 13:20
I would say do an analysis of your business activities over the course of the day, if not the entire week.
Write down your mundane tasks that are taking up your time and delegate them, ruling nothing out.
You'd be surprised what a virtual assistant can do. If you don't ask the question or you just be like, I didn't get that from her conversation, so I'm not gonna ask.
Don't do that because the only thing you're doing is hindering yourself. But, the best part is I think, you just said it. Know who you're hiring. You have to have a system in place, but make sure your assistant knows your language and is invested in what you do and the service you provide.
You have to lay out clearly what needs to be done. The instruction is the key. So in the beginning, you may do step by step instruction, on what needs to be done and how you do it because that's what it's about. I'm gonna entrust you with my business. This is your baby.
I'm a trust you with my business. This is how I do it. If they wanna offer some feedback because they've been in the field long enough, then be open to that.
You have to let them know and make them feel comfortable like they are part of the team. When you clearly lay out the needs that we've done you make and then and make sure you over communicate, you'll greatly improve their productivity, but also increase your productivity.
Gresham Harkless 14:49
And for you as a business owner, we're focusing on business owners being very aware of who they are and where they want to go. Where do you see, your business going in the next, let's say, five to ten years?
Cynthia Dixon 15:05
I wanna create a team of virtual assistants who are passionate about being business owners and assisting their journey, as they import they pour their expertise into another.
I'm a firm believer in reaching back to pull somebody up else up with me. So I wanna invest in that. I wanna continue to train entrepreneurs how to maximize their time and even encourage mompreneurs that it is possible and give them the tools to succeed.
I say that because I honestly I used to live my life a busy life. And when I became a mother, it was how am I gonna be a wife, a mother, and be there for my kids? That was important to me.
Outro 15:56
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and formerly the CEO Chat Podcast, which we might be dusting off and bring it back that we, the sunset.
So I hope you enjoy that episode. Like I mentioned, the goal is really just to give you some visibility around the guests, where it is around, what it is that they do, and how they do it, and what makes it unique, or get some resources that can help you level up within your business or within your organization as an enterprising individual that you are.
And then, of course, you might even get a different perspective on what it means to be a CEO and have that opportunity to connect with the person.
So I hope you enjoyed that episode. You can, of course, go to CEOChat.co to hear more of that episode.
Also, go to the show notes to actually hear the see the direct link to that episode. But I think it's something phenomenal that we have the opportunity to take the snippets from the longer form podcast and get some really valuable information that can help us love our organizations and our businesses.
So definitely take care, and look forward to talking to you soon.
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