Thirteen years ago, financial consultant Robert Baird made a promise to a helpful telephone support worker that if his new business became a success, he would return the favour.
Now the proud owner of a business that operates globally, that day has come for Baird, and he is asking for help to find the woman from Saanich who he says helped kick-start his career.
Across several phone-calls in Nov. 2011, Baird spoke to the support specialist at TELUS for help setting up an email account for his fledgling business. During the conversations, Baird says that the mystery woman acted as a sounding board for him, helping workshop business ideas.
“She just had great advice,” said Baird, a former Victoria resident. “And as we talked, I told her that if I’m successful with this, I'm going to owe her. And that advice she gave, I would absolutely credit for the success I have today.”
Because of rules to protect the identities of TELUS employees, Baird’s mystery "business fairy godmother" was unable to share her personal details with him. So Baird has very little information to help with his search.
What Baird is sure of is that the woman was from Saanich, was married to a man called either Robert or Scott and that at some point her husband had expressed an interest in moving to Point Grey.
“It would make me feel good to live up to my promise,” said Baird. “At the time, I was unsure if I was going to be successful … there was a chance, an outside chance. We had great conversations and that was at the start of my career. She was just incredibly helpful and I've never forgotten it.”
If you have any information that could help Baird’s search, contact the Victoria Newsroom: newsroom@vicnews.com.
