I’m Jeremy Rivera, and on this episode of the Unscripted Small Business Podcast I talked with Samantha Prestidge, founder of Auxo Business Services. Samantha places US-based virtual assistants and builds back-office operations for founders, consultants and small business owners — and her actual product is subtraction. This conversation runs through trust, gorilla clients, pricing, return-to-work, and what simplifying a business really requires.
The Ethical Baseline
I open every one of these with the same question: why should anyone trust you? Samantha’s answer was the funniest and most disarming I have gotten.
“I’m not gonna do things that I think Jesus would be mad at me for. So that’s a pretty good ethical baseline in my business.” — Samantha Prestidge
Underneath the joke is a foundation in project management, operations, people and process, and a posture toward client problems that is refreshingly unbothered: let’s figure it out. It’s a little bit messy. It could be better. Let’s not feel crappy about it — let’s get the simple solution in place.
Every Business Problem Is a Human Problem
I asked how much of what looks like a business problem is really a human interaction problem. Samantha’s answer was: all of it. Whether it is how you interact with yourself or with other people, the root is human every time. Her whole practice is simplifying business and life, and her sharpest observation is that most of our problems are of our own making — we just cannot see it because we are too busy chasing the next LinkedIn tactic or the strategy from the last business book.
Gorilla Clients and the Right-Sized Pond
We got into the gorilla client problem: what happens when too much of your business is built around one large account. Samantha’s framework starts before the client question. First get aligned on what size pond you want to be in. If you want more clients like that big fish, then jump to the bigger pond deliberately and build the infrastructure the bigger pond requires. If the work is miserable even with the check attached, stay in a smaller pond with more fish you actually enjoy.
“You’ve got to figure that out — are you going to get distracted by the really nice check that’s going to be in your name, or do you want the business that feels good?” — Samantha Prestidge
The mistake is not picking either pond. The mistake is letting the revenue number make the decision for you.
The Three Buckets
Her delegation framework is the most portable thing in the episode. Every business, at any level of complexity, breaks into three buckets: how you get clients, how you deliver, and how you get paid. Sales and marketing, operations, cash management.
Before a founder can figure out where to bring in help, they have to know which bucket is actually broken — and, more importantly, which bucket they want to personally own going forward. Those are two different answers, and most people never separate them.
Boundaries Are a Business Structure, Not a Mood
I brought up Raven Tools, where I worked, because it explicitly called itself a lifestyle company: no VC, no quarterly profit maximization, sustainable growth that protected the founder and employee experience on purpose. Samantha connected that straight to boundaries.
Boundaries, in her definition, means knowing what you are not willing to sacrifice — time with your kids, a certain pace of work, particular types of clients — and then building revenue goals and team structure inside those constraints instead of the other way around. She has run this on herself: she signed six-figure contracts and realized she did not want to do the work.
Pricing: The Number Has to Make Sense to Someone
I cited a previous guest, Peter Sofors, who argues that ninety percent of business owners undercharge. Samantha’s take is more textured. It depends. One of her clients charges below market rate, closes faster because of it, generates better referrals as a result, and is on track for $350K as a solo operator.
The problem is rarely the number in isolation — it is that most people arrived at the number arbitrarily. It has to make sense to you and it has to make sense to your clients. If you cannot explain how you got there, you do not have a price, you have a guess.
The Sucky Sandwich
My hot take on return-to-work mandates is that they are driven by incompetent middle managers and companies protecting real estate investments. Samantha played devil’s advocate, and did it well. She separates two very different managers: the one who genuinely enjoys bossing people around, and the one who was simply never taught how to delegate through systems.
“I don’t always think a business is the bad guy. Maybe the middle manager just doesn’t know how ignorant he is — and I say that kindly. He’s in a sucky sandwich.” — Samantha Prestidge
High employee expectations from below, KPI pressure from above, and no real training in between. Some grace may be warranted before the pitchforks come out.
The Soapbox: Take Something Away
Samantha closed on simplicity, and it is the throughline of the whole hour. We have overcomplicated our businesses, our lives, and our kids’ schedules. You do not need to track data on every part of your life. You do not need to optimize everything.
Her instruction is a subtraction exercise: look at what does not feel good, and ask what you can remove — not what you can add. Then live aligned with your actual values even when other people judge you for it.
Connect with Samantha
Samantha Prestidge runs Auxo Business Services at auxosvs.com, placing US-based virtual assistants and building back-office operations for small businesses. She is also on LinkedIn.