From Assistant to Operations Manager: How My Client Grew a Right-Hand Woman in 14 Months

If every new client feels like more pressure… if you’re spending more time answering questions than making decisions… if getting sick for a few days means your inbox piles up, client messages go unanswered, and no one moves forward without your green light, something’s off.

Not with you. But with the setup.

That’s exactly where one of my private clients was when she came to me.

Her business looked great on paper:

• Multi-6 figures in annual revenue

• 70% profit margins

• A signature core offer

• Clear messaging

• Streamlined delivery

… but still, every growth opportunity felt like a burden, not a blessing. She built smart and lean, but it was time for support to match the scale.

She wasn’t just managing the business, she was the business. And there came a point where her capacity was the cap.

So we made one pivotal move: we hired her first executive assistant.

Why She Came to Me

She was clear on one thing: she didn’t want a bloated team or unnecessary overhead.

One of the biggest misconceptions in the online business space is thinking you need to hire “big titles” at $150+/hr too soon, an Integrator, an OBM, a COO, a project manager, when what you really need is someone to consistently execute the basics, someone who can grow with you.

But here’s what most people miss:

We didn’t hire an Operations Manager because the business wasn’t ready for that level of delegation.

My client wasn’t in a position to fully hand off decision-making yet and that’s a critical thing to understand about your business maturity and leadership preferences.

We wanted an EA to grow with her because—while yes, she was scaling—she wasn’t ready to let go of core decision-making, nor did the business require high-level strategy support from an internal team member just yet. What she needed was implementation support she could trust, someone who could own and evolve the day-to-day as she focused on revenue and lead generation.

Instead of hiring someone to “build systems” from scratch, she stayed in the driver's seat of core process creation.

How We Fixed It

Instead of hiring someone to “build systems” from scratch, she stayed in the driver’s seat of core process creation. We weren’t just looking for someone to lighten the load—we wanted to make sure the support actually matched the structure of the business and the level of management she was ready to lead with. That clarity is crucial, especially in coaching companies.

She already had a process (because how you’re currently doing something is the process). Our goal wasn’t to reinvent everything—it was to document what was already working and delegate with intentionality.

Here’s how we did it:

• Time Study: She tracked every task she did over two weeks—including how long each one took.

• Process Documentation: We treated her current workflow as the process. She recorded herself doing tasks and saved them as internal SOPs.

• Training Library: Those recordings became her EA’s training ground. Real, usable training—not just a ClickUp doc with checkboxes.

• Delegation with Context: Every task handed off came with clear context and outcomes. She didn’t just say “do this”, she explained why it mattered.

• Expectations + Evolution: We started with basic tasks: inbox filtering, welcome emails, onboarding reminders. Then we built in space for growth.

The result? She wasn’t just offloading random tasks. She was building the foundation for a true right-hand woman.

The Results

And month by month, that assistant grew.

From writing welcome emails, to managing client onboarding, to proactively solving problems before my client even noticed them.

14 months later?

She’s not just an assistant anymore. She’s the Operations Manager.

She thinks strategically. She owns outcomes. She protects the company’s integrity and boundaries—without needing hand-holding. She guards the CEO’s energy like it’s part of the job description (because it is).

That’s what it looks like to grow a right-hand woman.

Not just support, but shared stewardship.

This shift didn’t happen because my client hired a unicorn or found the perfect person. It happened because she was willing to lead. To document. To delegate. And to trust someone else to carry a piece of the weight.

The result? She’s no longer the bottleneck. And for the first time in a long time, she can dream again—not because she’s disconnected, but because she’s finally supported.

This is the kind of work I support my private clients with, whether we’re mapping out your next offer, redesigning your org chart, or helping you become the kind of leader your next level requires.

If you’re ready to stop holding it all alone, let’s talk.

👉 Join the Waitlist for Private Coaching

Or if you're wondering if you're ready for an assistant in the first place, this episode will help:

🎙️ How to Know if You Can Afford an Executive Assistant (Apple Podcasts)