Virtual Assistant For Speakers Case Study

COVALENT CASE STUDY

Supporting A Movement: How Marin Built a High-Impact Speaking Platform That Converts

A behind-the-scenes look at how Covalent helped to transform a purpose-driven coaching brand into a streamlined speaking business with repeatable systems, a clear pipeline, and over $50k in booked engagements.

MEET
MARIN

Speaker, Author, and Joyful Budgeting Coach
Engagement: Long-term virtual assistant support and ongoing strategic + operational partnership

When she came to Covalent, her message was powerful, but her backend was stretched thin. She wasn’t just looking for another pair of hands. She was searching for virtual support for her speaking business, someone who understood visibility, outreach, and mission-driven leadership.

At first, she came in looking for a virtual assistant for speakers, but what she really needed was a strategic partner who could help her stabilize her lead generation system, strengthen her speaking pipeline, and create operational clarity behind the scenes.

This case study breaks down how we helped Marin organize her lead generation workflow, partner with her tech team to finalize her Zoho setup, optimize her SpeakerFlow pipeline, and build the outreach engine that has already generated over $50,000 in paid speaking engagements.

If you’re a founder shifting from “coach” to “movement leader,” Marin’s story shows what becomes possible when your systems, support, and pipeline finally match the size of your message.

A Founder With A Big Mission, But No Support System

When Marin came to Covalent, her business was growing quickly, but she was holding it all together by herself. She had a powerful message, a loyal audience, and a clear purpose, but no one behind the scenes to help her carry the emotional, strategic, and operational weight of her work.

She didn’t want a VA who just checked boxes.
She didn’t want another contractor she had to manage.

She wanted someone who understood her mission, cared about her people, and could help her run a business in a way that felt grounded, calm, and sustainable.

THE REAL
CHALLENGE

On the outside, Marin looked like she was doing great.
On the inside, she was stretched thin.

She was:
→ Doing all her outreach herself
→ Losing time to repetitive admin
→ Trying to keep track of speaking leads in several places
→ Struggling to follow through because nothing was organized
→ Constantly switching between content, strategy, and execution
→ Feeling alone in her business
→ Exhausted from carrying the whole operation in her head

Her business needed structure.
She needed partnership.

Covalent
Partnership:
Custom
Support For
Each Season

Our work with Marin has never been “set it and forget it.”
It has shifted with her energy, her speaking goals, her launches, and the natural seasons of her business.

Some of the ways we supported her:
✔️ Creating simple newsletter and social media rhythms she could actually sustain
✔️ Managing speaking outreach and follow-up
✔️ Cleaning up her CRM and organizing her audience
✔️ Supporting her visibility and lead nurturing
✔️ Helping her stay on track with CEO priorities
✔️ Guiding her through system upgrades and transitions
✔️ Keeping momentum steady when life got full, including keeping her business running following the loss of her home to a fire in late 2024.

The heartbeat of our work has always been:

“What will make this feel lighter, clearer, and more doable for you right now?”

BUILDING HER SPEAKING
PIPELINE

A turning point in Marin’s growth was building a speaking pipeline she didn’t have to juggle on her own.

We helped her:
→ Identify events that were the right fit + applied directly
→ Create pitch materials that sounded like her
→ Track conversations without hunting through old emails
→ Follow up on leads consistently
→ Stay visible with organizers
→ Keep her outreach warm, personal, and effective

Because the system was simple and consistent, it actually got used, and it has transformed her business.

Marin has now booked more than $50,000 in paid speaking engagements through this process, and it continues to grow.

PLATFORMS USED OVER THE YEARS

06 OPERATIONAL UPGRADE
Creating a Home Base for Her Whole Business

As Marin’s speaking platform expanded, her backend needed to evolve with it. She didn’t just need a new system, she needed support to use the new system confidently and sustainably. While her Zoho Workspace and SpeakerFlow pipeline were built by the SpeakerFlow, an INCREDIBLE tech team, we stepped in where most business owners get stuck: implementation, adoption, and long-term usability.

