Bobbie Racette, founder and CEO of the virtual assistance company Virtual gurusshe didn't always have a clear understanding of how her story would unfold. She didn't necessarily envision a chapter becoming an entrepreneur — but it would turn out to be one of the most important.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Virtual Gurus. Bobbie Racette.
Before Racette started her own businessshe says she had little direction and “was just one of those people who went from job to job looking for different things to do.” In 2015, Racette was working as a safety technician in the oil and gas industry in Calgary when layoffs hit – she lost her job and struggled to get her next role.
“No one would hire me.”
“I couldn't get a job, no matter how many resumes I sent out,” Racette recalls. “interviews after interviews after interviews. And no one would hire me.” Racette lived in a conservative area and says her identity as a queer, indigenous woman with tattoos may have hindered her search.
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After all, after being flooded with posts about freelancers gig economydecided to try it herself: She created an Upwork profile offering her services as a virtual assistant. This too was difficult. Most of her competitors were in other countries, so she had to offer up to $2 to secure work on the platform. Racette knew there had to be a better way.
So despite knowing “nothing about running a business“Racette decided to start her own. She tried to build a working concert platform that would connect virtual assistants with companies needing help with a variety of tasks from bookkeeping to customer support and officially launched in 2016.
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Racette's long-term goal was to provide quality work-from-home opportunities for other people from marginalized and underserved communities.
“Working with indigenous people is my north star.”
In the early days, when Virtual Gurus was a one-woman show, market need because the platform was clear: the business Racette started with just $300 to her name had $300,000 in revenue in the first year.
In his second year, Racette still hadn't hired its first employeeand although she continued to earn money, she worked “around the clock.” She needed to raise funds and assemble her team.
It took 170 investors to say no to Virtual Gurus before Racette got her first yes, but the business provided a $8.4 million CAD Series A round and has since grown beyond a $50 million valuation, per company. Racette's first hire was a single stay-at-home mom, and by 2020, she'd expanded to a team of more than 40 people. Today, Virtual Gurus has provided jobs to more than 2,000 people in Canada and the US – and counting.
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“Working with Indigenous people is my north star,” says Racette. “We're working to go into Indigenous communities and we're looking to partner with employment centers so that we can bring Indigenous people into these employment centers that are in the community (and) keep them in their communities current. Because this is very important.”
Racette notes that Virtual Gurus provides Indigenous people with computers and training and is creating a new partnership to empower and employ approximately 5,000 Indigenous workers by the end of 2026.
“Who I am now as a leader is tenfold different.”
Like most young entrepreneurs, Racette faced many challenges along the way, including building Virtual Gurus' technology as the company grew. However, learning how to be one effective leader because her team proved to be one of the most important obstacles, according to Racette. “Leadership is very difficult when you've never really learned,” she says.
Determined to be the type of leader needed for her business, Racette enrolled in leadership courses through Harvard University and committed to improving herself every day.
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“Who I am now as one leader it's ten times different than where I was two years ago,” says Racette. However, she also acknowledges that leaders have a responsibility to grow every day and inspire the next generation of good leaders.
“The sky is the limit – nothing stands in your way.”
Racette also believes that business leaders have a duty to share their stories so that young people can see positive examples that motivate them to pursue their goals. Women in business, especially in tech, have been discouraged from sharing their stories for a long time, Racette says, and in her work mentoring young women, she tries to break that cycle.
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No one should be afraid start their own business and live their story through it, according to Racette.
“People will use entrepreneurship a little more as medicine at that point,” says Racette. “Because then it's like, the sky's the limit — nothing can stop you. Nothing can stop you. Nothing can bring fear because you're living your story.”