$1/Hour Noon, $1,000 Per Project Ngayon: Ang Kwento ni Sheena Santos
Imagine commuting almost 7 hours every day — from Bulacan to Ayala and back — while pregnant, navigating flooded streets and broken-down trains, all to earn a call center salary that barely covered the commute. One day, something clicks: may mas magandang paraan kayak dito.
That was Sheena Santos' turning point 18 years ago. Today, she is the first Filipino Fiverr Pro in her marketing automation category, a former YouTube creator with 160,000 subscribers, and the founder of the Home Based Mom Diaries community. But this episode isn't just a success story — it's one of the most honest conversations we've ever had on From Kayod to Keyboard. Sheena talks about burnout, losing all her clients at once, walking away from everything she built, and what it really means to design your work around your life.
Whether you're a beginner wondering if remote work is for you, or a seasoned VA feeling depleted and asking "is this still worth it?" — Sheena's journey has something real for you.
🎧 Listen to the Full Episode
Want to hear the complete conversation? Listen to Episode 13 on your favorite platform:
📋 What You'll Learn in This Episode
Meet Sheena Santos: 18 Years in the Making
Sheena Santos is a marketing automation specialist, former community builder, Fiverr Pro, and — above all else — a mom of three boys (plus her husband, whom she lovingly counts as the fourth). She and her husband both work from home as freelancers, something that started when Sheena took the leap first and her husband quickly followed after seeing her earn more than him without the daily commute.
She built the Home Based Mom Diaries YouTube channel from a single shy video recorded with a messy background to a community of 160,000 subscribers. She taught thousands of Filipinos how to start working online, held community events, and ran paid marketing automation courses. And then — at what looked like the peak of everything she built — she stopped.
This is the episode Tata and Roxy describe as "the most honest episode we've ever made." And after listening, it's easy to see why.
From the oDesk Era to Fiverr Pro: The Full Timeline
Sheena's remote work story didn't start with a mentor, a course, or a Facebook group. It started with a heavily pregnant woman riding the MRT to Ayala every day, fighting for a seat in the priority lane, and deciding: hindi na, sobra na 'to.
She had spent 7 years as a call center agent — handling technical support, customer service, and sales across five different accounts. Her average handling time was long because she genuinely cared about resolving every concern. Her English wasn't perfect early on, but her quality assurance scores were consistently good. The call center trained her in communication, CRM systems, and working with English-speaking clients — skills she would later carry directly into her VA career.
When she got pregnant with her second child, she made the call: resign, and figure out this "online job" thing she'd been hearing about during break time at work.
"My main reason was really because I got pregnant. I told myself I wouldn't put up with this hardship any longer — commuting while pregnant, 7 hours a day, typhoons, flooded streets, open manholes you couldn't even see." — Sheena Santos, From Kayod to Keyboard Episode 13
The Sheena Santos Timeline
7 Years as a Call Center Agent
Commuting daily from Bulacan to Ayala, handling technical support, customer service, and sales. Award-winning QA scores, but punishing daily commute — sometimes 7 hours round trip.
First Online Jobs: Data Entry & Personal Assistant Roles
Starting rate: $1/hour — sometimes less. Applied for data entry and online assistant roles on oDesk (now Upwork). Got scammed on her first major client: 8,000 pesos of unpaid work. Did not stop.
Husband Joins the Journey
After seeing Sheena earn more than him from home, her husband resigned from his job commuting by motorcycle from Bulacan to Sukat. Both became full-time freelancers.
Specializing in Marketing Automation
Transitioned from general VA work to marketing automation, starting with basic email tools like AWeber and Mailchimp, then growing into full marketing automation strategy and implementation.
Home Based Mom Diaries: YouTube & Community
Started one YouTube video to answer the same question neighbors kept knocking on her door to ask. Grew to 160,000 subscribers. Built the Home Based Mom Diaries community to thousands of members. Held live events. Ran paid MA courses.
Fiverr Pro — First Filipino in Her Category
Achieved Fiverr Pro status in marketing automation — the first Filipino to reach that level in her category. Clients started coming to her instead of the other way around.
Burnout, Lost Clients, and the Pause
Lost clients all at once. Burned out from content creation and community management. Stopped her course, paused YouTube, and withdrew to heal. (Full story in the next section.)
