Asa part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Bobbie Racette.
Bobbie Racette is a true trailblazer in the world of technology and innovation. As the founder of Virtual Gurus, she is reshaping the digital landscape and paving the way for a future where technology and inclusivity are intertwined. Bobbie’s ladership is not only driving her own business forward but also inspiring others to follow in her footsteps towards success.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Driven by the challenges of job loss, industry marginalization and being overlooked in 2015, I embarked on a transformational journey, one of reinvention. There was a gap in the marketplace — an opportunity to do things differently. This is when I rebranded myself as a virtual assistant and set out to revolutionize the way online assistants were sourced.
Then it came to me. I could do this better, differently. With a vision beyond personal success, I began creating opportunities for others traditionally marginalized or unrepresented in the marketplace. This included those seeking remote employment due to geographic constraints and other circumstances.
Just one year later in 2017, I launched Virtual Gurus, utilizing a combination of human insight, machine learning, and innovative technology to match diverse talent with work opportunities and assist other businesses in their growth. The platform is committed to creating meaningful careers for those often overlooked by traditional hiring practices.
The result? Through Virtual Gurus our dedicated team has empowered First Nation, Métis, and Inuit peoples, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, marginalized individuals such as people with disabilities and veterans, along those residing in remote areas.
By 2018, Virtual Gurus skyrocketed to an eight-figure enterprise, becoming one of Canada’s top-growing companies. Despite facing 170 rejections, resilience transformed those challenges into fuel for success, securing essential funding and scaling the business.
I’m the first Indigenous woman in Canada to close a Series A funding round, raising $8.4 million and have proudly increased the company’s valuation by more than $40 million.
Virtual Gurus has become one of North America’s fastest-growing virtual assistant companies and Canada’s largest. Our proprietary technology supports a vibrant community of over 800 professionals from diverse backgrounds. I’m proud to be recognized for groundbreaking strategies in talent management that have garnered numerous awards.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I’ve changed the game by leveling the playing field by creating an innovative approach to equitable employment that has set new standards and increased demand for diverse talent. Virtual Gurus creates access through meaningful employment — and the impacts of her efforts are felt by her workforce and others inspired by her innovative approaches. As a result, Virtual Gurus is driving demand in the marketplace for diversity-focused virtual assistants and beyond that for businesses to reconsider how talent acquisition requires inclusive hiring approaches.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Now, this is maybe a little PG-13. Virtual Gurus was not actually my company’s first name. When I first incorporated my business, it was Canadian Virtual Assistant Gurus. In all my excitement, I of course, immediately shared the news to friends and family through my personal Facebook. Well, my crew was quick to let me know that my company’s acronym was C-VAG and hence the name change to Virtual Gurus.
To this day, I share this story and get tons of laughs. It’s so important to be thoughtful and think of every possible outcome when naming your business. You want to be impactful. Something that reflects your company’s mission and values while also grabbing people’s attention.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I’m so lucky to be surrounded by people who have believed in me and supported me through my entrepreneurial journey. I have two key mentors who have stuck with me through it all:
Virtual Gurus Chair of the Board, Ryan. In VG’s early days, I was really struggling to pay the bills. I was so focused on putting money into the tech and paying my employees that I wasn’t able to pay myself. Ryan always believed in the company and more importantly, me and my vision for the good Virtual Gurus could add to the world. He helped me financially, loaning me funds while I pushed to close the funding round.
The second is Thailia Kingsford who I met through International Women’s Fellowship. She has always been a huge support system for me. Someone I have always been able to look up to and rely on. She has been there for all my big moments; my Harvard Graduation, when I was awarded the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year for Canada and now will be a guest at my wedding.
What I have learned from both of these incredible people, is the impact of feeling someone truly believes in you can make. It kept me going, kept pushing me forward.
These mentors have paid it forward to me, and I intend to do just the same.
I aspire to provide that same mentorship to young entrepreneurs through my work as the inaugural chair of the board at the Indigenous Prosperity Foundation, speaking engagements and more.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Wow, there is so much I could say about this.
Positive disruption should aim to improve systems, promote inclusivity, and address societal needs without causing undue harm or inequity, however, we know not all industry disruptions work this way.
AI is a perfect example. It’s disrupting our world entirely, in positive and not-so-positive ways. At Virtual Gurus, we are leveraging AI to INCREASE jobs, not take them away. Our technology needs epic AI to match our virtual assistants with available suitable openings from companies. It is creating employment for those who don’t necessarily fit the 9–5 mold.
However, AI is also disrupting the industry in that many gig-economy platforms, are using it at the expense of the employees. To use AI systems, the companies only pay a brokerage fee, which can lead to employee layoffs and reduced pay as the AI is taking part of their role.
By understanding how disruption affects our systems, we can harness its benefits and minimize any downsides. It’s all about striking the right balance between the new and the reliable: about using AI responsibly to enhance job performance and increase job accessibility, not replace human beings.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We are currently scaling the business through a Series B Funding Round, which so far, is proving to be very successful. I’ll be the first Indigenous/First Nations woman to raise Series B Funding once our round is complete.
Along with that, on September 1st we are launching our AI Virtual Receptionist call answering tool. This advanced AI will be able to book appointments for clients’ needs, focusing on enhancing job performance by taking care of quick tasks off of to-do lists and opening space for clients to focus on what they love.
Our service is so widely needed in the US. Though we are a Canadian-based company, over 65% of our current revenue actually comes from my neighbouring country and we are looking to increase this even more.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Across Canada and the US, only 2.2% of venture capital goes to women. And while female entrepreneurs are making positive societal impacts through their start-ups, they still have to fight twice as hard to be seen by investors. In my case, I was bringing a scalable product into the market that would support large organizations, while also providing employment opportunities and I still was rejected over 170 times. If a man brought this type of tech to an investor, guaranteed they would secure funding in their first few pitches.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?4
I am such a big podcast listener, but there are SO many, so let’s stick to books.
Something I think everyone should read in their lifetime is Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Gidara. It really dives into the ins and outs of the service industry. There are so many companies that touch on hospitality and really when you think of it, almost all companies need some sort of hospitality aspect. While we are a tech company, our business is about people. This book really provides guidance on the level of service needed to scale a hospitality business.
The other is Atomic Habits by James Clear. This is really a guidebook on how to change your mindset to focus on small habits, trying to improve yourself by 1% every day. It takes time to grow. Like I mentioned earlier, we are learning every day and this book highlights the importance of that and provides strategies on how striving to be 1% better every day, is how you can truly reach your goals.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
If every person tried to inspire one person every single day, imagine how much different the world would be. I live by this: “Inspire one, inspire a nation”. The movement is inspiration. Inspiration can come in so many forms, it is the fuel that drives so many of us. It really can change the world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill. Entrepreneurship is a crazy rollercoaster. You experience the highest highs and the lowest lows. I have looked adversity in the face so many times, but I found that courage within myself and continued on. And I’ll continue to do it again and again.
How can our readers follow you online?
LinkedIn is my most active platform: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbiejoracette/
Audience can also follow along on Instagram, focused a bit more on my personal life.: https://www.instagram.com/beejes/
And of course follow Virtual Gurus to learn more about our services and exciting news:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-virtual-gurus/posts/?feedView=all
https://www.instagram.com/virtual_gurus/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media
August 18, 2024
https://medium.com/@thevanessamorcom/female-disruptors-bobbie-racette-of-virtual-gurus-on-the-three-things-you-need-to-shake-up-your-533830af3d85
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