"Kelly, and our experience with BELAY, was an experiment to see how much logistical support I or the organization needed. Kelly started bumping up against her contracted hours, and we started realizing we were offloading more and more to her as she grew with the organization. We got to the point where we started running cost analysis and said, 'We needed to hire her,' and that's where we ended up."
— Todd Slechta, President
The Challenge
Todd Slechta, President of Covenant Initiatives for Care (CIC), leads a mission-driven organization dedicated to advancing innovative Christian initiatives that serve the vulnerable. Navigating a complex network of affiliate partnerships, board relationships, and community programs, Todd found himself stretched thin by the day-to-day demands of running the organization.
Much of his time was being consumed by logistical details — scheduling, researching, drafting communications, and booking travel. These necessary but time-intensive tasks were pulling him away from the strategic leadership work that required his unique expertise and vision.
Todd needed a trusted partner who could step in, take ownership of the operational details, and free him to lead with greater focus and impact.
The Solution
BELAY matched Todd with Virtual Assistant Kelly Hall — and the connection was immediate. Both from Colorado, sharing similar faith values and backgrounds in education (Todd as a former principal, Kelly as a special education teacher), the two established trust quickly and hit the ground running from day one.
Kelly began by taking over the logistical tasks Todd needed off his plate. As she grew more comfortable and gained institutional knowledge, he confidently handed her broader coordinating responsibilities — managing his calendar and correspondence, setting up board and strategic-planning meetings, documenting committee meeting minutes, maintaining third-party vendor relationships, aiding in hiring processes, and creating board books and a board director manual.
"To this day we have never actually met face to face, and we've been working together over a year. She controls my calendar, she controls a lot of my correspondence now, and she's the initial face on my behalf."
"[I started to see] the execution of responsibilities being done more and more and done proactively. Kelly was beginning to understand the pulse and rhythm of who we are and was able to articulate that when she engaged people."
— Todd Slechta, PresidentThe Impact
After more than a year of working together, the partnership between Todd and Kelly exceeded all expectations — operationally, relationally, and missionally. As Kelly completed her task list with ease and competence, she also excelled in connecting with the people around her, sending gifts when team members welcomed a new baby and reaching out personally on birthdays.
"[I started to see] the execution of responsibilities being done more and more and done proactively. Kelly was beginning to understand the pulse and rhythm of who we are and was able to articulate that when she engaged people. It became evident that Kelly was connecting with our board, connecting with our affiliate leaders, and connecting missionally."
The impact became so undeniable that Todd ran a cost analysis and made the decision to buy Kelly out of her BELAY contract, bringing her on as CIC's full-time administrative coordinator — a move that also honored Kelly's need for flexibility as a working mother.
"We got to the point where we started running cost analysis and said, 'We needed to hire her,' and that's where we ended up."