As a business owner, nobody has it all figured out. It’s your drive and vision that get you to the place you desire. Adam Nugent and Kate Strong welcome Kimber Jaynes to the podcast. She is the founder of Borboleta Beauty. Learn about her incredible road to success and the drive to make it happen. Being able to pivot during tough times while keeping your vision is the way to get to the next level.
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Before having her multimillion-dollar business, Borboleta Beauty, founder Kimber Jaynes was $50,000 in credit card debt, being advised to file for bankruptcy, and unsure of what her future held. In this podcast excerpt, she talks with Adam Nugent and Kate Strong about hitting rock bottom at age 21 and how that led to the creation of her company.
KJ: My debt was all clothing. It’s like you said, who’s giving a 21-year-old a $6,000 credit card limit? Well, Nordstrom is, American Express, you name it. So, I was just racking it up in three months. My parents were going through this gnarly divorce. I just shopped—that’s how I coped with it. I have $50,000, I’m maxed out, and I’m making $6 an hour. This is a huge problem. I think for me, that was the best thing that could’ve happened to me in my life. I hit rock bottom at 21. The only way out is to work and pay this off. There’s no other way out of this. That was my huge driving force and motivator in starting my brand.
AN: You can either rise to the occasion, I mean, some people thrive off of it, others crumble under it. To be able to do so at such a young age and work your way out in such a short period of time is commendable.
KS: I applaud you big time because you could’ve filed bankruptcy, or maybe done some other things. But for you to say, “You know what, I did that and I’m going to do something differently.” How did that fuel you? To know in one year, if I can make $50,000 to pay off my credit card debt, then what?
KJ: I think what hit me really hard was my mom sitting down with me and going through all my credit card statements. We were assessing the damage. My mom is just totally shattered from the divorce, and she’s trying to clean up everything she’s dealing with. Then her oldest daughter is on this trajectory that’s really scary for her. She’s like, “$50,000 is what I make in a year!” My mom is a teacher, and she said she couldn’t help me. Obviously, my dad was a mess and couldn’t help me. It was a really hard wake-up call for me. I remember my mom getting emotional and saying, “Kim, I think you should file for bankruptcy.” And I remember thinking, “That’s not an option for me.” I was like, “No, Mom, I’m paying this off.” . . . I don’t want to sugar coat it. I worked long hours. I was taking clients from seven o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock at night. I said no to doing stuff with my friends. And I really put that motive at the forefront of my mind—everything came behind paying off the debt. And I’m so glad that I did that. I think that’s something that I’ve carried into my business. If I know that this is going to be something long lasting, I’m going to put my whole heart, soul, and energy behind this. If it’s a flash in the pan, I’m going to put it behind me and just move forward from it.
