July 18, 2025

Make Money by Reclaiming Your Time | Kristen Graham

Make Money by Reclaiming Your Time | Kristen Graham
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Kirsten Graham is a virtual assistant (VA) and outsourcing expert who helps business owners reclaim their time, boost productivity, and scale smart—primarily through leveraging overseas talent. With a background in real estate, mortgages, and entrepreneurship, Kirsten is passionate about teaching entrepreneurs and professionals how to delegate low-value tasks, streamline their operations, and focus on high-impact activities. As co-founder of Six Figure Business Coaching, she helps her clients move from invisibility to visibility through video marketing, podcast guesting, and skilled virtual support.

On this episode we talk about:

  • Kirsten’s first dollar earned through babysitting and her early journey into entrepreneurship

  • Moving from real estate and mortgage to running a business that connects clients with remote talent worldwide

  • Why hiring VAs for $6–$8 an hour can transform a business’s profitability and owner’s freedom

  • The importance of hiring for very specific tasks rather than seeking a “unicorn” VA who does everything

  • How treating remote team members with respect, paid time off, and long-term opportunities leads to retention and success

  • The step-by-step model her company uses: interviewing, hiring, vetting, and training VAs for real estate, coaches, and service businesses

  • Business models in the VA/outsource space: agency-style vs. direct-hire, margin differences, scalability, and how to choose a right-fit path

  • The power of niching down (e.g., offering HighLevel-trained VAs or bookkeeping-specific VAs) and how to grow from a narrow offer

  • Integrating AI: how today’s VAs must be AI-fluent and how business owners can multiply efficiency by combining VAs and automation

  • Why “boring” service businesses—like bookkeeping, HVAC, plumbing—are among the most reliable, profitable, and least likely to be automated by AI

  • Buying, not just starting, a business: opportunities in acquiring already-running companies and upgrading them through outsourcing and systems

Top 3 Takeaways

  1. Outsource for Freedom and Profit: Move all $6–$8/hour tasks off your plate; focus on what grows your business, not what just keeps it running.

  2. Niche, Train, and Systematize: Specialize your offer (e.g., marketing VAs, bookkeeping VAs, software-specific VAs) and use robust SOPs and ongoing training for client satisfaction and scale.

  3. Combine Talent, AI, and Acquisition: The biggest wins come from integrating skilled remote talent with AI-powered automations—whether you’re starting from scratch or buying a business to modernize.

Notable Quotes

  • “If you’re doing a $6 an hour task, you’re doing it wrong. You should have someone else doing those tasks for you.”

  • “It’s easier to hire someone and keep them for years than to constantly replace people. Treat your VAs well—they’re your team.”

  • “Boring, unsexy businesses—like HVAC, bookkeeping, auto repair—are not going to be replaced by AI anytime soon, but they’re always going to be profitable and needed.”

Connect with Kirsten Graham:

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