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, 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. Welcome to Superheroes in Heels where we fiercely empower women to own their authority, lead with confidence, and rise in business. I'm Kimberley Borgans, and I'm your host. I'm committed to sharing my thirty five plus years experience of being an entrepreneur, starting a company from scratch, building that into a multimillion dollar business, and also having another, you know, other businesses along the way where I'm not only just a entrepreneur, I'm also a business owner with 70 employees.
Kimberley Borgens:And, you know, I I have earned every gray hair on my head by working in business, working as an entrepreneur, you know, and I just that's what superhero in heels is all about. The women who are getting out there, you know, getting the boots on, you know, strapping up and putting on the heels, doing everything you can to grow your business and in your life. So think about for yourself. What are what are the superpowers that you possess? I get to share my superpowers throughout my podcast here, but, you know, think about you.
Kimberley Borgens:What is the superpower that you possess? When I first started business, I didn't even know if I was gonna make it in business. I went in and just kept working to give it my best. And just like me, I'm sure you may not even know what all your superpowers are. I didn't know mine to begin with either.
Kimberley Borgens:And some of my superpowers today would never have been my superpowers back then. Right? I've been able to, you know, adjust my superpowers along the way. It's taken me many years to discover my superpowers and I want to invite the right people to be the guests and share their superpowers. Now, with that being said, I'm gonna tell you with this particular podcast, will tell you, I'm in the middle of a home remodel.
Kimberley Borgens:There's a lot of noise and I don't have a lot of time and I don't know when they're working on what for scheduling my guests, but I'll be getting some guests right back on soon. So if you're listening to this and you're like, who's your guest, Kimberley? Today, you get me. So with that being said, let's talk about today something that I think is important to talk about that I think a lot of people don't realize. And that is what I call networking.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? We all know networking. We all do networking some way. We have to do networking in order to grow a business. But my question for you is this.
Kimberley Borgens:Do you know people that are networking that are in the same place today that they were years ago when they first started networking? They're not making much more money if they're making any, or they've gotten out of being an entrepreneur and went back to working a job because they were out networking, but they never seem to create any results from that. So that's what I wanna talk about today is what really is networking, and are there different levels of networking that maybe you need to up your level in networking? So that's what I'm gonna talk about today. You know, over in the Hive Hangout, which is my free membership that I have for people to just join in, it's a community.
Kimberley Borgens:It's a community of people talking, networking, getting involved with each other because we all need to network in business. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. Being in business and networking and finding new clients and and doing all the things that are necessary, the marketing, the you know, all the stuff that it takes to be an entrepreneur, to be a business person, it starts with and it continues with and it expands with networking. Finding the people to connect with and building the right relationships with. Let me tell you about when I first started networking.
Kimberley Borgens:I didn't know much about networking. Networking was this thing that you just go and you meet people and you collect business cards and you tell them what it is that you do and they tell you what you do. And then you next month, you go to the same meeting, you know, with a few new people, but it's the same repeat and rinse. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? That's not real networking. That's just getting out there to meet people. Okay? And that's I wouldn't call that real networking, but nobody told me.
Kimberley Borgens:Nobody bothered to tell me. I didn't learn this. And, course, we didn't have Internet back then. I'm aging myself, but I'm okay with that because I'm choosing to constantly evolve with the network, with Internet, with everything else. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:Some people just weren't willing to evolve. But let me tell you. So like I mentioned over in the hive hangout, that's my free membership and you can come in, you can be a member, you can connect with people, but the thing is is that you actually have to be involved. You have to ask questions. You have to say, hey, Anybody wanna do a call?
Kimberley Borgens:You you know, you have to do the follow-up even in the Hive Hangout, and that's what makes it more successful. I can bring people together, but you gotta do the work. Okay? That's every networking place out there. They'll bring people in, but you have to do the work.
Kimberley Borgens:So I went out. I would network. I would exchange business cards. After, like, a year of doing that, somebody would remember my name. They would be in a conversation with somebody.
