Client Case Study: Uptree

Who we helped

Tamsin is the Founder of Uptree, a careers platform dedicated to helping young people connect with professional experience. Uptree has been in business for eight years, with a team of 21, and a strong leadership structure in place.

As both a CEO and a mother of two, Tamsin often found herself overstretched. She was saying yes to too many things, struggling to delegate effectively, and dedicating time to areas that didn’t energise her. More than anything, she wanted to feel like she had time to focus on the work she loved rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks and be a fully present mum.

The problem they faced

Tamsin originally sought support to help bring more structure to both her professional and personal life so she could be her best self in both realms. Tamsin needed help planning ahead, to make sure she was using her time effectively and to create the space to be fully present with her kids and on the school run, without constantly thinking about work. 

Several key challenges emerged:

Business Challenges:

• Time management and prioritisation: A packed schedule with little time to focus on strategic priorities and difficulty in delegating
• Leadership and team support: Lack of structured support for forming the company’s first Board and restructuring challenges
• Operations and workflow: Inefficient management of travel logistics, no clear system for prioritising key stakeholders and clients, emails were slipping through the cracks
• Meetings and communication structure: Need for more structured meeting preparation and follow-ups to enhance efficiency
• Commercial team support: Need for support in prepping for sales calls and lead generation

Personal Challenges:

• Family and household management: Overseeing school admin, scheduling after-school activities, and organising holiday plans
• Life admin and errands: Managing personal appointments and day-to-day household tasks
• Wellbeing: Finding a balance between professional ambitions and personal priorities, creating dedicated time for family and for herself

How we helped

Upsource matched Tamsin with the incredible (and award winning) Kirsty in a 30hr/month retainer. Through a blend of personal, professional and commercial team support, they were able to create a more structured, sustainable and less stressful workflow. 

Business Support:

• Time and priority management: Full diary management, structured time blocking, and ensuring strategic priorities were protected
• Leadership and governance: Assistance with Board formation, including admin, minute-taking, and document preparation
• Operational efficiency: Improved travel logistics, streamlined internal processes, and enhanced sales and lead generation workflow
• Meeting and email oversight: Acting as a gatekeeper for her time, redirecting tasks to appropriate team members, and ensuring follow-ups were actioned
• Team and business transitions: Supporting team restructuring, support onboarding the future CEO, and providing stability during business changes
• Commercial team support: Upskilling the commercial team in their sales tool HubSpot, in which Kirsty is an expert, and sales processes, ensuring they maximised their potential and worked more efficiently

Personal Support:

• Family and household coordination: Managing school schedules and admin, including the high pressure task of selecting school meals for a 4 year old, managing after-school activities, and family commitments
• Personal admin: Handling errands, appointments, and key life logistics like property management and holiday planning
• Wellbeing: Encouraging work-life balance by scheduling fitness and wellbeing activities, and asking that key question: ‘does this have to be done by you?’
• Emotional and strategic support: In the business, but not of the business, Kirsty acts a key sounding board and support

The impact we made

“Kirsty has helped me accelerate the business, and be clearer where I can offer my time. She’s helped Uptree grow and me be more sustainable as a founder. Caroline found me a VA to plug the gaps in my skills as a founder, someone who felt tailor-made for me. Kirsty holds me to account in the best way.”

Tamsin’s key success metric was being able to do the school pick-up without thinking about work. With structured support in place, she achieved exactly that. 

Tamsin’s schedule is now more manageable, and she has the space to be fully present in her personal life anIn a recent review session, her only feedback to Kirsty was, “there isn’t any,” followed by “how can we integrate you more into the business?” A testament to the value that Tamsin has found in working with Kirsty.

Beyond personal improvements, the business has also seen significant benefits, ‘Kirsty is part of what makes us successful’. The commercial team became more efficient, with improved processes and skills in HubSpot to support their sales operations. With diary management, meeting prioritisation, and admin support in place, Tamsin could step back from tasks that weren’t a good use of her time, focusing instead on strategic leadership and decision-making – the things that energise her.

Kirsty also played a key role in helping Tamsin regain control over her time. By acting as a gatekeeper, she helped reduce unnecessary meetings, ensuring that Tamsin could prioritise her wellbeing. At Uptree, every team member gets a monthly 30mins and budget to put towards their wellbeing – a perk that Tamsin herself never made the most of. Kirsty proactively booked Tamsin a yoga class and cleared her diary so she could finally take advantage of it!

Ultimately, this clarity and support has helped Tamsin make a significant decision, to step down as CEO and transition into a Chair role. Having dedicated assistance gave her the space and confidence to process this shift, balancing her professional ambitions with her personal priorities. Kirsty will be an integral part of the transition, providing continuity and context for the new CEO.

Why it matters

Now a more present and balanced leader and mum, Tamsin’s experience highlights the transformative power of the right support, not just in business but in personal wellbeing. In a fast paced company where leadership responsibilities can be all-consuming, structured operational assistance not only reduces stressors, but helps you make better decisions. By implementing sustainable systems, Tamsin was able to regain control of her time, focus on what she loves, and create a work-life balance that truly works for her.

If you’d like someone to help accelerate your business growth sustainably, like Kirsty, get in touch and Caroline can match you to the right Virtual Assistant for you.