There's a lot of weird myths and misinfo about VA's (virtual assistants). I've seen some people call it a 'digital sweat shop'. That's not my experience.

Want to be inspired?

This is Muhammad, he's worked for us for 11 years now. His story is amazing.

I found Mu on Odesk, now called Upwork, in 2011. He lives in Pakistan.

Back then you needed a programmer to fix Facebook business pages. I hired him because I had ZERO programming skills.

He said he could do what I needed and backed it up. In fact...

As my businesses grew, I could never stump him. It didn't matter what I needed, Java, PHP, integrations, Wordpress, he just figured it out. He always had that grit factor that meant he would never give up until it was done.

But that's not the wild part...

We would chat and I asked about his life, his home etc. I asked him what he did outside of work. His answer was so stunning that I didn't believe it - for years.

He told me he was an ophthalmologist.

That's an eye surgeon, btw. I assumed he was flat out lying or at the very least exaggerating to make himself look good. I thought it was a ploy for a raise, tbh.

But then little things would happen...

He would talk about just getting out of surgery. He would appear on Skype calls in scrubs. In time I saw he was actually *downplaying* his role.

He was literally helping people SEE every day at his clinic. Cataracts, eye diseases, horrific injuries... this dude was a hero!

But here's the thing. In some countries, doctors and nurses are paid like laborers. There simply isn't enough money in healthcare.

He's been making about $1000/month RESTORING PEOPLE'S VISION for 12 yrs. He makes 2-3x that helping us fix our dumb websites.

That's not all tho. See Mu is truly dedicated to people. He's adopted orphan children, ran a cat rescue in his home, and helps poor people every day.

But fixing our silly websites allows him to do all that.

No, I'm not taking credit for his charity, I'm saying...

These 'VA's' as people call them (sort of derisively if you ask me) are real people with real stories and these jobs are extremely impactful on their lives.

So before you sneer at the employers, the VA's or the whole setup...

Remember, there is literally a whole world of talented people out there that can help you with your business. And you can help them with a well-paying job.

It's not any more complicated than that.

Oh, but the best part is...

We're going to help Mu get his green card so he and his family can become Americans.

He's going to be an American eye surgeon and out-earn all of us in time, heh.

I can't think of a better way to reward such a talented, selfless man and his loved ones. So...

Think about that next time you think of 'virtual assistants', they may seem virtual but they are very real.

Like this? Follow me at @krissbergtweets for more insight and inspiration - and please share it!

Or, if you need eye surgery in a couple years... I gotta guy

Nice to see this story blowing up.

Be sure to mash that follow for @KrissBergTweets , my intent is to make this timeline a master class in business.

After 20 years as an entrepreneur I’ve made a ton of mistakes. Follow along and I’ll help you avoid them.