Nerrizza "Nerri" Nicor didn't picture herself as a leader. A self-described introvert with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Nerri found her niche as a virtual employee, working from the comfort of her home in the Philippines.

But when HireSmart Virtual Employees offered a leadership class, Nerri's perspective changed. "I was afraid," she admits, "but then I realized that as a virtual employee, I did not have five or 10 years of experience. I needed to have something more."

Nerri, a delinquency coordinator for a U.S. community association management agency, exemplifies the commitment to continuous improvement she shares with so many of her HireSmart teammates. She wants to invest in herself, and HireSmart is thrilled to invest in her and all of its VEs to help them shape a brighter future for themselves and their clients.

HireSmart Filipino Scholarship — Diana’s Story

That's why HireSmart co-founder Anne Lackey holds an annual leadership course for VEs, a way for them to gain the skills and confidence needed to grow into leadership positions.

From Hesitation to Empowerment

The leadership class covers a range of topics, from time management to goal setting, all tailored to the unique challenges faced by virtual employees. For Nerri, one of the most impactful aspects was hearing Anne's personal experiences building HireSmart.

"What resounded with me the most is that Anne mentioned there are a lot of opinions around her, but she would only listen to opinions that would actually reflect what she wants HireSmart to be in the future, or the opinions of people that actually propelled their careers or their businesses into success," said Nerri.

The HireSmart VE said Anne's course gave her a greater perspective on success while boosting her confidence.

"I have more confidence now," she said. "Sometimes I think successful people just got there overnight. But when Anne shared her experiences, it wasn't very easy from the beginning. There is actually a stairway that gets harder the more you go up. It was very humbling and also very inspiring at the same time."

This confidence translates into more effective work. Nerri feels more equipped to handle challenges and contribute meaningfully to her team. She also said it's a joy to work with her clients.

"Everyone on the accounting team has been very supportive," she says. "You just really need to know how to ask the right questions and when to ask them."

This ability to communicate effectively and take initiative is crucial in a virtual setting, where clear communication and self-motivation are paramount.

HireSmart's Comprehensive Support for Virtual Employees

While the leadership class is a standout feature of HireSmart's commitment to its VEs, it's just one part of a comprehensive support system.

HireSmart's investment in its VEs goes beyond the workplace. The company offers health and dental benefits, educational scholarships for VEs' children, and even financial support during times of crisis, such as when Typhoon Rai hit the Philippines in 2021. VEs also become part of a supportive community, with access to resources for personal and professional growth.

HireSmart Cares Typhoon Relief — Bernard's Story

This combination of professional opportunity, personal support, and community creates an environment where VEs can thrive, grow, and build long-term, fulfilling careers in the virtual employment space.

Nerri says HireSmart has improved her family's lives. She lives with her mom, Nathalie; father, Reyman; brother, Reyman Jr.; and grandfather, Nathaniel — and two dogs, Shine and Knight.

The avid reader and painter said her civil engineering degree didn't translate into the salary she needed.

"Civil engineering is a very competitive industry, even here in the Philippines, but the salaries, just wanting to be honest, the salary isn't competitive itself," she said. "It's not equivalent to the work that you've put in. And through my work, through the work from home (with HireSmart) the salary is very, very good, as well as the benefits."

Nerri found previous online employers to be "fishy." But she said HireSmart has been open and honest about everything.

See C.E.O. Anne Lackey and Operations Manager Julia Roberts Discuss HireSmart's Core Values

"That's why I'm very grateful for HireSmart because everything has been transparent," she said. "I'm joining a company that's already communicated everything they need in a person, what they expect from you, and what you should expect from them. So I was very happy to be able to join."

Creating Value for Clients Through Employee Growth

The benefits of this comprehensive support and leadership training are significant for clients partnering with HireSmart. They gain access to a workforce skilled in their specific roles and equipped with leadership capabilities and a growth mindset. This means virtual employees can take on more complex tasks, show greater initiative, and provide more strategic value to the businesses they support.

As Nerri puts it, "Unless you try and push yourself to learn, you don't know what the future holds. So just keep trying." This willingness to take on new challenges is precisely what many businesses look for in their team members, whether in-house or virtual.

HireSmart's investment in its VEs is all about building an environment for success for all involved. Virtual employees like Nerri gain valuable skills, confidence, and a supportive work environment, enhancing their career prospects and job satisfaction. Clients, in turn, benefit from working with more capable, motivated, and proactive virtual team members.

By empowering virtual employees to grow professionally, HireSmart is not just filling positions — it's building careers and enhancing the overall quality of virtual workforce solutions.

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HireSmart's approach offers a compelling proposition for businesses considering virtual employment solutions: access to skilled and confident team members equipped with leadership skills and a commitment to excellence.

If this sounds like the right place for you, click here to apply to HireSmart Virtual Employees.

