Welcome to another empowering episode of Superheroes in Heels, the podcast where women like you and me rise above limitations, break barriers, and lead with boldness and confidence. I’m your host, Kimberley Borgens, and today I’m inviting you into an honest, transformative conversation about something we rarely address out loud but feel every single day: the invisible tax that strong women pay—at home, in business, and everywhere in between.
If you’ve ever been the woman everyone depends on—the one who’s expected to remember every birthday, handle every crisis, solve every problem, and do it all while wearing a smile—this episode is for you. I’ll open up about my own journey, from building successful businesses in male-dominated industries to raising kids and navigating marriages, sharing the truth about the emotional labor and unspoken expectations we silently carry. You’ll hear about the “nice woman tax,” the competence tax, the pressure to always be calm under pressure, and the very real danger of equating our worth with constant availability.
But this isn’t just about exposing the problem—it’s about finding solutions. I’ll guide you through practical steps to break free from these invisible burdens: how to set boundaries without guilt, delegate outcomes (not just tasks), and create a powerful support network—or as I like to call it, your very own Justice League of strong women. We’ll talk about the power of saying “no,” letting others experience discomfort for true growth, and redefining what it means to be a leader without losing yourself to exhaustion.
If you’re ready to stop paying the price for being “the strong one” and start reclaiming your confidence, self-worth, and passion—whether you’re a working mom, business leader, entrepreneur, or aspiring trailblazer—then join me for today’s deep dive. Share this episode with a woman who needs to hear she’s not alone, and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for more conversations on women’s empowerment, leadership, and thriving in business and life. Together, let’s embrace our superpowers and remember: real strength means knowing you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.
Let’s get started—your superhero journey continues right here!
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Welcome to Superheroes in Heels, the podcast where powerful women rise, lead, and own the room. I'm Kimberley Borgens, your host, fellow trailblazer, and unapologetic advocate for women in the world of business. With over 30 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. You ready? Let's go. Well, hello, superheroes. Let's talk about something today that isn't talked about nearly enough.
Kimberley Borgens [:
No, it's not burnout. It's not imposter syndrome, and it's not work-life balance. Today I want to talk about the invisible tax that women pay every single day simply because she is the strong one, right? The one that everyone calls the one who figures it all out, the one who holds it all together, right? Who can handle it, the one who doesn't break, at least That's what everyone thinks. Because here's the problem: the stronger that you appear, the more weight people hand you. Have you ever noticed that? Eventually, everyone just gets used to you carrying everything, right? Your family, your business, your team, your clients, your marriage, your finances. the aging parents, your community, your friendships. Have you noticed that everyone leans on the strong woman? I mean, come on, we've all heard the saying, right? If you want something done, give it to a busy woman, right? That's what happens as the strong woman. It's the invisible tax that we are paying for carrying the weight of everything on our shoulders.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Have you, have you noticed that Everyone leans on you as the strong woman, because if you're listening to this today and this is you, or maybe you have a strong woman in your life, this might be the most important thing that you could really hear. Nobody asks the strong woman, who's holding you up?
Kimberley Borgens [:
They don't.
Kimberley Borgens [:
So today I'm pulling back that curtain. And I'm going to call out what the invisible tax is that strong women are holding and paying the prices for. But most importantly, I want to share with you some ways that you can stop paying so much of the tax, right? Let's find some legal loopholes in these taxes for women. Okay, that's what today is about. Look, as many of you know, I've spent more than 3 decades in business. I built companies, raised 4 kids, navigated marriage. I've even navigated a divorce and single motherhood, financial struggles, industries where women were often, you know, only one in every room. So I have some experience of some of the things out there.
