I’ve always believed the best leaders aren’t the loudest in the room, they’re the ones who earn trust and build businesses that last.
That’s why I started a new LinkedIn interview series called, The Strategic Business Influencer. It’s my chance to sit down with founders, CEOs, and executives who are doing just that—leading with grit, vision and heart.
These aren’t polished highlight reels. They’re candid conversations about the real journeys behind building successful companies: what it takes to build trust at scale, to stand out in crowded industries and to navigate leadership in today’s world.
I can’t wait for you to hear from the incredible leaders joining me. Every episode leaves me inspired, and I think you’ll walk away with both practical ideas and a fresh reminder of why influence is really about impact.
And I couldn’t think of a better person to kick it off with than my friend Emily LaRusch, Founder & CEO of Back Office Betties. Emily turned one moment of frustration with a voicemail into an award-winning company trusted by law firms nationwide. What I love most is how she’s built her business—not by outspending competitors, but by obsessing over customer service, staying unapologetically real, and creating a brand that law firms treat like an extension of their own team.
This conversation is fun, raw, and full of practical lessons on leadership, trust, and building a business that lasts. I think you’ll walk away as inspired as I was. Below is the full transcript of our conversation!
Want to learn more about Emily and the incredible work her team is doing? Visit Back Office Betties to see how they’re helping law firms deliver world-class client experiences.
For more upcoming episodes, click “subscribe” to my LinkedIn newsletter. I promise you won’t want to miss these upcoming guests!
Want to dive deeper into how today’s most trusted leaders grow their businesses, brands, and influence? Pre-order my upcoming book, The Strategic Business Influencer, and get the playbook for turning leadership into your most powerful business asset.
Paige: Welcome to the Strategic Business Influencer presented by Zilker Media. The show where I spotlight the kind of leaders the world needs more of gritty, smart founders, CEOs and executives who have dominated niche markets, not by being the loudest in the room, but by being the most trusted. We talk with leaders who know that in today’s landscape, your thought leadership is just as important as your logo.
We’ll unpack how they have outpaced bigger competitors, built trust at scale, and led with vision in industries where relationships matter just as much as results. I am your host, Paige Velasquez, buddy, co-founder and CEO of Zilker Media.
Hi everybody. Welcome to the Strategic Business Influencer, my new series for leaders who know that in today’s evolving world, trust is the greatest competitive advantage. Our first guest is the perfect example. Of what it means to lead with both tenacity and grace. She’s not only a gifted entrepreneur, but she is also one of my dearest friends.
So I’m excited to introduce to you all Emily LaRusch. She is the founder and CEO of Back Office Betties, a fast growing virtual receptionist company that supports law firms across the United States with a plus fractional administrative staffing. What started as a frustration with a voicemail and honestly, who can’t relate to that? Has expanded from a startup into a thriving award-winning company with a reputation for excellence. But what I love most about Emily’s story is she didn’t build Back Office Betties by traditionally outspending the competition. She built it by obsessing over customer service, staying unapologetically real, and creating a brand that law firms trust as an extension of their own team.
She is a passionate entrepreneur. A homeschool mom, a meditation advocate, and a fun fact, she’s had an entrepreneurial spirit since at least the age of six, probably before that, even when she charged neighbors to watch BMX bike shows. So yeah, this conversation is going to be equal parts tactical and fun.
So let’s get into it. Welcome, Emily. I am so grateful to have you on the series.
Emily: Thank you, Paige.
Paige: So you started Back Office Betties, as I mentioned, with one frustration, which was a voicemail. So I would love for you just to walk us through how you turned that one moment of frustration into a business that is now supporting law firms all across the country.
Well, you know, I thought to myself. These local people I was trying to call lineup services. They’re not answering the phone. I’m getting voicemail. One guy called me back and he was like, Hey, I have a missed call from you. And I’m like, does no one want my money? This is so unprofessional. And I said, well, I’m not exactly a rocket surgeon, but I think I can answer a phone.
And that’s kind of how the idea was born. But how hard can it be? Well, anyone who’s ever owned a business knows, oh, it’s hard. It’s really hard. But I, I think. Really being naive is what just led me into it. Just to go in dumbly thinking, I can do this and I can answer the phones, I certainly can answer them better than these guys were doing.
And so that’s kind of how it all started.
I love that. And you know, you, you’ve grown such a successful business, award-winning business and some new stuff. I know that’ll be announced soon. That’s really exciting for you and back office Betties. But I know that this wasn’t really your first venture into entrepreneurship.