With her partner facing serious medical issues and unable to work, Angelica shoulders the responsibility of being the sole provider for her family. But thanks to her employer, HireSmart Virtual Employees, she can still give her 4-year-old son, Blake, the quality education she knows he needs.

"When we got the scholarship, it was a really, really big help because we can still enroll Blake in a private school without thinking where will we get the money," said Angelica.

As a former teacher, she understands the critical importance of early childhood education.

"I'm a teacher by profession, so I know that the formative years of a child are really important," she said.

Blake attends a private school five kilometers from their home that uses the Singaporean teaching method, which Angelica describes as particularly effective for young learners.

"It's a seamless type of curriculum," she explained. "It's seamless in the sense that the child will not be confused because it's kind of progressive... They are enjoying and learning at the same time."

Blake has thrived in the environment, showing enthusiasm for learning and various activities.

"He's very vibrant. He likes to sing. He likes to dance. He's doing Taekwondo during weekends as well as swimming lessons," Angelica said. "He doesn't know yet what he wants to focus on, but it's a good thing because he's able to try a lot of things before he focuses on something that he really likes."

Angelica has worked in the compliance department for a U.S. property management company through HireSmart for the past two years. She said she enjoys working with both U.S. and Filipino teammates.

"We really enjoy working together," she said. "I believe we work great as a team. There's no tension at all. We're just enjoying what we're doing."

Angelica expressed deep gratitude to HireSmart for her career opportunity and her educational support for Blake.

"I'm really grateful, not only for the scholarship but for the opportunity of this career that I have right now," she said. "I really appreciate that she put her trust in me, knowing that I didn't have any experience being a virtual employee, but she trusted my capabilities and skills. So I'm really thankful for the opportunity, and then the scholarship is another blessing."

Angelica offers encouraging advice for those considering a career as a virtual employee: "Don't be afraid to try new things and learn new things. And don't be afraid to explore because if you stay in your comfort zone, you will not try new things."

She also urges VEs to communicate with their clients.

"If you don't understand something, you have to be really open and communicate with them so they will guide you," said Angelica. "So just keep open communication with your client, and you will make it."

HireSmart Cares issued 19 educational scholarships in 2023, and 25 in 2024, and plans to continue expanding the program in 2025 so that more Filipino children receive quality instruction.

If you're interested in helping HireSmart expand its Filipino educational scholarship program or in supporting one of our other workforce development or educational initiatives, donate here.

To learn more about adding a HireSmart virtual employee to your team, click here to set up a free consultation.

If you want to join HireSmart as a virtual employee, click here.

Jonalyn was in a terrible position. Should she use limited family funds to pay for a quality education for her daughter this year or allocate that money to her special needs son, who needs speech therapy?



Thanks to HireSmart, Jonalyn doesn't have to make that tough choice. She now has the money to do both after receiving an education scholarship for her 5-year-old daughter, Marciella Audrey.



"When I received the news that I was one of the people that got picked (for the scholarship), I cried," she said. "I literally cried. I cried my heart out. I was so thankful."



Jonalyn and her husband, Christopher, have a 9-year-old son who has been diagnosed with "echolalia," which is the non-voluntary repetition of another individual's speech. She said therapy has helped him communicate with the family at a basic level.



"He's doing speech therapy, and if we don't do that, we have a hard time communicating with him," she said. "But since we started doing that, he improved a lot."



Jonalyn sees the therapy as essential, but she also wants her daughter to get a strong start on her educational journey, and she says enrolling her in a quality school is a must.



"I don't want to choose between what our special needs kid needs and what our daughter needs," she said.



Jonalyn has been employed by HireSmart Virtual Employees for four years, serving a property management company in the U.S., primarily handling lease renewals.



She applied for one of 20 scholarships HireSmart Virtual Employees offered this year to the children of its employees through its nonprofit arm, HireSmart Cares. HireSmart is the leader in the virtual employment market in looking out for its staff, offering good wages, health and dental insurance, quality training and support, leadership courses, and educational scholarships for the children of its employees.



"What HireSmart has been doing helping kids, that's different," said Jonalyn. "I've never heard of a company that does that, you know."



Jonalyn smiles, talking about Marciella Audrey. She says her child is energetic and loves to dance and draw. Jonalyn is a singer and used to perform mellow love tunes with a band but now enjoys the occasional karaoke party.



"I kind of want her (Marciella Audrey) to try singing as well," she said.



Jonalyn says her daughter is young and is not fully aware yet of her brother's challenges, but she said understanding will come with time.



"We kind of just tell her that your big brother doesn't understand the way you understand, and he's going to a different school than you," she said. "She says, 'OK.' But you know, she's 5. She'll understand that later on with guidance."



