I LOVED my job! Yes, you read that right... I actually enjoyed what I did, and for many years. But then life threw me a beautiful curveball – kids! Suddenly, the balancing act became a bit too much, and the guilt of missing out on those precious after-school moments and quality time with my family started to weigh heavily.

Even when I managed to juggle work and family, the mum guilt never went away – I wasn’t there for after-school activities, I missed out on homework time, and with all the travelling, I couldn’t even do the school drop-offs and pick-ups. And when I was home, I was exhausted, and that precious quality time just didn’t look or feel the way I’d hoped it would.

Something had to change.

So in 2013, I relocated from South Africa to the small island of Mauritius, and it was time to find a better way forward.

I’d heard about “virtual assistance” and “working online,” but I had absolutely no clue what it actually looked like. So I turned to Google and Facebook to find out. I was completely overwhelmed – so much information about what skills to learn, how to set up, what to charge, where to find clients, managing contracts, billing, tracking hours – it was a lot to take in!