Episode Details

Bonnie Schutz spent nearly three decades as a corporate executive assistant before deciding to bet on herself at 48 and build a business of her own. She is now the founder and CEO of Tandem Resource Solutions, a remote administrative support and recruiting firm, host of Delegate to Elevate, and founder of Preferred Service Pros, a vetted B2B service provider directory. In this episode, Bonnie shares how networking helped her land her first clients, how she overcame imposter syndrome, and why the skills you already have may be more valuable than you realize when starting a business.

On this episode we talk about:

• How Bonnie left a 30-year corporate career at 48 to become an entrepreneur

• Why networking and never burning bridges helped her land her first clients and grow her business

• How she overcame imposter syndrome and stopped defining herself by her former corporate role

• Turning transferable skills from an executive assistant career into a successful virtual assistance and recruiting agency

• Why investing in communities and surrounding yourself with people who are further ahead can dramatically accelerate your growth

• How Bonnie's podcast led to the creation of Preferred Service Pros and helped build her personal brand

Top 3 Takeaways

1. Your past experience can become the foundation for your next business. Skills you've developed in a traditional career can often be transformed into consulting, recruiting, training, speaking, or service-based opportunities.

2. Relationships can create opportunities years after you build them. Bonnie's decision to maintain relationships and never burn bridges gave her a network of successful people who were willing to refer clients, offer advice, and help her navigate entrepreneurship.

3. Don't let imposter syndrome decide what's possible for you. Bonnie didn't have to become a completely different person to succeed. She built confidence by taking chances, finding her people, and gradually realizing that her experience gave her more capability than she had initially recognized.

Notable Quotes

• "I never burned bridges."

• "Sometimes it's a bit of delayed gratification. But if you just stick to it and have a little perseverance and stay continuously talking and building the relationships, that's what's always worked for me."

• "My tip would be think about the corporate skills that you have or had and how they can become consulting, they can be services, recruiting, training, speaking, all the things. And just do it."

Connect with Bonnie Schutz:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnieschutzea/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonavitch6886/

• Other: Preferred Service Pros — preferredservicepros.com

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