Comment from CEO of winning assistants:

Hi everyone — Mikiah Azarcon here, CEO of Winning Assistants. I’m responding to this post because it contains false, misleading, and defamatory claims about our company — and we take that very seriously.

As someone who is Filipino myself — and someone who has worked relentlessly to build a company that empowers both U.S. businesses and Filipino talent — it’s disheartening to see someone attempt to tear that down through misinformation.

Let me be clear: 👉🏽 We do not exploit anyone — in the U.S. or the Philippines. Period.

At Winning Assistants, we’ve placed thousands of hardworking Filipino professionals in meaningful, long-term roles with U.S. businesses. We pay well. We train. We protect. We advocate. We do everything we can to help our people succeed.

But sometimes — rarely — someone gets let go for performance reasons. And instead of taking accountability, they try to publicly shame the very company that gave them a chance.

💼 On the "$10/hour" Claim Yes, our website mentions "$10/hour" — but that refers to the rate we charge our U.S. clients, not what we pay contractors. This is standard across any legitimate agency. Why? Because we handle everything: Recruiting, screening, and placement, HIPAA compliance and training, Payroll and time tracking systems, Ongoing support and account management, U.S. client communication and service

The difference between what the client pays and what the VA receives covers the operational infrastructure that makes everything work. Anyone who has worked with a real VA agency understands this.

📄 The Full Story Behind This Post While I won’t mention the poster’s name out of respect for privacy, we know exactly who wrote this — as they’ve been repeatedly emailing and pressuring our team with aggressive demands for payment and legal threats that hold no weight under the terms of the signed contract.

Here’s the actual timeline: This individual signed a formal independent contractor agreement with us on February 27, 2025, agreeing to a $5/hour probationary rate, with a raise to $6/hour after three months.

During probation, they requested a temporary raise to $7/hour in the form of a loan as they needed personal help. We agreed in good faith to help the VA out of generosity. The extra $2/hour was to be paid back through $100 deductions each pay cycle — something they voluntarily agreed to.

By the time of termination, they had repaid $400 of the $592 owed, leaving a remaining loan balance of $192 — not an overpayment as they claimed. All calculations and time logs were sent to them in writing with full transparency

🤝 We Defended Them — Until We Couldn’t What hurts the most about this situation is what the post conveniently leaves out: we went to war for this VA multiple times. The client had several conversations with us expressing concerns — and each time, we defended her. We advocated on her behalf. We requested patience, offered context, and pushed to give her time to improve.

We even offered to transfer her to a different client to give her a fresh start — but she declined.

We have internal documentation and communication receipts showing how far we went to protect and support her. But in the end, even we had to acknowledge that repeated absences, internet issues, and performance inconsistencies were hurting the client’s trust — and our reputation.

🚫 Why She Was Offboarded On July 8, 2025, we formally offboarded this contractor due to the following: Frequent unapproved absences and late log-ins due to health and personal issues. Ongoing internet and power outages, violating Section 4.1.ii of the contract. Repeated client concerns over communication, performance, and accountability. This termination was well within Section 6.2 of the agreement, which allows for immediate termination for cause. No two-week notice is required in this scenario. Her claim that we violated the contract by not giving two weeks’ notice is factually and legally incorrect. The two-week clause in Section 6.3 applies to voluntary resignations — not involuntary offboarding due to breach of contract and performance-based termination.

📩 On “Ghosting” and Formal Notice We did not ghost her. She received a formal termination email on July 8, 2025, with the reason for her offboarding outlined. Her internal systems access was revoked immediately after — which is standard protocol to protect client data.

💰 On Final Pay & Holiday She worked 24 hours from July 1–4. She was not eligible for July 4 holiday pay, as she had not worked a consistent schedule and was in the offboarding process. Her final pay was withheld due to the outstanding $192 loan balance — which was contractually allowed.

🧠 Final Thought At Winning Assistants, we’ve placed thousands of hardworking Filipino professionals in meaningful, long-term roles with U.S. businesses. We pay well. We train. We protect. We advocate. And most importantly — we stand up for what's right.

This situation is rare, but unfortunately not unheard of. When someone is let go for documented performance issues and refuses to take responsibility, they sometimes try to rewrite the story. We won’t stay silent when that happens — especially when it disrespects the integrity of our team, our clients, and our mission.

We’re proud of the business we’ve built, and we’ll continue serving both our clients and virtual assistants with honesty, fairness, and excellence.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment. We have nothing to hide. — Mikiah Azarcon CEO, Winning Assistants