Kimberley Borgens [:
And from the outside, people often look at me as successful woman and as you as a successful woman, and they think, oh, she's got it all together. But can I tell you something? Look, the stronger that you become— ain't just gonna say it, right— the less grace that people tend to give you. People Stop asking if you're tired. They stop checking in with you, not because they don't care, but because they assume you got it. You got this. You can handle it all. You don't need me. I don't want to waste your time.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I heard that on a call this morning. Well, I didn't want to waste your time. I want to respect your schedule. I'm like, pick up the phone and call me. If I'm not available, I won't answer. But I'll get back to you as soon as I can, right? Like, because everybody just assumes that we've got it, we can handle everything, we are the best at it. And the strong woman, she gets trapped inside her own reputation. Imagine that tax that we're paying.
Kimberley Borgens [:
You know, I recently had a Glassdoor review. that stated, you know, for our company, and it stated that the CEO is rude. They didn't put their name on the review, but I can tell you exactly who, who that person was. And the CEO, yeah, that would be me. She wasn't rude. She was being factual, and they didn't like it. They wanted to try to manipulate me into getting what they wanted, and I was just stating the facts, and they didn't like it. They were rude.
Kimberley Borgens [:
They hung up on me instead of trying to resolve it, and then went to somebody else to complain about me for being rude, which was interesting because all of my calls are recorded. And so they listened, and they go, no, there's no rudeness here. So it's interpretation. It's what people experience about you. It's what people The tax that women pay for being strong, for being— for holding boundaries, for setting the expectations, right? So I really wanted today to kind of break that down a bit. And, you know, women aren't just carrying responsibilities, they're also carrying the expectations. And trust me, expectations are heavy. There's the expectations that people tell you about and then the expectations that they never even speak.
Kimberley Borgens [:
It's an unspoken expectation. that we can never live up to. And I wanna break that down a little bit today. So let's talk about some of the taxes that we strong women are paying each and every day in our businesses, in our lives, and with the people that we love the most. Okay? How many of you have ever, you know, how many of you know everyone's birthday? Like, you know your family's birthday, your dog's birthday, your doctor's birthday, your— your best friend and all of her family's birthday, you could pretty much just state it and, and know it, right? Every doctor appointment that everyone in the household has to have for the year, like, oh no, there's a doctor appointment in there. Let me just double-check and make sure I have the right date. But you know it. Come on.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Every medication that you need to take or your kids need to take or your husband needs to take or your mom needs to take. Are you getting the point? Every school event that needs to happen. What items on the grocery list is running low? What family conflicts are going on, right? Every vacation plan and every holiday meal. Like, you know these things. You're running a corporation called family. Many of you think that you're not a corporate leader, but if you are a mom, if you are a family member, a wife, you are running a corporation called family. And half the people in the organization don't even know that you're the CEO. People think that everything just magically happens, right? They don't.
Kimberley Borgens [:
And someone is making it happen. Usually it's mom. Now, I am not dissing men. I want to be very clear, okay? I— my husband does an amazing job, but I think sometimes they think that the magical fairies come in and Boom, it's all done. It's not, okay? But the truth is, is that the women in the households are usually the ones carrying this emotional labor tax within their family. I just want you to be real that this tax exists. It's taxing on your heartstrings. It's taxing on your, your, I don't know, your cortisol levels.
Kimberley Borgens [:
That seems to be the word of the day. It's taxing on your humanity and your compassion and your self-care and you name it. It's taxing because you're the person who remembers everything, is trying to get everything and organize everything and still being a businesswoman too. And it's a lot. And that's a price that you are paying all the time. How about tax number 2, the nice woman tax, right? Just like that person who left the review, they expected me to be nice instead of being factual. Ladies, raise your hand. I mean, seriously, come on, raise a hand.
Kimberley Borgens [:
You can be alone and still raise your hand to God, right? If you have ever been told you need to be confident but not intimidating, be direct but not rude, Be ambitious, but don't make others uncomfortable. Speak up, but don't be aggressive. Lead, but make sure everyone likes you. Are you exhausted yet? Because the rules keep changing. A man walks into a meeting and says exactly what he thinks. People call him decisive, right? Authoritative. A woman walks into the same meeting, says the same thing, and she's difficult. She's bossy.
