Well hello there! I’m Angela Wills. Nice to meet you.
I am the owner and founder of the Laptop Lifestyle YOUniversity.
I’m also the blogger and owner at Chasing Vegan.
And I’m a partner of Juice PLUS+ and a proud Tower Garden owner.
I live the Laptop Lifestyle. I’ve earned my income solely online, and consistently grown that income to over six figures, since 2007! I earn a full-time living (and then some) on part-time hours! I LOVE what I do and I love to share HOW to do it with others.
This is me:
In 1999 I was a college student enrolled in a Chemical Engineering – Environmental course with plans to get a decent job and build a life for myself like most people do. I was 19 at the time and it’s not that I really loved the idea of being a chemist, but rather I picked it because I had to pick something chemistry seemed OK.
So I got my diploma and got a job at an environmental consulting firm, then with the Government at the Ministry of the Environment. They were jobs. They weren’t fulfilling. They paid decent but in all honesty I hated the idea of going to work every day for the rest of my life (or most of it).
In 2002 I had my son and my life goals changed drastically.
I had NO desire to continue to pursue any career because I just wanted to stay home and raise my son. I couldn’t imagine dropping him off every day to let someone spend precious 8-10 hours a day with MY baby!
So while I was on maternity I made a plan to start a business and never have to go back to work.It’s a long story so I won’t go into all the details but from 2002 until 2006 I tried to make many businesses work so I could achieve my ‘never work again’ goal. I started a bath and body business selling handmade soaps, bath bombs, etc. I started selling RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). I joined a networking marketing business that sold soy candles and tried to make a living from that. I also joined a jewellery company in hopes of good income from great wardrobe pieces.
Here my dad and I are wrapping up handmade soaps with shrink wrap packaging:
I Struggled…
Look I know you go to some sites and people tell you all about how awesome it is to be in business and how you just have to be determined and you’ll make it….Well let me tell you I WAS determined. I wanted it BAD. I knew it took work and I was willing to do it.Yet I got myself into MAJOR debt trying businesses that didn’t work. I used credit cards to fund businesses and didn’t understand how to manage my money and it got me nowhere. I knew I needed to change so I worked hard to figure out how to manage my money and I watched a whole lot of episodes of ‘Till Debt Do Us Part’.
In 2006 I was working an afternoon shift at a stinky automotive factory so that I could work without paying for daycare (my mom watched my son) until I figured out this working for myself thing.
My defining moment:
I remember so clearly desperately wanting a successful business. As I spent an evening at work cleaning out an extremely dirty and massive paint oven I cried (literally) to myself that I would NEVER do this again…Then I discovered Virtual Assistance.
I had learned a lot over those five years of trying businesses that didn’t work out. Much of the time I spent on those businesses I’d spent putting up websites, working on online marketing, learning how to collect leads online and more. I knew online systems and programs and I knew them WELL. I could build websites and write salespages. I could put up email opt-in forms and create HTML-based email newsletters.
My first real success…
Very shortly after launching my business I put out a special offer on a networking forum I belonged to called Mom Masterminds (no longer around). My offer was very low-priced. I told the ladies that I’d do 10 hours of work for them for only $50. I figured it would be a great way to get experience as a VA, to see how people who make money operate and to build up some referrals for more business.
Boy was I right! Within 24 hours I had 11 clients signed up to work with me. I had to cut it off at that for fear I’d never be able to do it all. So I took on 110 hours of client work, completed it and raised my rates. I kept about 50% of those clients and continued to gain more as my experience grew.
Within nine months of becoming a VA I quit my job to work from home.
I have been completely unemployable ever since!I no longer do VA work. There was a point where I became very overwhelmed and unhappy with working for so many people at an hourly rate. I decided to move to Website Design work at a set rate. Then I moved to group coaching and selling information products because I enjoy the freedom of not having to be at the beck and call of clients.
I’m in love with what I do.
Not just because I enjoy the work (I really do), but because I finally did gain that freedom to be with my son whenever he needed me.I got to attend all the school trips that I wanted without asking anyone’s permission.I get to volunteer at the school or go shopping if I want.I get to go throw the ball with my dog Shadow and give him the attention he deserves.I get to quit in the middle of the day if I don’t feel like working or if I have a headache (or if I just feel like taking a nap).Oh yea and I even get to break my leg and recover while my business keeps running without having to worry about getting myself back to a JOB so I could pay the mortgage on this house we bought last year. Had I been in a job I think I’d be in a much less comfortable position in terms of income because of a literal ‘bad break’!
Here’s me volunteering. Serious work, right? (I’m on the right)
These are the perks that make every single struggle worth it!
When I started my first business I had one child. Now I’m an engaged mom of two wonderful children.
Here’s something fun! I recorded this video way back in 2010 and it blows my mind that ALL of the content within it is still relevant TODAY, nine years later. I guess people are still trying to jump steps and get rich overnight like they were back then: