Cecile Jones

I would say the continual learning aspect of the business has been key to my success. Things have changed tremendously over my 20 years in this field. I can remember when I first started doing this, being an administrative professional, we used to file papers, and I remember when we were trying to do everything electronically, storing everything on drives and scanning documents. So many people just despised putting everything on the computer, worried about what if the computer crashed or what if this happened, and then they made backup drives for those things. Always being willing to evolve and always being willing to learn the new things, not despising the new things, is what has really helped me and continues to help me. The fact that I've always remained teachable and always remained sure that whatever new things are out there, I grab hold onto those things. Like right now, AI is a big thing, and I'm making sure to remain teachable in the area of AI, ChatGPT, Claw, and all of those things. Microsoft has Copilot, and I'm making sure I'm on top of those things. People want to be efficient, and when they hire me, they want to make sure they're getting their money's worth in staying organized and not crossing up businesses with other businesses. I make sure that I'm on top of myself and on top of the different things that are being offered that I know will probably help my client. AI so far has been the best thing that has happened to my business. It has given me so much free time because when you're focusing on how to do this and how to do that, you can put that into AI and they'll generate a form and make it so easy.

The best advice I've received is to stay consistent, because people like consistency. Never stop learning and never stop being teachable. That right there has always pushed me and has always been there to push me to keep going, just always staying consistent and teachable. Sometimes when we get in these roles, we feel like we have arrived or we know everything, but because I always remain consistent and remain teachable, that has caused me to just always continue on getting more and trying to generate more business. That has been my grounding point.

I would let her know to just be firm and let them know that your gift, which is your business, your gift is free, but your time is money. Remain firm in your pricing and remain firm in what you know. Sometimes people don't value what you know and try to discredit you and try to make it seem like what you're doing is not of value, but I mean, they reach out to you, so I would encourage you to stay firm. You have to be firm in your pricing and you have to be firm in what you know. When people come to me, they're really paying me for my time, not paying me for my work, because they can do it themselves, they just don't have the time. But they pay me for my time, and that's why I say you have to be firm in your pricing.

AI has been the biggest opportunity in my field right now. It has been the best thing that has happened to my business. It has given me so much free time because when you're focusing on how to do this and how to do that, you can put that into AI and they'll generate a form and make it so easy. I'm staying on top of AI tools like ChatGPT, Claw, and Microsoft Copilot because people want to be efficient. They want to make sure when they hire me that they're getting their money's worth in staying organized and not crossing up businesses with other businesses. As far as challenges, it can be overwhelming at times managing different clients. There can be moments of frustration, and really, the frustration doesn't come until people don't pay you.

Integrity and compassion are most important to me in my work. You most definitely have to have integrity and you have to be compassionate about what you're doing. If you don't have any compassion, you're just going to do it any kind of way. Without integrity, you don't care about the work or what you're producing or what you're putting out there. It's not worth it if you don't have these values, and you won't have repeat businesses without them. Consistency is also crucial to me. People like consistency, and staying consistent has been my grounding point throughout my career. I also value being teachable and always learning, because sometimes when we get in these roles, we feel like we have arrived or we know everything, but remaining teachable has caused me to always continue on and keep growing.