Episode breakdown
Barbara is an investor and entrepreneur with a keen interest in scalable business models, systems, processes and automation, content marketing and the power of inspired and empowered teams.
During her 15-year financial markets career, she was a trader for some of the world’s largest investment banks, successfully traded her own money, managed relationships with some of Australia’s largest wealth management businesses and became an early-stage investor in a number of very successful, disruptive financial services companies. Today she is an investor, entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of The Virtual Hub – a business she started by accident that exploded in the space of 12 months to become one of the leading companies that recruits, trains and manages support assistants in the digital marketing and social media space for businesses who need to free up time and energy so they can go to the next level.
She is also the Founder of Energise Wealth, an online platform for ambitious women who want to create wealth and impact from whatever stage they are at in their wealth journey.
She is an adventure lover and a self-confessed idea junkie with a passion for inspiring women to step into their power, overcome their resistance to money and embrace it as the ultimate tool designed to enable our greatest visions.
- How Barbara found The Virtual Hub out from Virtual Angel Hub
- Barbara talks about what a Support Assistant is
- What services a Support Assistant can offer
- Issues Barbara faced upon leaving the corporate world and starting the business
- How mindset affects your overall way of running the business
- How Barbara’s decision-making changed then and now especially with business decisions
- A few tips on how to leave the corporate world and never have to go back
You’re not supposed to play all the instruments—you’re meant to be the conductor of the orchestra.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction & Background
Barbara shares her early career story, the leap from corporate banking into entrepreneurship, and the driving values that shape her leadership today.
02:15 - The Outsourcing Mindset
She explains why hiring early can be a growth lever, reframing outsourcing as a way to protect founders from burnout while giving the business room to scale.
08:45 - Finding & Training the Right People
Barbara outlines how she identifies talent, aligns them to company values, and builds training systems that empower rather than micromanage.
12:10 - Avoiding Common Delegation Pitfalls
She warns against the “dump and run” approach, highlighting the importance of context, clarity, and feedback loops in successful delegation.
16:00 - Delegation, Leadership & Scaling
Barbara introduces the three things you must get right — systems, processes, and team delegation — using the “conductor of the orchestra” analogy to illustrate how a leader guides rather than plays every instrument. This flows directly into her reflections on running a company while raising a family.
18:30 - Motherhood & CEO Balance
She discusses structured weeks, intentional downtime, and the support systems that make dual roles possible.
22:15 - Resilience & Adaptability in Leadership
Barbara shares how she reframes setbacks, leans on her team, and stays agile in uncertain markets.
26:40 - Closing Advice
She leaves listeners with a reminder that scaling isn’t just about revenue — it’s about building something that works without you.
