With 25 years’ experience in the administrative and graphic design field, Colleen has extensive knowledge in a wide variety of areas. She can be an asset and support to the many local business, farms, organizations and groups.

After receiving a certificate in Office Administration at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton Alberta, Colleen worked for about one year in the Edmonton area before moving to Southern Alberta with her husband in 1999. She is currently living in the town of Coaldale, located just 10km east of Lethbridge.

Employment in Southern Alberta started with the position of administrative assistant for the department of Students’ Union at the University of Lethbridge (ULSU) in 2000. Due to her excellent interpersonal, organizational and multitasking skills, she was noted as possessing underutilized potential and promoted to the position of Operations Coordinator in the same department.

In the position of ULSU Operations Coordinator, Colleen continued to enhance her skills developing the strong ability to produce communications, marketing and adverting materials with ease. Large events where conceptualized and developed. Detailed proposals where written. Events were well executed. Reports noting deficiencies and solutions were developed. Colleen also worked closely with General Manager to assist in the overall management and strategic planning of the department and liaised with the appropriate University of Lethbridge departments to advance ULSU initiatives.

Colleen’s choice to end her employment at the ULSU was personal, as she wanted to dedicate her full time to her newest and littlest family member. Since that time, she and her husband have been blessed with three beautiful children.

During this period as a stay-at-home mom, Colleen continued to utilize her skills by volunteering her time in her local community with the development of initiatives which further enhanced the Town of Coaldale. The annual Coaldale Family Fun, with its inception in 2011, still continues to be a successful event today. Established to encourage health outdoor activity, enhance family time and bring cohesiveness to the Town of Coaldale, funds generated from these events are put towards community enhancement projects.  These enhancement projects are funneled under a society, registered in 2017, titled Project Playground Coaldale East - to which Colleen is president. This has lead to a number of upgrades to Pinnacle Park in Coaldale, including an upgrade to the playground and surrounding landscaping.  As one of the key leaders in these groups, Colleen's main role has been to facilitate meetings, engage with businesses, participate in grant writing along with the development and execution of  marketing strategies and materials.

In the Fall of 2017, Lethbridge MP Rachael Harder developed the Community Builders Volunteer Awards to recognize the outstanding contribution made to the community by individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Thanks to her community involvement, out of 130 nominations in 4 categories, Colleen was the recipient of 1 of 6 Community Leader Awards.

At the beginning of 2018, Colleen embarked on a new path with the development of her business, VR Virtual Assistant, or VRVA in keeping with current marketing trends. VR - short for Virtual Reality - also happens to correspond with Colleen’s last name initials.  Since VRVA's inception, Colleen has been able to engage with a variety of clients, both short-term and long-term, to produced a various marketing materials including logos, business cards, brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, social media posts and many other forms of advertisements.  A number of website has also been developed either exclusively by Colleen or when in collaboration with a client's website team.

You can trust Colleen to provide assistance where and when you need it most: to reduce workload, execute new ideas, or to help grow your business. Take a look through this website to discover how VR Virtual Assistant can get you focused on what you do best!