Kimberley Borgens:Said, oh, you might wanna call Kimberley or you might wanna call Lawrence, my husband, because we were always out getting involved. But what I discovered along the way was you can go to a lot of free networking events and you can meet a lot of people. But there's this whole process called follow-up. And most people me most people that I meet think that follow-up means that you send them an email. Hey.
Kimberley Borgens:It was great to meet you. Let me know if you need anything. Here's what my business has to offer. And they they consider themselves a good person who follows up. I think that's a great start.
Kimberley Borgens:It's a great start, but it's not gonna get you the amount of business or become the successful business person that you want to be. I'm gonna share a few things today and, you know, but if you wanna really dig in, come join me over in the hive hangout. I talk about networking only there. People who wanna expand more will go to the hive society, which is my paid membership, but I'm talking about the Hive Hangout today. So here's what I would say.
Kimberley Borgens:When you go out networking at a free event, it's free for a reason. Somebody put some money into it. There's there's food usually involved. You could buy some drinks usually that's involved too. Somebody's gotta put some money into it.
Kimberley Borgens:And it might not be you. You might buy a glass a bottle of water, a glass of something to drink, but you didn't do all the work to get all the people together. So I attend a lot of chamber of commerce because I'm a chamber member in my community. I have chamber of commerce mixers. And those are great to get to meet people, to see who else are other chamber members.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? But if you don't go and follow-up in a way that connects with them, hey, I'm Kimberley Borgans. We met at this event, and I wanted to share with you. I I did a little research on you and, you know, here's what I came up with. Look, I have a great resource of connections of people.
Kimberley Borgens:Is there anybody that you're looking for that I might be able to introduce you to? See, I can be a resource for other people. I might not get the business from anybody right away, but if I can be a resource, if I can be a quick connection to people, then they're gonna find the right people that they're looking for and it saves them time and money. Well, I don't know about you, but if somebody's saving me time and money, I'm gonna remember their name. And when the time comes and I need their service or I want their service or I know somebody else I could refer them to, I wanna know their name.
Kimberley Borgens:And that's part of what that real true follow-up is about. Over in the Hive Hangout, I even have this whole thing on how to how to network for introverts so you can download it. It's free. Right? But you have to come into the Hive Hangout to get that.
Kimberley Borgens:But it really goes into what I I kinda put into it as I put on my private investigator's hat, and I go, how can I network with people from a private investigative perspective? And I've put that together so that you can you can learn from it. But what if you were ready, You did that for a while. You got to meet people. You became a resource for people.
Kimberley Borgens:People became a resource for you. You keep going back and forth. Well, Kimberley, what's the next level? Well, then there's events that you pay for. Look.
Kimberley Borgens:I'm a member of women network, powerhouse polka dots polka dot powerhouse. Sorry. I'm a member of communities, you know, our our United Way has a women membership, Eleanor BioUnited. Like, I pay for these memberships. And with that, it allows me a different level of people.
Kimberley Borgens:People who are willing to invest in themselves to go out of network. But then when you go there, what happens is people go, oh, I paid for this network, but I'm not getting any business out of it. And then they leave and they get frustrated. And then it's like, don't tell tell all your friends, don't join that group. And I'm telling you, yes, you paid.
Kimberley Borgens:You paid for a place to come play. You're helping pay for them to put on that event for you. That's all that you're really paying for. K? I go to a monthly meeting and I have to buy the lunch on top of paying for my membership.
Kimberley Borgens:And I can't tell you how many times I hear people complaining because my lunch is $40. My lunch isn't $40. The 40 the the lunch is probably like $20. Right? But the remaining $20 is for my speaker.
Kimberley Borgens:It's for the lesson I get to learn when I go and listen to that speaker speak. The lessons I get to learn when I go and network with these women who are more serious about business, who aren't just the hobbyists. They're the people that are working hard to grow in business. So what I wanna say is sometimes, pardon me, you have to pay to play. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:You pay to play. You pay for a membership to play in that membership. They will market you occasionally. They will even highlight you as your business advertising. So if you're thinking about joining a membership and you're like, it costs too much, look at everything that it offers you and make sure you're taking full advantage of that offering.
