The Visionary VA Podcast

About The Visionary VA Podcast

The Visionary VA Podcast is for ambitious Virtual Assistants who want to build a business that works for them. Hosted by The VA Handbook's Holly Copsey, founder of award-winning agency Virtually Priceless, you'll hear practical advice, honest conversations and real-world lessons on clients, pricing, marketing, systems, confidence, leadership and growth. Whether you're starting out, growing a successful VA business or building a team, you'll find actionable strategies to help you create a business - and life - on your terms. No fluff. No Hype. Just what actually works.

Publisher

Holly Copsey

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Oct 2024

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

78 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Insights from the 2026 UK Virtual Assistant Survey: Rates, Challenges and AI

   Over 700 respondents filled in this year’s UK Virtual Assistant Survey, and the insights are very interesting. Hourly rates are stabilising, networking and word of mouth are key, VAs are outsourcing far less, the biggest challenge (and complaint) is training and AI wasn’t what everyone was expecting. "In this completely digital age that we live in, face-to-face and human contact is so important still. There's just no change in the fact that people work with people." - Gwen Backhouse This week on The Visionary VA Podcast, I am joined by Gwen Backhouse, award-winning virtual assistant, owner of Curlew Secretarial Solutions, and the person behind the Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA).Gwen shares her personal VA journey, how her business has evolved and what has changed most over the years. We also explore how she became interested in community, raising standards and joining the Society of Virtual Assistants.Then it’s on to the 2026 UK VA Survey, where we analyse what the results mean for the industry. We cover rates, outsourcing, AI, challenges, to niche or not to niche, and so much more. Key takeaways: 1️⃣ Get out and go networking. People want to know who they're going to be working with, so work out who you want to work with and be where they're going to be. 2️⃣ Don't run and hide from AI. The biggest opportunity right now is clients who don't know how to use AI, or are scared of it, and are asking for support. 3️⃣ Get your best practice in place, and do your homework on training. Insurance, contracts, ICO registration and legal policies are the basic things you only know if you know. After listening to this episode, I really urge you to grab a copy of the 2026 UK VA Survey. It is a fascinating read which you can use not only as a benchmark, but to also decide what actions you need to take for your business. Timestamps: (00:00) Podcast episode starts (01:04) Gwen's VA journey (03:44) How has Gwen's VA business evolved over the years? (07:42) How the VA industry has changed (13:05) Taking over and the origins of the SVA (14:48) The SVA's role in the industry today (19:15) Introducing the UK VA Survey 2026 (20:03) What was the most surprising finding from the survey? (23:02) Biggest changes over the last 3–5 years (25:34) What VA services are growing and disappearing? (27:15) The impact of AI on VAs (30:49) The shift to specialist and strategic work (32:55) Where VAs are finding clients (37:17) Biggest challenges facing VAs (40:23) Biggest opportunities facing VAs (41:57) Survey trends: concerns and reasons for optimism (43:33) How to use the survey to benchmark your business (46:41) How will the VA industry look in three years' time? (48:27) Where to get the survey report About Gwen: Gwen Backhouse is an award-winning virtual assistant with over 12 years in the VA industry, built on a foundation of 24 years in business administration. She runs the Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA), where she is dedicated to setting high standards, sharing resources, and advocating for the essential work virtual assistants contribute across the UK. Through her own business, Curlew Secretarial Solutions, Gwen delivers personalised support that empowers her clients to focus on what truly matters to their businesses. Where to find Gwen: Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA) 👉 https://societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/ Gwen's LinkedIn 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/virtualassistantcumbria/ Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA) LinkedIn 👉https://www.linkedin.com/company/society-of-virtual-assistants Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA) Facebook 👉 https://www.facebook.com/societyofvirtualassistants Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA) Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/societyofvirtualassistants Resources 🔗 UK VA Survey 2026 👉 https://societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/product/uk-virtual-assistant-survey-report-2026/ Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA) shop 👉 https://societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk/shop/

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   From Redundancy to Irreplaceable: Martha Kilner on Embracing AI and Operational Thinking

