"What a blessing it's been to work with Brittany the last few years. I know you call her a Virtual Assistant, but now I think of her as family. I know about things going on in her life. She knows about things going on in my life as well as Global Partners in Life. I look forward to our weekly conversations. I just can't thank BELAY enough for bringing [me] someone that I'm so like-minded with."
— Beau Sides, Founder and President
The Challenge
Beau Sides is the founder and president of Global Partners in Life, a non-profit he established in 2004 to serve widows, orphaned children, and disadvantaged youth with educational, humanitarian, and medical assistance around the world. As the organization's sole employee — supported only by a governing board and an advisory board — Beau was responsible for everything from strategic planning and donor relations to day-to-day communications.
Despite an accomplished career as a multi-regional manager at IBM, Beau found that technology had left him behind. Social media, digital communications, and modern web tools were areas where he needed real expertise.
"Ironically, my background is that I was a multi-regional manager for IBM, and over the past 19 years technology has truly passed me by."
Running a global non-profit entirely on his own meant Beau had little room to step back and focus on vision and relationships. He needed a trusted partner — someone to take on the bulk of the workload and serve as a sounding board.
"Having another voice in the room was good for me. Having someone I could bounce ideas off of — not to mention rely heavily on for the majority of the work — has been a huge benefit, especially with the knowledge that Virtual Assistants have with technology."
The Solution
The introduction to BELAY came through a chance encounter: one of Beau's board members met BELAY's founder on a flight and returned with enthusiasm about the conversation. After doing his own research, Beau signed a contract in January 2020. BELAY matched him with Virtual Assistant Brittany Lane, whose command of social media and technology was exactly what the organization needed.
One of Brittany's first contributions was helping Global Partners in Life establish a presence on Instagram, opening up a powerful new channel for sharing the organization's work with a wider audience. When Beau's first VA transitioned to another role, Brittany stepped in without missing a beat.
"Brittany said with confidence that she was sure she would not let me down in any way and there would be no lag in her getting caught up to speed on anything."
Brittany took over management of newsletters, the website, brochures, and cross-platform social media — allowing Beau to hand off a broad spectrum of communications tasks to someone he could fully trust.
"BELAY brought forward Virtual Assistants who have an amazing knowledge of social media and technology, and they can even make it where an old guy like me can understand."
"[Having a VA] frees me up to make plans for the future, to cast the vision and to communicate with our partners and the people we help around the world. Her strengths are what we need."
— Beau Sides, Founder and PresidentThe Impact
With Brittany managing Global Partners in Life's digital communications, Beau gained the one resource he needed most: time. Time to connect with global partners. Time to cultivate donor relationships. Time to think strategically about the future of the organization.
"[Having a VA] frees me up to make plans for the future, to cast the vision and to communicate with our partners and the people we help around the world. Her strengths are what we need."
The quality of the organization's communications improved markedly across the board. Newsletters became more polished, the website was refreshed, and a new brochure was underway. Cross-platform social media posting became effortless — Beau simply sends Brittany a photo and caption, and it goes out across multiple channels.
"I have more confidence in the newsletter being done more professionally. Our website is better and our brochure is going to be updated. I can take a post on Facebook and send Brittany the picture and text I used, and the next thing I know, it goes out to multiple social media sites."
Beyond the practical results, Beau discovered something he hadn't anticipated: a genuine, lasting partnership.
"What a blessing it's been to work with Brittany the last few years. I know you call her a Virtual Assistant, but now I think of her as family. I know about things going on in her life. She knows about things going on in my life as well as Global Partners in Life. I look forward to our weekly conversations. I just can't thank BELAY enough for bringing [me] someone that I'm so like-minded with."