From Grief to Growth: The VA Partnership That Changed Everything for HR Expert Jo Taylor of Let's Talk Talent
Jo Taylor is the Founder and MD of Let’s Talk Talent, an award winning specialist HR consultancy that helps businesses get, keep, and grow brilliant people. She’s been a client of The Lifestyle VA since 2021 and over those four years, the relationship has evolved from a straightforward VA placement into something that now underpins how her business runs day to day.
This is her incredible story.
Why Jo Needed a Virtual Assistant
When Jo first came to The Lifestyle VA to find a virtual assistant, she was navigating one of the hardest periods of her life: the loss of her husband, who had also been her business partner.
He’d handled a significant portion of the project management and administration behind the scenes. When he died, Jo did her best to carry on and maintain what they had built, but she soon realised without support it was going to fall apart, and she was determined not to let that happen - that’s when she reached out to us.
Over the past 5 years, The Lifestyle VA has sourced and managed three Virtual Assistants for Jo.
First we sourced and matched a Virtual Executive Assistant and Jo hired them directly, then as her VEA (Virtual Executive Assistant) stepped into another part of the business, Jo came back to us and we matched her with Laurie, who became indispensable to the business, and then Debbie, who stepped in to cover Laurie’s maternity leave.
In that time, Let’s Talk Talent has grown significantly, with their VA’s help their debt collection rate has improved from 60% to 85–90% of their monthly ledger, and Jo describes the support as something she “couldn’t run the business without.”
I’m sharing just how we made this happen.
The “Before”: Organised Chaos, and a Founder at a Crossroads
Jo describes life before a VA as “organised chaos”…
Let’s Talk Talent was growing, but Jo’s late husband had been quietly holding a lot of the business together behind the scenes: the spreadsheets, the invoicing, the diary management. When he died, Jo quickly realised she was trying so hard to balance the practical every day stuff as well as handling the growth and forward motion, something had to give.
Jo had been resisting the idea of getting support, partly out of a belief that she could manage alone, and partly because COVID had introduced uncertainty about where the business was headed.
But Jo felt that she didn’t want everything they had built to fall apart, so she made a decision that she was going to grow the business properly, and to do that, she needed help and that’s when she found us.
“I went into it very much like, I don’t believe this is going to work. I can do it all myself. And low and behold, years later, I couldn’t run the business without the VA support. I'm thankful for, you know, that just time to breathe and, in effect, someone to look after me when I wasn't looking after myself very well.”
It wasn’t just the practical gap her husband had left, it was the emotional gap that grief brings and realising she did want to carry on what they had built, it just looked a little different and she realised she needed support to do that - which started as practical, it ended up feeling like emotional support because she wasn’t doing it alone.
Why Use The Lifestyle VA? Jo is An HR Expert Who Knew She Needed an Expert in a Different Field
Here’s an interesting reminder for you: Jo is an HR professional. So finding, keeping, and helping people grow is actually what she does for a living. So why didn’t she just hire a VA herself?
Her answer is so important, knowing even experts recognise the edges of their own expertise.
“Sometimes your talent radar is off. I feel like actually you need to pay people or use services that are going to enhance, and show you something that you might not be able to see. So I’m very good at being seduced by people who have high values, high strengths. But are they the right people for the job?
I started off my career in project management and administration so I understand the basics, but I've not been a VA. Whereas you have and you took the time to know me, to understand our business. Why wouldn’t I use that expertise? Even in HR, you need to surround yourself with people who are better than you at certain things.”
Jo had also had bad experiences with hires she’d made herself and the time and difficulty of both on-boarding and off-boarding when a placement didn’t work out wasn’t something she wanted to repeat.
She trusted that Mel had done the screening, vetted the candidates properly, and would present someone who genuinely fit, not just on paper, but culturally.
Mel and Jo originally met through a mutual contact in 2021 and Jo started with The Lifestyle VA’s recruitment-only service first, where once the VA was matched, the VA contracted directly with Jo as an employee.
When Jo came back to ask for a retainer model - where the VA is contracted through The Lifestyle VA rather than the client, the reason was simple.
“I trusted the fact that you’d hired well in the first instance. If it wasn’t broken, why fix it?”
The retainer model also made practical sense for a small, fast-paced business.
No employer’s National Insurance, no pension contributions, no payroll overhead. The VA themselves covers everything.
With employment law changes making headcount increasingly costly, having a VA contracted through The Lifestyle VA meant Jo could access high-quality flexible support without the costs of an employee and pass savings on to her clients rather than building them into her prices.
The flexibility of the model mattered too. Sixty hours spread across the month, used as and when the business needed them, rather than fixed days or set blocks.
For a consultancy that moves quickly, that agility is everything.
“We also get the added flexibility because the hours can be spread out across the day rather than just a chunk in the morning or just a chunk on a Thursday, so I think from a flexibility and agility perspective, because we're very fast paced as a business, it actually suits our mentality.”