   How do you go from 19 years as a primary school teacher, through two redundancies, to fully booked as a VA within six weeks? This week I am joined by Any Other Business founder, Martha Kilner, who shares her story. We also talk about how she's transitioned into being the operational backbone of the businesses she works with, and why Virtual Assistants should embrace AI rather than shy away from it. "I think generic VA tasks will be redundant... and the VAs who have moved on to being the operational thinkers and the true right-hand person in the business will be the ones who'll be fully booked." - Martha Kilner. That shift, from generic tasks to operational thinking, is exactly what AI has made possible for Martha. We explore what AI actually means for the industry right now, how she uses it to become better and more efficient at her job, what it does well (and not so well), and the tactics she uses to get the most out of it. She also shares what VA tasks are at risk with AI, what isn’t going to be replaced, and the importance of keeping up to date. There’s also a rapid-fire question round (most underrated AI feature, most used AI tool, etc) and her prediction for the VA industry by 2030. Key takeaways: 1️⃣ AI won’t make VAs redundant, but it will make some generic tasks redundant. Move from task execution to operational thinking, where you become someone your clients rely on. 2️⃣ It’s important to spend time getting the foundations right with AI. If you don’t, it will just churn out rubbish that isn’t useful for anyone. 3️⃣ When you become more efficient, you need to stop charging by the hour and penalising yourself. Base your pricing on the value you're giving to your client. Pick one AI tool. Whether that’s Claude, Copilot, Gemini, ChatGPT, or whatever is best for you, and go all in on it. Spend the time getting it set up properly, the way you'd brief a new team member. And if you don’t know where to start with AI, Martha reminds us that asking “what do I want it to do?” is much more helpful than “what can it do?” Timestamps: (00:00) Podcast episode starts (01:30) Martha's VA journey (03:40) How has your business changed over the years (05:47) Impact AI has had on business (09:22) What tasks don't you outsource to AI? (10:06) Is AI going to make VA jobs redundant? (11:16) Advice for VAs feeling they're behind (13:18) Will AI always be a specialist skill? (14:22) Has AI changed your mindset on pricing? (16:55) Checking the quality of AI's output (19:24) Keeping up with the latest in AI (21:54) Deciding what is genuinely useful for businesses (23:02) Common mistakes people make with AI (24:08) Overhyped AI features in the industry (24:53) Quick fire AI questions (25:58) AI prediction for 2030 About Martha Martha Kilner is the founder of Any Other Business, where she works as a Business Ops and AI Specialist for founders juggling everything at once, brilliant at what they do, held together by memory rather than a system. Before AOB, Martha spent nearly twenty years in primary education, including years leading on IT, unlikely training for building systems around how people actually think. Her flagship offer, The Smooth Operator Method, AI training sessions and whizzy tech skills help founders turn what's living in their head into something someone else could run. Where to find Martha: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-kilner/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-kilner/) Website: https://aobva.com/ (https://aobva.com/) Resources mentioned in this episode Espresso AI newsletter: https://thevahandbook.mykajabi.com/espresso-ai-signup (https://thevahandbook.mykajabi.com/espresso-ai-signup)

3. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Have You Built a VA Business, or Just Given Yourself a Job?

   From the outside your VA business looks like it’s doing really well. You have good clients, decent money and a jam- packed calendar. How could there possibly be a problem? Well, the issue is there’s a stage in business that is deceptive; instead of building a business you may have accidentally created yourself a job. "Technically, you absolutely have a business, but functionally, you may have created yourself a job." In this episode we’re exploring the difference between being self-employed, being busy and actually building a sustainable business that works. I’m not talking about building an agency, hiring a team or creating a passive income stream - a solo virtual assistant with four brilliant clients can be a fantastic business. The distinction is whether you’re actually running your business, rather than the business running you. I’ll walk you through the five signs that signal you’ve built yourself a job rather than a business which are 1) your income is completely dependent on your time; 2) you’re too busy to work on the business; 3) one client has too much power; 4) you can never truly step away; and 5) you don’t know your numbers. It's not the difference between being self-employed and being a business owner, but being intentional rather than accidental. Stop asking “how do I get more clients?” and start asking “what does a good business actually look like for me?”. Key takeaways: 1️⃣ Being busy and being resilient aren’t the same thing - being fully booked doesn’t mean you’ve built a business that can withstand a client leaving, a quiet month or two, or having a few weeks away from your desk. 2️⃣ Client work always feels urgent; your own business rarely does. Nobody is chasing you about reviewing pricing or planning a head, so protect CEO time before a problem forces you to. 3️⃣ Run your business on numbers, not vibes. Know what it costs to run your business, your margins, and what services actually make money. Make decisions based on fact rather than a feeling. Set aside 30 mins this week to answer the following questions: 1️⃣ What did I originally want this business to give me? 2️⃣ Is my business currently giving me that? 3️⃣ What’s one thing I need to change? Don’t create an in-depth business transformation plan - pick one simple thing and implement it. Timestamps: (00:00) Does being fully booked mean you’re successful (01:40) The difference between being self-employed, being busy, and building a business that works for you (06:38) Is your income completely dependent on your time (07:53) Are you too busy to work on your business? (08:58) Does one client have too much power? (10:05) Can you properly step away from your business (10:55) Do you know your numbers (12:36) Why did you start the business in the first place? (13:17) 3 questions every VA business owner should ask themselves (13:50) Join our All Stars community Join the All Stars community ✨ Join the All Stars community today. Doors are open until Sunday, 13th September and won't reopen again until 2027. Join here (https://thevahandbook.mykajabi.com/all-stars-sign-up) 🔗 Resources Join VA Handbookers Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/vahandbookers/) Subscribe to The VA Handbook (https://the-va-handbook-ltd.kit.com/)

Who has been a guest on The Visionary VA Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Mel Maw
• Emma Mills
• Amy Russell

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

950

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

90

Social presence

0

YouTube

66

Engagement

0

Contact The Visionary VA Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.