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The podcast focuses on fiercely empowering women in business, as entrepreneurs and women in male-dominated industries, featuring guests who embody strength, resilience, competence, and a touch of sass as they navigate business and life.
Looking for guests who are willing to bring a wealth of experience and knowledge but also possess the strength, resilience, and sass that align with the tone of my podcast.
I want their stories and insights to provide immense value to my audience, helping me to establish a powerful podcast as a must-listen for women looking to empower themselves in business. The goal is to build competence and discover how brave women can be in business.
Welcome to Superheroes in Heels, the podcast where powerful women rise, lead, and own the room. I'm Kimberly Borgans, your host, fellow trailblazer, and unapologetic advocate for women in the world of business. With over thirty years of experience building success in a male dominant industry, I'm here to empower you to do the same. Each week, you'll hear bold conversations with inspiring guests who embody strength, resilience, a little dash of sass, and a little bit of grace. Together, we'll challenge the status quo, break through barriers, unlock your confidence, and unleash your inner superhero.
Kimberley Borgens:You ready? Let's go.
Kimberley Borgens:Good morning. Kimberley Borgans here with Superheroes in Heels. You know, this is a podcast where we fiercely empower women to own their authority and their confidence and rise in business, especially in male dominated industries. And I'm your host, Kimberley Borgen. So if this is your first time listening into the superheroes in heels podcast, welcome.
Kimberley Borgens:Just wanted to say I'm so glad that you're here. You know, I just want to share with you a little bit about my thirty five plus years experience of being an entrepreneur, being, in business, and growing a business throughout those years where I have 70 employees. This is my wisdom highlight era. I I have a full head of, white gray hair that I have earned throughout the years. I used to have dark hair, and it has all changed based on all the experiences, the learning opportunities, the setbacks, the challenges, the get back up and get moving again, kind of days.
Kimberley Borgens:So that's what, we're here to talk about today. Superheroes in heels brings about, bringing in other women who have the experience, the knowledge, and skill set, as well as my own wisdom and sharing with you. We've been a little break with some of the getting some extra guests on due to loud noises and podcast timing for interviewing people, but we'll get back on on track here pretty soon. I have some amazing guests signed up here soon. So bear with me.
Kimberley Borgens:Today, we're gonna talk a little bit about, something you know, building your dream team. What does that look like? You know, most entrepreneurs are doing it all on their own. They start out. They're a sole proprietor.
Kimberley Borgens:They're going after what it is that they want for in business, and it's really important for them to have that that space, that freedom as you as you will to set their own timeline, to, you know, do what it is that they want to do. They get into business, for that reason, either because they just have that spirit of entrepreneur that says, hey. Let's go do our thing. Right? Or they they get frustrated working in a j o b, and they decide that they I could do this better.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. I've had employees tell me throughout the years, I'm gonna go start my own company, and I'm like, please go do that. I am not gonna hold them back from doing that. And the main reason is because I think people don't realize just how difficult and just how challenging and just so, invigorating and, lively, you know, being a business owner can be. And I think they forget that it takes other people in order for you to be successful.
Kimberley Borgens:Yes. We got in business for ourselves. We got in business to be able to do the things that we wanted to do. We don't want employees. We don't want, you know, to have to do it the say the way that other people do.
Kimberley Borgens:We don't want to have a corporation. We know you know, all these things come to our minds. And I'm gonna tell you, when I first started as an entrepreneur, I had no clue I was gonna end up being the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation. I had no clue that I was gonna be able to build that with my partner and my team of people. You know?
Kimberley Borgens:I didn't have the mindset at all that I was gonna be able to grow the business the way that it is. Now I didn't do it on my own. I did it based on the team of people, my business partner, and every employee who's come along the way, whether they were there for one day or, you know, been with us for twenty years. Okay? So I know for a fact that I would not be nearly as successful today, as I am if it hadn't been for all the other people that have, been a part of the business some way or another, including those consultants that we hired, chamber of commerce teams, the small business development center, incubator support, you know, all of those pieces that have brought the businesses together the way that they have in order for us to be the at the level of success that we are.
