Local woman a pioneer in new virtual field

Among the many new business and professions spawned by the computer age, a new one has sprung up: virtual assistant.

This is the job held by Tawnya Sutherland, who left Bewdley in 1997 to go west.

Her parents, Glenn and Sandra, still live in Bewdley. Her brother Todd lives in Cobourg with his family.

“Family and friends always ask my parents what I am doing and where I am at nowadays.” Tawnya said. A good illustration of her job can be found in the November 18 issue of Time magazine in an article on this new specialty.

Tawnya now runs her own successful virtual assistant business from her home in Coquitlam, British Columbia, as well as teaching on-line classes to help other people get established in the field.

Without the face-to-face limitations of yesterday, she said, the virtual revolution has begun – “and there is no looking back.”

Simply put, virtual assistants are consultants who can show you how applications of today’s technology applied to your individual life or business can improve your bottom line, your stress level and even your whole outlook on life.

Tawnya’s own site the Virtual Assistant Networking Forum (www.vanetworking.com) has articles, tips, resources, links and a directory of virtual assistants from around the world.

Equally exciting was the article in Time magazine, which can be viewed at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,11011031117-538933,00.html

“This was a wonderful victory for getting us notices as home-based entrepreneurs,” she said. “Every day I am homesick, but I l have found a great life out west.”