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From New Virtual Assistant to Home Care VA to Manager of Operations: Michelle’s VA Journey (Chapter I)
- Michelle Dimen
- Aug 28
- 5 min read
Written by Michelle Dimen, Manager of Operations & Strategic Alliance, OLIVIA Professional Solutions
Disclaimer: This blog turned out to be a little longer than expected, so it’s now a two-part series. I didn’t plan to write this much, but once I started, the story just flowed. Hopefully, it inspires readers, especially fellow virtual assistants, to reflect on their own journey and growth.
Chapter I shares my humble beginnings and the first half of my story alongside our CEO, Ms. Kat. It’s meant to inspire home care virtual assistants to find purpose in their work, no matter how unfamiliar or challenging it may seem in the beginning.
Chapter II continues with the second half of my journey, how life has shaped me through both challenges and growth, and a glimpse into what’s next as I step into a new season of leadership and purpose.
Chapter I
2021: The Year Everything Changed
I was introduced to the world of virtual work in 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic, when most of us were just trying to survive. The world outside didn’t feel safe anymore, so I started searching for a different career path.
I graduated with a Nursing Degree from Manila Doctors College of Nursing back in 2012. I had every intention of becoming a licensed Registered Nurse (RN), but a legal document issue kept me from taking the national licensure exam. It took years and a lot of money to fix the document I needed. The time it was finally resolved, I had already moved on to other things.
I tried a lot of different jobs. From a heavy equipment machinery sales associate, to an executive assistant of a corporate CEO, to insurance sales, to becoming an office, production, and music label manager. Music has always been a part of me. I was able to start my very own band called Southern Lights and we had the chance to become a recording and live-performing group.
After a decade of trying many things, there was still a part of me that wanted to make use of my nursing background. I studied hard for four years and gave my best in both academics and clinicals. So I asked myself, how could I still use what I learned?
My Unexpected Start as a Home Care Virtual Assistant
One day, my twin sister (yes, we’re identical, people mix us up all the time!) sent me a job post she saw on Facebook. It was shared by one of her past colleagues who, at the time, happened to be working with Ms. Kat, our CEO. Back then, virtual work was booming. The world was still on pause due to the pandemic, and people were exploring new ways to earn from home. From also being a gamer at the time, I thought to myself that I already had the equipment, so I didn’t think twice about applying.
What I didn’t know was that I’d be interviewed by Ms. Kat herself, the CEO and Founder of Nest & Care, and now also the visionary behind OLIVIA Professional Solutions.
It was my first-ever virtual interview. I had no idea what to expect, what to say, and I had to speak English all throughout. But I showed up, did my best, and tried to speak from the heart. I definitely stumbled through a few words, but Ms. Kat was gracious and focused on my experiences and who I was as a person. She made the conversation feel human.
At one point in the interview, she asked if I was ready to work with Nest & Care. Without hesitation, I said, “YES! This is my time!”
My now-fiancé, who was sitting nearby at the time, laughed about that moment. He says I sounded overly and unknowingly confident, like I had already claimed the job before getting it. But hey, maybe that’s what it took.
Not long after, I received an email. Ms. Kat wanted me to start working with her home care company. And just like that, my VA journey began.
Thrown Into the Deep End: Home Care Scheduling, Intake Coordination, Digital Marketing, and Virtual Team Management, a Hybrid VA
At first, I didn’t really know what I was getting into. The job description made it look doable, but I didn’t have any background in home care or scheduling. Still, Ms. Kat trusted me and gave me space to learn.
On my first day, I was taught a little bit about how things work, went through the services, and was given a script to help with service intake phone calls. That was it.
So I figured it out. Instead of stressing over what I didn’t know, I focused on what I could do. I started creating a tracker to guide myself during service intake calls. I organized notes, built a scheduling tracker, and slowly learned how to manage home care calls and intake properly. My sales experience helped a bit, but this was something entirely different.
Being a home care scheduler is no joke. You handle caregiver callouts, talk to clients, manage team coordination, and sometimes deal with real-time crises. You have to learn clients’ needs, caregivers’ personalities and skills, and match them, even without ever seeing or meeting them in person.
My background in nursing helped me understand people’s needs better, but I had to learn everything else from scratch, as I didn't have any experience in home care at all. The industry was very new to me.
When I started with Nest & Care, we didn’t have the kind of support Olivia offers now. I had Ms. Kat, who was very busy running the company, and Aila, another VA I’ll forever be grateful for. She showed me the ropes even though we were both figuring things out as we went. I think she was 5 months ahead of me at the time.
There were hard days, but we kept showing up. And soon, I found myself mastering the scheduler role in no time. I began handling missed calls, resolving crises, and running scheduling operations independently. Ms. Kat even trusted me with more complex scheduler responsibilities.
Then just like that, Aila was recalled by her previous employer and had to return to her old job. It was bittersweet losing someone who had guided me in my early days, but I knew it wasn’t the end. I told myself, “It’s time to step up.” At that point, I was just trying to keep my head above water, juggling the challenges that came with scheduling, intake, and client coordination. Then Ms. Kat made the decision to further grow our virtual team.
Despite my challenges, I was ready to help. I assisted in sourcing, screening, and even training our new VAs. Without realizing it, I was stepping into a leadership role. There wasn’t an official title or promotion, but I found myself naturally guiding others and offering the kind of support I once needed. In just 2-3 weeks, I was able to help train our new set of home care VAs.
Soon, our team grew to include three new VA schedulers, a VA recruiter, a VA bookkeeper, and myslef, including our office team with our care coordinator, office admin, and CEO. Around the same time, I was entrusted with new responsibilities, focusing more on inside sales and digital marketing. With a small but mighty team of six virtual assistants and three in-house office staff, we were able to run Nest & Care using a hybrid staff setup. It was a big step forward, and despite all the growing pains, we made it work together.
Looking back, I never imagined a simple Facebook job post would lead to such purpose and growth. It wasn’t always easy, but every step taught me something valuable. Stay tuned for Chapter II, where I share how life continued to shape me and what stepping into leadership from Nest & Care into OLIVIA truly means.
👉 Ready to start your own journey just like Michelle as a Home Care Virtual Assistant?
Visit our website today to apply: www.oliviapros.ph
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