Dubbo's Colleen Connor on the benefits of working from home with Vistaprint

Originally from Chicago in the United States, Ms Connor was backpacking, having finished studying sales and Spanish language at university, when she "met a very handsome man named Bevan".

"That was 11 years ago. I followed Bevan [Charlton-White] all over Australia and we ended up in Dubbo about six years ago when we opened up the My Foot Doctor at the Orana Mall," she said.

"It was a complete accident moving here, but a very, very happy accident."

While she's based in Dubbo, for the last year-and-a-half, Ms Connor has worked as an analyst for global company Vistaprint. Vista describes itself as a "remote-first company", meaning working from home is the norm for most of its employees.

And those employees are based all across the world.

Ms Connor's own manager is based in London.

She's a firm advocate for the benefits of working remotely.

"My mental health is better, my physical health is better working from home. Those small little opportunities to have 30 minutes to go for a walk, it's amazing the positive impact it can have on your life," she said.

Vista says its philosophy "facilitates better collaboration, more efficient communication, and work-life harmony".

Ms Connor had also completed her masters degree remotely, But when she first started in the job, she was told it would take her a month to figure out her role and two months to figure out how to work remotely.

The advice was correct. It took a little getting used to, but now she's found a routine that works, starting off with a visit to You Galah to "say hello to [her friends]".

"Sometimes they're the only people I see in the day," she said.

Ms Connor said some days were definitely better than others, but staying connected was a high priority.

"Right after this [interview] I told my colleague, 'hey let's catch up fro a lunch chat' so we can't go out for lunch together -he's in Sydney and I'm here - but you can have those kind of connections and socialisations."

"I had a Halloween party, being the American in me. We had our team dress up in our costumes and we all had 15 minutes where we ate our chocolate bar and then we went back to work.

"My partner was like 'did you just waste your time doing that?' and I was like 'no'. It's the water cooler talk that most people have, we just do it more structured."

Ms Connor said it was larger opportunities that attracted her to the global company.

"There's so many opportunities in Dubbo and in regional Australia but sometimes, especially if you're more specialised there can be a ceiling to them," she said.

"For me, in data analytics, I saw this as an opportunity to grow my career globally. Being able to make a global impact with a company from my little house in Dubbo is pretty neat when you think about it. It's cool to be able to see that impact and have those chances to make those connections."

Ms Connor jokes that having international clients - and an international boss - means there's always a tab open on her computer with time zones from around the world.

While she admits a six minute commute in Dubbo isn't too bad, for now, Ms Connor said she was "extremely happy" with Vistaprint and she had no plans to give up on the remote working life.

"It's been 'bring your best self to work in the best way you can and your most authentic way," she said.

"I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to work in Dubbo and talk to people all over the world."

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