Background
East Aurora Counseling began with one room, two deck chairs, and a flip phone. Over a decade, Dr. Goldman grew it into one of the largest counseling agencies in Illinois — serving clients from downstate Illinois to the Wisconsin border, across eight locations, with specializations in LGBTQIA+ support, Spanish-language mental health services, play therapy, family, couples, and group counseling.
She also runs the Judah Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit drop-in center serving people experiencing homelessness. Despite each of her sites having its own administrative support, Dr. Goldman herself had none. Moving between locations, satellite offices, and her own packed schedule, she was, as she put it,"falling between the cracks."
The Search
Dr. Goldman did a Google search for "virtual personal assistant" and found AbroadWorks among a handful of options. What stood out wasn't just the service — it was the values behind it. Having grown up in Southeast Asia and worked extensively with immigrant communities, she felt strongly about hiring across cultures, not just across time zones. With roughly half of East Aurora Counseling's clients being immigrants, bringing in a bilingual, internationally-connected assistant felt like a natural extension of the agency's own mission.
She spoke with AbroadWorks' team, requested three candidate interviews, and found someone she connected with personally — someone she could trust to represent her across eight inboxes, multiple organizations, and a commute that sometimes stretched six hours a day.
What Changed
The results were immediate. Dr. Goldman manages eight email accounts across her various sites and organizations — a task that previously consumed enormous amounts of time. Her virtual assistant now checks all of them daily, responds where she can, and surfaces what needs Dr. Goldman's attention. On long driving days, the assistant is on WhatsApp speaker, reading emails aloud and handling student and staff questions in real time.
Beyond inbox management, the assistant has taken on social media, document creation, graphic design, intern interviewing support, staff training on organizational policies, and LGBTQIA+ sensitivity orientation for new team members. Every morning at 8:30 AM, Dr. Goldman receives a simple message:"Good morning — what do you want me to focus on today?"
The Bigger Picture
For Dr. Goldman, this wasn't just an operational decision — it was a personal one. She was thoughtful about fair pay across economies, and AbroadWorks' approach to compensation relative to local cost of living gave her the confidence she wasn't exploiting anyone. Her assistant is, by her own account, overqualified for the role. But that, she says, is exactly what she needed.
When you're running two organizations and driving six hours a day, there's no shortage of meaningful work for someone truly excellent.