"On the personal side, I haven't been late picking my kid up once. I also used to get stress ulcers before, but I haven't had a single one yet. Having that work-life balance has helped me physically not get sick and be able to spend more time with my family — making sure my most important responsibilities are getting done."
— Zach Way, Director of Operations
The Challenge
Zach Way is the Director of Operations at Wasco, a fourth-generation family business and precision pressure switch and sensor manufacturer serving both small customers and large OEMs across the global market. Under Zach's watch, Wasco had been growing at a remarkable pace — expanding from 24 employees to 73 employees, with a second location on the horizon.
Zach had first seen the potential of a virtual assistant when a colleague used one to help coordinate scheduling.
"I remember distinctly thinking, 'This is cool. I wish that I could have an assistant.'"
Then came the moment that changed everything. Mid-meeting, he received a text that his son hadn't been picked up from school. It was a sharp reminder that the relentless pace of work was spilling over into his personal life in ways he could no longer ignore. His days were packed with back-to-back meetings, leaving him no breathing room — and the chronic stress was taking a real physical toll, manifesting as recurring stress ulcers.
The Solution
Just two weeks after his wake-up call, Zach partnered with BELAY Virtual Assistant Julia Wikel. True to Wasco's core value of "crawl, walk, run," they started small and focused first on building a strong working relationship.
"It went pretty smoothly from the beginning. We established good communication first, so we had meetings every single day to onboard and get the hang of it. We got to know each other pretty quickly, and we have a lot in common and a lot of similarities. So that established trust right off the bat."
Julia began by tackling Zach's overflowing inbox — categorizing emails and making sure nothing was falling through the cracks. Her responsibilities quickly grew to include scheduling meetings on his behalf, expense reporting, booking travel and rental cars, designing invitations for Wasco's Christmas party, and helping plan the company's bi-annual meetings.
Daily check-ins, sometimes as brief as 10 minutes, became the backbone of their collaboration — giving Zach a reliable touchpoint to hand off projects and stay aligned without being consumed by the details.
"Your hair doesn't have to be on fire all the time. There are other people who can help out with some of the smaller tasks that you can delegate out."
— Zach Way, Director of OperationsThe Impact
The impact on Zach's life was swift and significant. His stress ulcers vanished. He never missed another school pickup. And for the first time in years, he could leave work at work — knowing Julia had things covered.
"On the personal side, I haven't been late picking my kid up once. I also used to get stress ulcers before, but I haven't had a single one yet. Having that work-life balance has helped me physically not get sick and be able to spend more time with my family — making sure my most important responsibilities are getting done."
The results rippled across Wasco's leadership team. After watching Zach's transformation, his mother and company Vice President, Kari, decided to bring on a BELAY VA of her own — and shortly after, a third team member at Wasco followed suit. What began as a personal experiment became a company-wide shift in how the team operates.
"Because it was something new, just testing it out and seeing how it could work [was] a big win for Wasco."