Jonalyn said she is elated to give both children what they need, and she voiced gratitude to HireSmart CEO Anne Lackey.



"It is an honor to have been chosen as a recipient, and I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity given," she said. "This program will make a tremendous difference in our kids' lives."

"An answered prayer" — that's how Ina describes the educational scholarship for her son through her employer, HireSmart Virtual Employees.



Ina, an employee of HireSmart since May 2022, and her husband, Mark, have two young boys, Isaiah Ambert, "Ice," 4, and Ishaan Amani, "Amani," 2.



Ina applied for an educational scholarship for her son, "Ice," through HireSmart so that he could attend a local Kumon school, which specializes in teaching reading and math to young children. HireSmart CEO Anne Lackey informed Ina that her family received one of 19 HireSmart scholarships this school year.



"I was so thankful, she said. "I felt so blessed in that moment when Anne confirmed that I got the scholarship. I was actually thanking God for it because I prayed for it. My husband and I both prayed for it (the scholarship)."



Ina shed tears when talking about receiving the scholarship, noting that her family could not enroll Ice in Kumon without financial assistance. She said giving her kids the best education possible is a priority for the family.



"If not for the scholarship, we wouldn't be able to have our child enrolled in the school," she said. "So it's really a great help for us. We can see how our kid is developing and see how much he has learned."



Ina said Ice is an inquisitive, confident, and empathetic boy who loves watching "Blippi," learning about animals, and is fascinated with excavators, garbage trucks, and other big machinery.



"He's also a part of our church choir, so he loves to sing," she said, adding that he always asks questions about whatever he sees and hears.



Ina and her family attend church on Sundays and spend time doing fun activities on Saturdays.



"We go out or play in indoor playgrounds," she said. "We also love swimming, so we go to beaches whenever there's a time."



Ina said her son enjoys attending school and asks about it when he's not there.



"They (Kumon) are teaching the kids to have independence when it comes to learning to study at home," she said. "I would say that it's really true because, at 4, our child can already study independently."



Ina said her job at HireSmart working for a U.S. client in the community association management industry is a blessing.



She enjoys being able to work from home and watch over her young children.



"As a parent, you will always think of your kids whenever you're not at home, so I believe it will be really tough working in an office-based company right now for me," she said. "So HireSmart is very a big blessing for us."

Vanessa says her daughter is a “happy kid,” and she wants Jana Valerie to stay that way.



Thankfully, a scholarship through HireSmart Cares will do a lot to keep the smile on the seventh grader’s face since she can now remain at a private school in the Philippines with her friends.



Vanessa, a HireSmart employee, says a private school education is far superior to a public school experience in the Philippines.



“I’m also a graduate of private school, so I know the quality of education it can give to my daughter,” she said. “I’m so thankful to HireSmart for helping me sustain the education of my daughter.”



HireSmart provides its employees with medical and dental insurance, leadership training opportunities, and family scholarships, as well as a work-from-home lifestyle for good wages.



Vanessa and her husband, Edgar, have two children, Jana and a son, Josiah Vans, who just started college and plans to be a civil engineer.



The family could afford to send both to private school, but with Josiah moving to college, where costs are double or triple the grade school expenses, Vanessa and Edgar needed to enroll Jana in a public school.  



“She (Jana) didn’t complain; she understood our financial status, but I know, as a mom, she would want to retain her school,” said Vanessa.



She added that Jana was “so happy” when she learned she could stay at the private school with her friends. Jana plans to be an architect one day.



“If by God’s will, they will both be successful, that’s really great to have an architect and a civil engineer at the same time in the family,” said Vanessa.



The proud mom says her daughter is a “very friendly, positive, outspoken kid” and the “joker of her class.” She doesn’t remember her ever getting lower than a 90 on tests.



“I’m not really the type of mom who would push her, but she has that determination to really do well in school,” she said.



Jana participates in math and badminton clubs, and the family plays badminton on the weekends.



“We’re playing with her whenever we can, me and my husband,” she said.



Vanessa has served a community association management client in the U.S. for four years.



“I enjoy the work very much,” she said. “I think I’m the longest-staying Filipino assistant in the (client’s) company. They treat me with respect. It’s a fun environment. There’s pressure, but you can’t really feel it when you’re having fun with your co-employees.”



Vanessa said she also enjoys working for HireSmart, which hires virtual employees to work with their U.S.-based clients. She said she’s unaware of other companies providing families of their virtual employees with scholarships for education.



She thanked HireSmart co-founder and CEO Anne Lackey for helping her family.



“I’m happy we have this offered, and I would like to personally express how grateful I am to Anne and HireSmart for thinking about the employees,” she said. “This is a very good program for the employees because it affects our loved ones. And we are much more appreciative and motivated to work if our loved ones are happy. For me, that’s really true. They are the reason why I’m working hard.”