Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Kristin Kahle.
Hi Dr. Kahle, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Dr. Kristin Kahle. I am a female business owner, and before the age of 30, I earned my first million dollars, sold my company, and started a new one. It wasn’t easy. I had from personal obstacles to major trouble while being a woman trying to succeed in a business world that prefers men. Anger, disappointment, and mostly THE CONSTANT “NO” heard from the people around me made me decide to start my own business. I was “NOtivated” to create my own space in the industry. But I am here to prove that having a personal life, owning a successful company that helps people, that innovates, and supporting other women colleagues can be done. I’m not saying it won’t take time, but we got to do it for ourselves.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Since I was a little girl, challenges have shown up in my life, and everyone around me has said, “you won’t be able to achieve this.” It all begins with me, being a four-year-old who wanted to participate as a donor to my brother Jason, who by the time was eight. A lot of painful procedures and legal issues got in the way; they were the first “No’s.” We were a perfect match for the procedure. And even though I was just FOUR, the transplant was made because I decided I wanted to do it.
The next big “No” appeared to me in second grade at school. I know everyone struggles with one subject or with some bully, but in my case, dyslexia made every single task to be even harder for me. Having trouble with letters and numbers made me gain my teacher’s desperation and some of their contempt, failed tests, and even got me off from the school I wanted. But, then again, that “No” worked as motivation for me to achieve the goal of being accepted.
It required determination, desire, effort, and compromise, but most of everything, it required trust in myself. With help of my parents, tutors, summer school, and other extracurricular activities, I managed to finish high school. At that point, college and business courses became a refreshing wave I wanted to surf. They made sense to me.
After this, my family moved from Ohio to San Diego. I was now studying for an MBA, and by the time I finished, I applied to work at my dad’s new employee benefits business. I did it as any other professional searching for a job would do, having to compete with other candidates, give some references and negotiate my salary.
Frequently I had to prove to my dad that I was more than a capable coworker. Especially when my brother Tim joined the team. He just gained his place and rights there. No references, no negotiation. His own personal problems at that moment included alcoholism, and me confronting him, and my dad ended in a brother and sister constant fight that tended to generate me trouble on work-related stuff.
The constant friction between us lead me to decide to leave the company and start one on my own. That was a hard awakening, but still the best decision I made. Because after that, my career only went up.
Shortly after that, Navigate HCR started. I started the company because in my journey as a professional, I realized there were needs on both sides of the business industry: Needs of the companies and needs of the employees. So, my team and I dedicated to protect American jobs and employees while helping businesses to comply with all the law requirements and make their processes easier.
We’ve been impressed with Navigate HCR, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I have a master’s in business administration followed by a Doctorate in the same area. I studied both while working in the insurance industry and then while working in my own company. Since achieving all these was a long process with many ups and downs, I became a mentor and business coach. I share my knowledge, tricks, and hacks with other female leaders who somehow are in a similar (or maybe the same) position as I was in.
I also became a bestselling published author. A detailed version of my path through the business industry may be found in the books “Crash and Learn,” “NOtivation” and “Lead Like a Woman”.
Besides that, I am the CEO and founder of Navigate HCR, the oldest ACA technology compliance company in the country, which works as an extension of HR Teams to help with everything related to compliance communications and requirements.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
From a business owner perspective, the first thing that came to my mind was that we, as a team, needed to be creative and take our innovations to the next level. Those two things were needed to keep the boat floating. Starting with the team members, trying to motivate them to think outside of the box so all the tasks could be done in a way that could keep them safe from the situation. For some people, it was easier. But for those who were used to having meetings with clients, presenting their proposals personally, and moving to “proper” spaces to do their job, it was harder. It was important to give everyone the tools so they could reinvent their own processes.
Moving on to the clients who needed to feel safe during uncertain times. Some of them got different new needs during the crisis. We needed to understand how much we could help them to solve, to know our own limits as a company and as their collaborators, and to give them options.
And finally, we needed to take care of ourselves and our families. To juggle home chores, work tasks, and personal time. Without it, none of the points previously mentioned would have been completed successfully.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drkristinkahle.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drkkahle
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkristinkahle/