Kimberley Borgens [:
She's emotional. She's too much. Women are constantly being asked to shrink themselves so that other people can remain comfortable. I mean, come on, we've all seen the scene in the Barbie movie, right, where America Ferrera lays it all out. If you haven't, go look it up. Okay. It's hard to pay that tax of perfection and then have people complain because you're always trying to be a perfectionist. Did I hit the nail on the head with that one? Come on, ladies, that's a tax.
Kimberley Borgens [:
The nice, the nice woman tax that we seem to have to pay all the time. All right, the 3rd tax, the competence tax. Yep. Have you ever noticed that the more capable that you become, the more work you receive? Not less work, more. At work, you're asked to take on extra projects. At home, you're expected to solve everyone's problems. In business, clients expect immediate answers. They don't even want you to have time to research it, right? Family members assume you're gonna figure it out.
Kimberley Borgens [:
People reward your competence by giving you, I don't know, additional responsibilities.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Right?
Kimberley Borgens [:
And then you're not promoted. I can't go higher than wife and mom. I don't get promoted in my home office. I'm the CEO in my business. I— there's no promotion there, right? And yet everything just keeps getting piled on, dumped on, overloaded, because you're competent and capable, right? This tax Really starts to feel heavy after a while. Are you seeing the taxes? Are they becoming clear right now? How about tax number 4? Okay, the calm under pressure tax. Strong women become everyone's emergency contact. Have you noticed that when things go wrong, guess who gets called?
Kimberley Borgens [:
Right.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Someone gets sick, someone quits. Finances get tight. When a relationship hits turbulence, everyone is calling the strong woman and she has to stay calm. Look, they're expecting you as that strong woman to absorb everything, right? Absorb the stress. Don't show it. Don't crash under pressure.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Right?
Kimberley Borgens [:
But here's the thing, right? Calm doesn't mean unaffected. It doesn't mean that you weren't affected by it. Strong doesn't mean unhurt. You can be strong and still hurt painfully. And capable, it doesn't mean limitless. Like, I, I had family members that used to call me whenever somebody that they knew or somebody in their family got sick and they expected me to solve it. You know, I'm pretty good at the simple things, but I had to keep saying, call your doctor. I didn't go to medical school.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Call your doctor. How am I running a business in security and still expected to be the doctor to everyone else? I don't know how that happened, but I, you know, did have 3 daredevil sons, right, that had a lot of doctoring happening within our household. And I was able to stay calm under pressure because that tax was required. It's how you keep everybody else calm. Look, my husband and I, we were going out. I remember we were going out for a Valentine's cruise with another couple, some, some dear friends, and we're just walking out the door to go get on the Delta cruise around here. And all of a sudden, one of my kids come running out the door. Mom, mom, mom.
Kimberley Borgens [:
So-and-so just cut their wrist. And I'm like, what? And I go in and my son had been mucking around with his pocket knife and he slit his wrist. Thank you, Jesus. He missed the artery and it was just a pocket of skin that he actually cut, but it was quite large. Now, this is my kid who passes out when he gets his finger pricked to test his iron. Okay. Not so much today, but when he was younger, like every tiny bit of pain, he had zero pain tolerance. And I look at him as he's sitting in the chair and he's white.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Okay, I swear he thought he was going to die in that moment. So I was like, okay, calm under pressure, Mom, right? I go, I get some little bandages, you know, the little butterfly Band-Aids. I bandaged up his wrist. I had the kids get ice, put the ice pack on it, told his other brother, you know, his older brother, look, if it starts bleeding, if he passes out, Call an ambulance. Let us know. We'll get back here as soon as possible. And I went on my merry way, okay? Because that's what moms raising daredevil sons do. But he was fine.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I could see, yeah, he went white because he has zero pain tolerance, right? But this, this can be— this, this space for us moms who have to handle everything can be, you know, it can become very dangerous for us as women, right? Eventually, women begin to believe that their worth comes from carrying the heavy load, right? They become addicted to being needed. I just paused there for a second for you to catch up with that one. Okay? Not because we enjoy the suffering, because that's kind of what happens, right? But because somewhere along the way, we started confusing being valuable with being available. Let me say that again. We confuse valuable with being available, and they're not the same thing, ladies. They're not. So all these taxes, why do women keep doing it? Why do we keep doing these things? Okay, here's the point I'm gonna make right here. We are not blaming this on society, okay? We're We are not blaming everything in life on society.
