What Founders Across Continents Can Teach Each Other
💪A story of resilience, reinvention, and redefining success, from Argentina to Australia 🌎
Every so often, a conversation reminds you why you do the work you do.
Recently, I reconnected with my longtime friend from Argentina, Cecilia Retegui. Over 20 years ago, we walked similar paths in Buenos Aires, and since then, we’ve both built very different lives across the globe. Cecilia has always been an entrepreneur—not in the trendy, post-accelerator kind of way, but in the gritty, roll-up-your-sleeves and figure-it-out kind of way.
Today, she’s the co-founder and CEO of ZOLVERS, a platform transforming the domestic work industry across Latin America. But her story starts long before that.
🏒From Hockey Tours to Tech Entrepreneur 💻
Cecilia grew up with entrepreneurship in her blood. Her father, who later went blind, ran his own company; watching him navigate challenges with grace and grit left a lasting impression. At just 19, Ceci launched her first venture: organising hockey tours for foreign teams in Argentina. After a short stint as an intern at Ford, she did what few would dare: turned the global company into her first client.
That leap kicked off a 16-year journey running a successful software business, long before startup culture made it fashionable. But as the business matured, Ceci began to crave something more. Something with impact.
✨The Spark Behind Zolvers 🧹
The idea for Zolvers came from something incredibly relatable: WhatsApp groups full of mums looking for trustworthy help at home. Cecilia noticed a systemic gap—on one side, women desperate for reliable domestic support; on the other, thousands of domestic workers with no access to formal employment, no bank accounts, and no protections.
So she built a solution: Zolvers, a platform connecting employers with pre-vetted domestic workers, while also helping workers gain financial literacy, job stability, and dignity. Since launching in 2013, Zolvers has grown to support over 180,000 workers across Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia.
Cecilia’s mission is as bold as it is human: to formalise a historically informal industry and help women across the region gain financial independence.
🌐Founders Across Borders: What’s Different, and What’s the Same 🌐
As a business coach working with founders in Australia, I was struck by how much Ceci’s journey reflects—and differs from—those I support every day.
💡Same Resilience, Different Contexts
While Australian founders face their own battles: scaling sustainably, building culture, retaining talent, Ceci had to navigate exclusion from investor meetings due to her gender and age, and face a steep learning curve expanding into countries like Mexico, where identity fraud and unfamiliar regulations forced her to adapt quickly.
But the resilience? That’s universal. Whether you’re building from Sydney or Buenos Aires, the founder’s grit burns the same.
💡Tech as a Tool for Survival
Post-COVID, Ceci made bold moves: automating customer service, downsizing her team, and embracing AI. She now uses tools like Gemini, Canva, Cursor, and Copilot to replace entire functions—from marketing to development.
Here in Australia, many founders are optimising. For Ceci, it was existential. Efficiency wasn’t optional; it was the key to survival and sustainability.
💡Capital: A Different Relationship
Raising funds in Latin America—especially as a woman—comes with unique barriers. After early-stage fundraising, Ceci made the decision not to seek further capital. The business is sustainable, profitable, and aligned with her rhythm.
It’s a decision I see more founders making here, too: rejecting the “growth-at-all-costs” narrative in favour of purpose-led scale.
💡The Fear Isn’t Failure; It’s Boredom
At 50, with her business humming and her kids grown, Ceci’s deepest question now is: What’s next?
She recently applied for a seat on an external board for a global company, got very close, but didn’t land it. It left her wondering: Was it the right challenge? Or was it simply the next thing to conquer?
So many founders I coach reach this stage. Success is no longer the goal. Fulfilment is.
🌏Global Lessons 🎓
Ceci’s story reminds me that while ecosystems may differ, the founder spirit transcends geography.
We all face reinvention.
We all wrestle with purpose.
We all eventually ask ourselves:
How do I keep growing—not just the business, but myself? 🤔