Integration — Work, Health, and Play
Still a marketing automation specialist, but no longer full time. Husband has taken over most client work and is now better at MA than she is. Sheena focuses on consulting, brainstorming, and living — pickleball, trampolining, and all.
What the oDesk Era Looked Like for New VAs
For those who weren't there, oDesk (the predecessor to Upwork) was a wild west of online work. There were no bid limits, no refined algorithms. You would wait at specific hours — late at night for US-based job postings, daytime for Australian clients — and apply the moment a listing went live because it was essentially first come, first served. Rates were rock bottom. General VA work paid $1/hour or less. And scams were already happening.
Sheena's first meaningful client? A scam. She completed work worth 8,000 pesos, they ghosted her, and she never saw a single centavo. But she had already resigned from the call center. She had no choice but to keep going.
"I thought this would be the one to save me. Turns out it was a scam. But since I'd already resigned, life couldn't stop. Find work again, like that." — Sheena Santos, From Kayod to Keyboard Episode 13
The Path from $1/Hour to $1,000 per Project
The jump from general VA rates to Fiverr Pro project rates didn't happen overnight. Sheena spent 6 to 8 years doing general VA work before she fully transitioned to marketing automation. The shift started small — she was already handling email tasks for clients using AWeber and early Mailchimp, so she naturally followed that thread deeper.
The real breakthrough came when she stepped outside the platforms and applied directly to agencies. She got accepted, got discovered by a client who saw something in her, and began building the reputation that would eventually carry her to Fiverr Pro status. By the time she became the first Filipino Fiverr Pro in her MA category, clients were inbound — sila na ang nag-iinquire, hindi na siya.
| Stage | Role | Typical Rate | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Data Entry / Online Assistant | $1/hour or less | oDesk (now Upwork) |
| Growing | General Virtual Assistant | $3–$5/hour | oDesk / Freelance Agencies |
| Specializing | Email / Marketing VA | $5–$10/hour | Direct clients / Fiverr |
| Expert | Marketing Automation Specialist | $800–$1,000+ per project | Fiverr Pro |
🎯 Lessons from Sheena's Early Journey
- Start with what you already know: Sheena used her call center skills — customer service, technical support, CRM — as her first VA resume. You don't need new skills to start; you need to package the ones you have.
- Get on the platform early: In the oDesk era, timing was everything. Show up when clients are posting. The principle still applies today on Upwork, OnlineJobs.ph, and Fiverr.
- Scams happen — don't let them stop you: Sheena was scammed on her first major client. She kept going. Losing 8,000 pesos hurt, but staying stuck would have cost more.
- Specialization is where the money is: Sheena's income took its biggest leap when she stopped being a generalist and committed to marketing automation. Niche down when you're ready.
The Burnout That Changed Everything
Here's what nobody tells you about building a big platform while running a freelance business while raising three kids while managing a community while creating online courses: at some point, your cup runs dry.
For Sheena, the burnout didn't arrive as a single dramatic moment. It crept in slowly. The YouTube channel that started as one shy video had grown to 160,000 subscribers. The Home Based Mom Diaries community was thousands strong, with events, live sessions, and a constant flood of DMs asking for help. She was teaching VA basics publicly while simultaneously running a paid marketing automation course — careful not to overlap them, constantly separating what was free versus what was paid.
And then it all converged at once.
Clients started leaving — not just hers, but the small agency she and her husband had built around their local network. Their main source of income disappeared. At the same time, she was facing online criticism: people questioning whether what she was teaching was still relevant, whether she was being truthful, whether she was enough. Self-doubt crept in from every direction.
"Everyone needs something from you, and I couldn't give time for myself anymore. My cup was often running dry. It reached the point where I burned out. That's why I decided to stop my course, let go of everything, and slowly pull back." — Sheena Santos, From Kayod to Keyboard Episode 13
What Burnout Actually Looked Like
Sheena's burnout wasn't just emotional exhaustion. It manifested physically. She became pre-diabetic. Blood pressure issues. Both she and her husband got sick. She describes walking outside one day — a road she normally only passed by car — and feeling paralyzed by shyness. Known to tens of thousands online, yet afraid to walk to the market in pambahay na damit.
That walk became a turning point. She realized she didn't fully know herself outside of work and content creation. She had built an identity around being "Sheena Santos, the VA educator" — and when the clients disappeared and the community went quiet, she didn't know who she was without it.
