"It's been an accumulative experience. You don't really see it until you start realizing that it all adds up. At the end of the 45 hours a month, you start to realize that, 'Wow. In the past, I spent all that time doing stuff that I should have been delegating.'"
— Mel Lim, Founder and CEO
The Challenge
Mel Lim is the founder and CEO of Maspira Groupe, a global growth strategy firm that has served private equity firms and Fortune 500 companies alike for over 15 years. Beyond running her company, Mel is an award-winning keynote speaker, published author, and member of multiple advisory boards — a schedule that would overwhelm most, and eventually began overwhelming her.
By December 2019, Mel was working 100 to 120 hours per week while simultaneously managing her children through the holiday season. The imbalance had become impossible to ignore. As her sister put it plainly during a Christmas visit,
"You're here, but you're not really here. You're working nonstop."
While Mel had worked with other assistants in the past, none had been the right fit — so she defaulted to doing everything herself because it felt faster and easier. But that habit came at a steep cost. Scheduling alone was consuming enormous amounts of her time, including two to three hours every Sunday night just to coordinate the week ahead.
On Christmas Day, Mel took action and emailed three agencies in search of a virtual assistant. She needed someone who could keep up with her pace, meet her exacting standards, and help her reclaim the presence her life — and her family — deserved.
The Solution
BELAY responded to Mel's inquiry the very next day — Christmas Day — and by December 26th, they were already in conversation about how to get her the support she needed. The contrast with the other agencies, which didn't reply for four or five days, was immediate and telling. As Mel put it,
"I thought, 'OK. There you go. That lady gets me.'"
BELAY paired Mel with a Virtual Assistant named Angie, and the first priority was clear: get Mel's schedule under control. Angie took on the complex task of syncing Mel's professional calendar with her clients' schedules, her children's activities, and her own availability — freeing Mel from the Sunday-night coordination marathon entirely.
From there, Mel and Angie worked together to identify every task that was consuming Mel's time without making the best use of her skills. Mel was candid about the learning curve:
"In the beginning, I was reluctant because I'm so used to doing it all on my own. So I gave her little bits, little bits, little bits because trust has to be earned over time."
Angie rose to meet Mel's high standards — including stepping in as a skilled writer. Since English is not Mel's first language, Angie began transforming Mel's brain dumps into polished, professional prose, allowing Mel to stay focused on the strategic work only she could do.
"She's made me a better leader. I've always prided myself in terms of time management but now, Angie keeps me accountable."
— Mel Lim, Founder and CEOThe Impact
The results of working with BELAY didn't arrive in a single dramatic moment — they accumulated over time into something transformative. Within 45 hours of monthly VA support, Mel began to see just how much time she had previously spent on work that should have been delegated long ago.
"You don't really see it until you start realizing that it all adds up. At the end of the 45 hours a month, you start to realize that, 'Wow. In the past, I spent all that time doing stuff that I should have been delegating.'"
The constant, grinding stress of Mel's former pace began to ease. With Angie guarding her calendar and gently holding her accountable, Mel found herself making smarter decisions about where to invest her time.
"I still have urgency, but I'm not as stressed out; I know that it's planned because she's really very good at guarding my time."
Perhaps most meaningfully, Mel credits Angie with helping her become a more effective leader. The partnership gave Mel the clarity and accountability to stay focused on high-impact work — and the confidence to let go of the rest.
"She's made me a better leader. I've always prided myself in terms of time management but now, Angie keeps me accountable."
For someone who built her brand on crafting innovative experiences through mindfulness, Mel finally had the space to practice what she preaches — present in her work, present in her leadership, and present in her life.