Let Go To Grow: Building a VA Agency with Kathy Soulsby

What happens when a corporate PA with a side hustle becomes the leader of a 30+ VA team? In this episode, Kathy Soulsby shares how she built her business from a single client to supporting global consultancies, all while hosting a podcast, writing two books, and navigating the realities of managing people.

"I realised I didn’t want to go back into a job. I wanted to keep this thing going... and then I started building a team."

This week, the brilliant Kathy Soulsby is on the podcast, a VA agency founder, author, and host of the Productivity Nerd podcast. We talk about her leap from working in hospitality and as a PA to becoming a fully booked VA, and eventually building a thriving team of freelancers. Kathy opens up about the challenges of managing a team, supporting big clients, and letting go of her own to-do list. From imposter syndrome to procurement nightmares, this is a real and refreshing take on the messy middle of business growth.

Whether you’re thinking about outsourcing, building a team, or just want to hear what it’s really like behind the scenes of a VA agency, this episode is full of practical insights, honesty, and a few productivity confessions too.

Key takeaways:

• Start messy and then refine later. Kathy didn’t wait for the perfect system before building her team. She started with one associate and grew from there, learning as she went.

• Let go to grow. Handing over tasks can be a game-changer. "It’s taken me years to give it up... but now someone manages me."

• Relationships build resilience. From local dog-walking meetups to online referrals, Kathy credits her network of VAs and former PAs for the success and sustainability of her agency.

If you’re sitting on the fence about getting support or scaling up, ask yourself: what’s stopping you? You don’t need to have it all figured out, just start with one person, one task. Your future team (and future self) will thank you.

About Kathy:

Kathy set up Personally Virtual in 2014 providing high-level freelance EA support to B2B businesses. This is now a team of 30 plus VAs supporting 1-man bands right up to some household names.

Kathy has also authored two books about the VA industry (Virtually Painless about going from PA to VA and Outsource Everything but Your Brilliance) and has a productivity podcast called Productivity Nerd.

When she's not working, she can be found in a field with dogs, or, her latest hobby, managing a hive of bees.

Where to find Kathy:

Website

Website

Facebook

Virtually Painless book

How To Work With A Virtual Assistant: Outsourcing Everything But Your Brilliance book

Podcast

Resources:

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