Shownotes
Self-Worth and Leadership: "You will never value you like you. Nobody will value you like you." - Betty Collins
I’m so excited to bring you part two of our Visionary Awards series, an episode all about what it means to be a visionary, or to support one, in today’s ever-changing world.
I’m joined once again by two incredible guests: Jill Frey and Purba Majumbder, women who are not only visionaries themselves but who have also been deeply impacted by the women who’ve supported their journeys.
In this conversation, we dig into how Jill and Purba stay ahead of industry trends, embrace new technologies like robotics and AI, and make a real difference through projects such as STEM programs for girls.
We get honest about the challenges along the way—from navigating self-doubt and skepticism to keeping up with rapid change. And we don’t shy away from the truth: sometimes, your biggest obstacle is your own mindset.
In this episode, I share my journey, how I learned to step into my role as a visionary leader, often with the help and encouragement of others who saw more in me than I saw in myself.
Together, we swap stories, lessons, and practical advice for anyone who wants to pursue a big idea, empower others, or make a lasting impact.
Inspiring Moments
00:00 "Smart Buildings & Sustainability Goals"
03:40 Visionaries and The Future of Robotics
07:12 "Finding My Own Vision"
12:36 "Inspiring Girls in STEM"
16:02 Launching the Women's Initiative
17:40 "Challenges of Being a Visionary"
21:55 Hybrid Work Revolution Unfolds
25:55 Empowering Women in Swift Tech
26:42 Tech's Fast-Paced Adaptation Challenge
30:56 Empowering Leadership and Influence
35:51 Building Confidence and Realizing Potential
38:55 Supporting Visionaries and Helping Others
Here are my top 3 takeaways:
Embrace Fearlessness & Resilience
Both Jill and Purba stress the importance of believing in yourself, especially on tough days. Push through doubts, value self-talk, and be your own biggest fan, even when the world isn’t quite ready for your vision.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
Visionaries like Jill and Purba are always thinking 5 years ahead, anticipating industry shifts and adapting technology like AI and automation—not just to keep up, but to lead the change.
Support & Elevate Each Other
Whether you’re driving the vision or helping implement it, your role matters. Sometimes, all it takes is the right nudge, encouragement, or honest feedback to help someone unlock their full potential.
Forward our podcast along to other Inspiring Women in your life.
This is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social, and political achievement.
Hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and Director at Brady Ware and Company. Betty also serves as the Committee Chair for Empowering Women, and Director of the Brady Ware Women’s Initiative.
Each episode is presented by Brady Ware and Company, committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home.
For more information, Brady Ware and Company.
Remember to follow this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And forward our podcast along to other Inspiring Women in your life.
Brady Ware and Company
Transcripts
Welcome to another episode of Inspiring Women, the podcast that celebrates the stories of extraordinary women from all walks of life. I am your host, Betty Collins. Join us for an inspiring conversation that will leave you ready to take on the world. So today is part two of Being the visionary or Supporting the visionary. And in part one, we started this podcast and we have Jill Fry and we have Kurva, and they are with who are visionaries, but they've also had women who have really been supportive to them and supported the vision. And today, they're still seeing. There are visions out there they're having and they're gonna make them happen. Right.
Betty Collins [:But I think you'll love their challenges that they have faced, and I think you will love the advice that they will give to you, and it'll be a great episode. But if you haven't listened to part one, I would encourage you to do that and then finish up with part two. Now, Jill will relate to this question. So as a visionary, you never stop having another vision. Right. You never stop seeing. Oh, we could do this. Because when you do, you're kind of like, okay, you're stale.
Betty Collins [:I can't be stagnant very long for me to sit and watch the House of David for like eight hours. It's never what I do. But, you know, there's those next visions. I mean, you guys have already risen. You've done a lot. But let's talk about visions that are, you know, you're having or vision that is playing out like we were just talking about before the podcast of this is because if you were just mopping right now, you would be behind in your industry, right?
Jill Frey [:Yeah.
Betty Collins [:And you've been a leader in. This is what we can do in this industry. You traveled internationally talking about it. So let's talk about. Jill isn't done having visions or being a visionary. And let's talk about kind of what's going on with the different things in your. In your life as a aspect the mop thrower, as you call it. You're not the mop thrower.
Jill Frey [:Thanks, buddy. Yes. So for me, I'm about five years ahead at all times in my head, so I'm not thinking about what's happening now. It's really hard for me to come back. I really feel like there's a portal I enter every day, and it's five years down the road, and what does that look like? And so now we just put our first robot in Georgia.
Betty Collins [:Yes.
Jill Frey [:So we're super excited about that. We've got clients that already want Them that are already saying, we want these robots, we want them in. And we're figuring out how to install them. They are autonomous. They're called AMRs, autonomous mobile robots. And they have a charging station and they dump the water and they refill themselves. Then we get a report every morning that says, this is where the robot ran. This is how much batteries, how much water it used.