Kimberley Borgens:And we're not done. We're still going. Okay? I just wanna say is, you know, I've been in business for over thirty five years now. And and, originally, it started because we're just trying to make ends meet and raise a young family.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? My husband had the entrepreneur spirit. He was my business partner first, then became my husband, but he had the entrepreneur spirit. He was he was raised in that kind of mindset. I was not.
Kimberley Borgens:I was the go to work and just do what it is. Right? And do what they say. Here's the here's your job description. Get that done.
Kimberley Borgens:Do a little more if you can. Okay? That was my mindset. And so shifting my own personal mindset to becoming an entrepreneur, has been a, you know, a huge asset. But the biggest thing that I wanna say about today is we're gonna talk about how can you build a dream team.
Kimberley Borgens:And the first thing that you have to do different is shift your mindset. You might hear from me about shifting mindsets here and there because I know how important that really is. I've had to do it myself. So in this journey here with superheroes and heels, the challenge I have right now is I have contractors in my house making noise every day. Not every day.
Kimberley Borgens:On the weekends, we get the break. Right? And that makes it a challenge for hire or for interviewing other people right now. And so that's why you get me and my wisdom highlights right now. So stick with me.
Kimberley Borgens:If you're you're here for the first time, I'm so glad that you're here. If you've been here and you've been following me along on this journey, I'm so grateful that you're here. I'm so grateful for the people that have been subscribing, the people that have been sharing and giving me questions and feedback. I really do appreciate you, and I wanna say thank you so much as we move into this is part of building my own personal dream team of support here with Superheroes and Heels. So I just wanted to say thank you in advance for that.
Kimberley Borgens:Alright. So let's talk about what does it mean to have a dream team. Now you don't have to have employees. I have some people that I know, some clients from the past that they are so, like, anti, no way, Jose, do I want employees. So there's so much that you can do virtually that you don't have to hire employees.
Kimberley Borgens:You can hire an independent contractor. You can hire somebody that can just support you. You can get some friends to support you and not have to pay anything. Right? So there's different things that you can do nowadays, especially virtually.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? You can get virtual just about anything these days, CFO, CEO, CMOs. Like, you have virtual people who can support you. So I want you to just shift your mindset just a little bit and think about what are all the different ways when you're thinking you need help. Stop thinking I have to hire somebody as an employee if that's a challenge for you.
Kimberley Borgens:For some of you, you need an employee. I know in the state of California, there's independent contractors, but their focus is really on if you control their time, if you control anything about what you want that person to do, then they're an employee. So pay them as an employee. Okay? Other states, this is a little bit different, so I'm not gonna, you know, tell you what's out there that you have to do, but do what the law requires for your state.
Kimberley Borgens:You know? Stop trying to buck the system. Just, you know, do it legally. That's what's gonna keep you in business longer. Okay?
Kimberley Borgens:So here's what I wanna say for you. If you wanna build your dream team in business, first, educate yourself. You need to keep yourself educated and aware of whatever the changing requirements is to having the team. K? So the state of California says that I'm gonna dictate somebody has to be in meetings with me at certain times.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, it's not just a project piece kind of thing, but I'm gonna follow the rules of the state of California. And if you need to follow the rules of your state, your your providence, whatever that is for you. And you have to educate yourself on this. So make sure that you're keeping on track on whatever the the legal requirements are for you around having a dream team. K?
Kimberley Borgens:It it does take a little bit of work, but you really need to look into it and check into it because I want you to stay in business for a long time, not be shut down, not be fine, not be, you know, throwing money away when all you had to do is make one little tweak or something. Right? So in order to scale your business for growth, I mean, there's some, you know, albino unicorns out there that can, you know, get in and within thirty days, they have a multi, you know, multimillion dollar business. Okay? Those are very few, very rare.
Kimberley Borgens:So just know that might not be you. It's probably not. Okay? But what I'm my goal is that I share with you information so that you can do it faster than I ever did. So educate yourself.
Kimberley Borgens:Learn about what it takes to hire somebody. What is the the thing the questions you can ask when you're interviewing? What are the questions you cannot ask? You know, there's there's those rules and regulations as well. So just make sure that you're staying educated.
