""I don't want to run my agency forever. I want to own an agency. That means getting myself outside of the business to actually see it work and see things happen." "Lindsey helped orchestrate and project-manage our work with another consultant around developing SOPs and internal workflows. She's able to be that extension [of me] and a gatekeeper [of my time].""
— Justin Salters, Founder
The Challenge
Justin Salters founded Hey Salty, a communications and brand strategy agency, as a solopreneur on March 2, 2020. About nine months in, the business started gaining real traction — and with that momentum came a new problem: there simply wasn't enough of Justin to go around.
Unable to add full-time headcount, Justin found himself buried in the operational details of running a growing business. Emails piled up, his calendar became a source of anxiety, and the logistics of scheduling and client communication were consuming the very time he needed to focus on growth.
"Did I know that I was getting everything done? Sometimes not. I was hoping so, but I spent a ton of time going through my emails, worrying about my calendar, and scheduling meetings, and it was just overwhelming."
Once Justin had signed enough retainer clients to secure consistent monthly revenue, he knew it was time to act. He needed a way to extend his capacity without the overhead of a traditional hire — and that's when he turned to BELAY.
The Solution
Justin onboarded his first BELAY Virtual Assistant in December 2020. She helped him bring order to his inbox and build foundational processes for the business. The results were immediate: on the day his agency launched a major client website and campaign, Justin was able to attend a charity golf tournament, confident everything was being handled.
"The biggest accomplishment was that the day that we were launching a major new website and campaign for our client, I was on the golf course at a charity golf tournament. I took some phone calls and did some things from my phone, but I was able to go and do that and actually enjoy the day."
When his first VA transitioned to a larger role, Lindsey Harrell stepped in and made an immediate impression. Justin appreciated her initiative, and Lindsey valued his thorough onboarding approach — working through BELAY's delegation matrices and task quadrant frameworks together to establish a productive rhythm from day one.
As Hey Salty scaled and Justin brought on full-time marketing specialists, Lindsey adapted her role accordingly — ultimately project-managing the development of the agency's SOPs and internal workflows alongside an outside consultant, keeping Justin focused on the work only he could do.
""In creative services, the only way you can grow the way that I did was having a team of people to help you scale. Lindsey helped me get to that point.""
— Justin Salters, FounderThe Impact
With Lindsey as his Virtual Assistant, Justin was able to step back from day-to-day operations and focus on owning — not just running — his agency. Lindsey became both an extension of Justin and a gatekeeper of his time, giving him the capacity to scale in a way that wouldn't have been possible alone.
"In creative services, the only way you can grow the way that I did was having a team of people to help you scale. Lindsey helped me get to that point."
The results are striking: Hey Salty grew from just over $100,000 in revenue in 2020 to $400,000 — a 400% increase — in just a couple of years. That kind of growth in a competitive, fast-paced market required not just talent, but the operational support to execute with consistency and speed.
For Lindsey, being part of that journey has been equally meaningful. "Being in the team meetings and [seeing] the shift of the team turning clients away because they're so busy is something that is fun and I'm honored to be a part of," she shared. Justin credits Lindsey's ability to match Hey Salty's coastal pace without flinching as a key factor in the agency's remarkable ascent.