Kimberley Borgens [:
So we just need to be honest here. Some of this isn't just what others expect. Some of it is what we allow. I know because I've done it. Okay? We tell ourselves, it's faster if I do it. Nobody does it right. I don't want to burden anyone. I'll take care of it.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I'll figure it out. Until suddenly we're carrying hundreds of pounds of responsibility and wondering why we're exhausted, ladies. Oh, a lot of the times we've put that on our own shoulder and we cannot blame anybody else. Strong women often become the victims of their own capability. Yes, ladies, I'm talking to you. Don't worry, I've had to look in the mirror and talk to me too, right? We've created a lot of this for ourselves. We've imposed some of those taxes because we thought it would be easier, it would be quicker, and we could control all of it. Any of my control freaks out there?
Kimberley Borgens [:
Hmm.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Okay. Let me repeat this. We've imposed some of those taxes because we thought it would be easier, quicker, and we can be in control of it all. But guess what, ladies? There's a breaking point. Every strong woman has one. It becomes a health issue. It becomes burnout. Maybe it's the tears in the shower.
Kimberley Borgens [:
How do I know all this? Like I said, I've been there, I've done that. I know this. Maybe it's snapping at people that you love. Maybe it's sitting in your car for an extra 10 minutes because it's the only quiet space that you have. The breaking point isn't weakness. It's a warning signal. Your life is telling you that your, your current system is unsustainable. All right.
Kimberley Borgens [:
And here's what we've learned about that. The goal is not becoming stronger. The goal is about carrying less. Like, I have my regret story just like everyone else. You know, in our early years, I always wanted to adopt a child, right? I went— we, my husband and I, we talked about it. We're like, okay, let's do this. We went to the meetings, right? And we were seriously planning on adopting a child. And then one day, my daughter was relentless.
Kimberley Borgens [:
She was at me just nonstop, and I hit my breaking point, and I snapped, and I yelled at her, and I lost control. She went climbing up the stairs to her room in tears, and I turned around, and my husband was standing there, and he looked at me. And he said, we won't be adopting anyone. And at that moment, I felt that dream of mine to adopt a child curl up and shrivel away into my heart, deep into the most hidden crevice of my heart. And I never mentioned adopting again. My mom guilt got in the way. One major snap and it was done. Look, my husband didn't mean it.
Kimberley Borgens [:
He didn't even realize really what he said. Everything was the heat of the moment. It was many, many years before we even talked about it again. He didn't even realize what happened. He wondered why I put the brakes on adopting. And when I told him, he said he was sorry. He's sorry that that happened. And he says to me, like, look, if you want to adopt, let's go do it.
Kimberley Borgens [:
By then, my boys were all grown and my daughter was in high school, and that dream took a shift. Yes, that was my heart's desire since I was a little girl. I always wanted to adopt a child. But that dream turned into adopting businesswomen and supporting them in growing business throughout the years because I hit my breaking point. And I don't want you women to go out there and hit your breaking point and have a dream shrivel up and get lost forever because of it. These taxes Pay— we, we pay a huge price for these taxes. So how do we solve this? Number one, we have to stop being the sole holder of information. Right? Many women become the family database.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Everybody asks mom, everyone asks the wife, right? The business owner, everyone asks the leader. But what if they had to figure things out? What if they had to— the responsibility had to be shared? What if people experience consequences for forgetting something themselves? Look, we're not Google, ladies. We were never designed to be. Right? And we don't need to store everyone's information. It's okay to have it for yourself. Put it in your calendar. Leave it there. Right? Put your reminders on.