Jill Frey [:Right. So sustainability goals, like so many opportunities that you have within that report that you can utilize. So I have my wristband on. So we started the global consortium that you know about FDS Facility Data Standard. So it's enabling your building to talk. So how does your building talk to, say, what's going on right now within the building? How many people are in there? If the building is sick, if the building is cold, if it's too moist, if there's a flood inside? Right. How it's affecting the people inside that building? So all of that's gonna gather. So I have all these visions, I have all these thoughts, and I don't know what to do with them.
Jill Frey [:I write them down and I figure out how they're gonna be incorporated in my company and in our employees. And then I happen. I don't like to watch TV a lot, but I was watching TV this week, and Elon Musk, who I think is a complete vis, you know, and that's one thing I like to do, is look back at past visionaries, right? To understand, because some people look at us as visionaries, but we have to have people that we look at as visionaries. And so, you know, we all have our mentors, we all have our people that have influenced us. But I like to look at Elon Musk, and I'm looking for this quote that he said. So he was with Saudi Arabia, and he says, robots will help grow the global economy by 10%. Every single person will have a personal robot. So this reminds me of Bill Gates.
Jill Frey [:I listened to a interview with Bill Gates about 15, 20 years ago, and he said, everyone's going to be walking around with. With a small computer in their pocket of their coat.
Betty Collins [:I don't. I don't think so. Right.
Jill Frey [:I don't know how you think that's gonna work, but a freaking computer. How's a computer gonna fit in your pocket?
Betty Collins [:Yeah. Well, what do we got? What do we got?
Purba Majumbder [:Exactly.
Jill Frey [:Right?
Betty Collins [:The good and the bad. That. Yes. It's always there, right?
Jill Frey [:Yeah, but he saw it. I remember going into stores with the old cash registers and seeing or hearing all these cash registers are going to Go. And there's going to be incorporated into one thing, and it's going to be a computer. And it, you know, I'm like, that's never going to happen. Like, you know how much money that would cost to transfer all those cash registers over. But it's just looking at that, right? And is in the past and then looking in the future. We're all going to have a personal robot. I don't think he's wrong.
Jill Frey [:I think he's right on right? And so how do we position ourselves, right, to be part of that vision? How do we control all of that so we can make.
Betty Collins [:Because you have your first robot in an office building that's cleaning, right? When did this vision start? 2 years ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago? I mean, it takes time.
Jill Frey [:It takes time. And there's pieces like purpose. There's pieces that you get along the way to build the whole thing, right? It's a whole ecosystem, right? And you see a vision and. But then you have to have the people believe in you. You have to have your employees believe in you, because what did the employees see? That robot's gonna take my job, right? And how do you say to those employees, no, it's not. It's gonna enhance your life, right? You're not gonna have to work as hard. You're gonna work with that robot. You're gonna teach that robot, right? And if you're sick one day, it's okay, because that robot can take.
Betty Collins [:It's going to do it, right?
Jill Frey [:But we want you. We. There is a place in this world for you. Please don't think for anything this robot will replace you. It will not. We will always need that personal touch, right? So. So it's all of those parts and pieces, right? And you can. You can.
Jill Frey [:You can have that playbook, but you got to. It's got to be heart and soul, right? Because it is not something you read. It's not something that is a. A to do. It is something you live every single day.
Betty Collins [:See? And for you. And I'm sure as Purva comes up with her answer to the same question. So she's over here thinking. But, I mean, I always played the role of somebody else saw the vision and not me. It's my biggest downfall in my entire career, even though it all worked out because I didn't see who I was, never did. I mean, even Betty Clark, who does this podcast, she said, you know, I think you ought to do a podcast because I public speak. And I said, I don't have anything to say. And so, of course, she's that person who's poured in.
Betty Collins [:Right. She goes, you have plenty to say. You always say too much. No, but I mean, it was always somebody else seeing it, not me. And so I really love people that can sit and go, I'm gonna build a robot. It's gonna take seven to 10 years and money and a team and vision, and they're gonna think I'm crazy. And now you've got it in the building. And now people are going, how can we get one?
Jill Frey [:Exactly.
Betty Collins [:But it's that timing. I don't have that ability in my life with. I'll retire one day. I can't figure out how to do it. I can't figure out how to train. I can't see what is the next. Just not who I am. I mean, I'm a visionary and I get things done, but I don't have that ability like you have with that, you know, I think you do.
Betty Collins [:Maybe I do, and I don't realize it, but a lot of people need encouraged when they have that. You see it. Betty Collins, are you out of your mind? Why aren't you doing a podcast or whatever it is? That's a simple thing. And then they see the vision for you sometimes and push you and nudge you.
Jill Frey [:Absolutely. And you nudge me.
Betty Collins [:Right.
Jill Frey [:A lot.
