"I love having peace of mind, more spaciousness in my calendar, more organization, and a sense of being excited for growth versus overwhelmed."
— Julie Cabezas, Founder
The Challenge
Julie Cabezas founded Copy Crimes in 2019 after years as an entrepreneur specializing in high-ticket sales, personal brand voice, and conversion copywriting. The agency quickly grew to revenues of over half a million dollars a year — but Julie was shouldering far more than her creative work.
"I was taking on all of the admin, communications, project management and scheduling. And it was sort of normal for me that I didn't realize what an added stressor, burden and inefficiency that was."
Inspired by Michael Hyatt's book Your World-Class Assistant, Julie recognized she needed help — but initially tried to solve the problem on her own terms by hiring inexperienced assistants she could mentor at a lower cost. The results were frustrating.
"I hired several young women to work for me who hadn't had any experience and ran into a ton of issues, mistakes, roadblocks and communication challenges. It felt like every request was a favor. I was going around and around and would let them go and then hire someone else and train them and let them go. It was this revolving door."
The revolving door of underqualified hires left Julie with less capacity than before — unable to focus on her clients and constantly pulled into reactive admin work. The pain was especially acute around scheduling and project management, which kept her from delivering the high-end client experience she prided herself on.
The Solution
After cycling through several unsuccessful hires, Julie returned to the recommendation in Hyatt's book and reached out to BELAY. Her mindset had shifted decisively:
"You know, I should just go with the best of the best. Hire someone with experience. Hire someone who's been trained."
BELAY matched Julie with Virtual Assistant Erica Stevens, and from day one the partnership had structure and momentum behind it. Julie was impressed by the onboarding resources BELAY provided, which reduced the burden of getting Erica up to speed.
"There were a lot of resources that were available to me that were provided by BELAY. I didn't have to do a bunch of homework, but I had plenty of ideas and ways that I could start laying things out for her. BELAY helped me to be clear with what she needed to do."
Erica took over scheduling, client onboarding, project management, and client gifting — but her scope quickly extended beyond business tasks. Drawing on advice from Your World-Class Assistant, Julie also handed off personal logistics: home management, contractor coordination, appointments, and digital errands that had previously consumed her weekends.
"My weekends are freer. I'm more relaxed on the weekends. I can play more and have more fun."
— Julie Cabezas, FounderThe Impact
The partnership with Erica transformed Julie's quality of life on both a professional and personal level. With admin and personal tasks handled, Julie could finally bring her full focus to serving clients and doing her best creative work.
"It's very important for my client experience to be elegant and have that nice high-end feel, so it's wonderful to have someone giving that client attention."
Perhaps the most tangible shift came in how Julie spent her weekends. Tasks that used to spill into her personal time — paying bills, ordering supplies, managing contractors — were now handled by Erica during the normal work week.
"My weekends are freer. I'm more relaxed on the weekends. I can play more and have more fun."
As Erica's hours ramped up, the two developed what Julie describes as a strong, well-oiled partnership. The emotional payoff was just as significant as the operational gains:
"I love having peace of mind, more spaciousness in my calendar, more organization, and a sense of being excited for growth versus overwhelmed."