After five-and-a-half years with Spirit Airlines, Keith Belitrand found a way to start a new ... [+]
While every industry was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the travel world was one of the hardest hit. Hotels closed, and travel restrictions made it impossible for airlines to function at full capacity. That meant everyone from pilots to baggage handlers had their hours, pay, and even jobs slashed. A new report even suggests that some 100,000 airline jobs could be lost by next week if the government doesn't step in to help. But even with all of that downturn, one flight attendant used the extreme circumstances to get creative.
Keith Bellatrand was a successful flight attendant until COVID-19 hit. Unemployed and with no end in sight, he had to figure out a way to revamp his career. Contemplating his skills that could bring in income, a light went off. Having been a personal assistant as a side job, Belitrand knew with his attention to detail, a knack for organization, and a self-starting attitude, he could create a business that could thrive in a travel-restricted, socially-distant world. And that's how Virtual White Rabbit was born.
"I started Virtual White Rabbit because I was running out of options," Bellatrand told me. "I was seeing my future at the airline fall apart."
Virtual White Rabbit gives clients access to live Virtual Business Assistants. They offer secretarial services that assist with administrative support, tedious tasks, process improvement, organization, productivity, virtual efficiency, project management, communication, and more. Clients can even use the service to manage their social media accounts, payroll, invoicing, writing newsletters, and blogging. All of the services can be tailored to address the business's needs with an individual price tag to match.
The goal is to allow business owners to focus on the passion that drove them to start the business in the first place and not the tedious tasks of running a company. And this is coming that can be done remotely/virtually, meaning companies can stay up and running even amid pandemic shutdowns.
He added, "I was inspired to create it because almost everyone I knew was contributing, somehow in their own special way, to the COVID-19 situation," Belitrand told me. "My brother was donating food, my sister was a nurse, my mom was sewing up masks, and I had to dig deep and figure out what my talent was. And I discovered I could help businesses get back on their feet, and allow business owners to focus on what was important: their customers."
Now, Just a few months into the business, Belitrand has almost 20 clients and a team of Virtual Rabbits. He is ecstatic about his entrepreneurial journey, especially given he was coming from a place of potential utter despair. What's more, is the entrepreneur hopes this tool can allow entrepreneurs and business owners to focus on finding work/life balance beyond the pandemic.
"When I think of the future for Virtual White Rabbit," he said. "I think of a strong team of people that love to assist. I love the fact that my business is completely mobile. I love that we can work from anywhere and anytime."
