Wasco is a growing, innovative, precision pressure switch and sensor manufacturer, serving small customers and large O.E.M.s in the global market.
Kari Way is the Owner and Executive Vice President at Wasco, a company that is growing rapidly. Wasco currently has 74 employees and is on track to close out at $21 million in 2022.
Wasco is committed to meeting its customers’ needs through the reliable delivery of high-quality, customized products, services, and solutions to their applications.
After watching her son, Zach, bring on a BELAY VA, Kari began to wonder how a contractor could help her in the day-to-day.
“But Zach engaged Julia, and I think they were working maybe three months together and he kept pushing me, saying, ‘You really need to do this. It’s really going to help. It’s going to benefit you.’”
“And so he sent me all of his information, how he set up his work, and what he works out with Julia. And I said, ‘OK, I’ll try it.’”
Enter BELAY Virtual Assistant Ashley Tucker.
Kari and Ashley started the engagement by working on the best way to tackle Kari’s inbox.
“The biggest pain point is there are not enough hours in the day to get the work done that you need to do,” Kari says. “I am getting 300-400 emails a day. There’s no way one person can get through all that.”
On top of email management, Ashley was also able to immediately help Kari with general file management and setting up folders, scheduling meetings and appointments, and even blocking off time on Kari’s calendar for work.
They found a good groove and progression in their meeting cadence after starting with daily phone and video calls to meeting three times a week to now having a biweekly video call.
“Now that she understands the business, she can run faster,” Kari explains. “Ashley threw herself into all of our training and learned really quickly.”
And ‘ran faster’ she did.
Ashley's responsibilities have grown to now scheduling all travel – hotels and rental cars for team members flying back and forth between the two locations – and even helping Kari plan strategic retreats for the different departments.
Kari has built trust with Ashley by knowing that BELAY matched her with someone who she would work well with.
“The key to building trust is being honest and forthright at the beginning and being self-aware enough to know what you need,” Kari says. “I need somebody who’s not just going to be a yes person but [somebody] that will be really frank with me.”
“So somebody who is a very direct communicator and an open and honest person is what I communicated at the front end, and that is truly who Ashley is.”
“There’s a lot that we’ve accomplished.”
“Ashley learned the culture and our core values. She took those and learned from them and she speaks and lives them. She’s very easy to talk to.”
“She has an extra benefit that I wasn’t expecting [in that] she’s a great event planner and she’s creative. Those creative elements of making a retreat or an event go off without a hitch and that extra-special pizzazz that she brings have been really good.”
“I enjoy the time that we have and the projects that [Ashley] and I have worked on together. They’ve been very beneficial for the company, and she’s just a great person to work with.”
“She has such a laid-back personality, but she gets the job done. She makes everybody feel comfortable and welcome. She’s got that southern hospitality. She’s just been a great asset.”
As for BELAY’s secret sauce, Kari has been surprised by it over and over again now bringing three BELAY contractors onto Wasco’s team.
ASHLEY TUCKER
Virtual Assistant