""I want to be where my feet are and when I'm thinking about all of this other stuff, it's hard to be present at a given moment. Now, I'm much more able to be 100 percent in what I'm doing when I'm doing it. It's not just [that] she's given time back; she's given the ability to be more present.""
— Terry Anderson, COO, Springs Rescue Mission
The Challenge
Springs Rescue Mission serves over 3,000 homeless men and women each year — roughly 500 to 700 people every single day. With a staff of just under 100 and a C-suite of five, the organization had grown rapidly into a cornerstone of the Colorado Springs community. But that growth came with a cost: its senior leaders were drowning in scheduling overhead.
President and CEO Jack Briggs, COO Terry Anderson, and Chief Development Officer Travis Williams were all managing their own calendars — and it showed. Meetings were missed, transitions between appointments were rushed, and the mental load of coordinating schedules was quietly eroding their capacity to lead.
"We were missing appointments, and we weren't prepared at the level we should be for the size and the impact that we are now."
Terry estimated he was spending 10 to 15 percent of his week on calendar management alone — time that belonged to the mission. The rescue mission had, as Jack put it, "exploded in size and complexity," and the informal, self-managed approach to scheduling was no longer sustainable. They needed professional fractional support, and they needed it fast.
The Solution
When COO Terry Anderson searched for a solution, BELAY kept surfacing at the top of every list. The team wanted a U.S.-based partner close to their time zone — and BELAY fit the bill. They were matched with Virtual Assistant Victoria Brush, who took ownership of calendaring for all three executives from day one.
Victoria's approach was deliberate and relationship-first. Rather than imposing a system immediately, she took a slow and steady path to earning trust, learning each leader's personality, communication style, and priorities. The team even took the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment together to accelerate that understanding.
"The key piece for all of us was maintaining decent communication throughout that process and making sure we were on the same page about everything."
With Victoria coordinating their schedules, the executives stopped playing defense. Terry described the shift vividly: rather than scrambling to fit others' proposed times into a chaotic calendar, Victoria would proactively reach out, set up the meeting, and place it precisely where it belonged. "Now, we play offense," Terry said. Travis noted that Victoria also ensured key donors were cared for — keeping him in the right place at the right time and giving him confidence that nothing would fall through the cracks.
""Just the mental fatigue of trying to work through the ping pong match of going back and forth with somebody to schedule something was eating away at my ability to do my job.""
— Jack Briggs, President & CEOThe Impact
The results at Springs Rescue Mission weren't just operational — they were deeply human. When executives stopped fighting their calendars, they became better leaders, better listeners, and more effective advocates for the people their mission exists to serve.
"The win for me has been that more people are able to find pathways out of homelessness than ever before because I have a greater capacity to do my most important work."
Travis Williams captured what the change meant at the mission level: with greater personal capacity, the organization's reach expanded. Terry echoed that sentiment in terms of presence — truly being in the room rather than mentally juggling what comes next. Victoria hadn't just returned hours to the calendar; she had returned focus to the people who needed it most.
For Jack, the shift represented a maturation of leadership befitting an organization of Springs Rescue Mission's scale and impact. "BELAY gave us a flexible and professional solution to serve all of our needs to ensure that we can serve the Colorado Springs community well," Travis said. From the matching process to day-to-day collaboration, the team felt Victoria was chosen — not assigned. "Victoria was the right person for Springs Rescue Mission."