We were lucky to catch up with Seth Graye recently and have shared our conversation below.

Seth, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

A client I work for was about to renew a contract with a client that required an active Texas business license. Just to be safe, I logged into the Texas Secretary of State website to double-check everything was in order and saw we were listed as “forfeited existence.”

I had no idea what that meant, so I started digging. Called the Secretary of State. They told me to call the Comptroller. The Comptroller told me we hadn’t paid franchise taxes. I had also never heard of franchise taxes. Apparently, even if you’re operating remotely from out of state, if you’re registered in Texas, you’re still on the hook.

That kicked off a week-long saga of daily phone calls, trying to get clear answers from a system not built to give them. One of the Comptroller’s reps literally had me download the entire Texas tax code and read it myself to determine if we owed anything, or just needed to file public info reports.

Eventually I pieced together what needed doing: filed the reports, got a clearance letter, sent it back to the Secretary of State, and got our standing reinstated.

I didn’t walk away with some deep life lesson or any feelings perse; I just did what needed to be done. That’s kind of my whole thing.

Seth, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, I’m Seth Elizabeth Graye, or just Seth for short

If I had to boil down what I do, it’s probably best summarized as “Helping people figure things out”

I am not the founder of a firm nor do I run a business in the traditional sense; I work behind the scenes (and occasionally front and center) to help people stay focused on what they do best while I quietly handle the rest~

Currently, I work three ‘jobs’; I am the end-user IT support contractor for a scheduling and virtual assistance firm, I work as a project and virtual office manager for a coaching and consulting firm, and I work as an internal project manager, accounts receivable manager, and website manager for a video production company– All from the comfort of my couch located in good old North Carolina.

If you ask me how I got here; if I had to be honest I’ve kind of “stumbled uphill” to get where I am. In every working relationship I’ve ever had I have strived to be the kind of person who is not only approachable, but honest about my opinions and wanting to always make things work out/happen. The dominos just happened to line up and fall in such a way that I ended up here

I am a mixture of curiosity, chaos, and being someone who naturally sees how things connect. I’ve always been the person others turn to when something needs solving, and I genuinely love being that person!

Ultimately, my goal is to help people and teams succeed. I make other people’s businesses stronger, more functional, and less overwhelming. I do a lot of “glue work”; The stuff that isn’t always visible but holds the whole thing together.

What sets me apart is that I care deeply and I get things done without needing to make a big deal about it. I don’t chase clout. I just show up, listen, observe, and do what needs doing.

I am most proud of the fact that people trust me. They know they can come to me with almost any problem and I’ll figure it out, even if I’ve never done it before. And I will.

If you work with me, what you’re getting isn’t a pre-packaged service; it’s a deeply invested collaborator who’s ready to roll up their sleeves and solve the weird, wild, and whatever !

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

One of my favorite behind-the-scenes wins was building an automated contract tool to solve a very human problem: one of my clients kept struggling with generating consistent, accurate contracts. The math was getting messed up, details were inconsistent, and the whole process was just taking way longer than it needed to for them.

So, I fixed it.

I built a custom Google Doc template with AppScript that automated everything: pricing math, document logic, even conditional inclusion of our Master Services Agreement. Now she just creates a copy of the doc, fills in a couple numbers, answers a few prompts, and boom– the contract is ready. No math errors. No formatting chaos. No wasted time.

It’s not flashy, but it makes their life easier every single time they use it. And honestly, it’s that quiet problem-solving that’s helped me build a reputation: I see a mess, I clean it up, without being asked, without needing praise, just because that’s what I do.

I believe this level of service is what has helped me build my reputation.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

During a period of my life, from the ages of 22 to 25, I was homeless and living in my car; Survival wasn’t some dramatic kind of struggle– it was logistical and tactical. How do I eat? How do I shower? Where can I park so that I don’t get hassled?

One night, I scoped out an apartment complex with an on-site gym. I watched people entering the passcode to the door from my car with a pair of binoculars, just so I could have a low-traffic place to shower.

It wasn’t inspiring or anything grandiose like that; but it was a necessity.

I got a job bartending at an Applebee’s so I would have an employee discount to help with food needs. I had to pawn my cello for a few hundred bucks to get me through the roughest patch.

Emotionally, I’m honestly not sure I processed most of it in the moment. I generally live in survival mode by default, so it didn’t feel like some big ordeal- it just was. That was my life, and I did what I had to do to keep moving.

Contact Info:

• Other: Personal Email: [email protected]
  Business Phone: 919-391-5905