Kimberley Borgens [:
But come back with your own questions. When somebody's asking you something, stop being the holder of information, right? Throw out some questions like, how would you solve that? How do you think that should happen? Why do you think that's a good idea? I remember when my son was in high school and he wanted to go to a friend's house, um, for a party, and he asked like, hey, Can I go to this party? And I wanted to— I told him, I want to tell you yes, but will there be any adults there? Is there going to be alcohol? Right? Is this in alignment with our family values? What was interesting is I didn't hear anything else. He goes, I don't know, I'll have to ask questions. After that, I didn't hear anything else for a while. And so I asked him, I'm like, were you going to go? Did you want to have another conversation around going to that friend's party? And he looked at me and he's like, Mom, I decided not to go. I said, what do you mean? He said, well, I found out that there's not going to be any adults there, and yes, of course they'll be drinking, and I just decided I didn't need to go. See, I let him handle it. I didn't have to tell him no because he already figured it out for himself because I asked him some questions, right? When we allow others the space to learn and make small mistakes so that they can, they can answer their own questions and we stop being the holder of all information, imagine what happens.
Kimberley Borgens [:
For me, that was a turning point with my son where he goes like, oh, she trusted me to solve this. He never said that. That's my interpretation. Okay. But to this day, he now questions, should I do this? Why should I do this? Why shouldn't I do this? And he, and he's an amazing leader as a young man. I'm very proud of how he turned out from that. And my other kids too. It took me a while to start that, okay? Trust me.
Kimberley Borgens [:
But now I just go, I throw it back at them. My husband will say, hey, where does it go? Where do you think it might go, babe? Right? So my— we remodeled our kitchen last year and everything now is in a new place, okay? Everything was redone completely, full gut, right? And now everything is put back in its In new places. And my husband does the dishes. So he says, look, you cook, so I'll do the dishes. So I'm like, great. So I'm like, I love it because I hate to do dishes. Anyway, so what I— what was happening was, is all of a sudden on one counter, all these dishes would pile up. And I'm like, well, I thought you were putting away the dishes.
Kimberley Borgens [:
He goes, yeah, but I don't know where those go. Well, where do you think that might go? We're down to about maybe 2 dishes now. that he'll put out and say, I don't know where this is, and I didn't— I couldn't figure this out. And what I told him, I said, if you really can't figure it out, don't just put it somewhere because then I have to go searching everywhere for it, right? So we set that, set that up. I didn't have to be the hoarder of all information, but I do want to know where my kitchen stuff is. So think about it from that perspective, is, you know, find ways that you are no longer the holder of all information. Solution number 2 is delegate the outcome, not just the task. And you're like, hmm, Kimberley, what does that mean? Well, many women say that they delegate.
Kimberley Borgens [:
All right, raise your hand. You know, you say it. Oh yeah, I delegate stuff out. It's okay. But really what you're doing is creating a double-duty job of being a supervisor. Why? Because you hand off a task to somebody, But you keep the responsibility. You're hovering over them to make sure that it's done your way, to make sure it's done on your timeline, the way that you think that it needs to happen. And just so you know, ladies, that's not delegating.
Kimberley Borgens [:
It's not. That's double work. Okay? It's double work in business. It's double work in our marriages, as parenting, in our leadership. We got to stop doing that. We have to allow people their own outcomes. Even if they do it differently than you would. Okay, they can learn new things by trying to do it the way that their mind thinks it needs to be done.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Now there's different things like, like safety issues. Look, you only light the firecracker one way, okay? And I'm going to teach you the right way. Completely different than I need you to put these dishes away. Or I need you to load the dishwasher and it has to be done my way. Yes, I know, ladies, we got it. We've had so many years experience that we have nailed it out. We are Jenga masters when it comes to loading the dishwasher, and everything should be in there that makes it the most efficient and the most effective for doing the dishes. But guess what? Maybe their way makes sense to them.
