Client case study · Leak detection and repair · Phoenix Valley
How one remote office manager earned a seat at Leak Science’s leadership table
When the owner running Leak Science’s office had to step away fast, one remote hire kept the business running, then built the systems it runs on today.
Aug 2024
Working together since, with the same hire
3–5 hrs
A week the owner now spends in the business
2
Base raises earned, plus bonuses
1
Remote office manager running the office
VirtueStaff placed a remote office manager with Leak Science, a veteran-owned leak detection and repair company in the Phoenix Valley, in August 2024. She now runs the office, has written its SOPs and first employee handbook, and led its move to new field service software, and the owner spends three to five hours a week in the business.
About Leak Science
- Veteran-owned
- Serving the Phoenix Valley
- Residential and commercial
Leak Science is a full-service leak detection and repair company. Its crews find, fix, and restore pool, plumbing, irrigation, and gas line leaks under one roof, with a no-drain philosophy built around water conservation.
The challenge
Running a leak detection office isn’t simple. Every call is a puzzle: which crew is in which part of town, what equipment the job needs, and how to fit it into a schedule that shifts every time someone cancels.
“When you take a phone call, it’s like playing cards. Once you’re triaging next week’s schedule, then it’s like chess. It is a strategy thing.”
— Aspen West, Leak Science
Aspen took six months to run the office herself, and in that time she found and trained her remote office manager through VirtueStaff. Then her other business took off, and she had to step away from Leak Science almost overnight.
“Thank goodness we found [her] and that it worked out, because I don’t know what we would have done.”
— Aspen West
Finding the right person
VirtueStaff’s intake process mapped out exactly what kind of person Leak Science needed, then gave Aspen a straight read on each candidate.
“Your team does a really good job of helping us source them and giving us the unbiased pros and cons of somebody based on their strengths and weaknesses and what we’re looking for.”
— Aspen West
How Aspen trained her
The new office manager learned the business by working alongside Aspen day in and day out: hearing how she talked to clients, handled objections, and communicated the value of the company.
“Anybody can learn how to use the CRM and the software. It’s those soft skills. It was her seeing me do it.”
— Aspen West
She has since turned that knowledge into a week-by-week, day-by-day onboarding plan for future hires.
What she has built
Her impact goes well beyond running the office:
| Project | What she did |
|---|---|
| New field service software | Researched and compared platforms, built side-by-side pricing and feature spreadsheets, led the final decision, then implemented it and trained the whole team |
| Training platform | Rolled out a new training system for the company |
| SOPs for every process | Documented every office and field office process in written SOPs and videos |
| Company policies | Created the company’s first employee handbook and formalized processes like PTO tracking |
| The front line | Stepped up to run the phones when the business needed it, even though back-office work is her natural strength |
“We actually have an employee handbook and SOPs because of her.”
— Aspen West
Keeping a star for the long haul
- Recognition: Aspen makes sure her office manager knows how valuable she is, with big kudos when they’re earned.
- Real ownership: Raises, bonuses, and milestones to hit. When she took on the phones, the raise came with it.
- A seat at the table: She knows how cash flow is trending and is asked for her opinion on decisions she’ll roll out.
- Protection from burnout: Aspen tells her when it’s time to take a break, and pushes back when she offers to take on too much.
What makes it work
“It’s treating her like she is on the executive board of our company. We don’t hide things from her. She’s just in the know, just like Ryan and I are. We treat her like an executive, not like a virtual assistant.”
— Aspen West, Leak Science
The results
With her running the office and building its systems, Aspen now spends just three to five hours a week on Leak Science. The company has documented processes, a handbook, modern software, and a team trained to use it.
“She’s so instrumental in the running of our business that it’s a little bit scary.”
— Aspen West
As Leak Science keeps growing, the team plans to add a local hire who can learn alongside her, so the knowledge she’s built is shared across the office.
Leak Science name and quotes used with permission. Figures as of September 2026.
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