WHO IS BARRY DOUCETTE? MEET ORANGUTECH’S PRESIDENT & CEO
At a high school reunion four years ago, an old acquaintance reminded Barry Doucette that in grade 9, he had exclaimed he wanted to be “the number one in business class”. Though Barry didn’t recall this remark, he reflected on his business journey and the drive, effort, and dedication he had employed, and thought “yeah, that checks out”.
Now CEO of Orangutech, Barry dove into the tech world straight out of university and never looked back. Today, after 37 years in the industry, he reflects on selling some of the first laptops in the world.
“We offered a 20, 40, or 100 MB hard drive,” Barry laughs.
Similar to his dedication to competitive swimming (Barry has helped set 4 relay records in National Masters Swimming over the years) and his commitment to rehearsing with his rock band (The Pawn Shop Mayors—Barry on stage photographed above), Barry refined and practiced his tech sales skills until he was ready to buy his first company when he was 52—Orangutech. Existing to propel the modern workplace forward, Orangutech inspires enterprise transformation and drives user adoption of software, solutions, and services centered around Microsoft 365.
Barry and Colleen celebrating 10 years of owning Orangutech in Hilton Head (2022)
Barry and Colleen celebrating 10 years of owning Orangutech in Hilton Head (2022)
Barry loves the industry and attributes his success within to his skills in strategic planning, business development, leadership, drive, and a growth-oriented mindset.
“It’s the best industry in the world, in my opinion. It’s dynamic, I’ve never been bored, and I have had the opportunity to learn from some truly intelligent people,” says Barry.
BARRY’S LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
Like many of us, Barry started to feel a sense of burnout about a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. The stress stemmed from uncertainty and all the ways in which Orangutech was pivoting during these unprecedented times.
“I was working way too hard,” admits Barry. “I am known for my good attitude, and when I was going through the stress, my attitude changed. I was not myself.”
Not only did the stress affect his emotional wellbeing, but it started to manifest in physical ways, prohibiting him from doing the things that brought him happiness and purpose. He knew he needed to make a change.
EMERGING FROM THE CHALLENGE
In response, Barry turned to his peers for support—peers he had met almost 10 years ago when he was initially exposed to TEC through an old coach of his. It was at a TEC sponsor’s Economic Update event in 2012 where he was introduced to his now TEC Chair, Tim Redpath. At the time, he was only one year into Orangutech and was seeking some professional guidance. He recalls being inspired by Tim’s other members at the event and realized he had a lot to learn from this group of businesspeople. Barry has been a dedicated TEC Canada member ever since.
During this mid-pandemic personal and professional challenge, Barry was greeted with open and ready-to-help arms when he brought his issue to the TEC table.
“I was told that I needed to work more ON the company and not IN the company,” says Barry.
Barry had heard about this concept 9 years prior, but didn’t have the resources to implement the idea until encountering his challenge. Throughout his peer advisory sessions and one-to-ones with Tim Redpath, Barry began to understand that his job as CEO was to strategically think of ways Orangutech could be more valuable. Then, he could pass these ideas on to his management team to work on while he stayed out of their way.
“I also reflected on a past presentation from a TEC Speaker who told us that putting together a decision-making management team was key to making a company more valuable,” says Barry.
Barry and Family at his daughter’s wedding 2019
Though he had planned to promote one of his employees to General Manager within the year, he decided to speed up the process so he could begin to work on the company, rather than in it. It was his first step in building a decision-making management team, and what a success it was.
Barry and his team grew Orangutech by 600% in 10 years. After year 11, Barry is confident it will have grown by 1000%, and he attributes this exponential growth to developing a driven management team with clear KPIs.
“I adopted a concept called ‘Let the Leaders Lead’, which essentially meant ‘Barry, get out of the way!’” he recalls.
Not only did this leadership change benefit his business, it also made a profound affect on his personal life. Barry has been able to participate in life-fulfilling activities again and now feels like he can go away on vacation and completely dial out, knowing his team is on the right track. He is also able to, once again, exude the positive attitude he’s always been known for.
While it was hard for Barry to adjust his role in the company (he had to learn how to trust, then verify, then trust, then verify), his TEC group was a fantastic support.
“They help me find my blind spots,” says Barry. “If I come to a meeting and say something that does not play right to who I am or my values, they will tell me. We have a phenomenal, high-achieving group with big expectations, and we take care of each other.”
TEC’S IMPACT
“The impact of TEC is invaluable,” says Barry. “If I had said I had grown my business by 1000% over 11 years, TEC has been a part of every bit of that. To me, the ROI is 1000%.”
Barry describes TEC as ‘fantastic’, having learned so much from his peer leaders around the table, the speakers he’s heard, and his Chair, Tim Redpath.
People engaged in the passionate pursuit of business excellence and leadership often wrestle with questions surrounding meaning, value, and potential. To determine their best course of action, leaders like Barry are attracted to TEC to learn more about themselves and the world around them.
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