Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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 Kimberley 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,
Kimberley Borgens:a little dash of sass, and a
Kimberley Borgens:little bit of grace. Together, we'll challenge the status quo, break through barriers, unlock your confidence, and unleash your inner superhero. You ready? Let's go.
Kimberley Borgens:Welcome. This is superheroes in heels where we fiercely empower women to own their authority, lead with confidence, and rise in business. I'm Kimberley Borgans, your host, and I'm committed to sharing my thirty five plus years experience of being an entrepreneur, starting a company from scratch and building it into a multimillion dollar business. I will share some nuggets that we call I call my wisdom highlights. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:I started business in my early twenties with dark hair, and now I have earned every gray hair on my head. What are the superpowers that you possess? When I first started in business, I didn't know if I was gonna make it. I went in, and I just kept working to give it my best. And just like you, you may not even know all the superpowers that you actually possess until you go through something.
Kimberley Borgens:It has taken years for me to discover some of the superpowers that I have. And with the help of my guests, we will share ours along the way so that we can help you define yours as well. So welcome to superheroes in heels. Today's guest, I have a very special guest, at least it's a very special guest to me, with us. And my very special guest here on Superheroes in Heels today happens to be, my business partner.
Kimberley Borgens:So my business partner, my partner in life, my partner in crime, however you wanna say that. You know, it's a power couple that you know, we've been in business together for thirty three years. I'm the CEO. He's the president. But together, we've built a business empire brick by brick.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? Every mistake, every every success has been built together and keeping this partnership solid and with our mission strong. So I wanted to invite Lawrence to join us here today. Look. Think about us as kind of the couple that we lead with heart.
Kimberley Borgens:We together. We create safe communities, and we still have a marriage that many people admire. So, today, we're gonna dig into that. So for heroes in heels today. So we're gonna talk about our command presence, our unwavering grit, and our ability to build and lead, you know, with some fierce grace, as I often say.
Kimberley Borgens:So I just wanna welcome my business partner, my life partner, Lawrence Vorgans. Welcome.
Lawrence Borgens:Good to be here.
Kimberley Borgens:Thank you. So we're gonna talk about I'm gonna ask Lawrence some questions. He's gonna ask me some questions. We're gonna give you a little bit of background, but also give you an idea of some of the superpowers that we have as a power couple, you know, specifically with working with over thirty three years in business. Look.
Kimberley Borgens:We have raised a family together. We have built business together. We create safe communities, and we still have a marriage that many people admire. So today, we're gonna dig into that. So let's take it back a little bit, Lawrence.
Kimberley Borgens:For you, what do you think inspired you to go into business? You know, why did you inspire to go into business to begin with? Because we started this way back when, and it's been a minute. But what inspired you to go into this kind of industry in this business?
Lawrence Borgens:Thanks for asking. Before I answer that, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the message that you have and what you're doing with your community and what you're sharing. I think that the people out there, that this is the right message for them and the right time and it's needed and that there's a lot of people that you're going to to inspire and you're hitting them with the right message at the right time in the right way that's going to create some wonderful things in their lives. So just wanted to say that first. So inspired it inspired me to inspired us to go into action to get or in the business together.
Lawrence Borgens:So it's probably a combination of dream and a necessity. So my background is in military. I was in the Marine Corps. I did executive and celebrity protection down in LA for movie stars, public figures, entertainers, some executives. And I've worked as a private investigator.
Lawrence Borgens:So I've done a a few different things, but I know that for myself, what's important is keeping people safe. And so I know that that's the sort of activity that I'm interested in doing and that I'm made for. So I know that for myself, what's important is keeping people safe. And so I know that that's the had a new marriage and a new family and there so there was some necessity in there too. Had to, you know, provide for my family and for my wife and that sort of thing.
Lawrence Borgens:So that's probably what inspired a lot of it in the beginning.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. I think, you know, I can agree with that is, you know, we both have some kind of background, in creating safe community in, protection kind of thing. You know, as I've talked about before, you know, I double majored as an administration of justice and business management, went to the police academy, and that's while I was in the police academy is when I met you. And, you know, he was working for a private investigator at that time. And then he moved to Los Angeles.
Kimberley Borgens:He was about 400 miles away, and we maintained a long distance relationship and, you know, moved to Los Angeles. He was about 400 miles away, and we maintained a long distance relationship and you know, so that we could have a job or business or something. And neither one of us really we wanted the freedom to set our own schedule. K. Now I'm and, you know, it just it just kinda progressed.
Kimberley Borgens:It's like, what could we do together that could create an income so that we could have a job or business or something? And neither one of us really we wanted the freedom to set our own schedule. K. Now I'm gonna laugh about that because we've talked about that over the years as an entrepreneur. Little did we know, but, we did want that freedom to be able to have that flexibility.
Kimberley Borgens:So I think that's another, thing that inspired us to go into business together as well. You know, we've been in business for over three decades. What do you think is a secret to staying both business partners and life partners? What do you think?
Lawrence Borgens:So I don't know how much of a secret it is, but one of the things that I feel like we've done pretty good at is deciding kinda like know, when you're in business, there's a lot of different things to do. There's a lot of different lanes. And so we've kind of picked the lanes that are each of our strong points and tended to focus in those areas. And we can both, either one of us can go over into the other person's lane and perform that task, maybe not with as much, passion, enthusiasm, or Skill. Experience.
Lawrence Borgens:Right? Skill or experience, but but we're capable, and we're willing to do those things. So I'm gonna say that's probably one of the things that has been one of the secrets is just keeping things so we're we're paying attention to to our department, so to speak, our our tasks, and and and then supporting each other in in the other person's task, like being a backup person too.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. So in business, like, agree. Although I will say along the way, we've had some head butting. I don't know if anybody else in their marriage has ever had any head butting or business partners that had any head butting, but, we've both had some head butting around, you know, defining what our tasks were along the way is, you know, who gets in what lane and who gets to stay in that lane and when should you get out of that lane and, you know, things like that is, you know, it it could be a challenge sometimes kinda just finding that that space to begin with.
Lawrence Borgens:I agree because over the years, things have changed. One time, one of us was doing a department or a task. And then in the course of thirty three years in business that shifted and a different, you know, one of the other one of us was now kinda spearheading that task or that department or that division, so to speak. So that shifted over time, and it shifted both both as a matter of convenience and as a matter of necessity. Mhmm.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. I know that, like, you know, I did finance. I did money for the beginning, and then there was a part when I wasn't doing the finance side. He was he had an assistant in there, and then it came back over to me. Like, you know, we've bounced things around throughout operations, you know, managing team members even.
Kimberley Borgens:Like, one of us will manage, and I'll go, oh, you know, maybe I need to manage that, and you can manage this one. And we'll just, you know, we bounced around back and forth throughout the years as needed based on look. Team, our team changes along the way. And with our team changing along the way, sometimes the person managing that team member needs to change as well. And so so over those three decades, staying together is first to having that flexibility to decide who's doing what, right, is, like, being willing to make those changes.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:I think change is hard for a lot of people. I know it is for me. It it was a lot harder when I was younger, but, you know, change is still the inevitable. It it's that's a constant. It's gonna change.
