From Solo VA to Agency Founder: How I Built The Lifestyle VA Team

From Executive Assistant to Agency Founder: My Journey to Building The Lifestyle VA

Sometimes the best business ideas come from solving your own problems first. That's exactly what happened when I transitioned from being a booked out solo Virtual Assistant supporting high-flying executives and celebrities in London and New York to founding The Lifestyle VA agency.

I recently sat down with Holly on the Visionary VA podcast to share the behind-the-scenes story of how I built a team that now helps ambitious business Founders and ambitious families reclaim their time – and honestly, it felt so good to reflect on this journey and the key lessons I've learned along the way.

We're More Than Just VAs – We're "Fairy Godmothers with Laptops"

This phrase isn't just a clever tagline for us – it captures exactly what we do every day. My team and I help growing Founders and busy families reclaim their precious time so they can focus on growing their careers without drowning in endless admin tasks.

The impact goes beyond just checking items off a to-do list. When a client tells me they finally made it to their child's school play because we handled their calendar management, or when a busy executive can focus on strategy instead of email organisation – that's when I know we're doing more than providing a service. We're creating space for what truly matters in people's lives.

It's a business model that comes from the heart, but the impact is real and measurable.

The Hardest Lesson: You Don't Have to Do It All

I'll be honest – stepping back from client work was one of the most challenging decisions I've made. Like most VAs, I loved the hands-on work and felt like I needed to be involved in everything to maintain quality.

But there came a turning point when I realized I had to choose: keep doing all the client work myself or step into my role as a CEO and focus on leading my team. The moment I gave up trying to control every detail and started trusting my VAs to serve clients directly, everything changed.

If you're reading this and you're still trying to do everything yourself, consider this your gentle nudge to delegate and step into your CEO role. Your business – and your sanity – will thank you.

Growing Smart, Not Just Fast

Building The Lifestyle VA has been intentional from day one. I didn't want to just scale quickly; I wanted to build something sustainable that could maintain the quality of service and care and attention each of our clients deserve.

Every decision I make now is filtered through our long-term vision. When I hire new team members, I'm not just looking at their skills – I'm ensuring they understand that we're giving people their lives back little by little. The happy bi-product are team members who feel like they are doing rewarding work, work that offers my team flexible hours around their own families.

Starting simple but growing steady and sustainably has allowed us to grow in a way that feels aligned with our values while building something that can truly transform how our clients live and work and not a single one of our clients are just a number or an invoice, they can see how much we care.

The Freedom in Letting Go

The biggest surprise in this journey is perhaps a timely reminder for you as well. The incredible freedom that comes from not trying to control or do everything.

When I finally stepped back and focused on strategy, growth and building the business for the long term, rather than doing all the work myself, my team could serve clients more effectively, and I could focus on growing the business in meaningful ways that never let our standards drop either.

This shift didn't happen overnight, and it required me to trust my team in ways that initially felt uncomfortable. But watching my VAs thrive in their relationships with clients while I focused on building systems and expanding our impact has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.

So ask yourself, what are you holding onto that you need to let go of?

What This Means for You

Whether you're reading this as a Virtual Assistant and just starting your virtual assistant career or you’re a Founder wondering how to grow your own business, I hope my story shows you that it's possible to scale in a way that feels joyful and purpose-driven without letting go of any of your values.

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is step back, trust your team, and focus on creating the kind of impact that extends far beyond any single task or project. Or perhaps it’s time to outsource and hire a VA?

Remember that growth doesn't have to mean losing the heart of what you do. Sometimes it means finding new ways to amplify it without needing to do everything yourself.

Click below to watch to the full episode with Holly on Youtube.

If you’re a VA, click here to join Holly’s free Visionary VA Facebook Group