Betty Collins [:There's nothing like taxation and depreciation for Jill. She loves taxation.
Jill Frey [:He loves to pnl.
Betty Collins [:Yeah, yeah.
Jill Frey [:We gotta go back to this.
Betty Collins [:Right?
Jill Frey [:I mean, number one thing is make money. You're in business to make money. And you have driven that home to me. And if I didn't know that, if I couldn't keep that inside of me and keep that on my vision, I'd.
Betty Collins [:Be out here, like, doing right.
Jill Frey [:Right.
Betty Collins [:And so you have to. You always have to look at. There is that. And that's the dad and David going, I'm gonna pour into. You're gonna learn. You're gonna memorize this. Whatever I'm teaching. Whatever they taught you back then, I don't know what they would teach you, but it's that kind of thing, that you have this responsibility and that again.
Betty Collins [:Then I come in and I'm the supporter to the missionary.
Jill Frey [:Right.
Betty Collins [:But permit for you. I mean, I can't even imagine leaving a corporate job because I'm very practical and I want someone else write the check. I finally said, okay, I'm gonna write the ch. This is the scariest thing I've ever done. You jumped off. You did it. And then in the Meantime of. Because when you're a small business owner, you're 24 7, it never stops.
Betty Collins [:And yet you see a vision to have STEM program for girls. So do you have something in the hopper we don't know about or what your next thing is? You don't have to tell us, I get that. But I mean, how long did it take you to really see the vision for STEM for girls? And then now 2,500 people. What was that time period? And what are things that you're seeing that you're kind of thinking about now going, yeah, this is what we need to do.
Purba Majumbder [:Yeah. When it comes to stem, I do like think ahead of time, even in our business, you know, because we are in technology. For any technology business to survive, you have to be just like Jill said, you know, at least five years ahead of your time. You are not catching up. You have to be ahead of the trend. So in our business, we've always, you know, we're always studying, like, what. What's the latest thing that's happening in the market? What are. I listen to a lot of people, like what they're saying about what's coming up, like AI.
Purba Majumbder [:How is AI going to be integrated in the business as well as in everyday life?
Jill Frey [:Right.
Purba Majumbder [:I mean, I have been using AI in so many ways. And then we are doing, we are doing, both of us, Jim and I, we are going to be presenting next week on this topic of AI.
Jill Frey [:Yeah.
Purba Majumbder [:So I'm just going back to. Even in my company, we use AI like for everything. Like we have the staffing division. We use AI for a lot of the recruiting, screening and stuff like that. It just, like you said, it just, you can do more with less, you know, work smarter. Work smarter, not harder. Exactly.
Jill Frey [:And you've got to teach your team that.
Betty Collins [:Yeah, right.
Jill Frey [:Yeah, that's what you want.
Purba Majumbder [:So that is like the most important thing, I think. And all of us people are going to be scared, but we have to tell them what it looks like. I know my recruiters team are like, oh, they're going to get rid of us. But that's not it. How can you enhance your capabilities by using all these different tools that you have? So that's definitely something with all the things in the business also, like Bistro UX and all. It all came because there was a need. We thought there would be a need and we had that vision and so we implemented that.
Betty Collins [:And that's business 101. Here's a need. How could I fill it? And there are people who can See the need and figure out how to fill it. And there are people who are going to help fill it or help implement it. But I even know for myself we're going to kind of go into. You guys make it sound easy. Oh, I built a robot. It started today.
Betty Collins [:And there's been all of this along the way. Same thing with having 2,500 people. I've had 25 people come through STEM.
Purba Majumbder [:That took a lot to go get right for me. I think that when we started this organization, we were like, okay, we're going to provide the training. Because what happens with young girls is that they're not aware. Sometimes they are coming from backgrounds where their families don't know anything about the field of STEM or what's out there. So I thought it is really important for us or it is on us to show them these women who are the role models, like, who are already working in big corporations. Right, right. Otherwise, how would they know? You can't be somebody if you can't see somebody in front of you.
Betty Collins [:Right.
Purba Majumbder [:You have to see somebody like that.
Betty Collins [:That's really good. I like that.
Purba Majumbder [:So that's why this is so important. Like, we have to talk about not just the different topics. Give them training, but talk to the women and have them do the training. Talk about their experiences, their personal journeys, what their challenges are and how they overcame that. Because I don't believe for a minute it's just training somebody in some software and getting ready, watch a video. It's not about that. It's about building confidence, telling them what's up. There's a process.
Purba Majumbder [:It's not happening overnight. They don't get this training and think, oh, I'm gonna do this job. No, it doesn't happen.