Kimberley Borgens:We're gonna change. And so I think that's one of the secrets for business is understanding that change happens, and are we fluid enough to make those changes as necessary in the business? Would you agree to that?
Lawrence Borgens:Absolutely. Change is gonna happen. Mhmm. And, I mean, I'll give an example. In our industry, legislation has changed, and the the training requirements have changed.
Lawrence Borgens:And the agency, the state agency that manages or that oversees the security industry has shifted in their regulations, has shifted in their enforcement, has shifted in in their interpretation of different laws, rules, and regulations That's true. That govern our industry. And so we could sit here and complain about it and go, oh, I wish it was different. Oh, if only it was this way or it was that way. But the longer you spend in complaining about how things are, the less time you're spending on a solution to just dealing with the world as it is and moving forward to be successful.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. So that's a great example of places where changes happen, and we've had to adapt and deal with Mhmm. You know, new situations, new circumstances, and get out of our own way kinda kinda be, in a lot of ways, at least in this industry, pragmatic and realistic because the world's a dangerous place. In a lot of ways, at least in this industry, pragmatic and realistic because the world's a dangerous place, and that's that's just how the world is. It would be great if the world was different and they didn't there was no need for police and military and private security.
Lawrence Borgens:That would be a great world. I would I would go and do something else, and I'd be successful at that too. Right. But because but the world is how it is. Right.
Lawrence Borgens:And so as long as it is how it is, I'm glad that we're here to be able to have a chance to keep people safe and make a difference. Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:And I think that with what you said, we can go back in history. Look. First off, I just want you to know we're older than Google. Okay?
Lawrence Borgens:Well, we We're older than the Internet.
Kimberley Borgens:Exactly. When when we first started in business, you know, you've heard me say it before, we didn't have Google. We didn't have the online access of everything that we have now. I remember, you know, the first really big change that happened in our industry happened after nine eleven. Because nine eleven happened, and our whole industry, the standards for our industry.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? So, you know, we've had to add different things throughout the years to our business because of adapting and the changes, a lot more training and education that needed to happen. We had to adapt to that.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. It went from four eight eight hours to forty hours.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. We had to adapt to that. So we opened up a training school. Right? So, you know, we've had to add different things throughout the years to our business because of adapting and the changes of the laws, rules, regulations, the environment.
Kimberley Borgens:Even when COVID hit, you know, the the big c when that came about. Like, we had to make adjustments and changes and provide gloves and, you know, do all these things that we didn't have to do previous years. And, you know, it created a whole new change and adaptation to business. And so, you know, that that is one of the big keys is making sure that you are willing to adapt and that you make the necessary changes. And don't try to fight the system so much.
Kimberley Borgens:If you're in the industry and you don't like what's happening in the industry, then get out. But if you're in the industry and you're like, I don't necessarily like that, but I'm willing to comply with it and I do the things necessary and go above and beyond the the compliance aspect of it, then then you're gonna stay in business. Right? So would you agree to that?
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. And as a business tip, I'd say that, look, the the industry, whatever industry you're in, it is how it is. And your job as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, as somebody who's working in that industry is simply to do it better than your competition's doing it. To whatever the task is, whatever the thing you have to deal with, you just gotta figure out your systems and processes, get your team in place that does it better than your competition. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Faster than competition. Yeah. And faster is definitely better. I mean, that's that's a part of that's part of better for sure.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. So that's that's, you know, key is you're competing against yourself more than anything else is how can I do it better than I did it yesterday? Yeah. And, of course, you're you would measure against, you know, others that appears in your industry or measure against yourself how you did, last week, last month, last year.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. Okay. So that was part one of that question. Part two is the secret to staying part you know, life partners. Do you have any, anything you wanna add on to that?
Lawrence Borgens:Just that you have to follow your heart. You have to put your heart first and and figure and realize that your business partner isn't somebody that you need to fight against, and your life partner is not somebody you need to and realize that your business partner isn't somebody that you need to fight against, and your life partner is not somebody you need to fight against. There's a lot bigger problems that you're both on this world to solve, and it's not the problems between you. It's the problems out there.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. I can agree to that, but I also there has to be commitment. You have to decide, you know, what's important for you. I know for me, I've, you know, I've said it to a couple people. I think I said this to you before, but I'm not sure is that there was a time in my, in our relationship.
Kimberley Borgens:And look. Our relationship has not been all, you know, roses and chocolates. Okay? I'll be the first one to admit, like, the first ten years were the most tumultuous, most challenging, you know, most testing, I think, for both of us. And it took a while for us to find that groove.
Kimberley Borgens:We had some challenges in business. We had some you know, as business partners during that time. We had some challenges as, you know, life partners during that time. But when you have commitment behind you, when you make a decision that, you know, no matter what I remember, a time when Oritz came to me and he said to me, like, look. If you wanna keep going this way, that's fine, but I'm not going anywhere.
Kimberley Borgens:So you can either make it easier on yourself or you can make it, you know, as hard as you want, but I'm not going anywhere. Right? So, you know, it was the commitment behind the partnership that I think is is more important to understand. I'm willing to say goodbye to the business if it means that I don't say goodbye to my husband. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:I for me, it's I I'm more committed to having a good marriage than being the CEO of the company. And, you know, I I'm I'm proud of what I've accomplished along the way. I'm proud of being the CEO of a company, and I'm more proud of being, married to the man who's sitting next to me. Okay? And so you have to make sure that you understand that as you're going in is I hear a lot of people say, oh, I couldn't possibly work with my spouse.
Kimberley Borgens:Or, yeah, I used to work with my spouse, and we're divorced now. Right? It's because you have to make that decision somewhere along the way that, you know, which one is gonna win. Yeah. You know?
Kimberley Borgens:Which relationship is gonna win? And we'll talk more about that here, you know, around business and and things like that. But I for me personally, you know, that's my secret is just knowing what I'm committed to and knowing knowing it so much in my heart and in my soul that I will walk away from an argument, not all of them because I don't walk away from too many arguments. He'll attest. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:But I will walk away from an argument that I know is not good for my marriage. That's bottom line. And it doesn't happen very often. Thank goodness. But, you know, it has.
Kimberley Borgens:But I know what I'm committed to most importantly. I think that's the key there. Okay. So the question is is how did we decide? Because we're in business together.
Kimberley Borgens:We started the business together. We were first, it was a sole proprietorship partnership. Right? Mhmm. We lived in a a little three bedroom house.
Kimberley Borgens:We had three boys at the time. Well, we had two boys at the time when we started the business, and the third one came along the way. But we lived in this three berded out as as partners in a sole proprietorship. So how did we, you know, actually decide who would be CEO, started out as as partners in a sole proprietorship? So how did we, you know, actually decide who would be CEO, who would be president, you know, when we first created a corporation and had to make that decision?
Kimberley Borgens:Let me let me ask you first.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. I don't remember how we decided.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay. I remember.
Lawrence Borgens:I just know that it made sense, and it still makes sense.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. So when we've when we decided to incorporate and become a corporation, we're an s corporation. And when we decided to do that, you had to figure out who was what role.
Lawrence Borgens:Right.