Kimberley Borgens [:
And they can learn and grow from doing it differently than you. You don't always have to be there to help solve it. And we need to stop creating dependent children. Let them know that you're the spotter, like on the tightrope, right? But they have to do the work. I go in there and I go, look, hey, I'm gonna just tell you this. This is where, you know, the cups go up here and the plates go down there because they don't fit. Right? I kind of make it a joke because, you know, and then I'll go, okay, really? But the cups go up here, the bowls go here, you know, put it in there, but do the best you can and make sure all the dishes get clean. Right? I just want to make sure they're clean.
Kimberley Borgens [:
So allow them the capability. Allow them to see their capabilities. Let it go. Let go of the responsibility. Let go of it being your way. Let go of it having to look a certain way. If it gets done, it gets done. Folding towels.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Okay, I remember. Okay, here, here it is. So my— here's a little story from my way back when with my ex-husband. So he decided he wanted a divorce, he walked out. Okay, then he had some little hottie move in with him, and then she was doing his laundry and everything else, right? And whatever. So a little while later, he decides he wants to come back to me and kind of like— and I was like, nope. He goes, she doesn't even fold my shirts right. You do it so much better.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Like, you should have thought that before you left, sweet cheeks. Now, I didn't say that out loud. That's what I said inside, because I just didn't have the confidence then. I do now. But it was just— there wasn't anything wrong with how she folded clothes. I'm sure some of you are folding the towels. Your husband is folding the towels one way, and you go back and you redo it all. Oh yeah, but it'll fit in the cupboard better that way.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I get it. And then they go back and go, I can't get it right. I— she's always got to go after me and redo it. Are you seeing my point? All right, stop doing it. Delegate it, release it, let them do it. Be the spotter, support them. Okay, that helps you stop paying those taxes. Solution number 3 is create boundaries without explaining yourself.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I know this one might sting for some of y'all. All right, strong women often over-explain. We justify, we defend, we apologize, we negotiate. Ladies, your boundary does not require a PowerPoint presentation. It doesn't. No is a complete sentence. I can't do that. It's complete.
Kimberley Borgens [:
That doesn't work for me. It's complete. No explanation creates Any reason for you need to have a debate with anybody, right? This is what I need you to do. Can you take that on? Great, go do it. Somebody wants to put something on you? No thanks, I can't do that. Nope, that doesn't work for me. No. And then they want to— well, could you do it if I do, you know? And, and they just want to negotiate with you.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Just stop. Stop the madness. Stop paying the tax. Nope, you got this. I have faith in you. Oh, you just need to find somebody else. I know you'll find them. You'll find the right person.
Kimberley Borgens [:
I'm not the right person this time. It doesn't have to be hard, rude, disrespectful, obnoxious, passive-aggressive— none of that stuff. It just needs to say, no thank you, I can't do that right now. That doesn't work for me. Stop taking it all on, ladies. It's not yours to take on. You're just doing it to protect somebody else, to save somebody else from having to do it, giving yourself peace of mind and, and working yourself to the bone.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Stop it.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Solution number 4 is let people experience discomfort. I know it's difficult, especially us parents. We don't— we're not trying to make sure that everybody— we want to make sure everybody feels good, right? Women, we're often socialized to solve discomfort, right? Oh, I guess it— we got to lighten the mood up. The mood's kind of down, got to lighten it up. You got to be the one to be happy in a hard time? Come on. But here's the thing, growth requires discomfort. I don't know about you, But I have been so uncomfortable throughout my years, right? You have to get uncomfortable to learn the survival skills. Did you hear that? Growth requires discomfort.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Sometimes your husband needs the problem to be solved, and sometimes he needs to solve it. He has to have the hard conversations with the kids. You're not the only one. I remember when my son was standing up in front of the whole audience, the whole, you know, church full of people at his baccalaureate, and he said, Dad, you're, you're my best friend, right? And my husband finally got it. He'd been his best friend most of his life and not as much of a father as he needed to be because he left all the hard things on my shoulders. Sometimes employees need to figure it out. You've given them the skills, right? You've taught them. They have a manual, employee manual.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Guess what? How would you solve that? I get employees who come to me all the time, especially in my office team. Hey, Kimberley, this is what's going on. How, you know, what can we do? How would you solve that? Because I used my— I used to just say, go, go do this. Right? If I'm going to micromanage people, that's how I'm going to solve it, is tell them what to do. If I'm going to be the CEO, I need them to step into it. They need to figure it out. Some of your adult children need experiences with consequences. Rescuing everyone isn't helping them.