Project Management
Migration Support + Operational Adoption

Once the SpeakerFlow team completed the setup, we helped Marin actually transition outreach into Zoho, the part most founders struggle with. We supported:

• migrating day-to-day operations and outreach into Zoho
• organizing documents, tasks, and shared folders
• creating structure so the team actually used the platform
• building the rhythm for a clean, centralized home base

This wasn’t just “moving tools.” It was helping her business operate out of one calm, cohesive system. We went from gathering data the old fashioned way ⤵️ to Zoho (keep scrolling).

Lead Generation Pipeline
Post-Build Optimization + Sustainability

The SpeakerFlow pipeline was built on the tech side, but the real transformation came from making it functional in Marin’s real-world workflow. We supported her through:

• cleaning up data after the initial build
• troubleshooting pipeline issues that surfaced during use
• customizing follow-up rhythms so nothing fell through the cracks
• aligning automation with her brand voice + values
• creating a sustainable weekly pipeline routine
• helping her understand exactly what to do, when, and why

This work turned the pipeline from an incredible tool into a living system that created predictable visibility and consistent speaking opportunities.

THE TRANSFORMATION

This wasn’t just a systems upgrade. It was a shift in how she feels inside her business, more supported, more focused, and more herself.

Marin went from:

❌ Running everything from her inbox
❌ Feeling alone in the day-to-day
❌ Losing time to tasks she didn’t enjoy
❌ Inconsistent outreach
❌ Scattered systems
❌ No clear pipeline for speaking

to...

✨ Predictable structure behind the scenes
✨ Consistent visibility and follow-through
✨ Speaking opportunities converting into real revenue
✨ Support she can trust
✨ More confidence and clarity
✨ Space to lead her business instead of reacting to it

In late 2024, Marin’s entire home burned down.
It was the kind of life-altering crisis that would shut most businesses down for months.

But hers didn’t.

Because she had systems in place.
Because her operations were organized.
Because she had support that didn’t rely on her being available 24/7.

While she focused on her family, her business continued to run: we shutdown all non-essential tasks including social media, but
client delivery stayed on track, outreach didn’t fall apart, and her visibility engine kept moving.

This is the part of “systems” most people don’t talk about:
they’re not just about growth, they’re about protecting the business when you can’t carry everything.

$50,000+ in paid speaking

10–15 hours per week saved

Centralized CRM + pipeline

Consistent outreach rhythm

$50,000+ in paid speaking

10–15 hours per week saved

Centralized CRM + pipeline

Consistent outreach rhythm

Results At A Glance

Operational + Strategic Wins

• $50,000+ and counting in booked speaking engagements
• Clean, organized CRM
• Full transition into Zoho Workspace
• Speaking pipeline functioning inside SpeakerFlow
• Consistent outreach rhythm
• Visibility + lead tracking in one place
• Clear workflows across admin, outreach, and content
• 10+ hours per week reclaimed through delegation + cleanup

CEO-Level Wins

• More energy for deep work and creativity
• A thought partner holding strategy, not just tasks
• Accountability without pressure
• Confidence in where the business is heading
• Emotional breathing room
• A team she trusts
• A business that finally matches the size of her mission

Inspired. Energized. Supported.

“Before working with Covalent, I was just checking boxes and doing tasks. Now I feel inspired, energized, and supported by a team of women who care about my purpose. The growth we’ve created together, especially in speaking, has been real, meaningful, and so worth the investment.”

-Marin Laukka
Speaker, Author, and Joyful Budgeting Coach

I'M READY FOR THIS

Ready for your own clarity, systems, and support?

Here are three ways founders work with us:

✔ The Systems Scan + Strategic Plan
A 30-day diagnostic to map your backend, identify your gaps, and give you a custom 90-day plan.

✔ The Covalent Systems Sprint (most popular)
A 6-week deep-dive implementation sprint where we build or refine one core system your business is missing, your client delivery workflow, your lead generation engine, your content system, or another foundational piece. Designed for founders who need fast traction, clearer structure, and a system they can actually run.

✔ OBM + VA Partnership (by invite only)
VA Only - Done-for-you implementation with one OBM strategy call each month. VA + OBM - Full operational support, delegation, and scalable systems.

If you’re unsure where to start, begin with a Discovery Call. It’s the simplest way to get clarity fast and it’s exactly how Marin began.

START HERE