Betty Collins [:Like, see, now, this is a good segue. So you're perfect because we're talking about the challenges of being a visionary and getting those visionary floors. So I'll use my example and you guys can think about that because it's not on the list of questions, and I'm throwing you off. So for me, when I came to bradywear, of course I had the concept of never going to use my accounting degree, be a CPA or be an owner, and I'm just content, and I did all those things. And then I come to bradyware, and again, I'm not the visionary. I'm just thinking, okay, I've got a bigger company. This is going to be good. I have a nice office.
Betty Collins [:Da, da, da. And I could go further and farther, but. But that was it. So the two men who run the company at that time were CO CEOs. And they said, well, you're settled in because you go through a merger, it's like the worst thing of your whole life, but you do it. And then after about a year and a half, they said, you know, we really want to meet. I said, okay. So we sit down and they go, it's time for a women's initiative.
Betty Collins [:You're the perfect person to lead it.
Jill Frey [:That's wonderful.
Betty Collins [:Yeah, But I'm going.
Jill Frey [:I'm a woman.
Betty Collins [:Yeah. Yeah, I'm a woman. That's all I know. And so it was funny because one of the gym says to me, goes. And he had to kind of catch himself because he's like, yeah, you know, you're the perfect person to do this with your energy, because you're really not like any. I go, you don't think I'm like most women? I don't think you're like most men.
Purba Majumbder [:So, okay, we're good.
Betty Collins [:But they again, saw the vision, and then it was. I come back to them because they said, just tell us what you would like to do. So I come back and this is the craziest thing. I look back on it now and I go, so the challenge was myself, not so much the people around me. So I come back and I go, I need, like, twenty five hundred dollars to do a conference. They're like, okay, you gotta think bigger. Tell us what a conference means. We want to give you a full budget, you know, blah.
Betty Collins [:I mean, they just, like, they were the visionaries at this point for the women's initiative, not Betty Collins. But they helped me see I was always the biggest challenge. I'm my worst owned enemy sometimes. So I went back and I go. Because I had been with someone who $2,500 was like, oh, my gosh, I.
Jill Frey [:Don'T know if we can do it.
Betty Collins [:What, are you kidding? Lunch costs 15 bucks. What are you doing? So I learned from that very moment of these people see that you can do this. Why wouldn't you run with it? So I come back, I go, this is what I really want to do. And so they said, well, we're gonna have a shareholder meeting, and we're gonna get your budget approved. And great. So I'm in the shareholder meeting, and we had to do phones because something happened with the meeting. Vt the videos we had at that time. It's nothing like zoom today, right? So we finally got the phones working, and the CEO goes, yep, Betty's going to do a presentation on the women's initiative, and she needs $50,000 to do it.
Betty Collins [:So let's listen to her. I am not prepared for this moment because I didn't know it was 50,000.
Jill Frey [:Right. That's a big number.
Betty Collins [:What? Wow. And, you know, so then I'm like, so I was kind of glad it wasn't zoom because I would have been deer in the headlights again. They kept spoon feeding me. The challenge was me, which did. Which meant the vision wouldn't have happened if I wouldn't have had two people who could never run the visionary going, this is where we want to go. 15 years, or that really started in 14. Everything kind of came together in 13 and 14, and the rest is history with Conference, a podcast, women who have gotten into our leadership now a lot more. I mean, I could go on and on about it, but amazing.
Betty Collins [:The biggest challenge I had in fulfilling the visionary was me. I was the biggest challenge with any. Whatever you want to call it. And then there are times I'm either very needy or I am very arrogant. I never kind of fall in. I'm either way too confident or I'm like, oh, my gosh, what was me?
Jill Frey [:What happened?
Purba Majumbder [:What happened?
Betty Collins [:So for me, I'm just being transparent. That's been my biggest thing with vision, you know, being that visionary. And people see me as a visionary, I'm like, so many people had to hold my hand and push me and see it, you know? And then once I got it, I went. I've got a $50,000 budget to do all kinds of great and amazing things. And one of the first things we did was we went to a visionary event, and we left that going, wow, this was amazing. So that's my confession of today. Jill, let's start with you on what is the challenge of being a visionary? What's your biggest challenge with that? So others can hear. Jill does.
Betty Collins [:She makes it look really easy. Perma makes this look really simple. I can run a non profit and I can do this and raise kids and, you know, cook dinner every night. I mean, what is it that your challenge is?
Jill Frey [:So thank you for sharing that. That was beautiful. So I don't know if you know this. I think you might have heard it at one point, but early in my career, we had someone that embezzled a lot of money, and I wasn't watching my P and L, and I didn't understand how important the P and L was to a business. So all that is this was like 2008. So, I mean, long time ago. And everything has Worked out from that. But I learned so many lessons.
Jill Frey [:And that's what. I love that story for you because that's what I think women need. They need to make sure they're looking at their P and L. They need to make sure they're making money.
Purba Majumbder [:They.
Jill Frey [:They need that. So. So that kind of helped me build a foundation. Right? And then in about 2018, I decided I wanted to become tech. I wanted to be a tech visionary and implement tech in building services, in janitorial services. Who wakes up in the morning and says, I want to clean a toilet. Right? I mean, it's hard. It's hard work.
