How This Professional Ballerina Pivoted to a Freelance Digital Business Manager (And Landed her First High-Level Freelancing Manager Role)

Have you ever met a professional ballerina who spun a complete 180 into a career as a Digital Business Manager? 

Well, now you have! 

Meet Lauryn – a former professional ballet dancer turned Digital Business Manager. 

Originally, Lauryn is from South Africa, where she pursued a career as a professional dancer until her 30s. 

After retiring due to injuries, Lauryn moved to France to be with her partner – where she became a certified ballet teacher with dreams to open her own studio. 

But plot twist – Lauryn became pregnant with her son and realized that the life of a ballet teacher wouldn’t align well with her desire to raise a family.

She sought to find a career with more flexibility time-wise to spend her afternoons and evenings with her son instead of teaching. 

While she didn’t have any experience working online, she found a part-time job through a friend working as a Virtual Assistant. 

The catch? 

She had no idea what she was doing! Shhh. 

But hey – when should that stop you? 

Shortly after that, she found a Virtual Assistant Course, where she learned all the foundational skills of working as a VA – and scored a content assistant internship through them. 

Even though she was slightly terrified, she dove right in. Lauryn saw firsthand the entire content creation process, start to finish.

This is also where she conveniently met Deya – and witnessed the executive power of a Digital Business Manager.

“That was my first taste of what a good Digital Business Manager can actually do – taking someone with my lack of skills and getting them from the beginning to the end of quite a huge task.”

After her internship experience, she was able to snag a few Virtual Assistant clients.

She wasn’t done learning, though – on top of working for her clients, she continued to take other online courses, expanding her skillset into more niche areas, like graphic design, to try to find her specialty.  

She began to grow professionally – and her clients began to notice!

Her clients started consulting with her about strategy and planning for their businesses. 

Around this time, Deya announced the Digital Business Manager Bootcamp Beta Round, and Lauryn immediately joined. 

“The reason why Deya has been able to grow so much in such a short amount of time is that not only is she phenomenal at what she does – in the business world, she is a superstar that just ‘has it’.  I think what makes Deya so great is that she is so humble. I don’t think she actually realizes how good she is.”

While she was excited to learn about the higher-level strategy and skills of a Digital Business Manager, she was also ready to start making more while working less.

At her current rate, she would’ve had to work a ridiculous amount of hours to meet her income goal. But with a higher-level skill set, she could cut back on her hours, still meet her goals, and spend time with her son. 

As she worked her way through the Bootcamp, her clients were also upping her hours and asking for more of those higher-level skills that she was learning.

And once she had completed the core training modules covering project, team, and systems management, she spotted a dream job opportunity that she knew she had to apply for – even though she didn’t even have a portfolio built. 

But she quickly and strategically put together her entire application package and applied anyway. 

“I realized that I actually had a lot of experience, and the DBM Bootcamp gave me the format to go out and say ‘Hey, I actually know what I’m doing.’ and just understanding how Digital Business Management works and pivoting that to how I want to work, it just made the whole process clearer for me.”

While she didn’t even think she would get a reply, the universe had other plans. About 12 hours after she submitted her application, she scored a first-round interview with the client. 

⏩ Fast forward 2 interviews later, and the role was Lauryn’s! She is proud of herself – and thankful for the opportunity to learn. 

‘For me, Deya has been a force within my two years of working online. I’ve learned the most from her so far, and she’s had quite a huge influence on me. She’s been such an incredible human being. I think those are the things that are important when you are deciding who to trust with your money and your future. Whatever Deya puts out is going to be gold.”

Now, Lauryn is going to share exactly what she did to stand out during the application process!

How To Stand Out During Each Phase of the Digtial Business Manager Application Process

🌖 Phase 1: Initial Online Application for Freelance Digital Business Manager

Research, Research, Research

And start before you even apply. 

💡 A sure-fire strategy to stand out during the initial application process is to mirror their language. 

Lauryn researched her client’s business in-depth before even writing her application so that she could get a feel for the communication style and voice of the company and client. 

• She started with their initial website and products, and then ventured over to Social Media, seeing if they have any videos of themselves actually speaking. 

• She also made sure to personalize her portfolio to her client. 

• Then, she turned around and used that same language in her application- which landed her an interview about 12 hours after pressing submit. 

🌗 Phase 2: Nailing the Interview as a Freelancer

Your research will come in handy here too!

Once Lauryn secured an interview, she went back and researched even more.

This particular client had released books, so she read through the books and deep-dived into the products they offered. 

“I made sure I was speaking their language during the interview and listening to what they needed, and seeing if I was a good fit for them. And that is something Deya teaches you in the DBM Bootcamp”

At the end of the day, the interview is just as much for you as it is for them – you get to see if this client is someone that you want to work with as well. 

Also – have your detailed ‘elevator pitch’ ready to go. (a brief introduction of who you are and what you do.)

🌘 Phase 3: Post Freelancer Interview 

Follow up!

After the interview, Lauryn wrote up a very detailed summary of what they discussed AND how Lauryn would implement certain systems into their business. 

Lauryn’s 3 Tips for New Freelance Digital Business Managers 

🩰 Tip 1: Do everything Deya says to do – literally – because it works 

It’s that simple. 

Go through the coursework, listen to the mindset videos, and listen to how she’s done hundreds of interviews.

Plus, the DBM Bootcamp is packed with templates and tools that are for you to use – so actually use them. 

🩰 Tip 2: Don’t Underestimate Yourself 

Lauryn has been helping her clients hire new contractors for their businesses – and what she realizes now is that it’s actually really hard to find great talent online. 

“If there are 100 applicants, there’s about 80% of them that aren’t good. I’ve learned so much from VAI and DBM Bootcamp – I thought this type of training was common knowledge, but I’ve realized that it is not. It’s something very special to have, a special tool of knowledge of how the Digital Business world works and how to conduct yourself in it.”

🩰 Tip 3: Don’t Niche Down Too Soon

Everyone wants to find their place in this online world, but don’t rush it. 

You can only find your specialty after you’ve tried a lot of things, and if you are niching down too soon, you might miss out on something that is a better fit for you in the long run.

It’s ok not to know exactly what area you want to work in!

Does Lauryn recommend Digital Business Manager Bootcamp?

“Definitely!

There are only so many ways I can say how much I love Deya and the DBM Bootcamp, and I think I’ve about exhausted them all.

I recommend taking any course that Deya puts out. You will get all the skills, training, and mindset that you need to succeed. She makes things easy with temples and resources, so you aren’t starting from scratch.”

“I thought all my projects were horrible, but the feedback is super helpful – It’s easy to get stuck in your own head, and then you can’t move forward, but when someone else comes in and helps you make it better or tells you it’s great, then you can shake that stuck feeling off.”

If you would like to learn more about Lauryn, head over to her LinkedIn profile here. 

You can also learn more about pivoting your own career into freelance Digital Business Management here in our FREE Masterclass.