Finding the right specialist can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Businesses often struggle to identify the specific skill set they need, wade through countless resumes, and invest precious hours in interviewing — all with the looming uncertainty of whether or not this person is the perfect fit.
But what if there was a better way?
At BELAY, we're passionate about connecting businesses with their ideal contractors, whether it be accounting professionals, assistants, or social media managers. Through our innovative matchmaking process, we take the guesswork out of the equation, ensuring a successful and long-lasting partnership.
Today, we're pulling back the curtain and letting you hear directly from some of our happy clients and their perfectly matched BELAY Virtual Assistants, Bookkeepers and Social Media Managers. Get ready to be inspired by their success stories and discover how BELAY can help you find your perfect match!
What Our Clients Have to Say
Feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending tasks of running your business? Struggling to find the perfect accounting professional who understands your specific needs? You're not alone.
Deborah Tepley, Keith Singletary, Tamara Gollob, Jake Hammel, Melissa Lockwood, and Charles Woodin all faced similar challenges before finding their perfect BELAY counterpart.
Our Clients
DEBORAH TEPLEYDeborah is the executive director of Church of the Advent, a church existing to join people to God, to one another, and to Christ’s work of renewal in Washington, DC, and through it, the world.
She has twenty years of experience in business, operations and human resources management for mission-based organizations in the faith-based, non-profit and international development sectors.
KEITH SINGLETARYKeith has been the operator of Chick-fil-A Capital Centre in Largo, Maryland, for nearly 23 years.
With its 230 employees, Chick-fil-A Capital Centre is focused on building community and enriching the lives of all of its customers.
TAMARA GOLLOBTamara is the owner of I Do Linens, a linen rental company that provides event enhancements in the form of custom orders, decals, dance floor wraps, and drapery installations.
I Do Linens provides affordable luxury for weddings, conferences, and galas that will leave a lasting impression.
JAKE HAMMELJake is the founder and principal of Just Jake & Co., a company that offers digital marketing consulting, talent relations and booking services.
His expertise has been the driving force behind some of the most engaging content and storytelling online that’s driving awareness of brands, products, events and services globally.
MELISSA LOCKWOODDr. Melissa Lockwood, the founder of Heartland Foot and Ankle Associates, has guided her patients with varying foot problems since opening the practice in 2008.
As a doctor, a mother and the only female podiatrist practicing in the area, nothing is more important to Melissa than ensuring all her patients — from toddlers to great-grandparents — feel comfortable, welcomed and cared for.
When They Decided They Needed Help
DEBORAH TEPLEY
“As our congregation and revenue grew, we were experiencing more complexity. The bookkeeping workload was increasing, and it was just taking more and more of my time and our treasurer's time,” Deborah remembers.
“We had some payroll errors at one point, and it was taking a lot of my time to correct those errors retroactively with our payroll provider as well as the IRS and the DC tax office. We had increasing complexity as our revenue grew.
“Church bookkeeping and accounting is its own unique animal. There are just so many finance and tax rules and regulations that are specific to a church; a couple of obvious examples are clergy housing allowance or funding a sabbatical.
“And we were finding that we needed to make decisions, and we didn't have the expertise that we needed. I was just googling a lot of things and trying to make decisions based on what I could find on the internet. So we just realized we needed more expertise in the church accounting space specifically.”
KEITH SINGLETARY
“I had pain points, and I didn’t know about [them],” Keith remembers. “I just kind of worked through it.”
Keith is part of a Chick-fil-A owners and operators network. Each year, he receives a Christmas card from one of them.
When he realized he wasn’t able to send Christmas cards himself, he asked that owner how he found the time to do so.
“That’s when he shared with me that he had a Virtual Assistant,” Keith says. “I kind of measured myself, as many owners and CEOs of companies measure themselves, by the number of things we can complete on a daily basis. This is my to-do list. If I get 95%, I’ve done a great job.
“As I started spending time with him, he shared with me that he's been able to spend time in what we call his 'sweet spot' because of some of the things his Virtual Assistant takes off his plate.”
TAMARA GOLLOB
Tamara was originally looking for someone to help her with social media.
When BELAY was referred to her and she read the website, she realized that bookkeeping was also an option.
“I’ve always struggled with trying to find an accountant to speak my language and to explain things to me in common language,” Tamara says. “I’m a creative, and it’s hard being a creative [and] running a business.”
