From burnout to boss: How Fiona Campbell built a thriving VA empire

In this episode of Flying Solo, we chat with Fiona Campbell – founder of Thought Penny and the VA Lead Network – about how she turned redundancy on maternity leave into a booming remote business. Fiona shares her journey from C-suite EA to virtual assistant queen, her top tips for setting up systems that scale, and how she gets a whopping 70% open rate on her emails. If you’re drowning in to-dos, struggling with delegation or unsure whether a VA is worth the investment, Fiona’s got you covered with smart, actionable advice to streamline your solo business – and reclaim your time. Key topics 1. Building a Successful Remote and VA Business · Fiona’s journey from executive assistant to launching Thought Penny and the VA Lead Network · The impact of niching down and leveraging online presence to quickly gain clients · Addressing common client needs: supplementing skills, freeing up time, and growing teams 2. Essential Systems and Automation for Soloists · Importance of task management tools (e.g., Asana) for visibility and organisation · Strategies for identifying which business tasks to automate or delegate · Encouragement to document workflows, even for solos, to enable growth and efficiency 3. Finding and Working with the Right VA · Process of matching business owners with suitable VAs through detailed onboarding and education · Avoiding the pitfalls of hiring solely based on lowest cost or unrealistic role expectations · Key advice: hire for capability and value, with clear communication and role definition 4. Maximising Email List Engagement and Deliverability · Maintaining a high-quality, engaged list through ruthless pruning and double opt-in practices · Creating relevant, valuable content and offering subscriber preferences to boost open rates · Ensuring technical setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for strong email deliverability and reputation . Timestamped overview 00:00 Streamlining Business with Fiona Campbell 06:12 Virtual Assistant roles & responsibilities 10:06 Letting go in business delegation 11:30 Evaluating task automation needs 15:36 Task management: Digital vs. Paper 20:39 Optimising Virtual Assistant roles 24:19 Beware cheapest Virtual Assistants 28:41 High subscriber lists hurt reputation 31:50 Optimise email engagement strategy 35:02 Optimising email preferences 38:12 "Set SPF records to avoid spam" 40:25 Outsource Tasks You Dislike Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices