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The Path To Leadership
We podcast about strong leaders, loyal employees, avoiding burnout, and raising profits building strong cultures. Everyone is a leader, but the path isn't always easy. Developing critical skills to build stronger, more successful and profitable organizations.
The Path To Leadership
Leading with Empathy: Kimberly Richtig on Growth and Discovery
Kimberly Richtig thought she could sidestep a banking career, only to find herself entrenched in a world she never anticipated. Hear how a high school job offer turned into a lifelong journey through the banking industry, with Kimberly now leading as the Community Bank President at Interest Bank. Her story revives the nostalgia of traditional banking days, from balancing checkbooks to visiting the bank in person, and reveals how these experiences have sculpted her professional path amidst an evolving financial landscape.
We also chat about leadership lessons learned from a pivotal civic engagement program in Kansas, which opened Kimberly's eyes to the struggles of small towns, like hospital closures and economic stress. This experience underscored the power of leadership in enacting community change and how it informs nurturing team growth back at work. By understanding individual communication styles and fostering employee potential, Kimberly shows how these insights translate into a supportive and thriving workplace.
Leading a multi-generational workforce brings its own set of challenges, and Kimberly shares her approach to fostering accountability and open communication. The dynamic of balancing generational differences, especially with Gen Z's unique values, is crucial. Emphasizing lifelong learning, Kimberly talks about embracing discomfort and seeing mistakes as opportunities for growth. Her perspective on self-discovery and allowing grace in striving for perfection rounds off an inspiring conversation, celebrating the connections and ongoing collaboration fostered through Leadership Kansas.
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Welcome back to the Path to Leadership. I am really excited for this episode. I have another one of my classmates from Leadership Kansas on and someone who we have just had some of the coolest conversations this year about leadership and people. Hey, Kimberly, how are you? I'm great. How are you today? Katie, I am doing well. I am doing well. I am doing good. I was telling someone earlier today it's the season of change with allergies, and we don't want it to get cold, but we also need a deep freeze.
Kimberly Richtig:That's true, it gets pretty warm during the day and it cools down nice at night, but we need a freeze.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, we need everything to just kind tamped down a little bit. Well, can you introduce yourself to everyone who you are, what you do, all of that good stuff?
Kimberly Richtig:Okay, my name is Kimberly Richtig. I am the Harvey County Market Community Bank President, and what that means is I have three banks in Harvey County under Interest Bank that I manage, so I'm pretty busy. There's 23 employees altogether underneath me, so, and they're spread out over the three locations here in Harvey County I take care of the day to day. I've worked in banking for a long, long time, so I'm kind of a jack of all trade and a master of none. I've worked in every department in a bank except a wealth department. But I'm kind of a jack of all trade and a master of none. I've worked in every department in a bank except a wealth department, but I do understand how that works too. So I work for Interest Bank. Interest Bank has locations in Kansas, oklahoma and Arkansas, so, and all the areas kind of that we've been touring too. I love it.
Dr. Katie:I love it. Well, so, for people who aren't familiar with Harvey County, what cities are in Harvey County? Where are you?
Kimberly Richtig:College is in North Newton. Hutch Community College has a satellite in Newton and Newton is known for the railers because it has the Santa Fe rail yards here. So they've been the railers for a long time and a lot of people are late for work, a lot because of railroad tracks. But it also encompasses Walton. It's a very small town Heston some of you may know heston, some of you may know agco corporation uh is based, has a location based in heston and, um, a lot of you probably are familiar with their name black and decker. Um, they make the hustler mowers, the zero turn hustler mowers that you see around there. They're kind of the orangish, sunflower color mowers there. They are based out of Heston. And then there's a small town named Burton, and that's about it for Harvey County.
Dr. Katie:I love it. I love that little community out there. I've been to Newton a few times, but it's one of those. One of my sorority sisters was from Newton, so it's just random. If you don't know, you don't know. Yeah, exactly. Well, can you tell us a little bit about your career journey? Did you always want to go to banking? How did you get to where you are?
