Laura Taylor sums up her approach to life in eight words.

“Work hard, dream big and never give up.”

For 22 years she worked as an Executive Assistant and Personal Assistant.

Then, last August, she was made redundant, along with 250 colleagues, at ISupply Energy.

It led to one of those infamous ‘lightbulb’ moments.

The following month the self-styled solopreneur had launched her own business – EA2VA – as a Virtual Assistant.

Not come across the term before?

Essentially it’s someone who is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office.

And there are now thousands across the UK.

Within ten days of launching EA2VA Laura had signed her first client.

For 40 hours a month.

Eight months on she has five clients and works 35 billable hours a week.

Such is the demand for her services the 43-year-old is now taking on two associates.

The speed of her success has been a shock, albeit a pleasant one.

Laura said: “I didn’t expect it to take off like this.

“Launching a business during a pandemic was not ideal.

“More and more Virtual Assistants are also popping up.

“But there’s a lot of work out there and I would really recommend it.”

Laura lives in Penn Hill, Poole, and is married to Wayne, a Site Manager.

She is a proud dog ‘mum’ to two Staffy’s, Diesel and Dot.

In November Laura graduated from the VA Mastery Course run by VACT, formerly known as The Virtual Assistant Coaching and Training Company.

Two months later she became an approved member of the Society of Virtual Assistants (SVA).

“I owe so much to two people in particular – Amanda Johnson and Monica Collings – who have helped me in becoming a VA,” she said.

In January Laura entered the ‘Best Newcomer’ category of the UK VA 2021 Awards.

She said: “I really didn’t expect to get anywhere but I thought it was worth a try.”

To her astonishment she was first shortlisted, then named as a finalist before being awarded a runner up place among three others from across the UK.

“I couldn’t quite believe it. It was such a surprise,” said Laura, pictured with her runner up trophy.

Today her five clients – all secured by word of mouth – include a property developer, a big corporate, a marketing agency and the HR and employment law consultancy, ViewHR.

Founder Gemma Murphy said: “ViewHR works with several Virtual Assistants in delivering excellent client services.

“EA2VA is one of our trusted partners and a safe pair of hands to deliver excellence.

“Laura has exceptional attention to detail and a real flair for creative assistance.”

Looking back on the past eight months and Laura finds it difficult to comprehend how far she’s come.

She said: “I have the confidence to network and I’ve taken part in the Peer Network Programme run by Evolve which has been absolutely brilliant.

“I really love the flexibility being my own boss brings and the ability to use my experience to help a broader variety of people rather than just predominantly supporting one person.

“It’s allowed me to be more creative, more proactive, and generally have the work life balance I have always dreamed of.

“I feel very proud at what I’ve achieved.”

• ea2va.co.uk