Kimberley Borgens:K? It's part of whole
Lawrence Borgens:officers in a corporation.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. And so we had to create that dynamic. But by and that includes, like, the division of the shareholders. Right? Who has how many shares of what in the business?
Kimberley Borgens:I have 51 share children, one share of the business. Because, you know, think about it. Our kids had to you know, they had to we missed things in their school. We missed children one share of the business. Because, you know, think about it.
Kimberley Borgens:Our kids had to you know, they had to we missed things in their school. We missed, you know, parts of their life when, you know, we were busy working. There were times when gosh. I remember one one job site where like, I didn't see my kids for a week. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:They say that they're grandmas because we had this job site that was twenty four seven. We didn't have enough people to cover it. Like, I worked the longest shift, eighteen and a half hours. He was working shifts and doing stuff in the office. You know, it was just crazy, and we took, you know, we took a bigger bite than we should have.
Kimberley Borgens:But we made it through. Right? But at that time, we had to figure out who was that who was the deciding factor. Well, guess what? As a woman owned business, sometimes you can get a little better perks.
Kimberley Borgens:You can get people who are willing to do jobs with you. You can get more, you know, job chances for state and federal job sites and things like that. So when we made the decision, it was the smart choice around finding the best way to build the business in a structure that built the business. And so I became the CEO, and he became the president. And, you know, think about that as like you know, I will say for me, I I can't speak for you on this.
Kimberley Borgens:I can speak for you on a lot of things, but I can't speak for you on this. But for me, it it was a challenge just to be a business owner. And then you get this title of CEO that you have to live up to. And it it can feel a little old. If we wanted to walk away, it was no big deal.
Kimberley Borgens:We could walk away. But in a corporation, it just seemed like, you know, now now that's when, like, if we wanted to walk away, it was no big deal. We could walk away. But in a corporation, it just seemed like, you know, now now that's when, like, you gotta hit the pavement. That's when the the rubber hits the road.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? It was like, now you have to take ownership of that. And for me, that was a lot of responsibility. How about for you even as president?
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. It's definitely a lot of responsibility. And, yeah, it did make business sense to divide up the shares with 51% owned by Kimberley because that gives us makes us a woman owned business and gives us an advantage in some proposals and sub bids. So that that made a lot of sense. As far as the responsibility and the you know, you're you're a fiduciary.
Lawrence Borgens:Right? You're you're now on the hook to to a greater degree than you are as a sole proprietorship as a corporate officer. You have you have more to answer for and more to answer to. And so make sure you're you know, when you're ready to take that step that that's that's something that you're you're keeping in mind. It's it is it is a big deal, but, you know, if you've I'm gonna say if you've made it this far, you're probably probably ready for the next step.
Lawrence Borgens:So so have at it.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. So leadership. So we have a team. We have managers. We have field supervisors.
Kimberley Borgens:We have officers out in the field. We have dispatchers in house. Like, we we have, you know, a lot of employees at this point, division of leadership. You know, there's my division of leadership, your division of leadership at Essence. Like, what would you say that looks like for your department?
Lawrence Borgens:I tend to have a expertise in, operations, logistics, And so those those sorts of things both interest me, and I'm good at them. And the way my brain works, they make a lot of sense, and I can solve big problems in those areas pretty quickly and and very in a way that's very efficient and moves the needle quickly. So operation side of things has been a natural for me. I've also primarily been heading up or supervising the sales department as well. So that's another area that isn't my you know, I'll I'll admit not my natural first skill or first ability, you know, first thing that I'm I'm good at, but I really put my nose to the grindstone to learn more about marketing, more about the sales process, more about the psychology of sales.
Lawrence Borgens:And so I feel like I'm fairly successful at that and able to supervise our team in that area as well. The other thing that I tend to be good at is is kinda looking at things from taking a step back and looking at it from, a 10,000 foot view level, like a big big picture type of view of of things that are going on in situations and how they might impact other areas of the business. So those are some of the areas that I've been good at supervising. So that means people like the operations manager, people like the field supervisors, the officers in the field, that sort of thing.
Kimberley Borgens:And you play a big role with the scheduling of all of those people and in HR as well. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. And those kinda go together.
Kimberley Borgens:All of that goes together because without having people, then we can't support the clients. And then there's no need for a schedule, and there's no need for operations.
Lawrence Borgens:Let me say something about HR for a second. Is both of us know way more about HR than we want to. Absolutely. It's we're in California. We have California employees.
Lawrence Borgens:We have California laws we have to follow. I talk to people from other states, and they're like, you have to what and what? Like, they don't get it. They don't get that that everybody has to have a lunch break. There's that's not a well, it's not a option.
Lawrence Borgens:It's not a question. You have to have their lunch break. So it and in private security, sometimes that's hard to do. So, yeah, HR is a big deal too.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. Absolutely. Where for me, my division of leadership falls under, the money, the financial side. I'm I, you know, manage over bookkeeping. I manage over the payroll.
Kimberley Borgens:So I'm a numbers girl. Okay? But I can read the numbers, and I can see patterns in the numbers. And I can go to HR and say, hey. So I'm a numbers girls.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay? But I can read the numbers, and I can see patterns in the numbers. And I can go to HR and say, hey. I'm seeing x, y, and z over here. I need you to hire.
Kimberley Borgens:HR will go to operations and say, hey. We need to hire for this, and operations will go, oh, no. We don't. Right? And h then HR comes back to me and said, oh, they said they don't need to hire.
Kimberley Borgens:And I was like, okay. And sometimes I let it kinda play out. I let operations kinda go, okay. We don't really need to hire anybody. They don't hire anybody, and then they get themselves into a situation.
Kimberley Borgens:Sometimes I'll say, okay, operations. Let you know, based on the numbers, again, because I'm a numbers person, based on the numbers, here's what's happening. Here's a pattern that's going on that we need to prevent from continuing on in the future. I need you to hire somebody. And they might not see that.
Kimberley Borgens:So I can come over and talk to his divisions. Pardon me. And he might say, hey. I need help with numbers over here because we're working on this client, and we need to know these kinds of things. And so we interact quite a bit, in business while together, then we have to play well together too.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay? And, you know, it's not always, you know, easy sometimes while together, then we have to play well together too. Okay? And, you know, it's not always, you know, easy sometimes, when you have something going on at home to, you know, have that transfer into not transfer into business when you're working together or something that's really crappy going on in business to not have some kind of effect on personal life. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:So let's let's ask this question. Lawrence is, have we ever disagreed on any major decision?
Lawrence Borgens:No. I don't think so. I think, like like most married people, we always got along and never had any disagreements.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. Yeah. I hope
Lawrence Borgens:you guys can hear the sarcasm there. Yeah. So I I wanted to circle back to the leadership for a second also is that one of the things that we both believe in strongly is that as a leader, you set the context for your organization that no matter what's going on, that when we get to the office, we get on the same page about things. We make sure that that no matter what's going on, that when we get to the office, we get on the same page about things. We make sure that that the president and the CEO are together and eye to eye on the important stuff.
