After a distinguished career working at high schools, TAFEs, and universities, including RMIT and La Trobe University, the PhD-holder was paying the bills by tutoring college and university students. 

Not content, Dr Brunken turned her tutoring sessions into a fledgling online business – AB Tutoring and Editing Services – out of her St John Street home. 

“There’s a lot of parents who have kids with multiple tutors, and one of the parents said that, ‘I wish we could do it online – [the children] are online all the time,” she said.

“I then decided to give tutoring a go through Skype, and now I’ve got a lot of clients from Melbourne and around Australia. 

“I haven’t even got any from Tassie yet, because I hadn’t advertised here.” 

Tutoring students online in English and business studies provides a flexibility not afforded to traditional tutors, according to Dr Brunken.  

She said the lives of young people were so connected to the digital world that the online tutor-student relationship comes naturally for many.

Not having to leave your house for tutoring sessions is also a big incentive for students. 

“A lot of students at that level have time off during the day, so I can tutor them during a school day, at 8am or at night-time,” she said. “[Students] do it in their pyjamas and sitting in their bedrooms sometimes.”

The new business owner gained the knowledge and confidence to start a new venture through Mission Australia’s New Employment Initiatives Scheme.

The federal government-funded program provides her with a business mentor and helps fund business costs. 

Mission Australia also ran courses to help Dr Brunken in generating business ideas. 

With her sole-trader business up-and-running, she is now looking to expansion in the near-future.

“I want to get to the point where I’m training up other people,” she said.