Kimberley Borgens:The next thing I would say is hire people who can get the job done. Quite often, people are so quick to hire that you're not hiring the people who are skilled and educated to get the job done. You're desperate. You just need help. You'll take just about any living body.
Kimberley Borgens:Somebody who's breathing at this point because you just feel a little overwhelmed. You feel a little frustrated. You feel like I just really need some help so that I can get back to doing the things that I got into business for. So sometimes, you know, you gotta go a little bit slower at hiring people. Because if you hire somebody who can't get the job done, then you're gonna need to fire them.
Kimberley Borgens:And nobody wants to fire people. Right? Because, like, I didn't get in into business to to hurt somebody's feelings and to fire them. Right? I'm telling you that you have to be bold enough to say that I don't know how to do that.
Kimberley Borgens:But, you know, I I've never had to fire somebody, and that's okay. You won't have to fire people most likely if you make sure that you hire the right people. I find that when I hire the right people, they're around for a long time. I don't have to fire them. And if they're and if there's a problem, they'll usually quit.
Kimberley Borgens:So you have to make sure that you hire people that not only get the job done, but complement your own skills. Right? That complement what you're there to do. There it's somebody that you need to be able to delegate to. Because if you don't hire somebody who compliments you, then you're hiring a mini me.
Kimberley Borgens:And the truth is is you don't want a mini me. What you want is somebody to do the things that you don't want to do. And if you hire a mini me, they wanna do the things you want to do. So I don't think people realize that. Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:I wanna I want a strong, bold person to work with. I don't care, male or female. It doesn't matter to me. I want somebody who's willing to stand up and say, no. You know, that's not how it's supposed to go to other people who who want to argue.
Kimberley Borgens:It's not about arguing. It's like, no. That's not how it is. We set the boundaries. We make the boundaries clear.
Kimberley Borgens:We keep that in mind when I hire a team. I want them to be able to uphold the boundaries that are set in place for my business. Right? And I wanna hire somebody who complements my skills and can do the things that I delegate to them. They can be excited about my vision and my business, but they don't you don't want them to have the desire to be the face of your business.
Kimberley Borgens:You want to have to be the desire you know, have that desire to be the face of your business. You wanna hire somebody who doesn't need to be the upfront person. You wanna hire somebody who's willing to be in the background and do all the stuff that needs to get done. So when you bring people on board, you have to just make sure that you're hiring the right person. And maybe hiring is not your skill set, so go get some help.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? Get somebody who's good at hiring. Maybe hire through an agency. Get a recommendation from a friend of somebody that you're looking for, whether it's a virtual assistant or not. But you wanna find people, you know, find out what they like best about that person.
Kimberley Borgens:Why do they think they would be a good fit for you and your business? And the other thing I wanna say about this is when you hire somebody, you have to define clearly what the company roles are. Define the role of each person that you're working with, whether that you're working with them virtually or you're working with them an employee, is you have to know what the roles are. You have to know what you want them to do. I know that in the beginning when I I would hire somebody to be an assistant to me, like, I didn't really know what I was gonna give them, but I knew I had too much on my plate.
Kimberley Borgens:So here, can you do this today? Can you do this today? And really, we fumbled, and it just didn't feel comfortable. And they didn't feel very fulfilled. They were getting, like, dumped on.
Kimberley Borgens:I totally admit it. But if you can plan ahead, what is your vision? What is the reality? What are the role that you're gonna play? What is the role that you want them to play in your business?
Kimberley Borgens:And define it very clearly. Divide, you know, teams with different strengths. Look. Like I said, don't hire somebody who's just like you. If I'm gonna hire somebody, I want somebody who does something different than me and can do the tasks that I'm putting, you know, in their job description or their, you know, position description.
Kimberley Borgens:K. I want them to have good same working drive. Okay? But I wanna also create that culture where they can be different and their strengths are utilized. So keep that in mind when you are hiring, whether it's virtual assistant, you know, employee, bringing in a business partner, you know, make sure that you're you're you're being divisive about what the skill sets are.