Kimberley Borgens:Then you have to do next level follow-up. It's not just, hey. It was great to meet you. I'm so glad that I got to meet you and learn more about you and what you have to offer. And if I know anybody, I'll be happy to give them a referral.
Kimberley Borgens:And if you know anybody who's looking for this, if you could give them a referral, that would be great. Remember that's basic line. You have to up your game. You have to up your game in such a way to that when you go to these paid memberships that you don't just do a quick email follow-up. You send a card in the mail to them.
Kimberley Borgens:You pick up the phone and schedule the next appointment with them, or let them know about an upcoming networking event that you know about that you would love to invite them to. Every membership that I'm a part of says, yeah. Bring a guest. We have a guest price. They can come and check us out.
Kimberley Borgens:It's not your job to sell that membership. What your job is is to get them there to see if it's a benefit for them, to see if the resources and connections with people are there for them to be able to say this is valuable for me. It's not just about the speakers. It's not just about sitting down and breaking bread with people. It's about the resource of the people that are in the room.
Kimberley Borgens:Like, I was in the room in a networking event recently, and there was about, I think, 60 people in the room, 65 people in the room, and I met a lot of amazing women. Okay? And there was only one man in the room, and it just so happened to be my significant other or a k a, my business partner. And I brought him to that event so that he could also listen to the speaker. Now all these beautiful women in the room and they're all getting to know each other, and I introduced myself and I said, hey, you know, what is it that you do?
Kimberley Borgens:Tell me a little bit about you. Why are you here today? Hey. And I just have that conversation with them. And this one lady said, well, you know, this is, you know, this is what I do.
Kimberley Borgens:And I'm like, oh, that's interesting. You know, we just reached out to somebody about something just like that. I wanna introduce you to, and I introduced her to my business partner. They had a great conversation. They did some follow-up.
Kimberley Borgens:Well, the reality was is she connected really well with me. She followed up with me. I sent the email to my business partner and said, hey, can you follow-up with her about this? And they did. But he did.
Kimberley Borgens:And guess what? She didn't get that follow-up because it went to her spam or something because I happen to see her at a networking event again. I'm like, hey, did you get that email? I know he emailed you this past week. And she said, no.
Kimberley Borgens:We re she researched it right there, right in front of me. And she's like, oh my gosh. It's probably gonna be in spam. Let me get my assistant on it. We'll take care of, you know, getting back to each other.
Kimberley Borgens:Fabulous. Do you see there's just a little more work involved. I was willing to take it to the next space. I have another gal who oh, she's so creative. She makes these beautiful paper flowers for weddings, video I apologize, businesses to put in their front lobbies, any kind of event.
Kimberley Borgens:She does these big beautiful paper flowers that that are just amazing. And her name is Jennifer. And Jennifer, I just like, I just love her. And when I listened to her, when I met her another networking event, I'm like, I keep thinking in my mind, where can I put these flowers? Because I just thought they were so amazing.
Kimberley Borgens:But I also know other people who do events and I know other people who put these things on and I wanna connect her with them because she's has such an amazing personality and she has an amazing gift with these flowers. So my point in this is that I want, like, this is so great. It needs to be shared. When you're at the next level of networking, you're sharing. You're putting information out.
Kimberley Borgens:You're telling people about somebody. Look, I may never get any business from either one of those two, but you can bet I'm gonna keep referring people to them because I know that they followed up with me. They followed back. We've gotten together again after the fact. It's not just about going in look.
Kimberley Borgens:I know a lot of people go to networking events, and they go there to hang out with the people they already know. That is not why I go to networking events. I wanna meet the new people. I go directly to people I have never even met. I already have those other people's numbers.
Kimberley Borgens:I can go and make an appointment with them at any time. But when I'm at a networking event, I go with a goal in mind. I go with who am I gonna connect with. Right? Who are the new people that I have not met yet?
Kimberley Borgens:Maybe they're not new, but I still haven't met them because it's a big group of people. Right? You gotta go with a goal in mind, and you have to up your game. How can I you can make appointments right then and there? There was a gal that she and I have been, you know, kinda going back and forth on when we connect.
