Better Than A Bot Featured in CanadianSME Magazine: Giving Busy Canadians Back What Matters Most
I’m excited to share that I was recently featured in CanadianSME Small Business Magazine in an interview titled Giving Busy Canadians Back What Matters Most: Time.
It’s always a little surreal to see something you’ve built from the ground up recognized beyond your own community. When I started Better Than A Bot in 2022, I knew I wanted to create something of my own, but I also wanted to do work that made a real difference in people's everyday lives.
Being featured in CanadianSME gave me an opportunity to reflect on why I started this business, what I’ve learned along the way, and what I hope to build in the years ahead.
From Oil and Gas Admin to Entrepreneurship
Before starting Better Than A Bot, I spent more than 20 years working in administration, primarily in Calgary’s oil and gas industry. Throughout my career, I was the person people could count on to keep things organized, solve problems, coordinate details, and make sure things got done.
Eventually, I realized I wanted to take those skills and build something of my own.
I started Better Than A Bot with a simple idea: people need support with the personal side of their lives just as much as they need support at work. Yet finding someone reliable to help with everyday responsibilities isn't always easy.
Appointments, errands, household tasks, travel research, returns, and all the little things that need to get done can quickly become overwhelming when you're already juggling a career, family, and everything else life throws your way.
I saw an opportunity to provide practical, personalized support that helps people feel less overwhelmed and more in control of their time.
What Does a Personal Assistant Actually Do?
One of the things I discussed in my CanadianSME interview was the misconception that personal assistants are only for celebrities, executives, or the ultra-wealthy.
In reality, personal assistance can be valuable for anyone who feels like their to-do list never ends.
At Better Than A Bot, I help busy professionals, entrepreneurs, working parents, and families manage the personal responsibilities that often get pushed to the bottom of the list. That might mean booking appointments, coordinating home services, handling returns, running errands, researching a trip, planning an event, or helping get things organized at home.
Some tasks take only a few minutes. Others require research, follow-up, coordination, and a surprising amount of mental energy.
The goal isn't simply to check things off a list. It's to take some of that responsibility off someone else's shoulders so they can focus on what matters most to them.
And because every client has different needs, the support I provide is personalized to their life. I offer both in-person and virtual assistance in Calgary and the surrounding areas.
BTAB is featured on pages 44-47
It's About More Than Getting Things Done
One of the most rewarding parts of running Better Than A Bot is seeing what happens when clients finally have a little breathing room.
Sometimes that means having more time with their families. Sometimes it means taking a vacation they've been putting off, making time for self-care, or being able to focus on an opportunity at work without a running list of personal tasks competing for their attention.
It can also be as simple as no longer having to remember that one phone call, that appointment that needs to be booked, or that errand that's been sitting on the list for weeks.
These things might seem small individually, but they add up. The mental load of managing everyday life can be exhausting, especially when you're the person everyone else relies on.
I believe people deserve support before they're completely overwhelmed, not just when they've reached their breaking point.
You don't have to do everything yourself to prove you can handle it.
Building Better Than A Bot, One Relationship at a Time
Running a small business has taught me a lot about putting yourself out there, building relationships, and being willing to say yes to opportunities that help people discover what you do.
From client referrals and local networking to podcasts, media features, and the Canadian Choice Awards, every opportunity has helped introduce Better Than A Bot to more people.
I'm grateful to the clients who trust me with the details of their lives, the people who recommend my services to others, and the local business community that continues to support what I'm building.
As a service-based business, trust is everything. My clients aren't just handing over a to-do list. They're trusting me to handle personal responsibilities with care, discretion, and attention to detail. Those relationships are at the heart of Better Than A Bot, and they're something I want to preserve as the business continues to grow.
Right now, Better Than A Bot is still a one-person operation, and I'm proud of what I've built so far. My long-term vision is to grow the business, increase our capacity in Calgary, and eventually expand the Better Than A Bot brand across Canada while maintaining the personal approach that makes this service different.
Read the Full CanadianSME Feature
I'm grateful to CanadianSME Small Business Magazine and Maheen Bari for the opportunity to share my story and talk about something I believe deserves more attention: the value of having support with everyday life.
If you've ever wondered what a personal assistant actually does, how Better Than A Bot works, or why I believe practical support can make such a difference, I'd love for you to read the full interview.
Read the full feature: Giving Busy Canadians Back What Matters Most: Time
And if you're in Calgary and finding that your personal to-do list is taking up more time and energy than you'd like, Better Than A Bot might be able to help.
You don't have to keep doing it all yourself.
Learn more about Better Than A Bot and how personalized support can help you get more time back for the things that matter most.