Jill Frey [:It's not fun and it. It's degrading, I think. Right? So how do you build yourself up from that? And so that was my. Why I love my employees. I think they're amazing. How do I make their life better? How do I make them proud of what they do? Because it's very important. This is 2018. Covid hit.
Jill Frey [:Right?
Betty Collins [:Right.
Jill Frey [:Everybody wanted to become in the disinfecting world. Right? It was very important. Disinfecting. People saw the value of clean and safe buildings, clean and healthy buildings. They saw that. So that really helped me with the technology. Because before that, people are like, dude, I don't know what you're smoking, but I don't see anybody in technology and cleaning, like, those two things. Do you remember the last time there was technology in cleaning? Like, we've been using the same mop head for how many years?
Betty Collins [:Yeah.
Jill Frey [:Like, it hasn't changed.
Betty Collins [:Right.
Jill Frey [:So there's not a lot of innovation and technology and cleaning. So they're looking at me going, yeah, no, I don't think that's gonna happen. But it took the COVID It took 20, 20 for people to see. And then hybrid workforce and then the labor shortage of. Holy cow. Maybe Jill was onto something there. Right. But it was because of all of those things.
Jill Frey [:I believe all those things had to happen. It had to be a turn of events.
Betty Collins [:Right? Because it sounds like one of your challenges was everyone's looking at you like, mops are going to talk.
Jill Frey [:Right.
Betty Collins [:Robots are really going to do it. And that challenge. So you had to keep pushing through that. And then a thing called Covid comes along. You're like, told you so, right?
Jill Frey [:So me and some FDS team were together and we're speaking to other companies. We have a lot of companies in Germany and in Europe, and they're like, there's hybrid here. Like, technology is the key thing. Sustainability. Everyone wants to know how much Trash they have. How much are you taking out of the building? What does that look like? How much water are you using? Right? And so all of those things are circulating now and we're like, we're on top of that. Like, we know what's going on and that's how a building can talk. It can tell you like what's going out of the building, what's coming into the building, all of those things.
Jill Frey [:So it all just kind of clicked. But before that, people were like, dude, I don't know. I don't believe what you have got going. I don't know if I believe what's gonna happen. But now it's like rolling, roll and roll and roll and roll it. But I had a lot of friends that looked at me and said, that's never gonna happen. Like, we were in London at a huge World Fed Building Service contractors event in 2021 and we had some people standing up on the stage and they're like, hybrid's gonna be here to stay. People aren't coming back to really need to think about what you're doing as cleaners and try to look at how to fix that to move forward in the new generation.
Jill Frey [:They said, all my friends sitting in the audience looked outside and said, do you see all of these cranes? They're building tons of buildings here in London. Offices are not going away. They couldn't see it. They said, our industry is never going to change. It hasn't changed before, it's not going to change in the future. They look at me like, you've done this. I'm like, I didn't do this. But I had to really figure out my North Star Betty, because a lot of people have said to me, I don't see your vision.
Jill Frey [:I don't think it's going to happen. And I've had to keep pushing and pushing and pushing and saying, this is going to happen. This is the best for our industry. We need transparency with our clients. We need people to understand what we're doing in a building. And so it's really been challenging because a lot of my friends look at me and they're like, why are you doing this? But it's the best for our industry, it's the best for our people.
Betty Collins [:Notice she's not saying this is best practice. You're saying this is the best for the industry and it will become a best practice.
Jill Frey [:Exactly. And people can say that now, right? We need transparency. We need to understand what the cleaning and disinfecting is in a building. I don't think that's our last pandemic. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but.
Purba Majumbder [:Yeah.
Betty Collins [:No, but, you know, it's amazing to me. The other day, I'm at a public building. I can't remember what. Where it is even is. I should. But I'm in there, and there are. There are posters telling you how to wash your hands. We still don't know how to wash our hands after we just went through what we did.
Betty Collins [:And these look fairly new, but it is the mindset that is a lot of times. Not for me, it was my mindset. For you, it's your. The people around you are going, this isn't gonna. And then all of a sudden, it clicks, and they're like, oh, she was right.
Jill Frey [:Yeah.
Betty Collins [:This is what. Even when you go back to the Elon Musk, I was thinking the other day when he went and got those astronauts. Right.
Jill Frey [:Yeah.
Betty Collins [:In my lifetime, it was. That's NASA. Okay? NASA's job is to go to the moon, not ours. Okay. And I'm like, wow, that really worked out well because he had an ability with what he had to go there. Even though that deal is NASA will handle it, you know, and they would have eventually. I'm not gonna say it, but, I mean, it was like, oh, no. There's another whole world of this guy over here who builds rockets, and we're all going, who's buying your rockets? Nobody.