Kimberley Borgens:I happen to see her. We made an appointment. Boom. We're in. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:So you have to be willing to do that. And then there's another level. And I wanna talk about that level that I think that a lot of people miss out. Pardon me. This is a pro tip.
Kimberley Borgens:A pro tip. You know all those events that are happening in town, those nonprofit events, those big sponsored events that a lot of people are going to, and it costs you anywhere from $25 to $200 just to get a seat at that table. I'll yeah. I know that we go to crab feeds, and then there's shrimp feeds, and then there's like all these fundraisers. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:And most people are like, I'm not paying a $100 for a crab feed dinner. Like, okay, then don't. Don't go. But what if you paid that $100 and you found a client within thirty days that paid for that plus some? I have to tell you, there's people that you know that sponsor these events.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? I know that my sister-in-law, for example, her and my brother-in-law, they they attend a lot of network a lot of nonprofit events, a lot of them. And they sponsor a lot. And when you sponsor an event, they have tickets. They usually get a table.
Kimberley Borgens:And now they have to get eight people to fill that table. It's free for the people who are attending possibly. I know other people who will say, hey, I have a table of eight. If you'd be willing to pay $50 to fill my table, then they recoup some of that and then they know the rest is advertising. So if somebody says, hey, I have a ticket for this location.
Kimberley Borgens:You might say, hey. I might be interested. And the reason is because that networking level is at a level that people go to that event to give away money. Hello? Aren't you looking for money?
Kimberley Borgens:When you go to those kinds of events, what you do is you up level who you are. You up level your business. Yeah. You better be prepared to give something, raffle prize, you know, get a raffle prize, do something. Maybe you don't have a whole lot of money, but you can actually go out and connect with people.
Kimberley Borgens:I have sat at tables where I've gotten free tickets. I have sat at tables that I've sponsored and got people to those events. Right? So you have to decide what that is. Think about the networking events that you're at.
Kimberley Borgens:Can you sponsor something for that networking event? I'm part of memberships. Right? And I've offered to sponsor things like decorations for that event. Offered to sponsor, you know, a speaker for that event.
Kimberley Borgens:Offer to sponsor a free table for that event for somebody else. Right? Can you offer to sponsor somebody as a way to get your name out, as a way to, you know, create that advertising for yourself. That's how you take networking to the next level. You get out there.
Kimberley Borgens:You get involved. And like I said earlier, sometimes you have to pay to play. Right? But what that does is it speeds up the process. Alright?
Kimberley Borgens:Or as one of my mentors, Sandra Yancey says, you you pay for speed. Right? And look, I know if you're just starting out, you're broke. I get it. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:I was starting out. I was broke. And when I could put a little extra in, I did. So if you could put a little extra in, don't buy those purses with the fancy names. You know who they are.
Kimberley Borgens:Okay? Don't buy those shoes with the fancy names. I mean, I have a few of those pairs, but that's because in the first ten years, I didn't buy those names. The first ten years of business, I'm Payless Shoe Source. Okay?
Kimberley Borgens:That's what it was. That and Kmart and then Walmart came along. Right? So I bought the cheap stuff. I didn't need to look like I was a million dollars.
Kimberley Borgens:I needed to act like a millionaire mindset. And that is you don't have to have the fancy to be a millionaire. You know, I was saw a gentleman on I think it was Instagram just last week and he was talking about he's like the five things that you should stop buying if you wanna be a millionaire. And I was like, what are those? Well, one of them he said is stop buying the fancy clothes.
Kimberley Borgens:He says, I'm a millionaire and I shop at Target. K? Shop wherever you want. I'm just telling you what he said. But stop buying the fancy clothes.
Kimberley Borgens:Stop buying the coffee every day at the coffee shop. He said, if you spend a 100 to $200, you buy yourself the coffee coffee machine. You have that for many, many, many, many years. For him, he says it costs me 24¢ a day to have my coffee the way I want it all fancied up. K?
Kimberley Borgens:I don't drink coffee, so I can't help you all out there. Alright? I don't go to the box or anybody else to get my coffee because I don't drink it, neither does my husband. We don't put that money into it and we don't but we don't even drink it. So he said stop buying the fancy clothes.
