You Don’t Have VAs—You Have People
If your people remain at $5 value, your business will never exceed $5 impact.
They work for $5 an hour.
But what they’re building with me?
That can’t be measured in dollars.
It has to be measured in development.
Their names are Paula.
And another Paula.
Thomena.
Jay ANNE.
Different countries. Different rhythms.
But each of them wakes up, logs in, and offers me something sacred: trust.
They don’t just work for me.
They’re co-building with me.
And I’m finally starting to understand the weight of that.
What You Pour Into People Will Pour Out of the Product
There’s a business model that says:
Get the most out of people for the least amount of cost.
But the Kingdom flips that:
Pour the most into people, and you’ll never run out of value.
It hit me one morning—while reviewing automations, assigning tasks, and trying to move faster than time allows—that if I don’t invest in the people working alongside me…
then I don’t just lose them.
I lose the culture.
I lose the legacy.
I lose the mirror of who I say I am.
Because what good is it to build a brand about transformation…
if the people building it remain underdeveloped?
They’re Not “Cheap Help”—They’re Seeds
Yes, they cost less per hour than a U.S. hire.
But cost does not equal value.
Stewardship defines value.
And if I want their work to reflect excellence, their hearts must first feel honor.
Not just in words, but in investment.
That’s why I’m shifting from assigning tasks to assigning trust.
From managing time to sponsoring development.
If Paula is the one running with automation strategy, then it’s not just her task—it’s her territory.
And if it’s her territory, she needs to be trained. Equipped. Paid to grow—not just paid to execute.
Because I’ve learned this truth:
If the team doesn’t grow, the company won’t scale. It’ll just stretch thin until it breaks.
You Can’t Scale Without Development
We don’t need more bodies.
We need more builders.
And builders aren’t born—they’re made.
So yes, it’s my job to train.
But also: to create environments for transformation.
That means sometimes paying for a course before we’re “ready.”
Sometimes giving a raise before it’s “earned.”
Sometimes speaking into someone what they haven’t yet seen in themselves.
Because I’m not just trying to build a business.
I’m trying to build people who can one day say: “I grew here.”
Reflection Prompts
Where am I treating someone like labor when I should be treating them like legacy?
What would change if I saw every team member as a future leader?
How can I begin investing in development before results show up?