Lawrence Borgens:I'm making sure that, that we set the context for our leadership, for how the organization is going, and some sort of division going on, some sort of opportunity for divisiveness that sometimes there's a human nature thing that kicks in where that's taken advantage of. So we've been very, very intentional about making sure that that we set the context for our leadership, for how the organization is going, and for what the next steps are. So that's I think that that's one of our Superpowers. Superpowers for sure. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:For sure that that has really served us well over the years. So that's pro tip
Kimberley Borgens:for you. Even if we're mad
Lawrence Borgens:at each other on a personal realm We still get it together.
Kimberley Borgens:We get it together for that reason. You know that come on. Okay, ladies. I'm gonna talk to you for a quick minute here. You know our kids.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? You know how they play mom and dad. Right? Mom said no, so let me go ask dad and see if dad will say yes. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Come on. You know it. Right?
Lawrence Borgens:You think employees don't do that too?
Kimberley Borgens:Absolutely. So if mom or CEO, right, isn't communicating with dad or president about the things that are going on in each of our divisions, then when they go to the other person to try to get that person to get on their side, we're already on the same side.
Lawrence Borgens:Yep. I can't tell you the number of times I've I've told employees, what did Kimberley say? Yeah. Which is the same as saying, what did mom say?
Kimberley Borgens:Yep.
Lawrence Borgens:Right? So
Kimberley Borgens:Or, hey. Have you talked to Lawrence about this? What did he say? Right? We will we do that.
Kimberley Borgens:We do that well in our business. And the reason why we do that is because we wanna make sure that we're on the same page.
Lawrence Borgens:Absolutely.
Kimberley Borgens:And, you know, sometimes, like, we're passing we're like ships passing in the night sometimes. Right? Like, I'm heading home. He's heading to the office. We're on a phone call.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, I don't always have time to write an email, but I can absolutely pick up the phone and call him. And while we're passing each other in cars, we could, you know, communicate with him. You know, I don't always have time to write an email, but I can absolutely pick up the phone and call him. And while we're passing each other in cars, we could, you know, communicate with each other. See, communication is huge in any aspect of business.
Kimberley Borgens:And I think that if you're not communicating properly where you're not listening actively listening, if you're, you know, if you're talking to somebody and they're on their phone and they're not really paying attention to you, right, or you're talking to somebody and they're distracted. Occasionally, like, are are you with me? You seem distracted. And he'll go, no. No.
Kimberley Borgens:You're right. I was. I'm sorry. I'm back, you know, and vice versa. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Because sometimes we all get distracted. But as the leader of your business, you have to make sure that you're conveying the information and communicating all the details necessary for them to have the same information so that the employees can see that you're on the same page. So if you're working with your spouse and, and they're going back and forth and you're like, well, why'd you tell him that? Or how come he did that? That's not what I would have wanted him to do.
Kimberley Borgens:Like, that means you're not talking. And that just means that you guys have to get on the same page. I, don't I rarely, boss Lawrence around in business. I I rarely boss him around. I'm not I realize I'm the CEO, but I don't consider myself to be his boss in the need that I have to boss him around.
Kimberley Borgens:In the hierarchy of the business, I'm above him as the CEO. But he has his, you know, as they say, stay in your own lane. He has his own division. It's his lane. He gets to make those final decisions in that space.
Kimberley Borgens:In my lane, in my in my areas, I get to make the final decisions in that space. Now, occasionally, we butt heads just like everybody else. No. That's a little bit more on my side. No.
Kimberley Borgens:That's a little bit more on his side. But but, you know, realistically, it's like, ultimately, we have to make the right choice for the business. And part of that is knowing how to navigate that conflict, having that communication in, our business in such a way that we don't get stuck in that he said, she said game, that mom, dad game, the you know, this boss versus that boss. Look. I've heard employees say to me that he's their favorite boss.
Kimberley Borgens:Boo hoo. So what? Right? Like, okay. He's he's the favorite boss.
Kimberley Borgens:I don't care. That's not what I'm here for.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Not in business to, to be everybody's friend.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:In business to get a job done.
Kimberley Borgens:Absolutely. You know? And we we can talk more about that topic on being personable in business versus being personal in business. But Whole another topic. Topic.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Whole other topic. I think one of our talking about leadership, and this actually goes into the question that you were just asking about disagreeing on major decisions is so one of the ways that we navigate those kind of conflicts without it affecting the relationship is going back to what we said before is we know where our lanes are. So that's one. We we very much believe in setting the context and having a united front between between the two of us, the leadership of the organization, we're presenting at a united front, and, we're making sure that, we have good communication in that respect.
Lawrence Borgens:And we're not undermining each other also. We're not Mhmm. Like, there's there's sometimes there's people in organization, even in leadership, even even probably with people that are married in business and stuff, and they're undermining their spouse in some way, shape, or form. And that's not something we're we're about. I'm always going to be you know, if if I don't if I don't agree with something that an employee I might go back to Kimberley and ask her, hey.
Lawrence Borgens:What tell me about this thing. What's what's that all about? Right? So I don't I don't undermine her. I might go back to Kimberley and ask her, hey.
Lawrence Borgens:What tell me about this thing. What's what's that all about? Right? So I don't I don't undermine we don't undermine each other.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. That's not our goal. That's not our intention ever. It doesn't mean that sometimes we don't unintentionally, like, we'll make statements or some say you know, tell an employee to go do something without realizing that the other person had already said something. And then when we go back to them, hey.
Kimberley Borgens:Did you I had. Right? Like, we have to course correct ourselves where we don't get it right all the time. So
Lawrence Borgens:as far as navigating conflicts, it's it's
Kimberley Borgens:Right. Like, we have to course correct ourselves where we don't get it right all the time.
Lawrence Borgens:So as far as navigating conflicts, it's it's about, you know, what's your intention? What's your higher goal? What are you what are you moving towards? And I think that there's a lot of different ways as that that it gets done or what the goal is. And I think that's one thing we've done really well is seeing eye to eye on values and what our mission as that that it gets done or what the goal is.
Lawrence Borgens:And I think that's one thing we've done really well is seeing eye to eye on values and what our mission is and what our goals are and where we're going and where we're heading and not got so wrapped up in the how we're get there part because there's many more than one way to get there.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. He he'll make decisions, and I'm like, why did you just do decide to do that? Because that's not how I would have ever done it. Right? Like, you know, it wasn't so I'm asking, like, how how did you come to that decision?
Kimberley Borgens:And, like, well, where'd you come up with that? Well, you know, you know, one of the things that we also do that I just wanna throw out there is, we both educate ourselves quite a bit. We both stay educated. We both stay on top of things. We both read.
Kimberley Borgens:He listens to more podcast audio, things like that. I pick up a book more. But, you know, we we're both constantly in the realm of education. We find mentors. We we find people that we can utilize their skill sets to, you know, add to our business.
Kimberley Borgens:And so that's another thing that helps us a lot in our everyday business and our personal life because, look, we have conflicts personally. I'm not gonna lie to you. We are not a perfect ten ten relationship every day of the week. We might have a perfect ten ten moment in a day. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:You know? Like, you know, a 10 out of 10. Like, we made it to a 10 for five minutes. Right?
Lawrence Borgens:And We'll take it.
Kimberley Borgens:We'll take it. But, you know, we we make mistakes. We say the wrong things. We get on each other's nerves. Maybe I just get on all your nerves.
