In this exclusive CanadianSME Small Business Magazine interview, Sarah Quinn, Founder of She Thrives, shares how her journey from single mum to global nonprofit leader reshaped her mission from teaching virtual assistant skills to guaranteeing that women actually get paid. Through free training, mentorship, and the She Thrives VA Marketplace—where women keep 95% of their earnings—she explains how “micro” incomes of $25–50 a month can transform households, why a woman-to-woman hiring model benefits both Canadian entrepreneurs and international VAs, and how small, practical actions from business owners today can help 20,000 women across 30 countries move from promise to paycheque by 2026.
You shifted from running a VA training business to founding She Thrives after realizing many graduates still couldn’t find work. What was the turning point for you, and how did that insight reshape your mission from “teaching skills” to “creating paycheques”?
When I was a young single mum, every opportunity that could have helped me be stable and provide for my kids came with a price tag I couldn’t afford. I watched women hit dead ends. Long wait lists. Impossible hoops. Few real resources.
Running Outsource Academy, I saw the same thing happening again. Women were completing training, gaining real skills, and then… nothing. They couldn’t get hired. The platforms took massive cuts. The opportunities weren’t there.
That’s when it clicked: I didn’t just want to teach women skills. I wanted to make sure they actually got hired, actually earned money, actually could provide for their families.
She Thrives exists because training without a path to income is just another broken promise. So we built the whole pipeline. Free courses, mentorship, and now a marketplace where these women can actually get paid. The mission shifted from “here’s what you need to know” to “here’s your first client.”
She Thrives is built around small but meaningful wins—sometimes $25–50 a month—in contexts where that can change a woman’s entire household. For readers who may be used to thinking in six-figure metrics, can you explain why these “micro” income gains are so powerful?
In many of the communities we serve, $25 a month isn’t pocket change. It’s the difference between a child going to school or staying home. It’s medicine when someone gets sick. It’s food security.
We’ve seen women use their first $50 to buy inventory for a small shop. That shop becomes $100 a month. Then $200. The multiplier effect is real.
But it goes beyond money. When a woman earns, even a small amount, her standing in her family changes. She gains decision-making power. Her children see what’s possible. Studies show she reinvests up to 90% of her income back into her family and community.
We’re not chasing impressive fundraising numbers. We’re tracking how many women can now pay for their kids’ school fees, how many can make financial decisions independently, how many report that their families treat them differently.
Small victories aren’t small when you’re the one experiencing them. They’re the foundation everything else gets built on.
You recently launched the She Thrives VA Marketplace, where North American entrepreneurs can hire trained virtual assistants and only 5% goes to platform fees. What makes this woman-to-woman model different from traditional freelance platforms, and how does it benefit both clients and VAs?
On Fiverr, a VA loses 20% of every gig. On our marketplace, she keeps 95%. That difference matters when you’re supporting a family on $200 a month.
But the real difference is what happens before someone ever creates a profile. Every VA on our platform has completed She Thrives training. They’re vetted. They’re motivated. And they have skin in the game. This isn’t a side hustle for them. It’s how they’re building a better life.
For clients, you’re not gambling on a stranger. You’re hiring someone who’s been trained, who has community support, and who genuinely needs this opportunity to work out. That motivation shows up in the quality of work.
And there’s something powerful about knowing exactly where your money goes. When you hire through our marketplace, you’re not just outsourcing a task. You’re directly supporting a woman’s path out of poverty. Your $50 gig changes someone’s week.
It’s business that actually means something for both sides.
Building a nonprofit and marketplace from Canada while serving women across multiple countries comes with practical and emotional challenges. What have been the biggest hurdles so far—funding, tech, trust, or something else—and how have you navigated them?
Honestly? All of the above.
Funding is the obvious one. We’re committed to keeping everything free for the women we serve, which means we can’t just charge our way to sustainability. We’re building toward 501(c)(3) status and exploring micro-grants, but bootstrapping a global nonprofit from scratch is humbling.
Tech has been its own adventure. Many of our women access everything on phones with limited data. We had to design courses that work in 20-minute chunks, on low bandwidth, around family responsibilities. That constraint actually made us better, but it took iteration.
Trust is the quiet challenge. Some of these women have been promised opportunities before and burned. Building real relationships across time zones and cultures takes patience. We lean heavily on our community. Women supporting women, sharing wins, holding each other accountable.
The emotional weight is real too. You hear stories that stay with you. But every message from a woman who just earned her first income reminds you why you keep going.
Looking ahead to your 2026 goals—20,000 women enrolled across 30 countries and 5,000 earning consistent income—what can Canadian small business owners do right now to participate in this vision, and what message would you share with entrepreneurs who want their business to have this kind of global impact?
The simplest thing? Hire one of our VAs. If you need help with email, social media, calendar management, data entry, check out our marketplace. You’ll pay less than Fiverr, get quality work, and directly change someone’s life. That’s impact you can see.
Beyond that, spread the word. If you know entrepreneurs drowning in tasks they should delegate, send them our way. Every hire creates income for a woman who’s worked hard to be ready for it.
For entrepreneurs who want their business to have global impact: start where you are. You don’t need a foundation or a massive budget. Look at what your business already does and ask who could benefit. For us, it was realizing that entrepreneurs need VAs and women need jobs, so we built the bridge.
Impact doesn’t require perfection. It requires action. Start with one hire, one share, one conversation. That’s how movements build. One small decision at a time.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Our platform is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights that inspire and empower small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