Kimberley Borgens:And here's the thing that I wanna say. You know, I'm gonna keep it kinda short today, but here's what I'm gonna say. Is everybody needs to have a happily fulfilled position. And when we don't hire the right people, then what happens is is they're not getting fulfilled. They're not becoming that happy person that that you want to have on your team.
Kimberley Borgens:And when they're not the happy person, then you don't want to give them the authority that's necessary to do the job because how are they gonna do it if they're not, you know, satisfied with the job that they have? So if your person is not happy, it may have absolutely nothing to do with you, but it also may be the fact that maybe you don't have a set schedule for them. You don't have a set description for them, and you're constantly winging it with them. And that's just not how most people are. People are not good, taking tasks that you're just throwing at them suddenly and winging it.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay? Look. I have a whole book on delegating. Right? 50 tasks that you can delegate to finally claim your title as CEO.
Kimberley Borgens:I have this book because I taught about how important it is to delegate the right things to the right people. So if you want somebody to be happy, then you have to delegate correctly. I do wanna say that. The other thing I wanna say is when you hire people virtually in person anyway is you have to hold people capable of doing the job, and you have to hold them accountable. You bring people into your business.
Kimberley Borgens:You trust that you hire the right person. Right? So trust yourself enough to know that you you're hiring the right fit. Right? Trust yourself until you prove yourself wrong.
Kimberley Borgens:What happens a lot of times is we hire people, and then we don't really hold them capable. What we do is we like, hey. Here's what I need you to do, but here's how I want you to do it. You have to do it my way. It has to look this way.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, we're hiring them to do me. Right? I don't wanna hire people to do me. I wanna hire people who are capable of figuring it out. I have staff who come to me and say, hey, Kimberley.
Kimberley Borgens:I know you we said this, but can we try doing it another way? Tell me about that. And I let them tell me about it. And you know what? I'm like, great.
Kimberley Borgens:If they give me a good reason why they think that's a good way to do it, I'm like, go for it. We'll try it out. If it doesn't work, we'll do something different. Right? You have to get to that mindset that you're hiring somebody who's capable to do it.
Kimberley Borgens:They could probably do a task faster and better than anything I could do because they are more proficient at it. Remember, it's my task that it's not my greatest thing. It's not what I want to do. So why not give it to somebody who would love it? They want to do it, and they could do it a little bit differently, but it most likely more efficiently, more effectively than any space that I could have ever created for that.
Kimberley Borgens:So keep that in mind is give people that space, And then show the people that you do work with, the virtual people, the volunteers, whatever that is, show them that you value them. It can be difficult to show your team that you value them. Right? You don't always know what motivates people, what gets them to go to work. You know, some people are motivated by money.
Kimberley Borgens:Some people are motivated by a cause. Right? Like, they'll do more work for you if you'll donate to their favorite dog charity. Right? And some people are motivated by recognition.
Kimberley Borgens:Can you recognize, you know, give public recognition that they have done a great job for you? And so you you don't always know which one that is when you're working with people right away. But if you can create the space for them to feel that you you value them, that you feel that you care, that you actually heard them, you know who they are and how they are based on their, you know, their motivation. Because some people, you know, money, recognition, cause, some people just want a bonus. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:They just want you to say, you know, you've done a great job. I I sent you, you know, Amazon gift card, a $100 Amazon gift card. Right? They're like, oh my gosh. Thank you so much.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? For me, that that's not my my come from. That's not my recognition space. I'll go, okay. Great.
Kimberley Borgens:Thanks. It's not about that you gave them something, and it's not that they didn't appreciate it. I appreciate. Okay. Somebody gave me a a money bonus.
Kimberley Borgens:Great. But it's not where my heart comes from. Right? So you just have to think about how can you show them that you value them? How can you speak the words?
Kimberley Borgens:You know, I really appreciate everything that you've done for me. You know, here's some of the things that I've noticed, and I'm grateful about the the support that you've given me, the changes that you've made in what we've done, you know, how you've contributed to the team. You know, let people know, and that really is can make a huge difference when working with people. The other thing I would say is make sure that whoever you're working with, that it's enjoyable. Not every aspect of business is enjoyable.