Kimberley Borgens:I don't know. But that was an opportunity for you right there to say, no, babe. Not all of them. You missed it. But but the reality is is that we still come together a lot more than we don't.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:Away a lot more. So, you know, you gotta take what I call recovery time. Mhmm. When we first got married, we would have an argument, And that argument might take to what I call recovery time. Mhmm.
Kimberley Borgens:When we first got married, we would have an argument. And that argument might take two weeks to get over.
Lawrence Borgens:Or two months. Or
Kimberley Borgens:two months. Right? You know, seriously, for I went and got a dog. He didn't talk to that dog, didn't pet that dog, didn't nurture that dog. For the first six months, that dog was here.
Kimberley Borgens:But well, I went and got a dog. He didn't talk to that dog, didn't pet that dog, didn't nurture that dog. For the first six months, that dog was here. But, you know, he recovered, and she was a great dog. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:So recovery time, you know, when you first get married, when you're first in business together, when you're first starting something new, might take longer. The same kind of argument with the same kind of disagreement that we have now might take us two minutes to get over, maybe two hours. Right. Right? But our recovery time has been cut shorter and shorter and shorter throughout the years of working together because number one, we know each other's intention.
Kimberley Borgens:Number two, we know each other's hearts because we've been together so long. We've been together for over thirty five years. And we we can recover faster because it's our emotion that got connected up in it, not their emotion. And so when you look at your life together, you're in business, whether you're not in business, it's how fast can you recover from the setbacks that you have in your relationship. And then you move that how fast can you recover to the setbacks that you have in your business, and how fast can you recover from the setbacks that you have from somebody who said something who doesn't even know anything about you.
Kimberley Borgens:Right, is allow your recovery time to get quicker and quicker and quicker. And, you know, I think that you could see how working in a relationship with your spouse, if you allow those things to transform and you pay attention to those, then I think you'll get more benefits out of.
Lawrence Borgens:Definitely. I feel like recovery time, some of the things that and I don't know if anybody's even teaching about recovery time. It's something that that we we kinda noticed happening, and so we gave it a name. But recovery time is just basically how how quickly do you get over it. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:That's that's the short definition of what recovery time is. So the two things that I think that have helped with that, number one is probably the biggest thing that moved the needle fastest on improving recovery time was leadership and personal growth training and education and experience, experiential learning, that sort of thing. So any sort of personal growth, any sort of leadership training that you can give yourself is good stuff. And then the second one is experience, just being older and having a better understanding of what things really matter and what things don't. You know, sometimes people turn a molehill into a mountain kind of thing.
Lawrence Borgens:And so when you're more experienced, when you got more years under your belt, it's easier to see what you know, does that thing really matter or not?
Kimberley Borgens:And
Lawrence Borgens:and so I have a you know, I at least, you know, speak for myself that have a better sense of that over time than I did when I was in my, you know, twenties or thirties. So it's something that I'm, I I think, I'm a lot better at now than I was then.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:So, Kimberley, we're getting to the part where wanna ask you some questions. So you got to ask me questions. Now it's my turn. So, first question is, what advice do you have for women who want to lead but are afraid of stepping into a position of power, especially in front of men?
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. Okay. Let's see. Let's dig into that one for a quick second. Look.
Kimberley Borgens:The reality of stepping into your power is you look. You have to own who you are authentically. I look. I've been told I'm nosy. I've been told you know, when I was a kid, my mother used to tell me I was nosy all the time.
Kimberley Borgens:I saw things that I shouldn't have seen kinda thing. Look. When you're in investigations, that's a huge skill. Right? But but, you know, own who you are authentically.
Kimberley Borgens:I can be loud, but guess what? I can be quiet and I can be soft, and I can can sit down and read a book all day long. Right? But having a position of power means that you own it completely. You know, you've heard the saying to those who much is given, much is required.
Kimberley Borgens:When you're in a position of power, you're required to take the lead. And often women don't wanna take the lead. They don't wanna have the responsibility because why? I know. Come on.
Kimberley Borgens:I've been there. Because you're a parent, and you have responsibility of running a household, taking care of kids. You're in a relationship. You have a responsibility to that relationship. Sometimes you just wanna go to work and you just don't want all the responsibility.
Kimberley Borgens:I get it. I completely get it. But at the same time, when you're a woman who's stepping into power, you have to own that responsibility. This situation happened. How come you didn't tell me about it?
Kimberley Borgens:And she told me, look. I don't I don't wanna get involved with the drama, and I don't all authority as a woman in power, you know, in a leadership position just in general. Look. I have an employee who, I'm like, hey. You know, this situation happened.
Kimberley Borgens:How come you didn't tell me about it? And she told me, look. I don't I don't wanna get involved with the drama, and I don't wanna be responsible for any of that. And I said, okay. And I heard her.
Kimberley Borgens:So then when she came to me and she was upset because she wanted to get a raise and she hadn't gotten a raise yet, and I said, well, one of the reasons that you haven't gotten a raise is because you're not willing to step into any leadership. You don't wanna have any responsibility. You don't wanna be connected to any of the drama. You're just doing the necessary tasks, but you're not bringing everything that is needed to the job. And it wasn't to knock her down in any way.
Kimberley Borgens:It was to point out that, hey. This is what I need from you if you want to get more pay. And, she heard me, and I said, you know, she said, well, what can I do? I said, look. If you want to learn how to lead without being stuck in the drama, I'll do six weeks with you.
Kimberley Borgens:Once a week, we'll get together for an hour, and I'll train you on some key pieces for you to step into. If you're interested, let me know. She said, okay. Yeah. I'm interested.
Kimberley Borgens:And I said, great. And so we did that. Right? And for her, it was a moment where she could stop and go, wait, Kimberley. Like, say that again.
Kimberley Borgens:And she could go, oh, I never heard that. But I'll tell you after about week three of our six weeks, she came into the office and she started telling me, guess what? This is working with my kids. Right? She had teenagers, and she was having a struggle with them because she was doing the same thing at home that she was doing at work.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? But when you give somebody the leadership skills and they truly step into that power, like, she she was changing her life at home. And I think that as women, we forget that we have that impact. We can create a legacy much greater than we give ourselves credit for. And when you said, especially in front of men, look.
Kimberley Borgens:Men are just men, just like women are just women. We're human beings. And what I found along the way is that if I have a if I have a conversation with a man and I can have a clear conversation that he completely understands me and I don't overexplain myself, right, then he can back he's willing to back me. And I know that for you, Lawrence, it's like, we've had employees who, in the past, who, like, don't ever wanna see me as the leader. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:And I we had this one employee who every time that he would introduce me to somebody, he would say, and this is our vice president, Kimberly. And I would I didn't wanna correct him in public. Right? I would correct him in private, and I did several times. And then I finally went to Lawrence.
Kimberley Borgens:I'm like, he just can't seem to get it. Like, can you step in? And it just so happened that shortly thereafter, the guy said he introduced me as the vice president, and Lawrence was there and
Lawrence Borgens:set them straight in a professional way and a professional environment in the moment because that's that was what needed us. It set them straight in a professional way and a professional environment in the moment because that's that was what needed to happen for it to get through this person's head. I mean, I don't know why he kept saying vice president because we don't have anybody in the company that's a vice president. There isn't one.
