The story of AssistPro™ begins at a desk, in the corner of Jenna Spencer's little daughter’s bedroom. Jenna, our founder, started desperately searching for something to fulfill her passion as both a professional and a mom. She took a chance on an ad and became an assistant and fell in love with the role and process. From this passion, AssistPro was created and we now service hundreds of clients providing top-notch operational and administrative support.

        Can you tell our readers about your background?

         I had a very non-traditional upbringing. I was raised in a remote location, and I was homeschooled. I never finished college.I truly thought I wanted to climb the corporate ladder, so I went straight there after 7 years in the restaurant industry. After becoming a mom, I wanted to be more available for my children. I took a leap of faith and left the corporate world. I took a job as a virtual assistant to two business coaches. These business coaches led me to personal and professional development and helped me discover my love of entrepreneurship and my desire to become a business owner. I realized after 6 months that I was an entrepreneur and a visionary.

         What inspired you to start your business?

         I started my business because I wanted to help other women just like me work from home and be more available for their families.

         Where is your business based?

         My business is based in Greenville, SC.

         How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

         My mentors gave me 4 questions to answer.  Who am I going to serve? What is the service I am going to offer? How am I going to charge for my services? And how am I going to structure my payroll and operations?  I answered these 4 questions and this is how I started my company.

         After that, I then had to take a step with each of these areas. I asked for referrals from my current clients and got my first 3 clients. I talked to the first 3 women I knew that wanted to leave the corporate world and they joined me. I followed a very simple pricing structure to start, and I implemented my first (VERY simple) payroll and operations.

I also sought guidance every step of the way and used every mistake and misstep as a learning opportunity.

         What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

         We focused on finding GREAT people and delivering great work. We didn’t do any type of marketing for the first 7 years of business.  We just did a great job, which produced fans of our company.  We always went above and beyond. Our work spoke for itself, which opened up so many opportunities for us. 

         What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

         My biggest challenge was not knowing how to lead people effectively in the beginning. I overcame this by finding mentorship and support to help me become a better leader. I have used every obstacle and mistake as a learning opportunity.

          How do you stay focused?

         I stay focused by keeping the end in mind. I ask myself, “What is my end goal, and what am I doing today that gets me toward my end goal?” This  always brings me back into focus.

         How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

         We focus on our uniques. We have 3 main things that we feel set us apart from our competitors.

         What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

         Our most important marketing strategy is still referrals and word of mouth. We continue to do really great work. When we deliver results for our clients they send us referrals. This also keeps our sales close rate really high.

         What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

         A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Just identify your next step and keep going. Visualize your end goal and find something you can do today to take one step toward that goal. Bonus point if it’s a little scary. Also, surround yourself with people you want to be like.

         What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

         My favorite app is actually TikTok because I love to watch things that make me laugh. I have started “Friday Funnies” where I send TikToks to my friends and family to kick off their weekend. I love the Paleo Running Mama blog. She has a really great website for recipes.  I am currently giving Paleo a try and so far I have loved all of her recipes. They are delicious and you can’t even tell they don’t have gluten or dairy in them. My favorite book is Think and Grow Rich.  It’s a really great book. So many of my mentors have recommended it. My mom always told me that I can learn just as much from older and wiser people as I can from books. Find people who you want to be like; people who have skills that you admire. And then do what they tell you to do.

          What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

         My favorite business tool at the moment is Loom because I am a verbal processor and it gives me the ability to express myself and speak without having to type my words. As a high visionary it is extremely valuable to me because it allows me to get things done quickly, where writing slows things down for me.

         Who is your business role model? Why?

         My business role model is Mary Kay Ash because she completely changed the direct sales industry decades ago.  She gave women a way to become massively successful in a time when there was a major glass ceiling for women. She lived her life with her heart. She talked about P&Ls from the perspective of praise and love instead of profits and losses. She believed in people and she was a change maker for generations of women to come. And she did all this with makeup and pink cars, I mean what could be better than that? ;)

         How do you balance work and life?

         With work and life, I don’t think it’s ever truly a complete balance scale; one is always heavier than the other. I think scheduling is the key. I rely heavily on my assistant and my calendar. It helps me to be able to look at my calendar as a whole and see what things are work and what things are family, and make adjustments when necessary.

         What’s your favorite way to decompress?

         I love to watch funny TikToks and sitcoms. Friends and The Big Bang Theory are two of my all time favorites.

         What do you have planned for the next six months?

         Where do I start? On the business side of things, we are launching several  new courses and we are adding a new demographic to our services. I am also really excited to be starting a speaking and podcast tour. On the personal side, I am making some time for myself. I am looking forward to Spring Break with my kids, my husband and I are planning an anniversary trip, and I have a 6 week sabbatical planned this summer. Lots of wonderful things to come!

         How can our readers connect with you?

         I love to get emails and dms (jenna@assistpro.com). You can find me on FB, Instagram, and LinkedIn as well. Although I’m not super active on social…I’m getting there. :)