Kimberley Borgens:Stop going to the the fancy coffee shops. Make your own. He talked about how you you don't have to have everything high end and you don't have to buy a big fancy house. Right? My husband and I, I said, we got some household remodeling happening right now.
Kimberley Borgens:We've been in the same house for twenty eight years. And, you know, that's great. But I I don't need to move to a fancier place just because I can. There's nothing wrong with where I'm at. So think about it for you.
Kimberley Borgens:If you wanna level up somewhere, don't buy the fancy stuff. Put that money aside and invest in yourself in networking in the right places. I network with the multimillion dollar companies, and the reason I know this is because they're the ones who are sponsoring these big nonprofit events. And maybe the CEO isn't going to all of the events, but guess what? They have a table of eight that they're filling just like everybody else.
Kimberley Borgens:So who are they giving it to? They're giving it to their contact people. They're giving it to all their gatekeepers. The people that you wanna make friends with, the people that you want to connect with, the people that are gonna be your ally when it comes time to talk to those people, those CEOs, those CFOs, those COO's up there. Right?
Kimberley Borgens:You have to get connected with the right people at the right networking events so that you can get connected into the right space with people. You know, we have a gentleman here in town who I was just talking with my husband about is like, he may not even realize it, but he's a pretty marketing genius. And I I said to my husband, how can we do the things that he's doing? And most of the stuff that I'm talking about is all his nonprofit work. He he donates every year.
Kimberley Borgens:He has a Christmas tree where he's like, come in, you know, buy gifts for these kids, grab a tag, right, buy gifts for these kids. He collects them all at his office. They all bring them in. He does a photo shoot with them like every single time and he promotes not only that business, he promotes his business. He also promotes the nonprofit.
Kimberley Borgens:Right? But he does this all year round. He he finds something to to create and connect with. And I'm like, how can we, like, follow-up on this train? Because he's doing great and he knows everybody.
Kimberley Borgens:Not only that, he knows every event that's happening in town and he creates some of his own. Right? So watch what people are doing that is making them successful and see if you can emulate them as well. But you have to be able and be willing to take it to that next level. Stop going to networking events and thinking that it's all about you.
Kimberley Borgens:I say that with complete love and kindness and with the grace that you need to hear it with. You have to go to networking events with the intention of building a relationship with somebody, building the community with people. Because when you can build that kind of a community, I know I can pick up the phone and call some amazing people that I don't necessarily like spend time with every day, but I know I can pick up the phone call if I need to. Pick up the phone, make a call, get a result. And if they can't help me create a result, they can refer me to somebody who can.
Kimberley Borgens:I know that about my community. I know that about my virtual community, my membership communities. I know that about my community where I live in. Right? Because I'm involved and I'm not just networking at the basic level.
Kimberley Borgens:Well, I hope that today you had the opportunity to learn a little bit more about networking. And like I said, look, networking has multiple levels, and most people stay at the basic level. I wanna stretch you today. I wanna stretch you to go into those membership. If you wanna be part of a membership community that I'm part of, I'd be more than happy to tell you about it.
Kimberley Borgens:Reach out. Let me know. Make a comment. Whatever that is so that I can support you best in growing your community, growing your team of people that can be out there to support you while you're networking. Yes.
Kimberley Borgens:You make money, but it takes investment of time and energy for that return to happen. And if you think it's gonna happen within six months of you just going out at the basic level, I'm sorry to disappoint you. That works for very few people. But if you ask around, you're gonna hear the same stories. Don't give up.
Kimberley Borgens:Keep going. Join me over in the hive hangout. Get some new lessons, new tips, and new ideas, and who knows where you can go. I'm rooting for you. Thank you so much for joining me today with Superheroes in Heels, the podcast that fiercely empowers women, encourages women, especially in male dominant industries to bring out their superpowers, to own their role, stand in their space, give grace where needed, and be the the role model for the next generation.
Kimberley Borgens:Join me on my next podcast. We're gonna talk about some more superhero powers. I look forward to talking with you soon.
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 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.