Virtual Friday & Spoonie Biz Club

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Virtual Friday & Spoonie Biz Club

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Supporting small business owners with: Email/Diary management - Community management - Website design & maintenance - Canva design - Document creation & Proofreading- Database setup & maintenance - Lifestyle management and more as a UK Virtual Assistant

02/09/2026

Most of us don’t make big changes straight away.
We notice things first.

A bit of dread before opening something.
Putting off a task longer than usual.
Feeling more exhausted by one client or piece of work than anything else.

Individually, it’s easy to brush those off.

Explain them away.
Tell yourself it’s just a busy week, or that it’ll pass.

But those patterns usually mean something.
Not always that something has to stop completely…

But that something needs to change.

The earlier you notice it,
The easier it is to adjust.

27/08/2026

Women’s Equality Day is a reminder of how far we’ve come…
But also a reminder that equality isn’t just about having a seat at the table.
It’s about feeling like you’re allowed to take up space when you get there.
I think confidence is something a lot of women are expected to already have.
But for many of us, it’s something we build over time.
It comes from trying things before we feel ready.
Using our voice even when we’re nervous.
Learning to trust our own decisions.
And realising we don’t need permission to pursue the things that matter to us.
One thing I’ve been especially grateful for is the women I’ve met who have chosen collaboration over competition.
The women who share advice.
Celebrate your wins.
Open doors.
Recommend you.
And remind you that someone else succeeding doesn’t take anything away from your own success. 💜
Equality isn’t just about what happens at the biggest moments.
It’s also built through the everyday choices we make, who we support, who we listen to, and who we make space for.
So today is a chance to celebrate the women around us and continue creating spaces where more women feel able to show up as themselves.
This is something I think about a lot when building communities too.
The strongest spaces aren’t built on competition. They’re built on people sharing knowledge, celebrating each other’s wins, and recognising that someone else’s success doesn’t take anything away from your own.
It’s a big part of why I created Spoonie Biz Club. 💜

20/08/2026

“Just drink more water and get an early night.”
Thanks, really cracked it there.
I’ve lost count of the advice I’ve been given that assumes a body works the same way every day…”Rise at 5am and journal, eat chia seeds, time block your whole calendar, push through the dip, that’s just discipline…Have you tried a cold shower?”
Someone once told me to “just have a coffee’ to push through a flare like it was a Monday slump, not my nervous system pulling the emergency brake.
Another swore by ‘getting up before your brain does’, still not sure what that means when some days my brain never clocks on.
Best one yet was “eat the frog first thing,” when some mornings the frog isn’t even getting dressed, and some mornings the frog is cancelled entirely, no amount of enthusiasm changing that.
None of this advice is wrong as such, it’s just built for one kind of body having one kind of day, forever, on loop.
Mine doesn’t work like that, a lot of ours don’t.
So instead of cold showers and 5am starts, I plan around capacity, not clocks, and I’ve yet to regret letting a frog off the hook.
What’s the most spectacularly unhelpful productivity advice you’ve ever been given?

11/08/2026

A lot of clients think they’re paying for admin.
What they actually want is strategy with a nice attitude.
They say they need someone to “just manage a few bits.”

What they mean is:
Notice what I’ve missed
Spot the pattern
Fix the chaos
Hold the context
Make decisions easier
Anticipate problems
Create structure
Communicate clearly
and ideally do it so smoothly I forget any of that was work
That is not “just admin.”
That is thinking.
That is judgement.
That is experience.
That is someone using their brain so your business doesn’t fall apart in avoidable ways.
And this is where people massively undervalue support roles.
Because if the work looks calm, they assume it was simple.
If something didn’t become a problem, they don’t see the skill it took to prevent it.
A good VA, OBM, support worker, advisor, right-hand person, whatever title you use, is not just doing tasks.
They are reducing friction.
Reducing decisions.
Reducing the amount of chaos that reaches you.
Some clients think they’re buying output.
The best clients understand they’re buying thinking.
That’s a very different level of value.

03/08/2026

I’ve seen a lot of people say:
“I wish I’d done it sooner.”

Which I completely understand why.

When something changes your life for the better, it’s natural to look back and wonder what might have happened if you’d made that choice years earlier.

But I’ve realised something recently.
I don’t actually wish I had done it sooner.
Because the person I was then wasn’t the person I am now. that matters.
Before I was ready to make this decision, I needed to go through the things I went through.
I needed to try other approaches.
I needed to learn what worked and what didn’t.
I needed to build trust in myself.
I needed to understand what I was capable of.
There were things I had to put in place that I didn’t even realise at the time would become important later.
The version of me who wasn’t ready wasn’t failing.

She was collecting information.
She was learning.
She was adapting.
She was building the foundation that would eventually make this possible.

I think we are often too quick to judge our past selves for not making decisions sooner.

But we forget they were making choices with the knowledge, experience and capacity they had at that moment.
The timing wasn’t a delay, it was part of the process, I’m grateful for that.

