Build Your Own Boat

For women who have spent decades being indispensable — and invisible — this episode is the roadmap you didn't know you needed. Bonnie Schutz spent nearly 30 years as an elite executive assistant, mastering the art of making everyone else's vision run flawlessly. Then, after one too many layoffs and a workplace incident that became her tipping point, she gave her boss a month's notice and walked out the door — not into retirement, but into entrepreneurship.

Today, Bonnie is the founder and CEO of Tandem Resource Solutions, a Colorado-based remote support pro and administrative recruiting firm that has grown into a multiple six-figure business. She's also the host of the podcast Delegate to Elevate and is building a third venture — a curated directory of pre-vetted professional service providers. In this conversation, Bonnie breaks down exactly how she turned 30 years of "non-revenue-generating" administrative expertise into a thriving business, why LinkedIn became her most powerful growth tool, and what she wishes every woman sitting on the sidelines knew about her own potential.

Bonnie Schutz is the founder and CEO of Tandem Resource Solutions, a Colorado-based remote support pro agency and administrative recruiting firm. With nearly 30 years of experience as an executive assistant supporting C-suite leaders across industries including healthcare, software development, and nonprofit, Bonnie brings a rare combination of operational expertise and entrepreneurial drive to everything she builds.

She launched her business as a side hustle while still in corporate, grew it to multiple six figures through referrals and strategic networking, and now leads a team of contractors who provide remote administrative support to entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Bonnie is also the host of Delegate to Elevate, a podcast that helps entrepreneurs learn to hand off what they shouldn't be doing so they can focus on what only they can do. She has just launched a curated directory of pre-vetted professional service providers — her third venture and the next vessel in her fleet. Bonnie serves on the advisory council of Second Act Women and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Bonnie started by recruiting on the side while still employed, mentored by a colleague who taught her the basics of the field. When she discovered the virtual assistant model through a Craigslist job listing, she recognized that she had essentially been doing that work for decades — she just hadn't called it that. She reframed her existing skills, landed her first client, and then found that former EA colleagues were eager to work for her, giving her a ready-made team.

Bonnie deliberately moved away from the term "virtual assistant" because she found it undersold the sophistication of the work. A remote support pro agency like Tandem Resource Solutions places experienced administrative professionals — people with real corporate backgrounds — with entrepreneurs and executives who need high-level operational support. The work goes well beyond basic task completion; it includes calendar management, executive-level coordination, recruiting, and business operations support.

Bonnie describes her turning point as being invited to speak on a panel by a respected CEO who viewed her as an expert. Getting on that stage — and discovering she loved it — gave her tangible proof that others saw her the way she was learning to see herself. She also credits community: surrounding herself with other women entrepreneurs who were further along in their journeys helped normalize what she was building.

Networking was the single most important growth driver for Bonnie's business. She built her client base almost entirely through referrals, maintained an active LinkedIn presence, and strategically joined organizations like Second Act Women and the Dames, where she could connect with women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth. She also reconnected with former executive colleagues through LinkedIn, asking for advice and using those conversations to re-establish her credibility in a new context.

Bonnie experienced significant ageism in corporate environments, where she was passed over because employers assumed she'd retire in a few years. In entrepreneurship, she found the opposite: clients and collaborators see her years of experience as a credential, not a liability. She is an example of a pattern that appears consistently across the Build Your Own Boat series — that midlife is not a barrier to entrepreneurship, it is a qualification.

Delegate to Elevate is hosted by Bonnie Schutz and is built around the principle that entrepreneurs don't have to do everything themselves — and that learning to hand off the right things is what creates the freedom and growth they started their businesses to achieve. Episodes feature conversations with entrepreneurs, consultants, coaches, and service providers, and are designed to give listeners both practical strategies and community connection.

Build Your Own Boat is a podcast series hosted by Janine Vanderburg — award-winning three-time entrepreneur and anti-ageism advocate — featuring women who have launched new entrepreneurial ventures in midlife and beyond. The series is part of a larger storytelling project that includes a Substack publication and a forthcoming book, all built around one goal: changing the narrative about who entrepreneurs are and making women in midlife and beyond visible as builders of wealth, freedom, and possibility.