Her VA Increased Cashflow by 25-30%Each Month
The Lifestyle VA placed Laurie with Let’s Talk Talent, and she settled in quickly. Jo describes her as “a good human” first, and a highly skilled VA second, which is exactly the right order of priority for a business built on people and values.
What made Laurie exceptional wasn’t just what she did, it was how she did it.
She was proactive, thinking ahead of Jo rather than waiting to be asked. She found ways to cut email back-and-forth by using instant messaging and WhatsApp for quick communication.
She brought warmth to every interaction with clients and contacts, ensuring that even the most transactional touchpoints, like setting up a meeting, felt human and consistent with the Let’s Talk Talent brand.
But the biggest measurable impact for Jo and Let’s Talent came in one specific area: debt management.
“Before Laurie came, I was doing all the debt management. We were getting about 60% of our ledger paid monthly. Now I’d say it’s 85–90%.”
Laurie didn’t just take the task on, she owned it. Once she understood the process and the business, she created a structured chasing process: seven days before an invoice was due, then a follow-up a couple of days later, with templates that felt warm rather than officious and an SOP that anyone in the business could follow.
She changed the invoicing rhythm so payments weren’t all hitting at the end of month, which improved cashflow throughout the month. And she knew when to escalate, flagging to Jo or Craig when something needed a personal call, rather than just continuing to chase into silence.
What Happened When Her VA Went on Maternity Leave?
When Laurie went on maternity leave, The Lifestyle VA placed Debbie to cover. Maternity cover is one of the harder roles to fill well - you're stepping into an established client relationship, not starting one from scratch. And in this case, the relationship was a particularly strong one.
That’s why preparation started months in advance - by spring, Mel and Jo were already planning for Laurie's August departure - giving everyone enough time to find the right person without any pressure. That early start matters, it's the difference between a considered placement and a scramble and allowing Jo to feel comfortable with the change, which Jo definitely felt the benefit of.
Laurie also created what Mel describes as "a Bible" - a handover document so thorough and detailed that Debbie could pick up everything from day one. Jo says she'd never seen anything like it: there was nothing Debbie wasn't able to do as a result of it.
That kind of handover doesn't happen by accident. It reflects everything Mel and her team values - preparation, planning, processes and care.
"She's had big boots to fill. But she hasn't tried to fill them - she's been Debbie rather than Laurie 2.0. She's just taken stuff and done it, and in a way that shows real respect."
Jo is also clear that the timing wasn't easy. Let's Talk Talent was going through significant internal change at the same time - a period when the last thing anyone needed was a VA who needed managing.
Debbie, in Jo's words, is "a self-starter" and "a grown-up" - someone who does the work because she genuinely cares about it, has high standards and knows she’s sitting holding someone else's seat. That mattered enormously during a turbulent stretch.
Laurie returned from maternity leave, to a seat that has been kept warm and to processes that she started, documented and Debbie continued. It went as smooth as everyone involved could possibly make it.
The Result: A Business That Runs Properly and a Founder Who Gets a Lunch Break
The numbers tell part of the story and why having a highly experienced and strong VA can make the world of difference for a business like Jo’s - debt collection up from 60% to 85–90% each month and more reliable cashflow as a result.
Add to that a smoother invoicing cycle and all the things that are lifted off Jo's plate and you’ve got a fast-growing consultancy that’s gone from a Founder in grief and survival mode, to a growing and properly structured team who are thriving - and who we still adore working with.
Numbers aside, the intangible results matter just as much.
Jo and her business partner Craig now have lunch breaks built into their diaries, that might sound small but it isn’t. For a founder who was previously doing everything herself, having a guaranteed 45 minutes a day of protected time that’s actually in the calendar, represents a genuine shift in how the business operates.
“I just know that things get done. When I ask, it gets done. I don’t think we could operate without it now. And Craig couldn’t live without it either.”
Jo is also clear-eyed about what VA support has done for the business at a structural level. It’s not just about tasks. It’s about the systems, the processes, the professional consistency that clients experience - those are things that only happen when someone with the right skills is owning them properly.
“In the way that the business is professional, in the way that it’s trusted by clients, in the way that we are managing our time and have systems and processes - it’s stuff that you have to invest in as you grow. If you don’t invest in it, you’re only ever going to stay the size you are.”
In Jo’s Words
“We recently hired a VA through Mel who has been amazing. Laurie is brilliant, organised, unflappable, kind and has fitted into our team like a glove. I do not know what I would do without her now. The process of working with Mel from assignment, recruitment to contracting has been super easy. Mel understood our needs really well and was available to chat with us all the way through. I have no problem recommending and look forward to continuing to work with Laurie and Mel.”
— Jo Taylor, Founder & MD, Let’s Talk Talent
Ready to find your Laurie?
If you’re running a business that’s grown beyond what you can manage alone, or you’re carrying more than you should be, a conversation could positively and quickly change things for you.
The Lifestyle VA places experienced, thoroughly vetted Virtual Executive Assistants with founders, senior leaders, and growing businesses across the UK. Every placement is personally led by Mel, and most clients are matched within two to three weeks of their discovery call, leaving them feeling less frazzled and more focused.
