"Since bringing BELAY on, our revenue has increased by tenfold. I can honestly say that that would not have been possible in the last year and a half without the ability to be in more meetings, spend more of my time making decisions and driving revenue rather than futzing around trying to get everybody to the right place."
— Jason Barrett, Founder and Master Distiller
The Challenge
Jason Barrett, founder and master distiller of Black Button Distilling, had long recognized that administrative organization wasn't his strong suit. As his Rochester-based craft distillery grew to 87 employees and expanded distribution across 12 states and Japan, the demands on his time became overwhelming. A previous attempt at hiring a full-time assistant hadn't worked out — there simply wasn't enough work to justify a 40-hour-per-week employee.
As Black Button Distilling entered its busy season, the situation reached a breaking point. Jason was fielding 200 to 250 emails per day and 30 to 50 Zoom calls per week — and without proper support, everything cascaded.
"We were getting into our busy season last October, and I was just drowning in trying to set up meetings. I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere, so I decided it was time to try again. I wanted to try somewhere where somebody had experience, hopefully, there were processes in place, and they kind of knew how to be an executive assistant and could almost train me on how you should work with one."
His staff had grown accustomed to joking that by noon, Jason was already two hours behind schedule. He needed a partner with real executive assistant experience — someone who could impose structure and hold him accountable to his own calendar. A Google search led him to BELAY.
The Solution
BELAY matched Jason with Virtual Assistant Alyson Ferwerda, who quickly became a cornerstone of his day-to-day operations. One of her first areas of focus was travel logistics — learning Jason's hotel preferences, weighing car services against public transit, and researching local, authentic dining options to impress clients in unfamiliar cities.
"I went to St. Louis and got to try this great Italian food at this little neighborhood joint that I never would've found... The client I was taking out to dinner thought it was so neat that we had picked this classic, local place instead of just taking him to another steakhouse. And that made that dinner that much more impactful."
Beyond travel, Alyson took ownership of Jason's inbox and calendar. She introduced a structured scheduling framework — booking meetings at 35 or 40 minutes on the hour to build deliberate buffer time between calls.
"I've got 20 minutes in between [meetings] so that when they run over, I don't end up late in a cascading effect."
Working just 10 hours per week, Alyson also enforces a hard end-of-day rule at 5 p.m., ensuring Jason's 87 employees have the direction they need while protecting his personal time. As Jason puts it, she forces him to stick to his own rules.
"I think my wife actually might like Alyson even more than I do because it has totally changed my ability to be there and present with my family for dinner. It probably went from four nights a month to four nights a week."
— Jason Barrett, Founder and Master DistillerThe Impact
The results of partnering with BELAY have been transformative for both Jason's business and his personal life. The schedule that once ran hours off the rails now derails roughly once a month rather than every day — a dramatic shift that has cascaded positive effects across the entire organization.
Most strikingly, Black Button Distilling's revenue has surged since bringing BELAY on board.
"Since bringing BELAY on, our revenue has increased by tenfold. I can honestly say that that would not have been possible in the last year and a half without the ability to be in more meetings, spend more of my time making decisions and driving revenue rather than futzing around trying to get everybody to the right place."
The personal impact has been equally meaningful. Jason now makes it home for family dinner four nights a week — a figure that had previously hovered at just four nights a month.
"I think my wife actually might like Alyson even more than I do because it has totally changed my ability to be there and present with my family for dinner."
For Jason, the measure of Alyson's value is simple: "Besides my co-founder, she's probably one of the most impactful people in my business, and it actually astonishes me that she only works for me 10 hours a week." He calls it, without hesitation, the best money he's ever spent.