Bobbie Racette on building Indigenous tech beyond the startup hype

Successful founders build companies that work in the real economy. Bobbie Racette is one of them.  Racette is the Founder and President of Virtual Gurus, a talent-as-a-service platform that connects remote assistants with businesses across North America and has delivered hundreds of thousands of hours of work for a diverse community of professionals. She built Virtual Gurus from the ground up after being laid off during the 2016 downturn, growing a small idea into a technology company that has raised significant capital and expanded its reach while centering opportunity for historically underrepresented talent. Her leadership reflects a practical model of tech entrepreneurship grounded in execution and scale, turning disruption into durable economic participation and building a business that extends opportunity beyond conventional markets. This conversation explores how Indigenous women are exercising economic leadership by building and scaling technology-enabled businesses that deliver real work, real income, and real impact.ABOUT BREAKTHROUGH NATIONBreakthrough Nation spotlights people whose ambition, grit, and sense of duty are moving Canada forward. I’m Karen Restoule, your host, and each episode features leaders delivering real results across regions and sectors.About Series 2.Series #2 brings the spotlight on Indigenous women entrepreneurs who are building businesses, creating jobs, and exercising real economic leadership. You’ll hear from people who are motivated by ambition, opportunity, and the desire to create something of lasting value that delivers results – real results. You’ll hear from former Chief Karen Ogen of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, former Chief Kim Baird of the Tsawwassen Nation, and Claire Sault of the Mississaugas of the Credit Nation, alongside entrepreneurs like Lorie Restoule-Young, cofounder and head of Young Forestry Services, Trisha Pitura, cofounder of Mini Tipi, and others who are moving capital, people, and ideas into action.SERIES 2 is presented in collaboration with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.Make sure you subscribe to never miss an episode.Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on: iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.WATCH podcasts in video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakthroughNationCAThank you for joining us on Breakthrough Nation podcast.Follow along at:YouTube:    / @breakthroughnationca  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakthroughnationTwitter: @ambitionandgritInstagram: @breakthroughnationcaFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakthroughnation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.