01/04/2026
"๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐โฆ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐.
So if weโre going to trade it at all...
๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .
Behind the desk and behind your system is a person.
It's someone quietly giving hours of their lifeโฆ
to build something that isnโt even theirs.
Pay them in a way that when they get home...
they get to hold their child...
they get to sit with their family...
and be thankful for the time they get to have...
Let the hours they gave up
feel like they were worth something...
After all, they, too have a life theyโre trying to build
on their own ~ they're future.
๐๐จ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐....
Justโฆ... ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ.
Make it ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐."
๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ.
Hindi sa office uy haha. Hindi rin sa isang meeting.. dito lang. Just somewhere in between conversationsโฆ where people usually keep things surface-level.
But she didnโt.
She started opening up... syempre slow at first nang biglang all at once na parang she's been holding everything for so long. Kay haba2 ng message need ng limang scroll para mabasa mo lahat. haha.
Here's the story.
She told me how she works as a VAโฆ
and how sheโs been giving everything she can.
Sobrang dami ng tasks tapos rate niya $4.50/hr.
She's the admin, the bookkeeper, the HR, the customer service, she's everyone for everything.
Then one day she gathered the courage to ask for a small increase...
parang sinasabi niyang I just want to breathe a little from my bills and workload sana maging reasonable naman kayo if pwede.
Then the client said:
โIf youโre not happyโฆ you can look somewhere else.โ
Grabe wala man lang konsiderasyon.. talagang pinaparamdam sa kanya na you're replaceable anytime.
Ang sabi ko theyโre using the fact that you have no choice as leverage and the only way to balance thatโฆ is to start using their business as leverage too.
Hindi ako nagdalawang isip sabihin na she should start looking for clients now... but donโt let go just yet.
Use this time to build your way out kasi mabuti na yung may option ka.
Because whether they admit it or notโฆ youโre already holding a big part of their operations together. And the moment you step back, thatโs when theyโll feel the weight of everything youโve been carrying.
Comfortable sila kasi you're holding everything in place. Napaka critical ng tasks na binibigay nila sayo na normally dapat distributed to a teamโฆ
but they donโt feel the need to hire
because they have you.
If thatโs the level they operate on, meet them there.
She's starting to calm down and realize a lot of things during our short convo kahit pudpud na daliri ko kakareply.
Sabi ko sa kanya...
You think you donโt have leverage?
Youโre literally the reason their business is running. Thatโs your power. If you walk away, sure... they can find someone else.
But itโs never that simple.
Theyโd have to go through the whole cycle again...
hiring, filtering, training, explaining everything from scratchโฆ
trial, errors, re-training, maybe even rehiring.
But una palang they already skipped that part di ba? Kaya nga binigay nila lahat sayo eh...
Which means they trust that you understand the system.
They rely on you to keep things moving.
Theyโre comfortable because you are handling it.
And maybeโjust maybeโ
they havenโt bothered finding someone else
because itโs easier to keep youโฆ
even if it means stretching you thin.
Pina-imagine ko talaga sa kanya sabi ko...
Have you ever thought... if you step back and all of that disappears overnight because you decided to drop everything. What kind of chaos lands on their table?
Isnโt that weight you carryโฆ
more valuable than how theyโre treating you right now?
I told her honestly... I canโt give advice beyond that.
I canโt just tell her to quit.
Itโs easy for me to say thatโฆ Iโm not the one in her situation.
So instead, I told herโyou need a buffer.
Stay for now, but start finding other clients on the side kashi hindi naman yan mangyayari overnight.
Build mo exit mo pero make sure you're still standing. Wag kang gagapang.
It's unfair but I canโt just tell her โlet goโ or โleave.โ
That sounds goodโฆ but itโs not real life.
And I wouldnโt be helping her
if all I gave was advice that sounds strong but leaves her with nothing to hold on to.
Sheโs at home,
juggling work with a child in her arms,
switching between deadlines and diapersโฆ
trying to hold everything together while quietly falling apart.
You could feel it โ
like something inside her was about to break.
And the crazy part?
We were strangers kaya sabi ko tutulungan kita maghanap, mag apply at mag reach out hanggang mahire ka hindi ko pina promise agad-agad but at least you're not doing it alone.
This convo talaga made me realize something and I want to share with everyone and especially to you who's reading this.
Kaya makinig ka!
๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐โฆ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐.
So if weโre going to trade it at all...
๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .
Itong part nato eenglishin ko para sa mga clients and businesses and agencies diyan operating like this.
Behind the desk and behind your system is a person.
It's someone quietly giving hours of their lifeโฆ
to build something that isnโt even theirs.
I just hope you see them. ๐๐ป
Pay them in a way that lets them go home...
hold their child, sit with their family,
and finally exhaleโฆ
โMaybe life isnโt that heavy after all.โ
Let the hours they gave up
feel like they were worth something...
They have a life theyโre trying to build
outside that small corner of work.
๐๐จ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐.
Justโฆ
๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ.
Make it ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐.