“I wanted a better footprint of the business financially: Where were we spending money? Where were we making money? Where were we losing money?”
“I needed someone to run those reports and keep on track of what was going on. So I started with that.”
JAKE HAMMEL
“I was realizing that I just couldn't do it all,” Jake remembers. “As I started to scale and grow, I needed additional support. I'm a millennial in the sense [that] I overwork myself. I work too hard.
“My biggest issue was delegating tasks. I tend to do things on my own and [I was] realizing the best way that I'm going to grow and develop as a boss and as an individual is to learn how to delegate more. And last year was the busiest year of my business ever.
“And the year before that, I was doing my business and also going to school. I finished my MBA as [my business] was continuing to grow. I was growing and developing my business, [and] I knew I had to scale and grow.
“I was looking for someone who could be an assistant for me from an hourly standpoint. I asked around and somebody told me about BELAY. I reached out immediately and was like, I love the idea of this — using a service to help provide a virtual assistant.
“And now I'm bragging about it all the time. Everyone needs an assistant.”
MELISSA LOCKWOOD
“My husband, Scott, and I started the practice in its infancy,” Melissa recalls. “He was working full-time in a corporate accounting position and then, over time, we expanded both the business and then our family, which led to a lot of what we needed and wanted when it came to a Virtual Assistant.
“I listen to, and participate in, a ton of different podcasts about self-growth and entrepreneurship. I'm involved in a couple of different mastermind groups, and one specifically relates back to some foundational things entrepreneurially from Dave Ramsey. And they had some interesting information about BELAY.”
“I was trying to juggle planning for a work trip, scheduling the children's flu shots, and then looking at my mess of a calendar. And I pride myself on organization. I was like, ‘I don't even know when I can schedule this or where it could go.’
“It was such this overwhelming feeling of dread opening my email, and I had all these obligations that I wasn't meeting because I didn't have enough hands, ears and eyes. I really like to be as hands-on as I can be, [and] I was failing so I needed to do something.”
CHARLES WOODIN
“One of my very first conversations with BELAY was with [my CSC],” Charles says. “She helped me understand [my] needs — primarily inbox and calendar help. She did some research on her end and was able to find Sapphire.
“Sapphire had an interest and excitement about incubators and accelerators, which is what we do as a business. She did not miss a beat.”
That’s when his BELAY Virtual Assistant went to work.
Charles’s inbox was cluttered with emails ranging from October 2021 to January 2022. Within the first month, his BELAY VA cleaned it up to where he would just see emails from the current month to today with typically 20 or fewer emails within his inbox at one time.
“Within the first month or so, my entire schedule had [also] changed,” Charles remembers. “It brought structure and clarity to my days, and it has been a game changer.”
The Result of A BELAY Virtual Assistant
DEBORAH TEPLEY
“[My BELAY Bookkeeper] has set me free to lead at a more strategic level because he is taking care of the details of accounting and bookkeeping,” Deborah says. “He's there to answer questions and make sure we're in compliance.
“I'm not losing sleep over our books anymore, wondering are we doing things correctly, are we following laws that are specific to churches, are we sort of accounting for everything that we need to, and would we pass a financial review?
“It is just the peace of mind that sets me free to do the things that I can do best, which is to help strategically lead our church and work with our pastors and not have to worry about the book.
“I am so glad that we chose BELAY.”
KEITH SINGLETARY
“[BELAY] was particular in getting to know who I was, the things I enjoy doing, and the things that I may not enjoy or am not as good at,” Keith says. “They spent a lot of time understanding who I am, which gave them the opportunity to be able to select someone who would fit right in.
“She’s helped me expand the impact that I want to have in my business and in the community as well.”
With a BELAY VA by his side, Keith has been able to focus on the kind of impact he wants.
“Before, I might be physically present, but my mind would be someplace else. I’ve gained the ability to be a better listener and that helps me become a better leader.
“I’m reaching more people,” Keith adds. “I’m able to touch more people, not only in the restaurant but in the community, in my church and with my relatives. It’s helped me become more present mentally and emotionally. I am a better family member. I’m a better husband. I’m a better leader.”
Keith has since bought his BELAY VA out of her contract with us and hired her on as a full-time employee. A win-win for everyone!