I have zero regrets about not doing it sooner, because I know the truth:
I wasn’t ready then, and that’s okay 💜

28/07/2026

I think there’s a difference between needing a break from your business… and needing your business to change.
And sometimes it’s really hard to tell which one it is.
Because when you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, or completely fed up, the first thought can be:
“Maybe I just don’t want to do this anymore.”
But sometimes, you don’t want to quit.
You’re just tired.
You might need:
🌱 Time away to recover
⏳ Less on your plate for a while
🧩 More support or better systems
🛑 A chance to stop
But sometimes that feeling is also trying to tell you something.
Maybe the way you’re working doesn’t fit anymore.
Maybe:
💬 A client relationship is draining you
💰 Your pricing no longer makes sense
📋 Your offers have changed
🗓️ Your working pattern needs adjusting
🤝 Your boundaries need strengthening
Not every difficult period means you’ve built the wrong business.
But not every difficult period is something you should just push through either.
Sometimes the answer is rest.
Sometimes the answer is change.
And sometimes you need to give yourself enough space to work out which one it is.
How do you tell the difference between needing rest and needing a rethink?

20/07/2026

We spend a lot of time encouraging people to reach out.
But I don’t think we talk enough about one of the hardest parts.
It’s not always about finding the words.
It’s wondering what the other person’s reaction will be.
Will they think I’m weak?
Will they say, “I told you so?”
Will they believe me?
Will they think I’m overreacting?
Will they see me differently afterwards?
Or maybe it’s something else.
“If I tell my friend about the argument, they’ll never look at my partner the same way.”
“What if they think I can’t cope?”
“What if they tell me I have to leave... and I’m just not ready?”
“What if they start treating me differently?”
Sometimes we’re not just carrying the thing that’s happened.
We’re carrying the fear of what sharing it might change.
And the truth is, not everyone is a safe person to talk to.
That’s one of the reasons campaigns like Talk to Us Month led by Samaritans, matter.
Sometimes we don’t need someone to fix the problem.
Sometimes we just need to say it out loud.
To untangle the thoughts going around in our head.
To make sense of how we’re feeling.
To feel heard without worrying about judgement, pressure, or what someone else might think.
And if talking to someone you know doesn’t feel comfortable, that’s okay too.
Sometimes speaking to someone outside your own circle can feel like the safest first step.
You don’t have to know what happens next.
You don’t have to have a plan.
You don’t even have to know exactly what you need.

💚 You are not a burden.
💬 Your feelings matter.
🤝 You deserve to be heard and supported.
📞 There is always somewhere to turn.

15/07/2026

I honestly think supporting disabled founders makes you a better VA.
Not because it’s a “nice” niche.
And not because disabled business owners need hand-holding.
But because it forces you to think differently about support.
A lot of disabled founders aren’t struggling with motivation.
They’re managing:
⚡ Energy fluctuations
🩹 Chronic illness or pain
🧠 Executive function challenges
🏥 Appointments and treatment
🔊 Sensory overwhelm
💬 The pressure to constantly prove they’re capable
Supporting someone around that requires better systems.
Clearer communication.
Less assumption.
More flexibility.
Better documentation.
Thoughtful planning instead of constant urgency.
And honestly?
Those things improve support for everyone.
I think that’s the bit people miss about accessibility.
It’s rarely about “doing less”.
Usually, it’s about designing things better.
Creating systems that still work on someone’s lower-capacity days.
Building processes that don’t rely on perfect memory, energy, or consistency.
That isn’t lowering standards.
If anything, it usually creates stronger, more sustainable ways of working.
And I don’t think we talk about that enough in the VA world.
What’s a system or adjustment you originally made/used for accessibility… that you’d now never go back from?

06/07/2026

I was talking to someone recently who wants to go self-employed, and it reminded me how much people see the visible parts of business.
The website.
The branding.
The flexibility.
The clients.
What people don’t picture is everything quietly holding it together behind the scenes:
📄 Contracts
🔒 GDPR and ICO registration
🧾 Tax returns
🛡️ Insurance
📂 Systems and processes
None of it is glamorous.
But a lot of self-employment is responsibility.
Not just doing the work, but creating the structure around it so the business can actually function long term.
I think that’s why running a business can feel surprisingly heavy at times.
Even when things are going well, there’s a constant layer of things to maintain, manage, remember, renew, organise, or think ahead about.
The visible side is often the smallest part.
Most of the work happens in the background.

29/06/2026

When you live with chronic illness, it’s often the small adjustments that make the biggest difference.
Not big life overhauls.
Just tiny changes that remove friction from everyday tasks.
Things like:
• bottled water or drinks within reach
• snacks in drawers, bedside tables or sofa compartments
• long phone chargers so you don’t have to get up to plug in
• phone holders so you don’t have to hold your device
• painkiller stashes in different places around the house
Energy-saving tools:
• a grabber tool so you don’t have to bend down
• a lightweight kettle
• a perching stool in the kitchen
• laundry baskets with wheels or one handle
• shower chairs
• electric jar or can openers
Comfort and symptom management:
• heated blankets or heat pads
• cooling towels or fans
• eye masks or blackout curtains
• noise-reducing earplugs
• blue-light filters on devices
• soft, comfortable clothes with stretchy waistbands and no cuffs
• fluffy socks in random places for when you can’t feel your toes
Reducing effort in daily routines:
• duplicate toiletries upstairs and downstairs
• pill organisers so you’re not opening bottles all day
• ready meals or pre-cut fruit for low-energy/high pain days
• slip-on shoes by the door
• voice assistants (Alexa/Google) for lights, reminders and timers
None of these things are life-changing on their own.
But together they remove dozens of tiny barriers from the day.
When your energy is limited, those tiny barriers add up quickly.
So you start designing your environment differently.
Not for convenience. For sustainability.
If you live with chronic illness, what small adaptation helps you most?
If one person reads this and discovers something that makes their day a little easier, that’s a win.

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Barry

Website

http://www.virtualfriday.co.uk/

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