"I think being able to provide my client my utmost service and them being satisfied with it is a success for me," said Aira Domingo, a work in progress in the VA industry.
Throughout her life, Aira felt successful in continuously craving learning. She practiced not saying "no" to any task she received. Challenges improved her with time as she took it both as a passion and a need. For her, taking up new jobs is a good learning opportunity and a great way to upskill, explore untried niches, and give her praiseworthy work for her clients.
"I realized that the delight follows the struggle to learn something new in knowing that I can still improve myself and stepping outside my comfort zone will do me no harm," Aira expressed.
'God makes way': Aira's struggle for success
Before building a VA career at Ripple, Aira works on-site for a private firm in Taguig City full-time. She has already established her job and made enough money for herself. However, as the household breadwinner, Aira's take-home pay is never enough. She assists her siblings with their education and needs, as both of her parents have passed away.
Aira admitted that she lacked the necessary abilities to become a dynamic VA. Consequently, she was distressed for various reasons, including self-doubt and difficulty in her communication skills. She admitted that she could speak English but needed to be used to communicating with an increasingly diverse customer base.
Nonetheless, she discovered that Ripple offers training and assistance to its community. Resilience sustained Aira, and when it is increasingly recognized as one of the vital ingredients of success, it was fitting that she honored and recognized the strength she drew from her situation.
Without meaning to, she discovered the ideal way to balance her life. Neither job was particularly challenging, but she was never in one place long enough to feel stagnant, and the degree work ensured she was developing and looking forward.
Aira completed Ripple's program as one of the top five students, with perfect attendance. Her experience in the company thus far has been revealed to her. Ripple, as a company, helped her push to do more and be the best version of herself. She believed she was more confident to take up challenges today.
Learning from her experience, Aira said, "Don't give up. Everything will work out smoothly if it is meant for you and it is from God. God will make a way."
Defining success
Aira expanded her definition of success by practicing self-discipline and observing and engaging with other successful people. With this, she could open up her long-term prospects and build relationships with those around her, as these connections will help drive her future advancement, becoming important strands in her network.
Aira also confessed that those humble and still grounded people she encounters daily inspire her even though they are now flourishing. She believed that whatever one's mental vision of success is, one crucial element one must have for it to be valuable is humility, emphasizing that humility reminds us that, despite one's accomplishment, someone is always ahead.
Aira is a licensed psychometrician who earned her BS in Psychology degree at De La Salle University. She has an experience in freelance marketing and sales, forensic psychiatry, and human resources, leveraging mental health, art therapy, communication, research, ethics, numeracy, and problem-solving skills.
Aira is continuing her job and building her career in a private company. The variety has rekindled her interest and sense of fulfillment, provoking thought about the abstract concept of duality and maintaining a delicate balance but one that she believes she can continually strive for. If given a chance, she would like to work abroad, not because of financial matters but because "this is a good way for me to explore more in life."