How Nathalie Lussier built a powerhouse business using virtual teams
Virtual Success Show
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Episode breakdown
In this episode, special guest Nathalie Lussier, who has been making websites since she was 12 years old, takes us through her journey of starting her own business and using virtual teams to help her grow her business to what it is today. Nathalie takes us back to the beginning when she started with just one support assistant who was working 5-hours a week, and how she has grown her team to include seven specialists, who span the globe.
- The importance of good systems and processes
- The need for a project management tool
- Allowing your team to step-up and perform
- The importance of meetings with your virtual team
- Tips on engaging the ‘right’ virtual team member
- Why it is important to adopt the mindset of ‘let it go and have somebody else do it’.
If you are running virtual anything, you need to have something that brings everyone together, even if it's only two people.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction
Barbara and Matt open the show with excitement as they welcome guest Nathalie Lussier, founder of Ambition Ally, known for software tools like Access Ally (a membership site plugin) and Popup Ally (a website popup builder). Barbara highlights Nathalie’s success as a female entrepreneur thriving in the tech space and notes that today’s discussion will focus on her virtual team journey. Nathalie then begins by sharing a quick overview of what she’s currently working on and her background, starting out as a web developer.
01:50 – Who is Nathalie Lussier?
Nathalie shares that she started building websites at age 12, studied software engineering, and turned down a Wall Street job to start her first business in the info-product marketing space. She realized her strength was in technology rather than corporate work, so she focused on web design, website building, and tech training before eventually creating software to simplify tech for business owners. Barbara praises the design and functionality of Nathalie’s Ambition Ally products. The conversation then shifts to Nathalie’s fully virtual team of seven, including her husband, with Barbara asking for details about who they are and where they’re based.
03:25 – Nathalie’s virtual team
Nathalie explains that only she and her husband work together in person, while the rest of her virtual team is spread across Canada, the U.S. (West Coast and Central time zones), and the Philippines. The team includes a project manager who ensures everyone stays on track, along with roles in development, marketing, editorial, support, and editing. She notes that each team member has strengths, and they work well together. Barbara then asks about Nathalie’s first hire and how she initially approached building a virtual team.
04:40 – Her first real hire
Nathalie’s first real hire was a support assistant, brought on when she realized she couldn’t manage all her consulting and client work alone. The assistant worked about five hours a week, and aside from one initial phone call, they communicated almost entirely through Asana for nearly a year. This hire marked the start of her current virtual team, though she had previously contracted with others.
05:53 – The importance of using a project management tool
Barbara and Nathalie discuss the importance of project management tools like Asana (or Trello) for managing virtual teams. Nathalie explains that her first support assistant’s tasks were very detailed, often recurring, and documented in a wiki with step-by-step instructions. This allowed them to work effectively with minimal communication, even without phone calls. Canned responses and detailed processes ensured consistency and efficiency, preventing the need to reinvent solutions for recurring tasks.
07:47 – Good systems and processes already in place
Nathalie explains that while she didn’t have formal systems initially, she naturally followed consistent routines. To onboard her support assistant, she wrote down her weekly processes and sometimes recorded short videos showing how she performed tasks. This made it easy for her support assistant to take over specific responsibilities without needing constant guidance.
08:23 – Write down your processes, step-by-step
Matt and Barbara emphasize that many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not documenting their processes when onboarding a support assistant. Nathalie explains that she used Asana to write detailed task instructions, making them recurring so nothing was lost. For one-off tasks, she saved instructions in a wiki. They all agree that using a project management tool is essential for virtual teams—and really for any business—because it centralizes information and ensures consistency, even for just two people.
10:57 – Growing the team
Nathalie explains that her first support assistant started small (5–10 hours/week) for about a year. She then hired her husband full-time, followed by a larger hiring spree during her pregnancy, including a project manager, support, and editorial staff. Because systems and delegation processes were already in place, scaling the team wasn’t overwhelming. The project manager helped with interviews and onboarding, and during Nathalie’s maternity leave, the team learned to be resourceful, collaborated more, and documented processes, making it one of their most valuable learning periods.
13:26 – Allowing your team to step up
Barbara and Nathalie discuss how having a baby forced them to step back from their businesses, revealing that the absence of the owner can actually drive team growth. Teams step up when responsibility is shifted, and entrepreneurs realize they may have been a bottleneck. Nathalie emphasizes that she stayed available for critical issues but largely let the team operate independently, which led to new opportunities, like a speaking gig. Barbara notes that growing from one support assistant to multiple team members requires an “up-level” in management skills, as team dynamics shift and people start reporting to each other rather than only to the owner.
16:31 – Managing a big virtual team
Nathalie explains how her virtual team stays organized and connected. They have daily 5–10 minute stand-up calls to discuss work and resolve roadblocks, and use Asana’s subtasks and “Depends On” feature to manage task handoffs efficiently. They also hold specialized meetings, like marketing or development, where relevant team members collaborate independently. Nathalie doesn’t always attend these meetings, allowing the team to operate autonomously and report outcomes back to her.
18:16 – The importance of meetings
Nathalie explains that her project manager holds one-on-one calls with each team member to address concerns and personal development, then reports back to her, which saves her time while she’s balancing other responsibilities. All meetings, whether daily stand-ups or weekly/department-specific ones, follow clear agendas prepared by the project manager, ensuring structure and efficiency. She emphasizes that virtual meetings can be just as effective as in-person ones if implemented thoughtfully. Nathalie also shares the story of how she found her excellent project manager through a referral, which turned out to be a fortunate outcome despite initial stress. Matt then prompts her to share her top three tips for engaging a first support assistant.
21:54 – Nathalie’s tips on engaging a support assistant
Nathalie’s advice for hiring a first support assistant focuses on clarity, patience, and experience. She stresses the importance of being very clear about the role and the specific skills required, rather than expecting one person to do everything. She also emphasizes that onboarding takes time and that initially, productivity may drop as you train your assistant, so patience is key. Additionally, hiring someone with relevant experience can save headaches and make the process smoother, though less experienced hires can work depending on the business stage. Barbara highlights that many entrepreneurs get frustrated during the onboarding phase and revert to doing everything themselves, which slows long-term growth.
24:27 – Investment vs expense mindset
Matt and Barbara emphasize the importance of adopting an investment mindset when hiring support assistants, rather than seeing them as an expense. Nathalie shares how she initially struggled with doing everything herself but realized that investing time and resources into her team provided significant long-term returns, much higher than typical financial investments. She stresses that thorough documentation of processes allows work to flow smoothly without constant oversight, making the team more autonomous and the business more scalable. Barbara and Matt affirm this approach as essential for sustainable growth.
26:58 – Share your business vision with your team
Nathalie highlights the importance of showing team members the bigger picture behind their tasks, explaining how each task contributes to the overall goals of the business. This context increases engagement, motivation, and encourages creative solutions. Barbara emphasizes that involving the team in the business vision, rather than just assigning tasks, fosters ownership and alignment with strategic goals.
28:19 – Wrapping things up
Barbara and Matt wrap up the show by thanking Nathalie and highlighting her business, AmbitionAlly.com, which offers tools like Access Ally, ProgressAlly, and PopupAlly. Nathalie also mentions her podcast, Off the Charts, available on major platforms. They encourage listeners to follow the Virtual Success Facebook group, provide feedback, leave reviews, and share the show, promising more great guests and content in the future.