Kimberley Borgens:It's not always exciting. It's kind of boring sometimes, and we just get into the mundane of things quite often. So what I'm gonna say to you is find ways to make working together enjoyable. Have have a picnic. Get together with people.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? Whatever that is. Try a fun game. Be be curious with people. Get to know them.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, one of the things when I need a break from looking at numbers, because I do a lot of numbers within the the corporation is, you know, I'll stop, and I get up and I just need a break from the computer screen and and all of that. And I get up and I go and I kinda meander. Now it's intentional meandering. I wanna be very clear. I'll go and I'll check-in.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll sit down with one of my employees and I'll say, hey. You know, how's things going? Tell me about, you know, x y z. I'll ask them about some business stuff. Then I ask them about some personal things.
Kimberley Borgens:Not that they have to answer me or anything like, like, you know, how's things going? How's the kids? Right? How how are how's the new the new home? Because I I've had somebody who recently moved.
Kimberley Borgens:Tell me, you know, what do you think of the new place? Right? Like, I just connect with them at that level. And the reason I do that is because it's it pays off. It's it's a great way to just really connect with people.
Kimberley Borgens:I remember reading a book years ago, years and years and years ago, and it was like a thousand one way one ways to reward employees. Let me see. I think Bob Nelson is the author. Anyway, how can you reward employees? How can you connect with you know, because not everybody's the same.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? But you wanna find a way to make it enjoyable, make it feel them feel like it is part of home for them. Not necessarily you know, you don't wanna make it so personal in business. I'm a firm believer in there's personal and there's personable. I don't bring employees into my home.
Kimberley Borgens:I'm not that personal. Okay? I have a private security, private investigations business. Sometimes things with employees go bad. That's not where I want them to be, so I'm much more personable.
Kimberley Borgens:But I can be personable and ask questions and and and really get to know them a little bit more, and it pays off. Right? You can laugh with them. You can cry with them. You can, you know, connect with people on your team, but find ways to make that that so enjoyable.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll tell you a quick little story. In 1998, we sold our business, our private security, private investigations business to a Fortune 500 company out of Sacramento. My husband and I became employees of that company. We were the branch managers in the area. One year later, they went completely bankrupt.
Kimberley Borgens:They owed us quite a bit of money, right, from from purchasing our business because they were making monthly payments, and they were paying us as employees. Right? But the paychecks that they the last paycheck we got from them and all of the people in our area, those things bounced like, you know, a rubber ball. Alright? We had to scramble around to reach out to all of the employees in our area because on was a Tuesday morning.
Kimberley Borgens:So you remember these things, right, back in 1999. We just my husband and I had just left a parent teacher conference at school, and he received a cell phone call. This is you know, we didn't have everybody didn't have cell phones then. Just want you to know it was a bag phone. Okay?
Kimberley Borgens:That's how old that's how old this business is. And he started honking. We were in separate cars because we were going in two different directions, and he starts honking his horn at me and tells me to pull over. We pull over. I get out of the car.
Kimberley Borgens:I get into his car, he said, the company just called and said, we're bankrupt. Close the office. Go home. You know, we're done in business. Talk about shock.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? And I'm like, well, what about the employees? And he said he told us, we have no obligation to our clients, and we have no obligation to the employees. I was blown away. What do you mean we have no obligation?
Kimberley Borgens:These have been relationships that we've been nurturing for over ten years building business, and they're telling me that we have no obligation to them? Were they freaking kidding me? So, you know, you have to think about, like, what? We picked up we went to that office that was no longer in business. We picked up the phones, and we called every single client that we had in our area.
Kimberley Borgens:We told them what was going on. We said that from this day forward, we will take over going back into business, and we will take care of you if you will give us the opportunity. Then we picked up the phone and we called every single one of the employees. At the time, it was about 35. K?
Kimberley Borgens:Nothing, you know, huge or anything like that, but we had about 35 employees in our area. This was a company that had hundreds of employees throughout the whole state of California. The problem happened that they put too many eggs in one basket. They they were they were taking care of all the state of California buildings. So your DMVs, your, you know, Department of Motor Vehicles, your EDD offices, anything that was a state related agency that needed security, this company was providing that security.