TAMARA GOLLOB
Tamara hired a BELAY Social Media Manager shortly after she brought on her BELAY Bookkeeper.
“They are both so knowledgeable in their field,” Tamara said. “As a business owner, [you gain] success [by] the people you hire. If you’re not good at something, you need to find somebody who is excellent at it.
“Your business will thrive because someone is doing their job effortlessly because they’re knowledgeable. So in these two areas, they’re both experts in their fields, they know what they’re talking about, and I have complete trust in them.
“I see the results, I see the rewards, and I see the benefits immediately.
“People get hung up on the cost of having to pay something monthly. But honestly, if they really did the math and they break it down to the amount of work they’re physically doing for you, it’s such a benefit to having a service provide this for you.
“It’s been so easy. I don’t feel like I’m nickel-and-dimed. I don’t feel like I’m not getting value for my money.
“I [don’t] think people really understand what a benefit this can bring to your business without physically having to have a person in your office. I really feel for me, as a creative and as a business owner with a growing company, it’s so beneficial.”
JAKE HAMMEL
“She's matching the energy [I needed],” Jake says. “She's understanding, she's there and she's just very sweet. She [communicates] with influencers, clients and everybody else via email, but I can send you a list of emails of people who've been like, ‘By the way, I love Jessica.’
“I'm sure it's responsiveness and her personality [that] shines through an email. It's just been a great match. As a duo together, it's been a great fit because she responds to everything in the manner that I feel I would respond. She handles everything appropriately.
“The win is that she's watching and learning. [My BELAY partnership is] bringing me a confidence level that I could easily find the clients and triple [or] quadruple very easily and effectively, increase and scale the business accordingly and still be very profitable.
“[My BELAY VA] has been a really valuable member of the team. She is taking on tasks and we've built a relationship and rapport, and I just trust her.
“I was able to go on vacation and tune out and just let her jump in and handle things and send me a data email. There's so much more that I can do comfortably now that I never would've been able to do before.”
MELISSA LOCKWOOD
“I hadn't sent out Christmas cards in probably five years,” Melissa says. “I just didn't have the bandwidth to sit down and put everything in some type of digital format.
“[My first BELAY VA] had me mail her all of my Christmas cards and envelopes from people for the last five years, and she organized it and put it in an online form that we can make Christmas cards from.
“We definitely needed somebody who was gonna be a little bit more managerial toward us. Taking that initiative to be like, ‘I'm noticing your Tuesday looks insane. Can I suggest we take this off? I'll reschedule it.’
“We have a trip coming up next month, and Scott and I are gonna be out of the country for two weeks. The team feels very confident in messaging Tess about questions, and Tess feels very confident in knowing what to tell them to do.
“Empowering everyone to be able to manage [the practice] without me physically being there has been a great step forward for everyone.”
CHARLES WOODIN
“She's just kind of seamlessly integrated herself to a point where if the team needs something from me, they reach out directly to her,” Charles says. “She understands the roles and responsibilities of each one of my team members.
“So when an email comes into my inbox that is not something that requires my time, she immediately passes it off to the right representative on my team and gets it handled.
“If I rewind the clock to 2021, I felt like I was running around on fire all the time,” Charles remembers. “And thinking about where I was at the tail end of 2022, all things had increased as far as our productivity, our availability and everything that we were doing.
“I felt so much more comfortable in the day-to-day operations because I knew that my inbox was being looked at and that if there was anything that came up that was urgent, she would immediately let me know.
“I wake up every morning, look at my calendar, and know exactly what it is that I have in front of me that day.
And because of having his BELAY VA to help take things off of Charles’s plate, Geekdom is going to secure funding from its county.
“It's going to be nearly $200,000 of funding thanks to the work that Sapphire's been able to do to help us get through — all of the work that goes along with meeting the right people, having those right conversations.
“I don't think that I, myself, without Sapphire there to assist would've been able to accomplish [this]. Because of what she's been able to take off my plate, it has added the ability for me to do other things. That's our number one biggest win.“
Experience The Same Type of Relief
Just like them, you too can experience the peace of mind and increased productivity that comes with having a qualified accounting professional on your team. Imagine having someone who can handle your bookkeeping, payroll, and financial reporting, freeing you up to focus on what you do best – growing your business.
Don't keep feeling like you're searching for a needle in a haystack. BELAY can help you find your perfect match as soon as two weeks.