Kimberly Burson Bodendein

I attribute my success to my faith - God for me, Jesus for me. It's the cornerstone of who I am, and I've seen Him weave His work through my life for a big portion of my adult life. Secondly, just how He made me. I don't know what He has in store for me, I have no idea, but I know He keeps playing around with who I am and where I'm going, so I'm gonna just trust that.

The best career advice I ever received was so simple, but it was just 'You can.' Really, that's it. When I was moving from Arizona to Dallas and didn't have a leg to stand on here, Mr. McCombs told me 'You can, just... that's it.' I remember sitting and having coffee with him, and just the confidence that he had, and the flicker that I had, it all just worked. Sometimes that's all it takes, especially when you have a mindset that's already been established and the confidence, but not the overconfidence because that'll kill you. You have some flicker, some flame that sits in you, and then for someone that has been there, done that to say 'You can' - I had to think about it, had to really process it, decide whether or not I wanted to. And I thought, I can, I know I can. So I did. I know that sounds so crazy simple, but it really is, and I remember the conversation.

My advice to women in the work world - because I think it's much broader than just my industry - is to do the right thing. Oftentimes, we might be pushed to maybe not make the right decision because we feel like perhaps we need to get ahead in ways that might compromise who we are. Don't compromise. Do not compromise. Do the right thing. And if you have that mindset of taking it on and creating your own space in whatever industry you're in, do it. Do it well, do it right. Don't compromise who you are.

At my age, being seen and being heard as a woman in a pretty much male-dominated world of warehouse business and athletic business is a challenge. Every single salesperson on our team is a male. Being seen - they hired me, they knew they hired well - but being seen and being heard in that very male-dominated world, for me today, this is a new thing because I've never felt that way. Sometimes when I'm feeling that way, I'm thinking, okay, how much of that is about me? Am I making my age and where I am in my life cycle a thing versus them making that a thing? So I don't really know if it's really them, or if it's just me. If it's just me and I'm the only one doing that, then I'm my own source at stopping it. I'm already doing good work, but just making sure that I claim that space in that very male-oriented location that I'm in right now. The company is so kind, it's like working for The Andy Griffith Show - I mean that 100%. They're just such an innocent, beautiful company. So maybe I just need to get out of my own way here and just do my job.

Faith is what steers everything for me. That is the hallmark, the cornerstone. Secondly, I would say building something. I think that's where I really like to work - when someone gives me the ability, the autonomy, to work and do my job, I'll do it many, many times beyond expectations. I absolutely value independence and individual thought and drive. Those are things that I value when I see them in other people, and I like to mirror that. I worked for a company prior to this one that was very much about micromanaging, and it was very odd because having built my own thing and then having to work under someone's tutelage and being micromanaged was difficult. So what I absolutely value is independence and individual thought and drive.