I mean, you had. BMX stunt shows. You also, I, I think what’s really interesting about your background that you can talk about a little bit more is you, you also worked at McDonald’s and how you were, you know, a customer service queen, and then now you’re in the legal space. You know, your journey to me is anything but traditional when it comes to being a business owner.
So how has that early work ethic. And obsession with just service excellence shaped the way that you really lead the team today.
Emily: Well, I, I know you can relate to this, but when you grow up not having a lot there can be a work ethic built in and we didn’t have a lot, and my mom often needed help and she was in real estate.
We called it farming. So back in the old days, we would put flyers out and we spent, a lot of times I would be helping her just canvassing streets, putting flyers out, helping her get ready for open houses. You know, and we didn’t have a lot. So I had to learn creative ways of. Entertaining myself and making money.
So, you know, I sold avocados off of our property and things like that. And when I went to work at McDonald’s, this was not your average McDonald’s it was run by Jorge and he ran that thing like a Ritz Carlton. No one stood around, nobody was above any job. And that really instilled a work ethic in me.
So I told this story yesterday and it’s disgusting, but I’m gonna tell it to you. Please do. All right. I’m 15 years old. I’m working at McDonald’s. I’m a little bit on my high horse. Like, please, this is my stepping stone, Jorge, like, this is your career. You’re a grown man. Ew. I really had a crappy attitude thinking, I’m getting out of here.
This is where I’m starting. This is your finish line. Well, first of all, McDonald’s store managers actually make a good living. I didn’t realize that, but Jorge thought he would knock me down a peg or two and show me that I’m above nothing. A woman went into the bathroom and it looks like she had a diarrhea machine gun.
It was on the walls, the floors, I mean the whole stall sprayed. I, I don’t know how this happened, but he sent me in to clean it up and I was usually running the drive through and things like that, and I’m like, this is so beneath me. But I went in and I had to clean it up and it humbled me and I’ve kind of taken that with me, like, you’re never too good to do any job.
And I, I, you know, I have cleaned Roach and Fested apartments for $35 a cleaning. I mean, I’ve, I’ve done whatever it took to survive in life, and so I just kind of carried that through life. Like, you’re never too good for anything.
Paige: Well, I love that foundation that you had. I was actually listening to a podcast with Mr.
Wonderful from Shark Tank, and he was talking about how his first job was scraping the gum off of the tile, and I believe it was an ice cream shop in the mall. And how embarrassed he was. And, and he, he talks about, you know, coming back to that moment that if he didn’t have that foundation he wouldn’t be where he’s at today.
It’s so true because also, as you know, you know when, when you’re a business owner, when you’re a CEO, you know, you’re, you’re also the trash person at times. You’re also, you know, the cleaner. And so there, there’s so much that you have to do and have your hands in. So I think that’s a beautiful story, although a little gross, beautiful story.
Yeah. And I know that. You know, when you, when you got into the legal space, what I think is so interesting if you, is, you built a brand that law firms work with, you know, month over month, year over year. So they don’t just hire you, they, they fully trust you to be kind of that front facing person for their business.
And so what intentional choices did you make to build that kind of trust early on with your clients?
Emily: Well, I’m a huge fan of the magnetic marketing principle of you want to magnetically attract those that are for you and repel the those that aren’t. And so from day one, I wanted the company to be a place I wanted to work, which means it’s a reflection of my personality.
So it’s a little bit cheeky, it’s a little bit fun. But also. We get ish done. You know, we’re professional, we’re smart, we’re driven, but we can have fun along the way. And that doesn’t resonate with everyone. And that’s okay with me because they’re not a good fit.
Paige: Hmm. And I love the, the repel, those that aren’t a fit.
So I’d be curious, do you have any type of story or case study where maybe you didn’t do that, it didn’t turn out well, or you did do that and you were so glad because it made a world of difference? Because I feel like this is a hard lesson to learn as you’re growing your brand, as you’re marketing, or even just being a business owner in general.
Emily: Yeah, this happened very recently. We took on a client who, you know, everything kind of went smoothly. Our first red flag, like in dating, there’s always red flags. Our first red flag was when we found out he had actually been fired by a competitor during the onboarding process. He didn’t even make it to go live.
But we were like, you know what? We got this. We can, we can handle this challenge. This. Man, bless his heart. I’m not a doctor, a clinician, but I’m quite sure is suffering from perhaps some personality disorders. He screamed at my employees. He called them names, he called them incompetent. You know, really horrible things that I won’t repeat.
