"It allows me to think about the ways I would maximize my time, and put my energy into different things because it's a low-cost investment for a relatively high return on time and flexibility."
— Adam Lister, Founder and Principal
The Challenge
Adam Lister had spent years as a nonprofit CEO, mastering the complexities of organizational leadership, development, and strategy. When he began envisioning a transition into independent consulting — ultimately founding One Twelve Strategies in 2024 — he quickly recognized that he needed operational support from someone outside his existing staff to maintain a clear separation between his day-to-day organizational role and his emerging consulting practice.
The problem wasn't a lack of effort. Adam had already worked with three different Virtual Assistant services and in-house executive assistants, and none had fully met his needs. He needed more than task execution — he needed a partner who could help him learn how to delegate effectively as he shifted from a hands-on operator to a strategic leader.
"I hadn't quite moved out of the ditch digger phase of my career into the entirely strategic phase. I needed someone to help train me as much as I needed them to support me in how to use an assistant in ways that were going to help maximize my contribution to my organization."
Navigating a professional transition while managing both a personal and work calendar — and trying to build the foundation of a new consulting practice — was creating mounting pressure. Adam needed the right support structure before he could take his next step with confidence.
The Solution
After his previous experiences fell short, Adam turned to BELAY and was matched with Virtual Assistant Theresa Searcy. The early stages of their partnership focused on the practical groundwork of standing up a new consulting practice: research, process recommendations, calendar integration, and building structure across both his professional and personal commitments.
"In the early stages, it was mostly research, building process recommendations, those sorts of things. A lot of calendar management, helping to integrate the consultative practice and then my personal life along with the work-based stuff."
One of the most valuable aspects of the relationship was the built-in accountability it created. Knowing he had a weekly touchpoint with Theresa made it harder for Adam to stall on the transition work he knew needed to happen. He could offload research tasks and get real results back quickly, which freed his thinking for higher-level strategy.
As the engagement evolved, so did Theresa's role. Adam planned to expand her responsibilities to include refining board minutes, managing billing, and taking a more direct hand in operational aspects of One Twelve Strategies — ensuring he wouldn't get bogged down in the details as the practice grew.
"I'm surprised by [Theresa's] efficiency and just how quickly [she's] able to accomplish certain tasks."
— Adam Lister, Founder and PrincipalThe Impact
Working with Theresa gave Adam both the practical infrastructure and the confidence to move forward. Together, they built the foundational standard operating procedures for One Twelve Strategies — giving him something concrete to respond to, evaluate, and refine rather than starting from scratch.
"We've laid a pretty solid foundation for the standard operating procedure of the practice I'm hoping to create, and that gives me some confidence that at least there's something to respond to and then evaluate and modify as opposed to having to create something."
Adam was also struck by the efficiency of the partnership — and by the broader support available across the BELAY team. Beyond Theresa's core work, he was able to connect with other BELAY team members for marketing and outreach strategies, making the engagement more expansive than he had anticipated.
Perhaps most importantly, the BELAY model itself aligned with how Adam thinks about building a lean, flexible practice. With no long-term risk and a high return on time and energy, the investment made sense from every angle — and Theresa's no-nonsense, accountable style turned out to be exactly the working relationship he had been looking for all along.
"She shows up, she does what I ask her to do, she'll offer perspectives and feedback, and is focused on accomplishing the task. She's also been valuable in helping to hold me accountable for other things that aren't the highest priority things for me but are important."