Stevyn Guinnip had built a thriving health coaching business for financial advisors, but she was drowning in the details.
As the founder of Grow Wealthy, Stevyn helps financial professionals who excel at building wealth learn to treat their health as an equally important asset. Her unique approach resonated with clients, and her business was growing.
But growth came with a cost she hadn't anticipated.
Living the expat lifestyle in Madeira, Portugal, with her husband and two children, Stevyn had moved overseas specifically to create a lifestyle business — one that gave her freedom and flexibility.
Instead, she found herself working longer hours, juggling more tasks, and pushing critical business functions to the back burner.
"I felt overwhelmed," Stevyn recalls. "I had shiny-object syndrome. I couldn't stay focused on one thing because there were too many fires coming up and too many things slipping through the cracks."
The Challenge: Doing Everything While Building the Life She Wanted
As a solo entrepreneur wearing every hat in her business, Stevyn faced a familiar dilemma.
"I was thinking for a long time that I might hire somebody. And then, I was like, ‘Well, that's expensive. I don't know who I would hire. And what if it's not a good fit?’" Stevyn explains. "I don't have time to find anyone. So I just kept pushing it off and thinking, 'I can do it. I've always done it. It's fine. I'll just work more.'"
But working more defeated the entire purpose of her move to Madeira. "I moved here to have a lifestyle business. I don't want to be working 10- or 12-hour days."
Meanwhile, critical business functions suffered. Her bookkeeping was "barely getting done to the bare minimum." She'd been trying to write a book for over a year — conducting interviews for two or three years — but couldn't find the time to actually write it.
The business fundamentals that would enable real growth — systems, documentation, consistent client communication — simply weren't happening.
Finding the Solution
Stevyn discovered BELAY through a trusted peer in her industry.
"I was like, 'That's a good idea. He trusts them. Maybe I will trust them, too,'" she explains. "From my very first interactions, I just trusted these people."
What appealed to Stevyn was BELAY's process.
"I didn't even know if I did hire someone, what do I do with them? They can do the legwork for me and help me onboard."
BELAY matched Stevyn with executive assistant Carrie Clemens, and the relationship transformed her business immediately.
Carrie's Transformative Impact
The moment Stevyn knew she'd made the right decision came during their very first interaction.
"Carrie showed up and had already done the legwork, had already watched a podcast that I had been on. She already understood my business, and she was taking ownership," Stevyn recalls.
"I was like, 'This is gonna work well.'"
What makes Carrie exceptional isn't just her skills. It's the personality fit that BELAY's matching process uncovered.
"She interviewed me extensively. It felt like she was really looking for a personality match for me," Stevyn explains. "Skills, yes, but also personality. If I were interviewing someone myself, I wouldn't notice those things because I would just be looking for the skills."
The partnership worked so well that Stevyn and Carrie even completed Myers-Briggs assessments together to understand how to work best as a team.
More Than Task Management
Carrie didn't just take tasks off Stevyn's plate. She brought structure to the chaos.
Together, they established systems that transformed how Grow Wealthy operates. They created a Monday broadcast email for the Wealth Club membership, providing clear communication about weekly activities and resources.
"Just putting a little structure around the communication and expectations of my clients was fantastic," Stevyn says.
Carrie helped document the entire client journey, creating standard operating procedures for processes that Stevyn had been "winging" based on memory alone.
"There are a lot of touchpoints in the customer journey that she's been able to help me really understand. ‘What exactly happens at this time?’ And I would be like, 'I actually don't know.’ I just kind of wing it each time,'" Stevyn explains.
The organization extends to content creation and research management as well.
"I'm a sticky note kind of person. She's very organized — everything has a place and a name and a purpose. Things like that to just keep the chaos calm."
Expanding the Partnership
With the success of working with Carrie, Stevyn recognized she needed similar support for her financials and recently brought on Noah as her BELAY bookkeeper.
"My bookkeeping was barely getting done to the bare minimum, was not very good, and was something I hated doing. I kept putting it off," she explains.
"Now I'm really, really excited that I have the space and the time to do the things I want. And I now have two people from the BELAY team who are helping me get the things done to make the business more fun and grow."
The Results: Freedom to Focus on What Matters
The impact of partnering with BELAY shows up across every dimension of Stevyn's business and life.
Most significantly, Stevyn completed her book — the project she'd been trying to finish for over a year.
"I finally got my book written and published, and I couldn't have done that without having someone like Carrie helping me," she says. "That was huge."
The structured client communication and documented processes have elevated the professionalism and consistency of the Grow Wealthy experience, creating clearer expectations and better outcomes for members.
With administrative and financial tasks in capable hands, Stevyn can actually live the lifestyle she moved to Portugal to create. Perhaps most importantly, the constant worry about dropped balls and forgotten tasks has disappeared.
What Made It Work: The Right Match and the Right Process
When asked what makes BELAY worth it, Stevyn's answer reveals what sets the service apart.
"BELAY is worth it because it lets me test what it's like to have employees without the full responsibility of that and someone holding my hand and helping with the hardest parts," she explains.
Initially, Stevyn thought she might eventually hire someone directly. But as the partnership has evolved, that thinking has changed. "I originally thought, 'Maybe someday, I'll hire somebody to be an employee of mine.' But the longer I go, I'm just like, 'Why? This is working so well.'"
The success has Stevyn planning to expand her BELAY team even further. "When I look at my time allocations, the things that take me the most are trying to strategize and create my marketing materials. So why not bring in a marketing manager at some point? BELAY does that, too. So I'm like, 'Why do anything else?'"
The Bottom Line
For entrepreneurs considering whether to bring on virtual support, Stevyn's message is unequivocal.
"It feels like a big step and emotionally, maybe mentally it is, but once you get over that decision to try it, so many opportunities open up that you couldn't foresee," she explains. "When you're doing the things that aren't your value, where you can bring the most value, you're missing out on opportunities that you could be spending your time doing."
She emphasizes viewing the investment properly: "You might at first see it as a cost, but it's nothing but an asset for your future."
Her final assessment: "I would say 100% go for it."
Ready to reclaim your time and build the business you actually want to run?