Kimberley Borgens:Right.
Lawrence Borgens:That's not that's not a position or a title that anyone in the company has at, you know, at that time or even now. So I don't know where he came up with that, but it was just a matter of of setting them straight.
Kimberley Borgens:Do you remember what he what you said?
Lawrence Borgens:Not exactly at this time.
Kimberley Borgens:So I remember him saying is I'm standing there. He says, like, do you understand that Kimberley is the CEO of the company? And he goes, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's right.
Kimberley Borgens:And then he the Lauren said to you, no. Let me let me put it another way. Do you understand that she's my boss? Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. CEO, you have to have a secretary and a treasurer. So the president works for the CEO.
Kimberley Borgens:In that moment, like, I think that was the first time it clicked for him. And because I don't go around saying, oh, yeah. I'm Lawrence's boss. I don't need to.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. We're not so that's just how how it works.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. And that's who told him, do you understand she's my boss? And he had a dumbfounded look. Like, he couldn't believe that in that moment. Like, I think that was the first time it clicked for him.
Kimberley Borgens:And because I don't go around saying, oh, yeah. I'm Lawrence's boss. I don't
Lawrence Borgens:need to. Yeah. We're not stuck on titles that much.
Kimberley Borgens:But in in his thing, it was more you know? And he goes, no. He goes, do you understand she's my boss? And he's like, no. And he goes, Hymes, you have to have men allies, like Lawrence.
Kimberley Borgens:Who are the people that will stand up and say no when the structure. Yeah. And so he finally got it, but it wasn't gonna come from me no matter what. So when you're talking to men, I just wanna say is sometimes you have to have men allies, like Lawrence, who are the people that will stand up and say no when the guys just don't get it. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Is the men are not your enemies. And just like women, sometimes women come on, ladies. Can I just be real for a quick second? Sometimes the the harshest women and the harshest people out there for a strong woman in business, a strong woman CEO is other women. I'll tell you, have been cussed out, you know, knocked down, told I'm a terrible CEO from women more than I've ever heard from men.
Kimberley Borgens:So I'm just gonna be real here, and that's a whole another conversation. But you have to have allies. Make allies of the men who support you. Because when those men support you, they're gonna stand up for what's right. They're gonna stand up for you when somebody else just can't get it like our employee did.
Kimberley Borgens:And it wasn't that I went to Lawrence and said, hey. Could you please just correct him because he's driving me crazy? I went, hey. You know, I've talked to him several times about this. I don't think he's getting it.
Kimberley Borgens:I don't think he's hearing it from me as a woman. He just might need to hear it from a man. So if you have that opportunity, I didn't tell him what to do, but then the opportunity arose.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:And so, you know, when you're in front of men, just be you. Be authentic. Don't be afraid to step into a position of power. You were designed to have a position of power. And I don't care if that's the power over your household.
Kimberley Borgens:I don't care if your power is over your dog. Okay? You were designed to have a position of power. And power doesn't mean knock somebody off a pedestal or knock somebody out in your daily life, in your business life. And if you're afraid of stepping into that power, I'm gonna challenge you to try it anyway in your daily life, in your business life.
Kimberley Borgens:And if you're afraid of stepping into that power, I'm gonna challenge you to try it anyway. You'd be surprised what you might actually learn from stepping in anyway.
Lawrence Borgens:That's great advice, Kimberley. I I wholeheartedly agree about having allies. And, look, there's there's some people, and, yeah, probably half of them are men, but they they just can't see or can't hear or can't get something. Right? They just don't get it.
Lawrence Borgens:And it's okay to have allies to help them get it. And that they're not bad people. They're not they're not. You know, they're not, out to get you or whatever. They're just they're just
Kimberley Borgens:Stuck in their own beliefs.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Oblivious if if nothing else kind of a thing. So having those allies is is a great tool. So on another question for you, Kimberley, have you ever felt underestimated because of your role as a female CEO, and how did you handle it?
Kimberley Borgens:I think I'm underestimated a lot of times. And and that's men and women. So I think, first off, I've underestimated myself. So let me just be real with that. Like, sometimes I didn't trust being the CEO.
Kimberley Borgens:I didn't trust myself in being the CEO. Am I smart enough? Right? Yeah. I'm smart.
Kimberley Borgens:But am I smart enough? Right? Do I really have the authority to manage a company, you know, multimillion dollar company? Right? Like, come on.
Kimberley Borgens:I was a a military brat. We didn't have a lot of money. I don't know if you all know, but military people don't make a whole lot of money. Right? So I know that my parents, there was a lot of times when, what do you think?
Kimberley Borgens:Money grows on trees or something? Like, no. You can't buy that. We don't have the money for that. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Things like that. And then, you know, being a single mom on welfare, like, there was no money then either. Right? Like, I I got a welfare check. I'm aging myself a little bit, but, you know, $529 a month was my welfare check, and $495 was my rent.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? So there was no extra money for anything. I didn't get credit for my PG and E or my my phone on the wall at the time. Right? I had to make those ends meet.
Kimberley Borgens:And I got some food stamps along the way, but, you know, it wasn't a whole lot. And I think I got a $115 or a $125 in food stamps. And, you know, when you're when you're in that kind of mentality, sometimes you it can stick with you. Right? Like, sometimes I had to catch myself as the CEO of the company.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll go to make a decision. I'm like, woah. I make a decision for a multimillion dollar company. Right? Or I'm making a decision of somebody else's life whether they are they whether we terminate their their them or not.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? And making those decisions, sometimes I'm like, gosh. You know, what authority do I have being the single mom on welfare, the kid who, you know, didn't have a whole lot and, you know, that kind of stuff? But at the same time, somebody's got a mistake here. Like, what is it that you really need to do, and how can you really step into that?
Kimberley Borgens:And then, you know, with other people is underestimate myself. That's the first thing that I would say about that. And then the other thing is is that and that's how you handle it is you go, like, what's at stake here? Like, what is it that you really need to do, and how can you really step into that? And then, you know, with other people is I've had men underestimate what I'm capable of bringing together.
Kimberley Borgens:I know that I push myself. Sometimes I don't know that I'm capable. Right? They'll they'll think it, and I know it. And they'll, like, express it, and I'm like, yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:He's right, but I don't say that out loud. And then I'll go, okay. But I made the decision, so I make the decision right. And so I'll do everything. I'll educate myself.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll do some research. I'll call I'll phone a friend. Right? Bounce ideas. We'll bounce ideas off of this.
Kimberley Borgens:I'm like, look. This is a little scary for me. Each other.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Back forth. Exactly.
Kimberley Borgens:And so I think that's one thing that really helps me with my role on that. Each other.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. Back forth. Exactly.
Kimberley Borgens:And so I think that's one thing that really helps me with my role on that. How about, Lawrence, for you, you know, we've been in business for over thirty three years, and our business has evolved so much throughout the years. You know, for you, what what are you most proud of today of, you know, what we've been able to create over the past thirty three years?
Lawrence Borgens:Great question. So probably first is just longevity and lasting. So it's well, I'll tell you what, quitting is easy. Easy to quit. Not so easy to keep going.