And three different of my employees ended up crying after speaking to him. And until he, you know, and on one hand he would praise one and then, you know, anyways, degrade the other. And I have a no tolerance. So I told my team when these things happen, you have my full permission to fire the client. You don’t have to ask, you don’t have to explain if you’re yelled at, if you’re degraded.
We’re not gonna work with people like that. He ended up wanting, demanding to speak to the CEO. Proceeded to spout off a lot of misogynistic comments. It and it got really ugly and, and then it turned into a series of text messages where for a few weeks he’s texting me and kind of continuing this assault.
But those, that’s a really glaring example of like the worst case scenario and it’s just not a good fit. I’m sure there’s a better fit out there for him and we try to give him some referrals, but it just wasn’t a good fit for us.
Paige: Yeah. And that, that completely makes sense. And I’m sure you know, your, your policy around that for your team also builds a lot of trust with your team.
That they’re gonna be in a, in a safe work environment, they’re gonna be in an environment that uplifts them and puts them in a, in a place to make decisions just that’s gonna be best for themselves and the business. So I think that’s really powerful too. You mentioned a little bit earlier about.
You know, the, the brand reflecting your personality. And I feel like your brand is really built in a way that’s playful and professional. You know, you can tell it in all the content that y’all put out, everything on your website, which to me is a very hard balance to strike, especially in the legal field.
So I wanna commend you for that. And I wanna get behind the scenes, you know. Decisions were made from day one or something that you uncovered over time that helped balance that tone for the brand.
Emily: This was actually really difficult because in the beginning people did not take me seriously and, and these are more, you know, people in my life, people through networking.
It, it was so different from what was being done in the legal space, which is very buttoned up and polished and. You know, people are like, you’re not gonna make it. You’re gonna fail. You, you, you know, you’ve got to be this professional. You’re not projecting the right image. Well, there are a ton of really heart-centered attorneys out there that are also infusing their own personalities, their own stories.
We have a client, one of my favorites, who was a victim of domestic violence and became a lawyer to help other women. She runs a very heart-centered firm. Our values and our kind of, even our image really align. And so we, we just, I love working with really heart-centered attorneys who are out there trying to change lives and create better communities.
And so that’s who I wanna resonate with. And I wanna show them that these are, we’re people behind the brand, our people, it, the brand really is me. And this is a reflection of the people you’re gonna work with, people who care, people who value connection and wanna create more of that personal experience.
Paige: Mm. And to your point earlier, you know, I feel like that that’s magnetic to your ideal client and then it repels probably the clients that aren’t, you know, so much a fit, which I love.
Emily: Yeah. And I wanna touch on like a lighter side of clients that aren’t a good fit because this happens. But my philosophy has always been an abundance mindset.
And so even from day one when I desperately needed every dollar I could get, I still would tell people when I, back when I did sales calls, I’m not here to sell you on us. I wanna get you in the, the best solution. And so there are some clients who might need 24 hour 365 services and, and I’ll let them know like, Hey, we’re not a good fit.
And so I just think it’s important to keep that abundance mindset and that it’s okay to not be for everyone, but if I have resources to offer and I can help, like to me, my job is to help you get what’s gonna help you be most successful.
Paige: Yeah, absolutely. And I feel that rings true just across your messaging and your website as well.
You’re very clear on who you can help, but also there’s so many resources that you’re offering and so much knowledge. You know, a lot of owners will shy away from visibility and you said, you know, you want. Clients to see who they’re gonna be working with and who’s really behind the brand. What would you say to the CEO who’s hesitant to have their face a little bit more you know, visible alongside their brand?
Emily: So, two things I have two takes on this. One is, I am the hesitant. CEOI didn’t wanna do it. I didn’t wanna network. So shy. I, you wouldn’t believe it probably. But if you knew me right in the beginning page, I was the biggest wallflower in the planet. And I did not want to go, but I would tell myself, the baby needs to eat.
The baby needs to eat. You know, we’ve gotta feed the baby. This is how the bills are gonna get paid. So I made myself go out and one of my tricks was when I went to join networking events is I would join the board or join so that I could be of service in some way. And that was a great way for me to meet people while feeling like I had a mission, I had a job, so I did b and I for a long time, the Business Networking International and I did greeting.
So I stood at the door and I greeted everyone, and that’s why I got to know them. When I was an eo the accelerator program, I joined the board and I did membership, which meant I got to interview every single person coming in, which meant I got to meet over 50 new people over time. So little things like that.
