You Are Not Too Old to Become a Virtual Assistant

Ageism happens all the time. While we all know that discrimination based on age is illegal, most of us also know that it’s real. I came across it in my mid 40s...yeah, you heard me. 40s. And that isn’t even old, but it happened anyway. I was working in a Fortune 500 company, going on twenty years of employment, and went back to school to get my M.B.A when my boss told me that’s what I needed to get the promotion I had been wanting. (Apparently, two decades of service and experience wasn’t enough.) Then I got overlooked for the promotion anyway. They gave it to a woman half my age with no M.B.A. 

Many factors led to my walking out of that job, but this was one of them. At 44 years old, I quit and went out on my own for the first time. I began in network marketing and then later become a virtual assistant, running my own business from my home. 

Then, a handful of years later and closer to 50 years old, the housing market crashed. It nearly wiped out my business which focused on real estate agents. For a brief period of time -- and out of fear -- I started looking for traditional employment again. I did all the things you do when you start job searching: updating your resume, making calls, pumping connections, networking. I had several connections to a local college, including the mayor’s wife and several of the college’s board members, all contacting the college about a position that was available and recommending me. After submitting my resume and application, and all the calls on my behalf, I didn’t get a call back or an interview. I got a form letter in the mail. Through those same connections, I learned they hired a 23 year old who didn’t even have an Associates degree. I was apparently both too old and too qualified.   

This experience was a reminder of what I had previously left and a solid motivator to stay where I was -- working for myself. I just had to pivot my business. Guess what? I wasn’t too old for that. So real estate may have tanked because of forces beyond my control, but there were other niches I could choose. The skills I had were transferrable to other markets. What I now knew about running a small business was useful no matter who I was serving. I shifted gears. And, thank God.

Because in those next few years, inching my way closer to my mid-50s, the real magic happened. I was working with a business coach and she helped me make the full swing into developing a training program for women (the one I’m now known for) -- teaching them how to create successful virtual assistant businesses of their own. Since then, I’ve trained over 200 women through my Expert VA? and Virtual Expert? Success System and I’ve scaled the six-figure wall in revenue and continue to climb. 

I’m now mid-60s and the last ten years have been my best ten as a professional and business owner ... and I still feel like I’m only just beginning. So this idea of being too to do something different or something else or something new, to me, is a bunch of B.S. The saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” is seriously off-putting. The wisdom seasoned professionals bring with them to the table is invaluable. They’ve earned their stripes. We should be honoring those achievements and experiences and leveraging them. 

When people ask me “Are you ever too old to become a VA?” I always say, “Hell no.” I got my start at 44, I pivoted at 50, adjusted again mid-50s, and I’m still evolving now in my mid-60s. And if I can do it, you can, too. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It matters how old you feel you are. For me, you’re not too old if you still feel you have value and wisdom to share with the world. 

According to a 2018 article on Inc.com, a study of over 2 million people showed starting a business between the ages of 45 and 50 gives you the most success. So, don’t let your age hold you back. In fact, see your age as a benefit. You have more wisdom, patience, knowledge, experience, and professionalism. All of these are traits successful virtual assistants need. 

Here’s the other good news about business owners and entrepreneurs hiring VAs: They don’t care about age, color, size. They don’t care about your degree. They care about if you can do the work. If you can do the work you say you can do and meet deadlines, then you can do this regardless of age.

Ultimately the decision is up to you. If you want to know how to assess if this is right for you, I share my personal assessment (based on working with over 200 women) on my YouTube channel, Virtual Expert? Training. I have a whole video called “Am I Too Old to Become a Virtual Assistant?” that dives into this very topic. Check it out and decide for yourself. 

The thing I want you to walk away from is this: if you believe that you are too old, and you doubt what you can do, then you’ve stopped before you even tried. If someone else believes you are too old, that is theirs to carry, not yours. You know yourself, what you have to offer, and what you are capable of more than anyone else. So own it and don’t let anyone bully you into believing you have nothing more left to give. One, they don’t get to make that call for you. Two, when they get on in their own years, they won’t like it so much when people decide they are now incapable and unworthy simply because they’ve got more birthday candles on their cakes. I just did a podcast interview with a woman who is 80 years old and she said she’s just getting started. 

Wisdom comes with age. Wisdom is the beautiful gift from the years of experience we have been fortunate enough to have lived. Don’t let anyone diminish your dreams, your next steps, or your worth because they have a skewed perspective of what it means to graduate through life. The best truly is yet to come!

For more on becoming a VA, keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming book Leaving the Grind Behind: The Startup Guide for the Emerging Virtual Assistant. 

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Kathy Goughenour is an experienced and savvy business coach and trainer. From corporate marketing to Virtual Assistant to business coach and trainer

Since 2008 she's been training and coaching women to build successful Virtual Assistant home-based businesses through her program Virtual Expert? Training.