Kimberley Borgens [:
What it's really doing is exhausting you. Like I said earlier, you can be the spotter. Like I said earlier, you can be the spotter, but you have to stand back and let them figure it out. It might not turn out great, but imagine what they can learn from it. Imagine what you could learn from it. And my 5th solution for you Is build a support team. All right, look, even superheroes need a Justice League. Okay, you need people to support you.
Kimberley Borgens [:
You need people to understand leadership and understand your leadership style. You need people who will tell you the truth. They're going to be honest, not mean, not harsh, but honest enough to say, wow, you know, I don't know that that's the right way to go about it. Okay, you need people who aren't always trying to get something from you. Right? You need to stop trying to carry life's worth of responsibility all alone on your shoulders. That's not strength, ladies. That's isolation. Look, I know that trust is a hard skill to learn.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Come on, ladies, I'm very clear on that, okay? For the first 10 years of marriage, I tried to get my husband to divorce me because I— we just didn't have that trust. I just knew he was going to divorce me like my first one did. I didn't know what happened there. All of a sudden, we're at our anniversary dinner and he gives me divorce papers. Came out of the blue for me. He'd been thinking about it, and I just knew that my next husband was going to do the same thing. Trust is a hard skill to learn, but can you imagine your life where you feel the support of others because the trust is reciprocated? A superhero woman is not meant to do it all alone. We need other sheroes to walk in with us, to catch us, to guide us, to support us.
Kimberley Borgens [:
That's what mentors are for. That's what coaches are for, right? That's what real communities are for. And look, you can come find me on LinkedIn, share something that you took away from this episode. Look, but you do have to spell my name correctly, okay? You can go to KimberleyBorgens.com, right? That'll help you spell it correctly, but it's K-I-M-B-E-R-L-E-Y B-O-R-G-E-N-S. Ladies, I really want to leave you with this: you do not have to earn worth through suffering. You don't have to prove your value through exhaustion, and you don't become more lovable by carrying everyone else's burdens. You don't need to break before asking for help or having a dream shrivel up and die. Strong women don't lead.
Kimberley Borgens [:
By carrying more, we just don't. Strong women need to learn when to put something down because leadership isn't about sacrificing yourself. It's about sustaining yourself long enough to build the impact that you're that you're really created to make, to build your kids into being better than you. Not to look up to you only. This week, I don't know, identify one thing that you've been carrying that belongs to someone else. One responsibility, one task, right? One expectation, spoken or not. Okay, one emotional burden. And I want you to lay it down this week.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Not forever. You don't have to forever. Just long enough to see what happens. You can still be the spotter, but I believe you've been paying a tax that was never yours to begin with, and now is as good of time as any to lay that one down. And if today's episode hit you, you know, kind of hit home with you, share it with another woman who's caring more than she realizes. And if you're tired of doing all of this alone, come on over to KimberleyBorgens.com. Join our community of powerful women who are learning that strength isn't about doing everything. It's knowing about what's truly yours.
Kimberley Borgens [:
So until next time, you can be powerful without being exhausted. You can be strong without carrying everyone else's responsibilities. In your heels or not, keep embracing your superhero. The strongest women that I know, they aren't the ones carrying the most weight. They're the ones who finally realize that they don't have to carry it all alone. Be blessed. Talk to you soon.
Kimberley Borgens [:
Thanks for tuning in to Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens. 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. If today's conversation lit a fire in you, share it with your network and join us inside the Hive Society at KimberleyBorgens.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.