""I told BELAY that I wanted a thought partner so when they brought me Kaitlin, I just loved, loved, loved her personality. She was someone who brought joy, fun and just enthusiasm, which is really important to me, to our patriarch, and to my boss.""
— Kim Tanner, Executive Director
The Challenge
Kim Tanner had dedicated 22 years to the Jenesis Group, a private family foundation committed to empowering underserved youth through education, leadership development, and entrepreneurial skills. But despite her deep passion for the work, a persistent and painful gap held her back: she couldn't find the right assistant.
Over the years, Kim had cycled through a myriad of assistants — none of whom were the right fit. The void left her stretched thin and increasingly overwhelmed, to the point where the stress was no longer confined to office hours.
"Not having someone work with me was actually really getting in my way of both me being able to do my job well and enjoy [it]. I love my job, but it wasn't fun and it wasn't joyful."
The overflow into her personal life was the breaking point. Time with her two granddaughters was slipping away, and Kim had quietly resigned herself to the idea that she might never find the right person — until a conversation with her son-in-law changed everything. He shared how his own BELAY Virtual Assistant wasn't just helping him, but making him more effective and efficient. That was enough for Kim to take one more chance.
The Solution
Kim was matched with Kaitlin, a BELAY Virtual Assistant, and from day one the partnership was built on structure, trust, and genuine connection. The two established a consistent daily rhythm: a morning Zoom check-in at 8:15 AM to set the tone for the day, and a Friday wrap-up email summarizing task progress, pending items, and who was being waited on.
"My favorite part of our whole week is our Friday wrap-up email – a place for her to say where everything is on all my major tasks, what I'm waiting on, and who I'm waiting on."
But the relationship quickly grew beyond logistics. Kim asked Kaitlin to share something personal in each Friday wrap-up, fostering a bond grounded in mutual respect and shared faith. Over time, Kaitlin's responsibilities expanded dramatically. She began building direct relationships with the foundation's grantees — conducting interviews to learn about their work and their lives — and then channeled those conversations into a foundation newsletter. Most notably, Kaitlin began writing funding recommendations, a task Kim had never entrusted to anyone before.
"I have never given someone a funding recommendation to write because they're difficult," Kim explained. But Kaitlin had proven herself a true thought partner — proactive, bold, and seemingly able to anticipate exactly what Kim needed.
""Kaitlin is really growing into exactly what I wanted: a real partner in this work, not just someone who can manage my calendar and manage my travel and manage my email. And she does that. She does it very well – and she also does it all with a servant's heart.""
— Kim Tanner, Executive DirectorThe Impact
The results Kim had long searched for — and almost stopped believing were possible — finally arrived. With Kaitlin handling communications, relationships, and even high-stakes writing projects, Kim was freed to lead with clarity and joy again.
"What I really always wanted was someone to push me. And from the beginning, Kaitlin was persistent. I think part of it is her boldness to saying, 'Just let me give it a shot.'"
The most tangible sign of that transformation? Kim took a 10-day vacation — her first in a year — and was truly able to step away. The overwhelming weight that had once bled into her personal life and kept her from her granddaughters had lifted. The Jenesis Group's founding ethos of joy, experimentation, and growth had found its way back into Kim's daily experience.
Kim credits not just Kaitlin's skill, but her character. "She does it very well — and she also does it all with a servant's heart." What started as a reluctant experiment became one of Kim's most valued professional relationships, and a testament to what the right partnership can unlock.