Betty Collins [:So people love to go on it, and they're doing all these things, but it is a mindset and getting the people around you to think that way.
Jill Frey [:I mean, electrification. Right. We had a commercialization partner with an electrification of a battery for a robot in 2019. It took me a whole day to figure out how to say the word electrification. I worked on it for a long.
Betty Collins [:Time, but you got electrification. Let's say it together, mom, would you.
Jill Frey [:Get off the electric? I mean, this was before Tesla, before, like, 2018. Who knew the word electrification? I sure as heck didn't. Right. I had to practice a whole day to say it.
Betty Collins [:Right.
Jill Frey [:But we found a commercialization partner for it. Right. You talk about electrification all the time now. I mean, it's just rolling off my tongue.
Betty Collins [:So let's go to you with, you're in technology. You're helping women get in or girls get in technology. And seeing it, I look at the challenge of technology is what I just finally mastered three months ago is history. You know, it's not good anymore. And that, to me, would be a huge challenge for you. But what are Challenges that you've had, being the visionary and maybe just the fastness of technology. Because we're all thinking, oh, we got this down. And you know, now we all see, you know, when you reply to emails, it has little things in it because it's read your email.
Betty Collins [:We all think, oh, we're using AI technology that's like already over. But what are the challenges that you face as a visionary, especially being around STEM and trying to get girls to see they don't have to be a nerd and all those things.
Purba Majumbder [:I think that technology, to your point is the biggest challenge, is that it is so fast paced, right? It's constantly changing. And that has always been the case. Like if you are in technology, that's a given, like, you just have to get comfortable with it, I think. And then a lot of studying, like with the Industrious, for example, with the bistro software that we've got, we have always looked. So it's an online platform. There are so many online platforms, like online ordering for, you know, restaurants, restaurants, grocery stores, that kind of a thing. So how do you, the challenge is that how do you stay ahead of your competitors, right? How do you make it easy for your clients? And that's a lot of listening and then also looking at what, what's happening in the industry, like really looking like what happened five years back and where we are now and then looking what going to happen like five years ahead of time. So I think that with Pandemic, one of the things that we realized in our industry is the power of QR code.
Purba Majumbder [:Because QR code has been around forever. Like we knew about QR code long time back, like 15, 20 years back.
Betty Collins [:I just realized you don't take a picture of the QR code. You put the little yellow things around it and do just saying, okay, but go ahead. I'm just getting there, I'm getting there. But no, that's a classic example. People are like, why do we have a QR code now? Menus are QR codes, right?
Purba Majumbder [:Exactly. So with the Pandemic, what did we do? We use a QR code and that takes you to that website where you have the menu and all and we introduce QR service. So if you have a QR code on the table, then you scan it and you can refill your drink or whatever, whatever. You know, you don't have to wait for the waiter or waitress to come around because they're busy. You know, we're short staffed. This industry really needs help. So how can we make it easier for that. So we use that and then it opens a tab.
Purba Majumbder [:Just like it opens like in. If you go to a bar, right? You open a tab, you keep ordering stuff, and then when you're done, you can just pay and leave.
Betty Collins [:Right?
Purba Majumbder [:You know, just like they have in airport. So those are some things that we already had. The technology existed, but now it's like almost inevitable, right? Everybody uses it. So having the, I guess, vision to look ahead and see what else could be that way and what else could be integrated with the software, I think is the biggest challenge. And then whoever can figure that out, they're going to be so successful, you.
Betty Collins [:Know, because the thing about the visionary as we. We're going to go into more how we can give advice to entrepreneurs, especially young women. But the, the real thing about being a visionary is you never stop having a vision. You. It never stops. It doesn't stop. And you keep going, okay, we could do this next. Or what about this? Or what about this? And.
Betty Collins [:And it's very hard even for me to go to the beach because I'll be out there going, I can do that. You just always are that. And so let's talk about generations under us or even before us. What is it that advice you would give, especially to those young entrepreneurs who are like, they will have a passion, they have an idea. You know, Jill's going, this is. This was not on the list. This question was not on the list. But that's okay.
Betty Collins [:But I mean, I mean, like in for me, for instance, and I'll kind of go first on just that. What would you advise people in business? And some of it is I look at what would I advise the women at bradyware. And part of like, even we have Kristen Kraybacher now. She came in the mailroom story, right? She comes in as a staff and now she heads and co leads our co tax or our tax department. And she is on Nabo's board and she is going to run Columbus Tax. And she, I mean, she's just, she's a shareholder. I mean, it's just been an amazing story. And so just because she got to this point, I still need to be an influencer to her.
