Meet Nicole Sebastian | Founder, The Virtual Umbrella

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Sebastian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success was believing in myself. I had to have faith as woman, a mom, and a wife that I could turn around my life and be the most successful in what I wanted to do, and there was no failing. I changed my belief system to telling myself everyday that it is hard work but it is what you love to do. There wasn’t any room for failure! I asked myself what does it mean to be successful. The first thing was loving what you do, and the money will come. My brand was based on my personality, which was being a someone who always cared about people succeeding in life, and making them smile, solving problems, easing their day and giving back time to them so they can enjoy life again. That is why I am called The Virtual Umbrella, Covering all your needs no matter what the day brings. That is something I strongly stand behind.

What should our readers know about your business?
As you all know now, I own The Virtual Umbrella. I developed this company for other business owners who needed help with all the tedious tasks they couldn’t get to. Such as paper work, Calendar Management, Meetings, you name it I went and brought it to my company, a virtual administrative platform for business owners. I have over 15 years in the assistant world in my earlier career, I helped CEOs with gaining back time in their day, managing their day, keeping them on track! So one day I said to myself I don’t need to do this 9 to 5 anymore, I can do this for small to large size businesses and help others gain back time in their day. Organize them, help them feel at ease and all they had to do was show up for their clients, because Nicole, is running everything for them behind the scenes. I knew this would be a successful business because I took my skill and made money with it. So when I developed this, many things ran through my head, the fear, the unknown was this easy oh hell no! I didn’t even know where to start, so I found my mentor, who I call daily my virtual guardian angel, Jen believed in me, guided me on what to do, and everything became a lot easier and I was more focused and determined than ever. The lessons, I learned as a business owner, is you don’t work 9 to 5 anymore, you want full success that is a 24 hour cycle of hard work and dedication, until you get to where you want to be. I was working 90 hours weekly, trying to build my clients, getting out there and let me tell you, you dedicate your time, working those long hours it has such a rewarding feeling inside!
I want the world to know, if you are thinking about your dream and how you can achieve it, just do it! Stop hesitating or you will always ask yourself WHAT IF! You have absolutely nothing to loose, trust me, I say this because you can always go back to that 9 to 5 if it fails, but you cant put failure in your mindset so just do it! Even if you no one has your back, there are strangers who will guide you, there are people out there who genuinely want to see others succeed. All you have to do is tell your mind body and soul you are ready for the world to see the dreams you can to achieve.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my bestfriend(s) were coming to visit me in my current place Barbados, they definitely know the first thing we are doing is going to view the beautiful Country with cocktails in our hands. We never have specific spots we would definitely be eating somewhere on a patio by the water with seafood and nice music. When were done filling their belly’s they always know I’ll end the night with music and dancing, because music makes you feel so free, and happy. My besfriend(s) know anything and anywhere in the Caribbean is where Nicole is, and will always be. There are specific agendas/itineraries with me I am very sporadic and like to make things fun in the moment. So I would say check out Barbados, there is many things to see and do, and you just get to see some real culture.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout a few people who stood behind me, who recognized me for who I was. First shoutout goes to Tisu from Couffure Moderne, not only the sickest hair lady but she saw something in me after one conversation and that made me feel so grateful I can have that impact on other business women! I also want to shout out my closest girls Shelley, Ashley, Rae, Sonya for always having my back and sending me positive notes everyday, encouraging me to take the next step in my life, always reminding me of how much I deserve to win, always letting me know how strong I am as a women and to keep pushing, Last but not least, my husband, he always stood by my decisions and never thought I would fail, so having your other half support you makes your journey a lot more smoother, knowing that he has my back, so I didn’t have to worry about our sons, knowing I can take this kind of risk and he stood right there and watched me grow. Let’s not forget to mention the support of my parents and siblings, if you have a strong foundation anything is possible. I am so grateful for the team I have around me and I couldn’t ask God for anything better.

Website: www.thevirtualumbrella.com

Instagram: virtualumbrella

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/thevirtualumbrella