Why She Stopped Posting — And Why That Was the Right Call
The posts she was still making at that point were mostly about burnout. She noticed it herself: if she only showed up online to share how exhausted she was, she might be passing that energy on to the people who looked up to her. So she stopped. She pulled back from YouTube, paused the community, and stepped away — not because she was giving up, but because she needed to refill before she could give again.
⚠️ Warning Signs of Freelance Burnout
- You feel empty even after a "win": When praise or milestones no longer feel meaningful, your tank is low.
- You've lost track of why you started: If you can't remember why you left the corporate world, you may have recreated its worst parts at home.
- Your health is declining: Sheena became pre-diabetic. Your body keeps score. Pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic fatigue are not acceptable trade-offs for extra income.
- You resent the people you're trying to help: When answering the same question for the 500th time feels like a burden instead of a gift, it's time to rest.
- You're showing up out of obligation, not inspiration: If the only reason you're posting is "because I have to," pause. Forced content rarely helps anyone.
How She Rebuilt: Inner Work, $1,000 Projects, and a Husband Who Got Better Than Her
After stepping back, Sheena didn't have the luxury of a long sabbatical. Income was gone. She needed to act. But this time, she acted differently.
Step 1: Stabilize the Income First
Some people in her situation reached out to help her restructure her Fiverr Pro offering — teaching her how to use her marketing language to land bigger projects. The strategy worked. She started closing $800 and $1,000 single-project orders on Fiverr. The income returned. And with income stabilized, she could finally breathe enough to begin the inner work.
Step 2: The Inner Work
Sheena found her way to a community led by Coach Sarah Suyom. At an event, she was finally able to let out everything she had been carrying — without judgment, without having to perform okayness for an audience. She describes it as releasing, and then rebuilding from there.
Her biggest realization: she had been tying her intentions to external things — to her husband's okayness, to whether her content was helping people, to what her community thought of her. The inner work shifted her focus inward. She began walking daily, stepping outside her comfort zone even physically, documenting her own journey not to perform it for others but to understand it herself.
"From walking every day, I started showing up every day — conquering my offline shyness. I genuinely wanted to document my journey. From there I discovered there was still a good side to what was happening badly to us." — Sheena Santos, From Kayod to Keyboard Episode 13
Step 3: Building the Partnership — With Her Husband
One of the most unexpectedly beautiful parts of Sheena's story is how her husband's journey unfolded alongside hers. After she pulled back, her husband — who had been handling the simpler MA tasks under her Fiverr account — kept growing. He self-studied marketing automation. Sheena mentored him (strictly, she jokes — she treated him like a student, not a spouse). He started closing thousand-dollar orders on his own. He learned to handle client calls. He developed his own instincts.
Today, he's the one doing most of the actual client work. Sheena's role has shifted to consulting and brainstorming — the part she loves. And her honest assessment? "He's actually better than me now."
Together they operate under Sheena's Fiverr Pro account. Clients know they're getting a two-person team. They pay for one, get two. It works.
What Life Looks Like Now
Sheena's current life doesn't look like most people's picture of VA success. She's not grinding 8-hour days. She's not posting daily content. She's playing pickleball with her husband. They go trampolining together. They stay out late — not for work, but for fun. They have things in common beyond their kids and their careers now.
Financially, it's not perfect. There are still financial and freelancing challenges. But the language she uses to describe her life has completely changed: it's beautiful, it's worth it, and — most importantly — it's hers.
The Lessons 18 Years Taught Her
Work-Life Integration, Not Just Balance
Sheena pushes back gently on the idea of "work-life balance" — the word "balance" implies two separate things on opposite ends of a scale. What she advocates for is integration: fitting work, health, family, and enjoyment into one life so that they sustain each other rather than compete.
She's seen fellow freelancers who are technically "working from home for their family" — but who never leave their desk, never play with their kids, never exercise, and eventually get sick. The money they earn goes straight to hospital and doctor bills. That is not what freedom looks like.
"If it's only work, that's why it reaches the point where you get sick. I got sick. We both got sick. Blood pressure rising, sugar rising. You can't walk, can't stand. What's the use of all that money if it all goes to your hospital bills?" — Sheena Santos, From Kayod to Keyboard Episode 13
Put Your Oxygen Mask On First
Sheena closes with one of the most useful analogies you'll hear in this space. On any airplane, the flight crew tells you: in the event of an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others. The same applies to freelancing.