Betty Collins [:I still need to be going, what's your next step? And even when Misty and I talked to her about, hey, you need to get in the director program, and she's like, she comes to us later, she goes, you think I'm ready for that? I go, you were two years ago. Yes, you're totally ready for that. So you're Always influencing those around that are in your world. Whether it's a big event at Nava or whether it's in my office with 15 to 20 women in Columbus, or I'll look at Kay Lorenz is just my inspiration. She's a 30 something and she came to me and she goes, well, they think I could be the next Betty Collins. I said, well, someone's got to be the next Betty Collins at Brady. Are you kidding me? But they were talking just with the kind of stuff I do with small business and advisory. And it's not complex tax because it's not some big audit with all kinds of gap rules.
Betty Collins [:It's just the everyday person wants an advisor and she wants to be that. So how do I get her there? And I'm always challenged with, don't assume because Kristen now is a shareholder and she's on the board and she's these things that she will just come to the women's conference and get up and introduce everyone that she would be petrified for that. So it's either our influencer to go, it's just talking. It's just this or that's just not a role. Right. Keep doing these other ones. So what would advice would you give to your team or just women in the audience? Young business owners, Whatever comes to your mind. Jill, you're up.
Betty Collins [:All right, beautiful.
Jill Frey [:So be fearless.
Betty Collins [:Yeah.
Jill Frey [:Because sometimes you don't think you are. Yeah, just write fearless across your forehead and you're fearless. Just believe in yourself. Because sometimes it's hard.
Betty Collins [:Yeah. Oh, definitely.
Jill Frey [:And be fearless. Ants. Automatic negative thoughts. Get the ants out of your life. Right? No more automatic negative thoughts.
Betty Collins [:Very good.
Jill Frey [:My last one, my employee, one of my teammates said to me this week, it was a rough week, and she said, jill, you're a badass. I said, I don't know. I don't know how I feel it today. She said, I'm not getting off the phone with you until you repeat I'm a badass. And it took her four or five times and I finally said, I'm a badass, but I didn't feel it. And so then all night long I'm like, I'm a badass.
Purba Majumbder [:I'm a badass. I'm a badass.
Jill Frey [:Right. But it took me like, build yourself up, believe in you. So you're gonna have bad days. You are. And you gotta be your number one biggest fan. And you are a badass.
Betty Collins [:Right.
Jill Frey [:Just believe in that and own it, rock it, and be fearless.
Purba Majumbder [:Oh, my God.
Betty Collins [:Yeah. I don't know, good luck. Correct.
Purba Majumbder [:Good luck.
Betty Collins [:But I mean, you, this is the truth. You will never value you like you. Yeah, Nobody will value you like you. And sometimes you just, you have to have that self talk. Because when you are the visionary and you're the leader and you're going along and you're heavily criticized or you're like, no way, no how, and the mindset's not there, you have to realize that sometimes being that is, you're not going to maybe always be popular, or you're gonna feel like you're kind of alone in it, or you're like, why am I carrying this? Why is this on me? Or, you know, why can't someone just step up and be the next woman's leadership director at BradyWear or whatever it is? So. So as that you have to constantly build up and value it and really think of the Women's initiative is worth everything.
Jill Frey [:Absolutely.
Betty Collins [:Absolutely worth it. So it might mean it's hard. It might be in its uphill climb, it might be, I'm going steep. Purba. You're up, girl.
Purba Majumbder [:So for me, I think that there is no perfect moment. Like, you always have to just start it wherever you are and learn and go believe in yourself and go. Because that's the biggest challenge for women, I think that they don't believe in themselves. They don't think that they can accomplish all these amazing things. And that's starting from girls to like, grown up ladies, you know? So I think that because we always think that we have to be perfect, like, we're not ready. Right? So that's my pet peeve. You know, the thing with what I do with any women, whether it be entrepreneur or with young girls, I'm just saying all the time that you can do this. Like, even with my daughter, you can do it.
Purba Majumbder [:You, you will figure it out. You don't have to have all the answers. You have to be. One thing I'm very big on is, like, with my life, I have figured that you have to be resilient. Resiliency is the most important thing in any business or any career path for that matter. Because there's so many people who are going to say no. There are so many people, they're not going to believe in you. That's just how it works.
Purba Majumbder [:But it's up to you to show them what you can do. So those two things, I think are very important for any woman, especially because we are kind of, you know, generationally, we see that, you know, we're kind of that nurturing person right? We don't want to come across being very aggressive, you know, and to that attitude spine, you know, everybody's going to say that she's a badass, right? So we're just so conscious about that. We don't want to be that person, right? So that's why I think it's so important to start very early with the confidence building in any shape or form for girls so that they can get to the point where they actually believe in themselves. Because the last thing is meeting your potential. So there are so many things that I want to do or you know, any woman or girl that I come to in contact with, I always ask them, so what is it that you want to do in life? You know, so many things they will write down or they will tell me and they said that, but I'm not good at it, you know. So how do you maximize the potential? Like what can you do to actually get this person from point A to point B or C or D or wherever they're wanting to go? Not everything is going to be successful. We're always going to have failures. But how do you get up and keep going? I think that is the most important thing with any business, anybody, like regardless what you want to do in life.
