WGU ALUMNI
Hoo's Who at WGU
Meet inspiring Night Owl graduates and discover their stories.
Meet Osaretin Agbonavbare
MBA, IT Management | 2025
Texas
Operating at a Different Frequency
Osaretin Agbonavbare was already an entrepreneur when he came to WGU. What he wanted was a stronger foundation for what came next—one that could help him better understand finance, leadership, strategy, and the business decisions needed to turn ideas into sustainable ventures.
Osaretin Agbonavbare has always been a seeker of knowledge.
Based in Houston, Texas, he had already pursued higher education and spent years building businesses when he began looking for something more structured. He sought mentors, explored accelerator and incubation programs, and learned through experience—but he still felt there were important pieces of the business world he needed to understand more deeply.
“There came a point where I had to look at my business and where I wanted to be,” Osaretin said. “I needed this degree, not just because I wanted to add it to my list of degrees, but because I needed to scale up my business.”
He wanted to better understand finance, accounting, marketing, human resources, economics, and how successful organizations operate as a whole.
WGU’s MBA in IT Management gave him a way to build that foundation without stepping away from the businesses he was already running.
The online format allowed Osaretin to devote his days to his work and teams, then turn to coursework later in the evening. He was also impressed by the affordability, accessibility, and support surrounding the experience.
For an entrepreneur with an unpredictable schedule, that mattered.
Turning Knowledge Into Action
The program challenged Osaretin in areas where he knew he needed to grow.
Finance and accounting were particularly demanding. At one point, after taking a break and returning to material that suddenly felt unfamiliar, he wondered whether he should let it go.
He didn’t.
Osaretin leaned on WGU faculty, fellow students, study groups, and his Program Mentor. His mentor helped him map out a path to graduation, held him accountable to the goals he had shared, and encouraged him not to push all of his most difficult assessments to the end.
“She gave me a clear path,” he said. “I shared with her my goal, and she held me accountable.”
The difficult courses eventually became some of the most valuable.
Learning more about finance, accounting, human resources, and global economics changed the way Osaretin approached his own companies. He became more confident leading employees, evaluating risk, discussing partnerships, and pitching ideas.
And he was already putting that knowledge to work.
During and after the program, Osaretin began developing new ventures, ultimately setting up multiple new businesses. Today, he continues making progress with ventures including Connectrapy, iBARE, and RemoteConet, all operating under his AI and behavioral health technology holding company, BBCMGTAI Inc.
Connectrapy is an AI-powered teletherapy platform built to make quality mental health care affordable, accessible, and culturally responsive. Operating across the US, the platform connects clients with licensed, culturally competent therapists, with sessions starting at $35—a deliberate effort to serve communities that have historically been priced out of mental health care.
iBARE is the emotionally intelligent AI at the center of what Osaretin is building. Designed to understand people—not just process them—iBARE powers therapist matching on Connectrapy and talent placement on RemoteConet, while also being developed as a standalone AI companion for everyday mental wellness. Osaretin’s long-term vision extends even further: he envisions iBARE eventually supporting humans living in space, including on the Moon and Mars, as a companion built for the full arc of the human experience.
RemoteConet is a managed global remote staffing and BPO platform connecting skilled professionals from Africa, Asia, and beyond with companies experiencing critical workforce shortages. Powered by iBARE’s AI matching, RemoteConet is positioned to help make Africa a global BPO powerhouse by closing the gap between talent surplus and opportunity.
The work has not gone unnoticed. Osaretin has represented BBCMGTAI Inc. at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Financing for Development Forum in New York, the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., and the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Phoenix. He is also a Truist Foundation Fellow at the Watson Institute, a mentor with the U.S. Dream Academy, and a speaker at Howard University’s Dreams to Dollars Series and Texas Southern University’s entrepreneurship centers.
“I am immensely grateful to WGU for the opportunity to learn the basics and theories of business,” Osaretin said. “It has truly helped me on this journey.”
That foundation, he says, helped turn ideas into action.
“I was able to set up five businesses,” he said, “and that would not have been possible without WGU giving me the platform to learn how business works.”
A Different Frequency
When Osaretin completed his MBA in 2025, he celebrated the finish line with something personal: pepper soup and starch, a favorite Nigerian meal he had been looking forward to after the late nights and stress of completing the program.
Commencement brought another kind of celebration. Surrounded by family and friends who understood what it had taken to get there, Osaretin remembers the atmosphere as “electric.”
But the biggest change was not something he could hold in his hand. It was confidence.
While speaking with a senior leader at an AI technology company, Osaretin noticed that he communicated differently than he had before. He could speak more naturally about business strategy, technology, partnerships, risk, and growth.
“I knew that I was operating at a different frequency,” he said.
That confidence began showing up everywhere—from interviews and business pitches to writing books, pursuing partnerships, speaking publicly, and accepting that successful entrepreneurship sometimes includes taking risks that do not work out.
The MBA did not give Osaretin his ambition. He already had plenty of that.
It gave that ambition a stronger foundation.
Today, he continues building businesses and looking for ways to share what he has learned with other entrepreneurs. His advice to someone who knows they are capable of more but still feels they are missing that foundation is simple:
“You have to take a step. WGU is a great asset if you really want to invest in it. The return on investment is unbelievable.”
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