Terrance and Torsha Johnson are passionate about serving others both through their church Higher Dimension Church and their small business Shower Chique.
Terrance Johnson is the lead pastor for Higher Dimension Church — a church focused on showing up as the body of Christ in the community of Houston, Texas. He and his wife Torsha Johnson strive to live out this mission in everything they do, including starting Torsha’s small business.
“After serving alongside my husband for 20 plus years,” Torsha says, “I decided as my youngest was preparing to head off to college, it was time for me to pursue my business endeavors and start my own business.”
So, Torsha founded Shower Chique, a beauty empowerment brand and business with the goal of supporting the modern woman through high-quality shower caps.
Add three children into the mix, and you can see how life could get overwhelming for the Johnsons very easily.
While Terrance and Torsha had worked with their BELAY Bookkeeper for years, neither of them were originally interested in delegating administrative tasks. Terrance felt the need, but there were several obstacles standing between him and the help he needed.
“You know with working in ministry, you can wear several hats,” Terrance says, “And we needed to create a reprieve for the staff. We wanted to find someone who had the effectiveness as well as the enthusiasm but we just didn't have a whole lot of time for developing them.”
For a short amount of time, Torsha actually acted as Terrance’s assistant handling his administrative tasks and calendar. Eventually, however, Torsha was drawn to other opportunities, and Terrance knew he needed someone who could jump into the role without hesitation.
“Because the church is moving – the train is moving, you know? We wanted to have someone who was ready to jump on the train, who understood just how to come alongside a pastor, support them, and already have the tools and skills.”
Meanwhile, as she approached launching her own business, Torsha knew she would need some support as well:
“When it came to my business, it was a no-brainer. Just given all the hats that I wear on the ministry side and then having a new business — having to be ambidextrous — I was going to need someone who could come alongside and help relieve some of those everyday tasks to help me get the business up and going.”
That’s when Torsha and Terrance picked up the phone to call Chaston, their trusted Client Success Consultant.
Chaston was able to match Torsha and Terrance with the unique, specific support they each needed to find success.
“The matching process was such a win from the very first call with Chaston,” says Torsha. “Him discovering what the pain points were and hearing me out, I felt as though he really did his work…
Very quickly, Rachel was able to take on more and more responsibilities to support Torsha both in her ministry and her new business:
“There's very little Rachel doesn't do apart from being in-person, but specifically, she has assisted me with standard operating procedures for our business, creating sales funnels, social media copy. I mean – oh my goodness – it's so much I could go on and on. Lead generation, just a lot of great things she's been able to assist me with.”
“She came in ready to assist with all aspects of starting and launching a business. And for me, that was a great win because this is new to me,” Torsha says. “I've never started a business from the ground up, and there are so many moving parts. So from the launch of it up until now, where we're moving into preparing for the holidays with hopefully record sales and things like that, it's great knowing that she's come equipped, and ready.”
And Rachel isn’t the only perfect match. Chaston also connected Terrance with his Virtual Assistant, Jamie.
“When Jamie came on board, we were preparing for a conference,” Terrance remembers, “and it was a lot of moving parts, but she brought an expertise to the team that just really took a lot off of the staff — you know, the coordination, the travel. There were so many guests, so many flights, so many hotels, so much travel. And she was able to come in and remove that weight off the team while becoming acclimated to the culture of the church.
“The biggest thing was — yes, removing the weight — but also, everything wasn't perfect, and she handled it all with so much grace and so much dignity… I think the way she handled that pressure has left an impression upon me of her character and her ability to handle difficult things. She came in the midst of it all — new people, new culture, moving fast — and she really, really handled the pressure, and that impressed something upon me.”
While it took some time to get used to working so closely with someone virtually, Terrance believes that Jamie is actually able to be more effective working remotely than she could be in the building.
“The church will suck you in — it will suck you in. So having someone who is not in the day-to-day saying, ‘Hey, got a funeral,’ or, ‘Hey, got a wedding – got a council’ is helpful. A lot of times you have a schedule, but then you have to change because people trump policy. But I think not being in the office and not being around all the fires and things that happen is a major blessing for her to be able to focus and really help us.”
Both Torsha and Terrance saw invaluable returns on their investments with BELAY almost immediately.
“Just the ability to handle several things at one time,” says Torsha. “Knowing that I have a competent assistant who's skilled and any tasks that I request, she's able to deliver — it really allows me to remain in high capacity because I have an assistant who is capable of helping me continue to get work done.”
“I think Jamie offers the creative side as well,” Terrance says. “ It’s not so much the administration, but thoughtful administration. I think it's really good — not the traditional, oh, I need the secretary to get the coffee, but someone who can think and help you to deliver better results. It has been really, really good.”
Terrance explained how Jamie’s role freed him up to lead his church more effectively.
Because of the support they received from BELAY, both Terrance and Torsha are able to serve others better.
“We have a mission, and they help us be able to stay on mission,” Terrance says about Jamie and Rachel. “And I think the purpose of the church ultimately is to glorify Jesus by helping people. And I think having the right kind of people around you helps you fulfill the purpose.
“I think that's why He said it's not good for us to be alone because there's power and partnership in coming together and everybody identifying their passion, their gifts, and their talents, and working together to fulfill the mission to maybe not change the world but help people in your world.
And I think that's what Jamie and Rachel are affording us to do, and we anticipate as we establish relationships with them and get to know them even better, that it is just going to continue to accelerate, go higher.”
RACHEL McCAVE
Virtual Assistant
JAMIE MEDINA
Virtual Assistant