"Having a VA has been incredibly impactful and helpful. It's gotten me to a place of working more out of my zone genius, as Kristin works out of hers."
— Tom Williams, COO
The Challenge
As COO of Real Life Dental — a multi-location practice spanning general dentistry, orthodontics, and endodontics — Tom Williams was managing three offices while preparing to open a fourth. To stay accessible across all locations, he gave up his permanent office to remain mobile, showing up on-site wherever he was needed most.
But rapid growth brought an unexpected problem: every time a patient coordinator was promoted to serve as his assistant, Tom gained a helper at the cost of his privacy. Sensitive leadership communications were no longer staying where they belonged.
"Confidentiality was not taken seriously. I was needing someone that could manage meetings and my email — without the fear of an email being read and shared."
The stakes were real. As a leader, Tom regularly handled information that, if leaked prematurely, could cause anxiety among staff and undermine confidence in the organization's direction. He needed a trusted partner who could help him manage the volume — and protect the confidentiality — of everything crossing his desk. A chance mention of BELAY at a Michael Hyatt event pointed him toward a solution.
The Solution
Tom was matched with BELAY Virtual Assistant Kristin, though he admitted he wasn't ready to hand over everything at once. His hesitation centered on two concerns: whether a remote worker could truly manage complex responsibilities, and whether that remote arrangement would feel disconnected from his in-person teams.
So they started small. For the first 30 days, Kristin focused exclusively on Tom's inbox — a situation he candidly described as a mess. Within two to three weeks, she had restored order, demonstrating both competence and reliability before the relationship expanded.
"Email and calendar — that's what we focused on for 30 days. She was able to work through that relatively quickly — probably two to three weeks into it."
From the start, Tom made transparency a foundation of the working relationship. He committed to telling Kristin what was really going on, and she committed to doing the same — including holding him accountable when he slipped back into old habits. That mutual honesty built the trust needed to hand off increasingly significant work, including the complete overhaul of the company's organizational chart.
"Once that was all handed over, it felt like 15-20 pounds of stress and burden were just relieved. And that's not the first time; there have been many times like that. It feels so good to just be able to let go."
— Tom Williams, COOThe Impact
The results of working with Kristin went well beyond an organized inbox. With daily end-of-day updates from his VA, Tom no longer carried open mental loops through the rest of his day — freeing up cognitive bandwidth for the leadership work only he could do.
"Once that was all handed over, it felt like 15-20 pounds of stress and burden were just relieved. And that's not the first time; there have been many times like that. It feels so good to just be able to let go."
The trust Tom and Kristin built also created space for genuine accountability. When Kristin noticed Tom sneaking into folders he wasn't supposed to manage, she called him on it — and he welcomed the feedback. For Tom, that kind of candid, reciprocal relationship was the mark of a true partnership.
Ultimately, the engagement gave Tom what every leader needs: the freedom to focus on work that matches their strengths.
"Having a VA has been incredibly impactful and helpful. It's gotten me to a place of working more out of my zone genius, as Kristin works out of hers."