NT: What made you decide to become a personal assistant?

DAVIS: I was a flight attendant for 32 years, and I retired, and I missed working with people. Taking a pot of soup and a loaf of bread, or going and picking-up prescriptions – those were things that I naturally did for my older friends. One day I said, “I wish I could do this for a living!”

NT: What sort of assistance do you provide for people?

DAVIS: Various things, like shopping at Trader Joes or Costco, running errands, helping older people pay their bills and open their mail, cleaning, organizing closets… every person has different needs. You can’t imagine the things that we take for granted

NT: How many clients do you have, and is it difficult for you to orchestrate scheduling?

DAVIS: I have about a dozen clients, but usually what people need is something that’s not really time sensitive. It’s really worked out for me. I have a 14-year-old who’s home schooling, so I’m able to pop in to the house… I feel like I’m still available to her, where as, if I was sitting in an office, I would feel really funny about taking phone calls from her, or stuff like that.

NT: Quite different from having your schedule dictated by an airline, is it not?

DAVIS: Totally! I’m really glad I’m not flying anymore. I feel like flying trained me for this job – customer service, trouble shooting, helping people meet their needs. My tagline is: Beth Davis, Personal Assistant - Making Life Easier.