Bri McKoy is an accidental home chef-turned-food blogger, kitchen teacher, and cookbook author.
Bri is a self-taught cook who first fell in love with cooking when she saw how meals can bring people together around a table.
Her love for gathering pushed her to become a more confident home cook so she could effortlessly bring delicious meals together and focus on what matters — being with her people and keeping her joy.
Her recipes, live cooking classes and food and wine pairing courses have helped thousands of home cooks become more confident in the kitchen.
Bri’s superpower is not just in serving delicious recipes but also in teaching some of the best kitchen skills there are so that her audience can experience joy in their kitchens and find confidence while bringing meals together.
The Challenge
“My husband is in the military, and we move around a lot,” Bri explains. “Originally it was important to me to work with someone who was in the city that I was [in,] in case I needed them to be with me for certain filming opportunities and things like that.
“And it was just getting a little unmanageable because we were moving every two to three years. I had to evaluate, is that really important to me?
“I was talking with another content creator, and she mentioned that she had great success reaching out to BELAY. I always kind of felt the burden of, ‘Okay, we've moved to a new city. I got to hire new people and I don't know what I'm doing.’
“She had such great success with BELAY, and I reached out and pretty immediately jumped right on board.”
Enter BELAY Virtual Assistant Madeline MacDonald.
The Solution
“[With BELAY,] I was involved in a way that was helpful, but I wasn't overly burdened to find someone who would work well for me,” Bri says.
“[BELAY] took the time to figure out what is important to you in an assistant, what do you need, what has worked, what hasn't worked? And then from there, they were able to get me an assistant that I have really, really enjoyed working with.
“We haven’t had to pivot. She was super communicative [and] extremely efficient. We were able to get on [the same] page very quickly. It was very easy to train her, and we just figured out a system that works best for both of us — and it's been working since.”
Madeline and Bri started working together one month before Bri’s cookbook was released.
After helping Bri plan a release party in, strangely enough, the city Madeline happened to live in, Madeline started getting into a groove of managing several different tasks for Bri:
- Editing newsletter and masterclass content
- Monitoring social media growth
- Tracking newsletter numbers
- Managing Basecamp tasks
- Quarterly planning
“I was surprised by how quickly we connected,” Bri says. “That happened so fast. I felt immediately endeared toward her and excited to work with her. And I feel that she feels the same way.
“There's a level of professionalism there that I appreciate where it feels like we are friendly and kind, but also we're both good at staying on task.”
Bri has seen her BELAY Virtual Assistant go above and beyond simply getting the job done.
“I have been able to find people who can just click off the task, but I remember telling [BELAY] it is so important that they actually care about what I'm doing because I work by myself and I only have one other team member, which is through BELAY.
“And so it feels weird if that person is just checking the box because they're going to be the first line of defense to feed the thing that I created. Sometimes it has, in the past, felt very like, ‘What'd you think about it? Do you think people like this?’
“[I want] to feel like someone cares about the work I'm putting out in the world. I know that [Madeline] has made some of my recipes and shared my recipes with her friends and family, and it just means the world to me.
We’re both positive, optimistic people, and I am so grateful for that.”
The Result
“I was immediately freed up creatively,” Bri says. “My job is so creative, and I was bogging myself down with a lot of administrative tasks that [were] taking away from creating, and creating leads to money. Within just a few months, I started to feel a lot more freedom to create — and then also to sell.”
Bri admittedly signed up with BELAY a bit skeptical.
“When I came into the relationship, and I even told BELAY, I was like, ‘This is going to be a three-month trial run for me.’ Because to be quite honest, this is the most expensive option I've ever had for an assistant. And so I was just like, ‘I need to see if I'm actually getting the value out of it.’
“But obviously we've blown past that three months, and I can't imagine doing my work without her, and so at this point, I'm like, ‘Oh, yeah, it's worth it.’”
One of the selling points for Bri has been the professionalism she’s experienced with her BELAY Virtual Assistant.
“[Madeline’s] professionalism has been really helpful, and also her ability to get tasks done ahead of schedule has been so amazing. Her excitement about what I'm working on has just added more energy to the work that I am doing.
“I have just recently pivoted to doing more long-form videos on YouTube. I'm excited to talk with [Madeline] about [what] can it look like for her to come alongside and support, whether it's helping with the transcript on YouTube or watching the videos to make sure I am saying the correct things.
“I'm excited to involve her more in my business as I pivot or make those different decisions.
“I've been so used to who I've worked with in the past. It was very much short-term. What are we doing this week? What are we doing this week? And so I'm excited to see, with BELAY, what a long-term strategy can provide for my business. I think if I can have that time and that space to plan long-term, I will see more ROI just across the board.”
Meet the Specialist
MADELINE MACDONALD
Virtual Assistant