Betty Collins [:It's true. I mean, for me, my advice as a visionary or someone who's been there and they've done that, I look, I mean, of course finding someone's potential and you can't put the pressure on because you think it's the potential. You see, this is my passion for you. That doesn't work, right? Doesn't get that doesn't do that. And you have to look at. Sometimes they don't know that they need advice or they don't want, you know, they're just wandering around. And you, but you as a visionary, use someone who's been there and done that. You're to be looking, going, I'm going to help her in this capacity because these are the things she's not seeing it, why would she see it? I also think it's good sometimes for people to get an MBA in whatever they're failing is.
Betty Collins [:So I've told my daughter at times and my son, you're just getting MBA in finance right now. You'll figure it out. Because right now you didn't maybe make good decisions with your money. So you're getting an MBA and you're going to learn through it. But instead of helping them even beforehand, you're going to run out of money, what are you doing or whatever that is. But sometimes people need to go through that. But I look at it as, there are plenty of women who see the potential. They're not even in there.
Betty Collins [:They're not in a mindset, mentally or physically, maybe even to be doing that. And when you see it, you got to go there and help because they're going to become the visionary or support the visionary. You want them to be successful. So sometimes they don't know what that looks like or means. And I had people in my life who kept seeing that in me. And, you know, I'm 61 now and go, okay, I'm Betty Collins. But it took me a long time to kind of get to, you know, it's all good. And.
Betty Collins [:And you're not always going to be perfect and popular or you're going to make mistakes or you're going to feel alone in the mess, and that's okay. But you help people who are kind of in there. So I want to kind of wrap up today just kind of going back to the House of David, which I won't thrive on because I talk about it too much. But in today's world where we have visionaries, we need people who also support the visionary. Play one of the roles, don't miss the role that you have. And when you look at how do I help other women around me, you don't need to be like up at 5 o' clock working out with them, doing all these things, rah, rah. It's sometimes just simple stuff. But when you see people that have that passion but they don't get it to a plan or purpose, help them get there, help them rise.
Betty Collins [:And when you see somebody who has all that, maybe, but they need wisdom and they need poured into and they need the truth that they need some protection, play that role or you know what, just put up with them. There's three ways you can play a role in being the vision or being the visionary. And we all have success at the end of the day. So today was an honor to be with the honorees and of course, the winner. Pooh. We just love, love having you guys here today. And I think this will be good motivation for folks and for people I love.
Purba Majumbder [:Absolutely.
Betty Collins [:This is just a conversation. So you guys close it up, wrap it up, like, do it.
Purba Majumbder [:Such a great conversation, you know, and it's so important also, you know, it's not just about us. It's about the next generation. That's the impact that we leave. What's our legacy? I think all of us are thinking along those lines.
Betty Collins [:So I'm older than you, and yes, I'm thinking legacy, a lot more. But it'll be here before you know it. Just trust me.
Jill Frey [:Yeah.
Betty Collins [:Yeah, I know. That's a great Jill. You're gonna be. You're gonna be the ending. You're gonna wrap this up. Say the whole. The closing prayer by Jill Fry.
Jill Frey [:No, I think it takes a village. It takes everybody. And you nailed it. You just nailed it when you said that. There's the three P's out there. And how do we help each other? Because it's not going to be one person that gets up there. It takes all of us. It takes a community.
Jill Frey [:And that's what I think we found. It's all of us. We all have to teach each other how to use AI. We have to teach each other the future. And what does that look like? But it's not one person, right?
Betty Collins [:And, Pat, journeys are fun when they're harder, but you do need some relief sometimes. And so you just keep navigating and.
Jill Frey [:Don'T give up, don't give up, don't give up. And you gotta have good friends like Betty. You are truthful. You're supportive, and you're truthful. Right? And I know I can come to you. And I know you're gonna give me that, the Betty Collins advice. I know it. And that's why I call you.
Jill Frey [:Like, okay, I meet you.
Betty Collins [:I doing.
Jill Frey [:What am I going to do here? Right? And you need that guidance and you need to be able to call on your professionals to say, help me do this.
Betty Collins [:Help me get there.
Jill Frey [:Yeah, Correct. So I love that about you, and I'm grateful for you.
Betty Collins [:Thank you. Thank you, ladies, for your time. You are very busy women. And how we got this in this quick, and this done is awesome.
Jill Frey [:So fun.
Betty Collins [:So I'm Betty Collins with Inspiring Women. We are glad that we can be with you today. And I would encourage you to look up these ladies, find a little bit about them. They are rock stars, and they will help you get where you need to go. Thank you for joining us on Inspiring Women with Betty Collins. We hope today's episode has inspired you to chase your dreams and break through your barriers and embrace your own unique journey.
