Meet the Mom behind VASupportPro: Marge Trajeco-Aberasturi

If you’ve ever researched about being a work-at-home mom, you’d have most likely come across the term “VA” or virtual assistant. According to Wikipedia, “A virtual assistant (also called virtual office assistants) is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a home office.”

In the Philippines, more and more people — moms and non-moms alike — are discovering that working from home is totally possible, and that one of the most common work-at-home jobs available is that of being a VA.

One such person, who eventually put up her own VA business, is Marge Trajeco-Aberásturi. Here is her inspiring story.

“Pushed” into Working at Home
“I didn’t set out to start my own home business or to become a VA; the decision was made for me. I was actually pushed into starting a home business when I delivered our third child, Jude, prematurely and there were complications. The neurologist told us that we could not take the risk of having someone else take care of the baby, as there were signs that we should watch out for,” Marge shares.

“While I was still on maternity leave, I received news that I was being given another promotion, but that the new post would mean I could only see my family on weekends. My husband and I knew that we could not give up my income, but neither could we survive with this new setup being offered, so I used the remaining days of my maternity leave looking for ways to still earn without leaving the baby.”

Marge started with online transcription jobs and soon learned the ropes of being a VA on her own. She eventually set up VASupportPro, which stands for Virtual Administrative Support Professional, as her own home-based business.