And then my second take on it is I worked for Quicken Loans, which has a really cool brand, really fun, upbeat culture. Well, their CEO isn’t the face. He’s doing a lot of. Stuff to change the world in Detroit and things like that. But the COO is the face. You see him everywhere. And so sometimes that can work too, where maybe it’s the CMO, maybe it’s the COO where if you really, really, really are just like, I cannot do this there’s probably someone who’s gonna be a stable, steady force within the company that, that can do it and wants to do it.
Paige: I love that. You know, I, I feel like brands that have even multiple people visible alongside the logo really have an advantage because they’re able a lot of times to showcase different areas of expertise. That’s what we’ve try to do here with our team, just because we have. Incredible, you know, function specific subject matter experts that can bring a lot more value to different topics than, than even I can for sure.
So I, I like that strategy and I would’ve never known that about you, Emily. I feel like you are so outgoing and. So incredible. Everybody knows you in town. And, but I think it’s so strategic the way that you thought about that mix. Mixing service with visibility and networking. I think that really speaks to your heart as well in terms of what you hope to bring to organizations and those that you meet, you know, a lot of CEOs.
When they think about their brand, it’s not only their visibility, they’re also thinking of logos and taglines and messaging. I think you’ve shown it’s much more than that. It’s about leadership as well. And so what is something you do as a leader that directly impacts how clients are gonna just experience your brand?
Emily: You know, I ask my team a lot of the times, is this easy for us, this decision we’re making, or is it best for the client? Because sometimes we’ll make decisions on what’s easiest to implement on our end versus what’s actually going to be the best experience for the client. And so we always stop and we’ll ask.
So we have little litmus tests like that. When we wanna bring on maybe a new service or a new offering, we ask. Is it scalable and good for the company? Does it serve our client and does it serve our team? And so we wanna make sure kind of all those three things are being hit all of the time and we’re not perfect, but we definitely try it.
And I also have really had to learn to stop putting my hands and in the cookie jars and getting into everybody’s business and just trust. You know, part of it came from having the right people. There was a time where I didn’t, and so I did meddle a lot, and so once I did get the right people, I’ve really had to learn to let go and trust them and allow them to make decisions and, and so that they feel empowered with what they’re doing.
Paige: Yeah. People are everything to a business. And I feel like you and I have discussed that a lot, and so I, I love hearing that. I wanna end with two questions that I want to ask every leader and entrepreneur I talk with. First question is, who are you in addition to being a CEO?
Emily: I like to say I’m kind of a crunchy, a little bit crunchy, kind of a hippie mama, but also very businessy.
So it’s kind of weird. I, I just call it crunchy conservative. You know, I’m, I’m not super hippie dippy, but, I really am into personal growth, meditation, wellness. You know, I, I used to say if I could spend my time going to woo woo conferences as a job, like that would be the ideal thing for me. I never wanna stop learning and growing, and it’s like every time I think that this is it.
I, you know, I uncovered this trauma. I healed, I grew like I’m this better person. And I can tell you, like even starting from being terrified to talk about my business, terrified to go to a networking event. And I feel like I am public speaking now and I am teaching and coaching and all, I, I’m so different.
So I think like, okay, I’ve made it, I’ve made it. And then it’s like, no, I peel back another layer of the onion. It’s like there’s always more work to do. So that’s probably my biggest passion, and I like to try and find ways to infuse that even within the business, to promote mental health, wellbeing, and just personal growth.
Living your best life.
Paige: I love that and that, that’s one so powerful. But two, I have learned so much from you throughout the years. Just, you know, you’re a phenomenal mom. You are always striving to, to learn something new and that, that really inspires me. So grateful to know you in that capacity. My second question for you is, what is the impact that you wanna have at the end of every single day?
Emily: I would hope to. Leave people in a better place than they were, or at least positively. I wanna have positive interactions and you know, ultimately I just, I think a business is a catalyst to be a bit of a butterfly effect. So, you know, we’ve got many, many employees now you know. Over 50 at this point.
And so for me it’s kind of like how can I make their lives better? Which means they make their communities better and their homes better and just have this butterfly effect that hopefully touches a lot of places before our time on this earth is over.
Paige: That’s beautiful. Well, thank you so much Emily, for being the first guest ever on the strategic Business influencer.
I know leaders are gonna learn so much from you, and I’m just so appreciative for you to come on today.
Emily: Thank you, Paige. It’s been a blast.
Paige: Thank you. We’ll see y’all next time.