"[Ashley is] predicting my needs, predicting a question that I'm going to ask proactively going, 'Oh, by the way, I did this for you.' And I'm like, 'How did you even know I was going to ask for that?' It's that kind of delight and dazzle that she brings that I have appreciated. She's great at coming up with other things to take off my plate."
— Carrie Fabris, Founder and Chief Reframer
The Challenge
Carrie Fabris, founder and chief reframer of CareerFrame, was running a growing career coaching and consulting practice largely on her own when the demands of the business outpaced what she could manage alone. On the recommendation of her marketing director — who was also a BELAY client — Carrie reached out and was paired with a Client Success Consultant and a Virtual Assistant.
While the initial pairing was functional, Carrie sensed she wasn't getting everything she needed. A chance call with BELAY CEO Tricia Sciortino became the turning point after Carrie described her experience as merely 'good.'
"Tricia doesn't do 'good' or 'good enough,'" Carrie says with a laugh. "So she reached out to me personally and the next thing I know, I'm getting a great [CSC] – just a better personality fit and found me the best VA."
What Carrie truly needed was a proactive partner — someone who could take ownership without being asked and help her, as she put it, "pry my fingers off of things" since she was accustomed to controlling everything herself. She needed, in her own words, "someone to tough love the tough-love coach."
The Solution
BELAY matched Carrie with Virtual Assistant Ashley Quinones, who quickly became the operational backbone of CareerFrame. One of Ashley's first contributions was taking over Carrie's calendar — a meaningful act of trust for someone who used it as her primary to-do list. Ashley also developed a habit of monitoring Carrie's email CCs and acting on tasks independently, without waiting to be asked.
Ashley's detail orientation proved especially valuable for CareerFrame's signature workshop deliverable: the strengths grid.
"What I love about Ashley specifically is how detail-oriented she is — and I'm not... [Ashley] has become the master of creating these grids, and that right there is a huge time save for me. I wake up and there it is in my inbox."
Ashley's contributions extended well beyond core administration. She managed a LinkedIn social media campaign, built extensive Google Docs, helped coordinate a 35-person trip to the British Virgin Islands for a personal milestone, and — most notably — constructed a comprehensive coaching dashboard for CareerFrame's largest client, a global company spanning seven divisions, giving all four coaches a centralized system to track every client relationship, coaching cadence, and frequency in one place.
"When it comes to the support of an assistant and the infrastructure of the business and processes and organization, I have the best team with BELAY. I know that if I need something or something is not right, I go to [my CSC] and it is taken care of."
— Carrie Fabris, Founder and Chief ReframerThe Impact
With Ashley anticipating her needs and managing the operational details of CareerFrame, Carrie has reclaimed the resource she values most: time. As a business owner, Strengths Coach, and mother of two active children with a busy CEO husband, the freedom to delegate with full confidence has transformed both her professional capacity and personal well-being.
"Sometimes it's like, 'Wow, I could sit here and spend an hour working on this strengths grid, or I could actually go eat lunch and I can punt this to Ashley and know it'll get taken in probably half the time.' So that ROI on not only money, but time is huge."
What Carrie values most is Ashley's ability to predict what she needs before she even asks — what she describes as the "delight and dazzle" of a truly proactive assistant. The partnership has given her the confidence that CareerFrame's operations are in capable hands, and that BELAY as a whole is a genuine pillar of her business's success.
"When it comes to the support of an assistant and the infrastructure of the business and processes and organization, I have the best team with BELAY. I know that if I need something or something is not right, I go to [my CSC] and it is taken care of."