Kimberley Borgens:Well, they lost their contract from the state. Because they lost that contract, now they had hundreds of employees that they could no longer employ. They imploded. Okay? Don't do this, people.
Kimberley Borgens:Do not put all your eggs in one basket. K? I'm telling you from experience. Right? That's what happened to them.
Kimberley Borgens:We contacted all of all of those employees. And guess what? Not only did all the clients stay with us, every employee stayed with us too because we kept them employed, because we treated them and, like like people, we valued them in our area. So every employee stayed with us. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Now we had to figure out how to pay them. Because I have to tell you, like I said, they went bankrupt. Our paychecks bounced just like the employees in the area. They weren't paying us our money, and we just bought our home. We just bought our home and put all money that we had into buying that home.
Kimberley Borgens:I didn't have any money to pay these employees in two weeks. That's for another story. But I just wanna say is when you're working hard in your business and you build income and you build reputation and you build value and you build build the community in your business, that's part of building your dreams in business. Don't
Kimberley Borgens:mess it
Kimberley Borgens:all up by being mister or missus bossy pants. Okay? Acting like mister and missus bossy pants to somebody who's working for you. It doesn't work. I can be missus Bossypants just like anybody else.
Kimberley Borgens:Alright? But when you're you know, unless there is an emergency, unless it's a safety issue, you don't have to do that. Find people who fit into your business. Train them. Hold them capable.
Kimberley Borgens:Hold them accountable for what you ask them to do and that they agree to do. Give them the vision of your business. Right? Let them have some fun in the process also. You're gonna make mistakes along the way.
Kimberley Borgens:Can I just like saying you're gonna make mistakes along the way? But making mistakes is required in business. That's how we learn to grow. That's how we figure things out. You watch a kid who's growing you know, who's building Lego things, and how many times did they put the wrong piece in the wrong place, and then they have to tear it down a little bit so they can fit that building piece back in.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? That's business. It's not failure. It's making mistakes and course correcting and making little shifts in business, and you're gonna do that when you hire people as well. Be okay with it.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? Don't get so embarrassed. I've said to people, look. You know what? I made a mistake.
Kimberley Borgens:I apologize. Let let's course correct this. I don't blame my employees for what they didn't do. I don't blame them for what they did do. I'm like, this didn't work.
Kimberley Borgens:How are we gonna fix this? So you're gonna make mistakes along the way. But think about this. How else are you going to learn how to do the things the right thing, right way if you're not willing to make those mistakes, if you're not willing to risk messing up a little bit now and again? It's gonna happen even when you hire people.
Kimberley Borgens:So I hope that's helpful for you today. You know, I hope that you'll follow me, subscribe to superheroes and heels, because I really want you to build the dream team that you're looking for in your business to support you in growing your business, whatever kind of business that is. We need people. We need to stop thinking that we have to do it all by ourselves. So I hope that you'll follow me here, learn some more of my wisdom highlights here with superheroes and heels.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll be bringing in some some new superheroes soon, and we'll be talking about some of the villains, you know, that have tried to stop or prevent them in the past as well. But, you know, building your dream team, you you don't have to have it doesn't have to be villainous. It has to be something that can move you forward so that you can, you know, adorn your cape or, you know, wear your whatever superhero heels that you're looking to do. So follow me. Subscribe.
Kimberley Borgens:Come on over. Check out my website at bealegacy.com, and, you know, I look forward to, connecting with you all soon. Have a wonderful and blessed day.
Outro:Thanks for tuning in to Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgans. If you're walking away feeling a little braver, a little bolder, and a whole lot more powerful, Be sure to subscribe to the show and leave a review. It helps us to reach more women who are ready to unleash their power and lead with confidence. And if you do leave a review, you might just hear your name in an upcoming episode. If today's conversation lit a fire in you, share it with your network and join us inside the hive society at Kimberleyborgans.com, where powerful women gather to break barriers and rise together.
Outro:Until next time, keep showing up, standing strong, and heels or not, keep embracing your inner superhero.