Meet Caroline
Caroline Buist is a business owner based in Colchester, United Kingdom, and the founder of Above & Beyond VA. With a background spanning three decades in administration, project management, and customer service, she now supports neurodivergent and creative business owners through tailored virtual assistance and content marketing services.
The Quiet Decision to Begin Again
There is a certain kind of courage that does not arrive loudly. It does not announce itself with certainty or confidence. It appears slowly, often after years of compromise, discomfort, and waiting. For Caroline Buist, that courage had been forming quietly since she was fifteen years old.
She always imagined a life where she worked for herself. Not because she had a clear business idea or a mapped out path, but because something in her resisted the idea of being confined. She did not yet know what her work would look like, only that she wanted it to feel like hers.
Life, however, took a more practical route. After studying business and finance, she moved into administrative roles. What followed was a long and steady career across multiple industries including finance, education, retail, and construction. It was stable. It was responsible. It made sense. But it never fully belonged to her.
Years passed in offices shaped by rigid systems, difficult management styles, and long, exhausting commutes. These experiences did more than frustrate her. They slowly revealed what she did not want her life to become. Still, like many people, she stayed. Not because it fulfilled her, but because it felt safer than stepping into the unknown.
When Life Refuses to Wait
Some turning points arrive quietly. Others arrive with a kind of finality that cannot be ignored. For Caroline, the loss of a friend to suicide became that moment.
Grief has a way of stripping life back to its essentials. It asks difficult questions about time, purpose, and the things we postpone. In the aftermath of that loss, Caroline found herself confronting a truth she had long avoided. Life was not something to delay.
She reflects,
“Losing a friend who took their own life finally gave me the push to set up my business, as I realised that life is short and I did not want to have any regrets of not following my lifelong dream.”
It was not a decision made from confidence. It was a decision made from clarity. The kind that comes when the cost of staying the same becomes greater than the risk of change.
Her first attempt at building something of her own came in 2016 with a home staging business. On paper, it was a step forward. In reality, it became a mirror. The challenges she faced were not only external but internal. Self doubt, hesitation, and a lack of confidence quietly undermined her progress.
When the business did not succeed, it would have been easy to interpret that as failure. Instead, it became part of her learning. It showed her that building a business was not only about skills or ideas. It required a shift in how she saw herself.
Learning to Stand in Her Own Work
By 2020, something had changed. Not everything, but enough.
Caroline began her virtual assistant business as a side project, drawing on nearly thirty years of experience in administration, project management, customer service, and IT. This time, the work felt more aligned. It was grounded in what she already knew, rather than what she thought she should pursue.
In the beginning, she described herself as a generalist. Like many new business owners, she struggled to find her footing and attract clients. There was uncertainty, and there were moments of doubt, but there was also a growing willingness to try.
A copywriting course became an unexpected turning point. What began as a way to improve her own marketing evolved into an additional service she could offer. Slowly, her business started to take shape.
At the same time, she found herself naturally connecting with neurodivergent and creative business owners. This was not a planned niche. It emerged through shared understanding and mutual trust. Her way of working, grounded in flexibility and empathy, resonated with people who often felt overlooked by more rigid systems.
Behind these external developments, a deeper shift was taking place. Caroline began working on her mindset with coaches. Through this process, she started to recognise patterns that had held her back for years. People pleasing, perfectionism, and procrastination were not isolated habits but connected behaviours.
She explains it simply,
“My biggest challenges were with my mindset, self confidence and imposter syndrome. Coaching made me aware of my people pleasing tendencies and how that is inextricably linked with perfectionism, and therefore procrastination.”
This awareness did not eliminate those tendencies overnight, but it changed her relationship with them. It allowed her to move forward without waiting to feel completely ready.
Building a Business That Reflects Who She Is
Today, Caroline runs Above & Beyond VA as a full time business. It supports her not only financially, but also gives her something that once felt out of reach. Choice.
Her work focuses on supporting neurodivergent and creative entrepreneurs with administrative tasks and content marketing. On the surface, this might sound straightforward. In practice, it is deeply personal.
Many of her clients operate in ways that do not fit traditional structures. They may think differently, work differently, and require support that adapts to their needs rather than forcing them into a standard model. Caroline understands this, not as a strategy, but as a way of being.
Her approach is intentionally flexible. Sometimes she is hands on, helping clients organise, plan, and execute. Other times she steps back, allowing them the space to lead while still providing support in the background.
What matters most is that her work enables her clients to focus on what they do best. Their creativity, their ideas, their unique way of working. By taking on the tasks that drain their time and energy, she creates space for them to grow.
This is where her values become visible. Honesty, integrity, continuous improvement, positivity, and humour are not statements on a website. They are present in how she communicates, how she supports, and how she shows up consistently.
The idea of going above & beyond is not something she performs. It is something she has always done. Long before she had a business, it shaped how she approached her work. Now, it has simply found a name and a home.
Her impact is not measured in scale or visibility, but in the difference she makes to the people she works with. Clients who feel understood. Businesses that become more sustainable. Individuals who are able to focus on their strengths without feeling overwhelmed by everything else.
Redefining Success on Her Own Terms
For a long time, success was something Caroline observed from the outside. It was defined by structure, hierarchy, and expectations that did not always align with her values.
Today, her definition is much simpler and far more personal.
Success means having the freedom to choose when she works, who she works with, and the kind of work she does. It means building a life that supports her, rather than one she has to constantly adjust herself to fit into.
This freedom did not arrive easily. It was built through consistent effort, self reflection, and a willingness to face uncomfortable truths about herself. It required her to let go of perfection and embrace progress.
There is also a quiet sense of pride in what she has created. Not in a loud or performative way, but in the knowledge that she has built something sustainable. Something that supports her and her family. Something that reflects who she is.
She has not forgotten the path that brought her here. The difficult workplaces, the failed first business, the moments of doubt. They are not separate from her success. They are part of it.
The Next Chapter Is Still Unfolding
Caroline’s story does not end with stability. It continues with curiosity.
Recently, she published her first book, Sing Like No One’s Listening. The title itself carries the same message that has shaped her journey. Use your voice. Take the risk. Do not wait for permission.
Writing the book was not about adding another achievement to her list. It was an extension of her desire to share what she has learned. To remind others that their timing does not need to match anyone else’s.
She is already thinking about what comes next. A second book is beginning to take shape. There is also the idea of starting a podcast, where she can share conversations with other late bloomers and explore the different paths people take to find their work and themselves.
These plans are not driven by pressure or urgency. They are guided by interest and intention. They reflect a way of working that allows space for growth without forcing it.
She also continues to expand her presence through speaking and connecting with others. Not to position herself as an expert, but to contribute to conversations that matter to her.
At the heart of it all is a simple belief. It is never too late to begin again.
A Life Lived Without Holding Back
There is something quietly powerful about people who choose to change their lives later than expected. They carry with them years of experience, perspective, and understanding. When they finally step into their own work, they do so with a depth that cannot be rushed.
Caroline Buist’s journey is not defined by a single moment of transformation. It is shaped by many small decisions. The decision to keep going. The decision to try again. The decision to believe that something different was possible.
Her story is a reminder that clarity does not always come first. Sometimes it follows action. Sometimes it emerges only after we begin.
And perhaps most importantly, it shows that building a meaningful life is not about getting everything right. It is about being willing to move forward, even when things feel uncertain, and trusting that the path will reveal itself along the way.
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