My name is Lisa MacDonald. I teach women (or men!) how to transfer the skills they have to become a Virtual Assistant so they can work at home, make more money, and have more time with their families.

I love being a Virtual Assistant because it allows me to take control of my life and my future, building a business around my life instead of building a life around a job. I control determine what clients I work for, what services I offer, how many hours I work per day and when, and I determine the rates that clients will pay. Plus no commuting!

I consider myself a technical virtual assistant because I love working with websites, shopping cart systems, product launches, and more. Some like to refer to me as “Tech Support.”

Before choosing to work at home, I was a Veterinary Assistant for 7 years. After my boss retired and closed down the business, I decided to become a medical transcriptionist. I have a diploma in Medical Transcription from Canscribe Career College and Career Step. I also trained in a wide range of general transcription styles while working for different general transcription companies, before starting out on my own as a general transcriptionist and then later, a techie virtual assistant.

I learned the hard way that it’s not easy working from home and that being a work at home medical transcriptionist isn’t the dream job that the medical transcription schools and training companies claim it to be. I loved the terminology and the interesting medical cases but, in most cases, it’s a very low-paying form of work, especially when you’re paying your own taxes, etc.

However, being a virtual assistant has the potential to be a dream job. I say potential because it’s not easy. Being an entrepreneur is never easy! It takes hard work, persistence, motivation and self-belief, and it’s all worth it when you’ve put in the time and effort, developed your skills, and developed the reputation that leads to referrals that fill your business. I know it’s the best decision I have made for myself.