You cannot give what you don't have. You cannot teach what you don't practice. You cannot show up for your family when you're running on empty. Taking care of yourself — your health, your mental state, your joy — is not selfish. It is the prerequisite for everything else you want to do.
Rejection Is the Best Teacher
For beginners struggling with interview rejections or English confidence, Sheena's advice is direct: stop avoiding it. The only way to know what you're missing is to go out there and get rejected. Every "no" tells you something specific. Every failed interview reveals a gap you can close. YouTube videos can only take you so far — at some point, you have to face actual clients to find out what you're actually made of.
Everything Happens for a Reason — Including the Bad
The deepest lesson from Sheena's 18 years is one she learned from her own coach: everything is perfect, even when it's painful. The clients who left. The scam that cost her 8,000 pesos. The burnout that made her stop. The isolation that made her walk outside and discover she didn't know herself. Each of those moments was preparing her for something better. The setbacks weren't detours — they were the road.
💬 Questions & Answers from the Episode
Q: Do you need call center experience to become a VA?
A: According to Sheena, no — but it was a great training ground for her. The call center improved her English communication, taught her how to use CRM systems, and gave her exposure to handling different types of clients. If you've worked in BPO, those skills transfer directly. But it's not a requirement. Start with whatever skills you already have.
Q: How hard is it to become a Fiverr Pro?
A: Sheena says it was already hard when she went through the process — and standards have likely gone up since then. She struggled to get approved. The process used to be entirely free, though she's unsure if that's still the case now. Her advice: build a strong track record, gather testimonials, and make sure your portfolio reflects your specialization before applying. Being a generalist won't cut it at the Pro level.
Q: How do you transition from VA to a higher-paying specialization?
A: Sheena's transition to marketing automation wasn't a sudden pivot — it took 6 to 8 years of gradual movement. She followed a skill she was already using (email management) deeper and deeper until it became her identity. Her advice: look at the tasks you're already doing and ask which one you enjoy most and which has the most learning curve. That tension is usually pointing you toward your specialization.
Q: What do you do when you've lost all your clients at once?
A: Sheena's first move was practical: stabilize income before healing. She restructured her Fiverr Pro offerings to attract higher-value projects and closed $800–$1,000 orders to replace what was lost. Once the financial pressure eased, she could focus on the emotional and mental work. Her message: don't try to do inner work when you're in survival mode — stabilize first, then heal.
Q: How do you avoid burnout when you're trying to grow a VA career and a content platform at the same time?
A: Sheena's honest answer: she didn't avoid it. She burned out. Her lesson in hindsight: refill your cup before it empties, not after. Set boundaries on how much of yourself you give to community and content. Integrate rest and health into your schedule as non-negotiables — not as rewards for finishing work, but as part of the work of staying sustainable.
🔑 Key Takeaways from Episode 13
- Your starting point doesn't define your ceiling. Sheena started at $1/hour on oDesk, got scammed on her first client, and eventually closed $1,000 Fiverr Pro orders. The gap between where you start and where you can go is entirely traversable.
- Specialization is the path to premium rates. The biggest income jumps in Sheena's career happened when she stopped doing everything and committed to marketing automation. Niche down when you're ready.
- Burnout is not a personal failure — it's a signal. When your cup is empty, you cannot fill anyone else's. Pulling back is not giving up. It is the responsible choice.
- Work-life integration beats work-life balance. Balance implies separation. Integration means your health, family, and joy are woven into your workday — not waiting for you at the end of it.
- Put your oxygen mask on first. You cannot sustain a career, a family, or a community if you are sick, depleted, or disconnected from yourself. Taking care of yourself is the foundation of everything else.
- Rejection is your best teacher. Get out there, apply, fail interviews, lose clients — and learn from every single one. No YouTube video can teach you what real experience does.
Ready to Build Your Own VA Story?
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Anne is the Operations Manager at VA MASTERS, a boutique recruitment agency specializing in Filipino virtual assistants for global businesses. She leads the end-to-end recruitment process — from custom job briefs and skills testing to candidate delivery and ongoing VA management — and has personally overseen the placement of 1,000+ virtual assistants across industries including e-commerce, real estate, healthcare, fintech, digital marketing, and legal services.
With deep expertise in Philippine work culture, remote team integration, and business process optimization, Anne helps clients achieve up to 80% cost savings compared to local hiring while maintaining top-tier quality and performance.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +13127660301
