Meet Michelle Glockling.
This is #HERstory.

After a career in eyecare, Michelle made the pivot to bookkeeping during the pandemic. She decided to stay home to support her children during this unpredictable time. Watching her daughters’ resilience through such an unknown and scary situation, she was inspired to create her own path — one that allowed her to work while prioritizing involvement in her kids’ life.

 

“As a mother of three daughters, it's very important for me to set a good example for them and show them that you really can do anything that you put your mind to. If you put your heart and soul into something and you truly believe in it, then it doesn't matter who you are, or where you came from, or what obstacles are in your way, you will be able to persevere.”

 

Michelle had the opportunity to help her best friend sort out years of unorganized receipts and business transactions. Given her passion for helping others (and her love for charts and data collection), Michelle realized she could put her skills to use to help other businesses “organize and grow”. And thus, Dorbii Bookkeeping Services was born! The name comes from a combination of her three daughters’ names.

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Now, in the pivotal fourth year of her business —past the testing-the-waters phase — she brings her “absolute, over-the-top, keener attitude” to support clients with bookkeeping and administrative options. Her goal is to be known as dependable, honest, and supportive — and she’s succeeding, if her four Platinum awards in this year’s CommunityVotes Ottawa are any indication.

 

When a new client signs on, Michelle doesn’t see dollar signs, she sees another team that she gets to support:

 

“That’s truly what I love doing. I went from healthcare to business-care.”

 

Throughout her life, career, and entrepreneurship, Michelle has learned several big lessons.

 

First, something she learned young: champion for yourself. Growing up in a challenging environment marked by physical abuse and family-related misogyny, she faced many hardships. At 17, she left home, which led her down a path of drug addiction. However, after a few years, she made the decision to change her future and sought help from in-patient services. Although the journey was difficult, she learned to trust her gut, ask for help, and pay attention to peoples’ actions over words.

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Second, learn through life experience, determine what works for you, and never let mistakes stop you from trying again. She’s grateful for her previous experiences, even the times she was unhappy in her job, because they gave her the confidence to start her own business, grow the skills she uses today, and learn what she can do differently as a business-owner. Now, she finds it freeing to make her own rulebook.

 

Third, believe in yourself and your abilities. Her work ethic is about proving herself with her actions. While she’s proud of who she is and her personal style — including her signature leopard-print tattoos — she has worked in healthcare and accounting (two fields that tend to be more conservative in terms of appearance). The concept of “dressing for success” resonates with her; she recognizes that it’s human nature to make appearance-based judgements, and dressing professionally helps let skills and qualifications shine through. 

 

“I want people to see my personality first, and then when they see the tattoos, it just kind of makes sense afterwards, because I'm very loud and colorful.”

 

Michelle considers job interviews a two-way street. She encourages others to take the opportunity to ensure it’s a compatible fit and the company aligns with your values. Now that she owns her own business, Michelle continues to emphasize compatibility with her clients.

 

“I am who I am, and the people that like my service, they like my personality and how much energy and love I put into everything that I do.”