Lawrence Borgens:No. But but I'm proud that we've kept going. Proud of we we won some business awards. I'm proud of that recognized by as well as our local chamber of commerce. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah. They're just proud of the education growth and experience that we've got as well as our local chamber of commerce. Yeah. Yeah. They're just proud of the education growth and experience that we've gained over that time.
Lawrence Borgens:And, you know, there's lots of things to be proud of. Proud of all the people we've helped, proud of giving people jobs, proud of keeping our clients safe. That's real important to me, creating safe communities and keeping people safe. So proud of that as well.
Kimberley Borgens:I think that's awesome. I I agree with those same accomplishments, you know, and just the longevity. Like, when we when we started business, I know for me, I didn't think we'd still be in business thirty three year later. Thirty three years later. How about you?
Lawrence Borgens:It wasn't it wasn't in my it wasn't in my thirty three year plan at the time. Let just put it that way.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. We're
Lawrence Borgens:just because I didn't have one.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. We were just hustling in the time.
Lawrence Borgens:Right? Doing what we had to do in that moment and doing the right thing. Right? Doing what's best, doing the right thing, things like that.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, we'll come across people that we knew, like, twenty years ago. Mhmm. We met them through chamber of commerce, through mixers, through networking, through other businesses, through clients, you know, things like that that, you know, we'll we'll talk to, we'll connect with them again for we'll find see them somewhere at a restaurant or whatever. Yep. And they're like, you're still in business?
Kimberley Borgens:Oh my gosh. Like, that's
Lawrence Borgens:Like, you still got the security business? Wow. Yeah. And they're, like, on their third career or whatever.
Kimberley Borgens:Exactly. Or they're retired. Right? You know? And they're like, wow.
Kimberley Borgens:And, you know, it's just been interesting to watch people's expressions, you know, and and what they say about that because I didn't know we'd be in business this long. Right. I I never predicted that. So if you could tell your younger self one thing, you know, or talk to the people who are just starting out in business. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:What would you tell your younger self, or what would you tell these new entrepreneurs or newer than us entrepreneurs because maybe they've been doing it for ten years or whatever about, you know, what would be your big piece of advice that if somebody had told you when you were younger, you would, you know, would have gone, ah, you know, that would be the key.
Lawrence Borgens:A couple things. One is always be a student. Like, don't don't I I don't care how long you've been doing something. Walk into situations with a saying that I became familiar with as beginner's mind. So the problem with going, you know, the so the analogy is glass of water.
Lawrence Borgens:And so if your glass is already full, there's nothing anybody can pour into it. Right? So when you go into situations, pour out a little bit of yourself, Mike, so that there's room for more to come in. So be a student. I would say also get a mentor or a coach.
Lawrence Borgens:Get somebody who's on your side, somebody who's been there and done that, somebody who has experience, and get those people in your life. Your it's it's a well known paradigm that, you know, you are the result of the people around you. So get good people around you, and that means having a coach, having a mentor, having a consultant, that sort of thing. And then another one is to figure out what your what what turns you on. Like, what and what I mean by that is what's your mission?
Lawrence Borgens:What's your vision? What are the values that you stand for? What's your organization gonna work towards? What are the kinda the like, the purpose of values is to attract the right people to your organization so that you can communicate what you stand for as your as your company. Purpose of a mission is to share that so people know where you're going so that they know what they're being a part of.
Lawrence Borgens:That's the purpose of a mission. And so it's important that you establish those things right away because that's going to decide who you attract onto your team to help you accomplish that mission both as and maybe it's not employees. It could be vendors. It could be, you know, independent contractor people. It could be just be, you know, people helping you out in one way or another, but you always gotta find a way to communicate what you're about, where you're going, and why you're going there.
Lawrence Borgens:And that will make sure that the right people come into your life. So those are those are probably the main the main ones that stand out to me.
Kimberley Borgens:Great. Great. I think that's
Lawrence Borgens:How about for you?
Kimberley Borgens:I think for I, you know, I completely agree with everything that you said. It's keep staying educated. Be willing to grow.
Lawrence Borgens:Yep.
Kimberley Borgens:Be willing to say, I don't know that.
Lawrence Borgens:Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? As I don't know the answer to that. I think so often, even as the CEO of the company, everybody expects me to have the answer at that moment. And I think one of the best things that you can do is say, you know what? I don't I don't necessarily know the answer.
Lawrence Borgens:Just say, well, here's the answer I have, but what other answers are there? Yeah. Kind of a thing. And so be open to that. Ask that question.
Lawrence Borgens:And it's always best to say, well, here's the answer I have, but what other answers are there? Yeah. Kind of a thing. And so be open to that. Ask that question.
Lawrence Borgens:And it's always best to like, especially if you're talking to an employee is get their input first. Because here's the thing. Once the boss says, oh, here's what I think, then, you know, 90% of employees are just gonna go like, okay. Right? So it's better to get their input first.
Lawrence Borgens:And sometimes they'll come up with better ideas than what you were gonna have. Yeah. Absolutely. And so you just tell them, hey. It sounds like a great idea.
Lawrence Borgens:Run with
Kimberley Borgens:Absolutely. I say that often to the team, like, well, what would you do? They go, well, I would do that. I'm like, great. Go ahead.
Kimberley Borgens:Go do that. Well, how would you do it? You know what? Don't worry about it. Just go do it.
Kimberley Borgens:We'll we'll test it out. We'll see how it works. Right? Because I'm not afraid to say I don't know how to do that. What I am afraid to say would be, I don't know how to do that, and a, I don't care, or b, I'm not gonna find out.
Lawrence Borgens:Right.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? Is that part that's not even in my repertoire. Like, my husband will ask me these oddball questions. Right? Like, what he asked me the other day was something like, sound.
Kimberley Borgens:What happens to sound? Right? So there's this big boom from fireworks. Right? But what happens to sound after it, you know, it goes out?
Kimberley Borgens:And I'm like, I don't know.
Lawrence Borgens:Like Yeah. But hits so on. Why can't you hear something from a year ago? That's right. Where'd it go?
Kimberley Borgens:So I'm like, I don't know. But guess what I did? I went and researched it. Like, I'm filled with useless knowledge from from research. And I think that's one of the things when you're starting out in business.
Kimberley Borgens:You know? What I might have said to my younger self is don't be afraid to say no, and don't be afraid to research things. Right? Don't be afraid to have too much information. Doesn't mean you have to use all the information, but you can know it.
Kimberley Borgens:I'm a I like to watch how it's made. K? You all know that. Most men like to watch that show. But I like to watch it because it it my curious mind wants to know.
Kimberley Borgens:And to me, it's kinda cool. Like, oh, that's how they did that. Oh, that's you know? Alright. Now that makes sense.
Kimberley Borgens:And what that does and the reason why it's important to me, I'm saying this to you because, you know, it brings out my little masculine piece. It's not really, but what it does is it it helps me with problem solving. If I know how something is made, if I know how something is done, if I know, you know, the processes and the systems and the structures in which things happen, it allows me to solve problems faster. And so for me, that that's that's what I would say is be willing to solve problems, be willing to not know all the answers, and let other people come up with the solutions first. If you know it's a bust, that's when you step in.
Kimberley Borgens:And you go, you know what? We tried that before. That one didn't work so well. So how about we try this instead? Okay?
Kimberley Borgens:Because sometimes we've been through the busts, and the new people haven't. And so that's when you would exert your your wisdom in that that time frame is when you know it's already a bust. So how about this? How about we're gonna we gotta wrap this up. This is one of our longest episodes ever.
Kimberley Borgens:You know, we could we could talk for hours. I know we'll have
Lawrence Borgens:to to say.
Kimberley Borgens:I know we'll have to do some more episodes with just you and I on different things. But, you know, when I do the podcast episodes with my my lady superheroes, I ask them a lightning round. And a lot of times I ask, you know, heels or sneakers. Oh. I think
Lawrence Borgens:Never wore heels, so it's gonna have to be sneakers.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay. Good. But, you know, but let's ask this. Who's the risk taker? Who do you think is the risk taker and who has more of a steady hand?
Lawrence Borgens:Well, you took a risk by marrying me.
Kimberley Borgens:Amen.
Lawrence Borgens:Probably, I'm I'm a bit more of a risk taker.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. A lot more of a risk taker. So he's definitely more of a risk taker. I'm more of the steady hand, you know, holding down the fort as needed kind of thing while he takes the risk. Let's see.
Kimberley Borgens:Who's more likely to bring snacks to a strategy meeting?
Lawrence Borgens:You because sometimes I just straight up forget to
Kimberley Borgens:eat. And I would say him. He would bring snacks. I'll bring meals.
Lawrence Borgens:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Kimberley Borgens:I'll bring full meals for people.
Lawrence Borgens:I'll try to have a snack around somewhere that I can grab.
Kimberley Borgens:The the team tells me, yeah, he grabs a box of chips, and he brings over Coke and Pepsi, and, like, that's it. They say, Kimberley we like when you have them because I'll bring salads. I'll bring, you know, I'll bring meals. Yeah. Let's see.
Kimberley Borgens:If your business was a superhero, what would its name be, and what would its superpower be?
Lawrence Borgens:Oh, jeez. Business was a superhero. I don't know. I hadn't thought of that. So so so one thing that comes to mind, just throw this out, Ninja Turtle.
Lawrence Borgens:Remember Ninja Turtles? Okay. So here's why, though, is because a turtle has a shell. Right? It has a shield.
Lawrence Borgens:And so we act as a shield for our clients because here's what we know is, look. It's a dangerous world. And so at Adult Protective Services, we protect what matters so that you have peace of mind. And so we act as that shield. Right?
Lawrence Borgens:That hard shell that protects you from the the dangerous world that we know exists. We talked earlier about how the world is, and that's just how the world is. The world is that way. It's it's a dangerous place. Bad things happen.
Lawrence Borgens:And so it's our job to keep people safe so that they can be successful and do what's important to them. So that's why if you hire Delta Protective Services, it's like hiring a Ninja Turtle. So I know that
Kimberley Borgens:I didn't see that one coming. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:I didn't either. I didn't either. Look.
Kimberley Borgens:I I just have to say, we didn't rehearse these questions. I I put questions out there. We didn't rehearse them. So this is, like, full raw. You're just getting us.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. So okay. Business superhero is I would have made up a superhero. I wouldn't have gone with the super turtles or the the ninja turtles. I would have gone more like, you know, we'd call him protector.
Kimberley Borgens:Protector. Yeah. You know? And his superpower would be to squash out the enemies. Uh-huh.
Kimberley Borgens:I don't know. But, you know, I actually like that analogy. Our son was young. Our oldest one was he was young when the Ninja Turtles first came out in the cartoons and the It was all about it. It was all about it.
Kimberley Borgens:He had Shredder. We called him Shredhead. Right? Shredder and all the all the turtles and, like, he had the the action figures. Yep.
Kimberley Borgens:They were everywhere.
Lawrence Borgens:Ninja turtle pajamas. Yes. All that stuff.
Kimberley Borgens:Everything. So so that was that was a good one. So I'll give you that one. Look. You know, I really appreciate you joining me today for this episode.
Kimberley Borgens:And, you know, just there's a lot that happens in business. There's a lot of dynamics involved when you're in business. But when you're in business with your spouse, I think that there's a
Lawrence Borgens:lot more. It's a whole other ballgame.
Kimberley Borgens:It's a whole another ballgame. There's a lot more dynamics that actually have to be played into that. And, you know, I we haven't mentioned it so far today, but I do wanna say it's by the grace of God that we are still here. Yeah. Because, you know, our faith, our our, as he said, our values, our personal values, as well as our business values.
Kimberley Borgens:You know? And in in many cases, they're similar or they're the same. But sometimes in your relationship, it has to be different than your business. And so, you know, by the grace of God, we are still going both in business and personally. And I appreciate you taking the time today to be with me and to share my superheroes and podcast shoot superheroes and heals podcast because, you know, as you stated in the beginning, which I appreciate very much is, look, ladies, they're you're out there and you're running businesses and you're you're taking care of families and you often put yourself last.
Kimberley Borgens:And the whole purpose of this is how can you bring yourself into the game and put yourself into a position where you have the command presence to to do the job that you have designed for yourself to do. You put yourself in a space where you own the role of your business. You own the role that you're taking on. And I think it's important that you hear from people who are also doing that, and that's why I have guests in here. And as a woman who is the CEO of a corporation and as a woman who has a strong personality, which I said to some of the guys we need to do one is how do men support the women the strong women.
Kimberley Borgens:And, you know, how how do strong women stay married? You know? Yeah. You know, we have to have strong men too. But that's a whole another topic.
Kimberley Borgens:But I just wanna put out there is that, you know, we're in this together. And Superheroes in Heels is is successful, and I'm successful because I have the ally that I have in my husband. So I appreciate that you have chosen to join me today and were willing to participate in this. Yeah.
Lawrence Borgens:Thanks for the opportunity to be a service and to be a part of what's going on.
Kimberley Borgens:Yeah. And, you know, I told him that, hey. I'm gonna have you on my podcast. We're gonna do that today, and he gave me the, what? But he's been a good sport, and, he's done it.
Kimberley Borgens:He's done it with me. Look. I just want to say is make sure that you subscribe to our podcast. If this was a if you know a couple in business, this might be a great episode to share with them. You know, it's not easy to be a couple in business together, So make sure that you share this episode.
Kimberley Borgens:Don't forget to subscribe. Leave a review. Share with your friends. Look. You could leave a review, and, you just might be highlighted on on one of the upcoming podcasts.
Kimberley Borgens:And stay tuned because our next episode is gonna come out, and we're gonna be diving into that nasty little bugger called the impostor syndrome. And we're gonna talk about the impostor syndrome and, you know, where it showed up in my life and and how you can get around it, how you can bust up impostor syndrome because it's not there to serve you. And we gotta keep make sure that we're moving forward as women. So we're gonna talk about that in our next episode. So thank you so much for joining me today here on superheroes in heels.
Kimberley Borgens:I look forward to seeing you again on the next podcast.
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, mission accomplished. 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.
Outro: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. Until next time, keep showing up, standing strong, and heels or not, keep embracing your inner superhero.