Kimberly Richtig:Actually, Katie, I had no aspirations of going into banking. I was in high school and this is a very long time ago and one of my friend's mom managed the bank in our local town and I had been working at a grocery store and she came to me, and this is when I was in high school. She came to me and said I'd like to bring you over to the bank and I would like to have you encode after school. And that's when all the work had to be manually encoded underneath to run it through a processing system, and I did not want to do that. I told her no three times, and then on the third time she came back and said well, you would be making $2 an hour more than minimum wage, and you would have be done at noon on Saturdays and no Sundays. And she had me hooked then, so, and I was also done every evening at six, so I didn't have to work late.
Kimberly Richtig:So then when I went to college, I went to college so that I wouldn't have to work in a bank, because I didn't want to. But when you need money, you go to where you can find a job, and I got a job in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, in a bank and I've just kind of every time I needed a job, I've navigated to a bank. It's kind of a language and you kind of understand it and so it's where you understand and you, as my family says, you talk the talk.
Dr. Katie:When I would imagine too, it's that comfort. Now, I mean you know it, so that it's now a comfort for you.
Kimberly Richtig:And it's always changing. Though I do remember when I was in college, to get extra money, I was a teller, and to get extra money you could sign up to walk around in white tights and ballerina slippers and have a cardboard box, but it was very thin and I was thinner then too. We were hands stuck out but it said try our new product, a cash card. That was the first introduction to ATMs, and so I would walk around the lobby and ask customers if they wanted to try our new product that we were introducing. So that was like when cash cards were first being introduced into the banking world. So see, sometimes you do what you have to do.
Dr. Katie:Well, and can you imagine? I mean I'm going to say this. I hate to say this, but kids these days, like I have a 20 and 22 year old. I know we've talked about yours, but just they don't know the joy of like driving up to a bank and making a deposit and getting a lollipop and, you know, going in and seeing the bank tellers. A lot of them don't know the joy of that.
Kimberly Richtig:Exactly, and a lot of them don't know or understand how to balance your checkbook either, because they do everything online and they don't write checks. So they use everything at point of sale debit cards, and so they see it immediately, and so they feel they don't have to balance their checkbook and it's. It's a different, it's a different animal, but with all new things, old things fall off. Some are good, some are bad.
Dr. Katie:You just have to kind of roll with it because that's the way it is yeah, yeah, and I almost feel like you don't realize that, like cursive wasn't taught to my kids until they had to sign their first paycheck. And then it's like I don't, I don't know how to sign this, I'm like just scribble, it's fine.
Kimberly Richtig:Yeah it's. It's almost like a secret code. Now those of us who know cursive can write something out, because I've had tellers bring me stuff and say what does this say? And it's like it's discursive. It's not another foreign language, it's discursive.
Dr. Katie:That is hilarious. It's like the joy of driving a stick shift car, Like I think that's a perfect anti-theft device is having a stick shift, Exactly, Exactly Well, and it has been so cool because we met, like I said at the beginning, through Leadership Kansas and I know we were talking a little bit about before I hit record about our experience, so can you talk a little bit about you know why you applied for the program and your thoughts on this year and what we've done?
Kimberly Richtig:Well, I have to admit I'm a transplant to Kansas and so I wasn't really totally familiar with it. I had heard it in some terminology and different talking with people throughout the bank here, and so my boss actually introduced me to the program and said that I should apply. And then he put me in touch with other employees who are throughout our network of banks in Kansas and Oklahoma and Arkansas who have gone through the program before and are alumni, and he gave me a list of them and had me reach out to them to see what the program was about. Every one of them came back with such glowing enthusiasm for the program and all of them stated this is like an experience you've never had before. I have to admit, I was maybe a little skeptical. I mean, I work in a bank. We always have to be cautious. I was like, oh really.
Kimberly Richtig:But once from the first session it was amazing and each session I have left thinking, oh, this has got to be the best one. But then the next session it's like this has got to be the best one, because the experiences that we have are so unique and stuff that the normal person wouldn't even have a chance to see or take part in that. I again then find myself going this has to be the best one. But then again we are wowed again and really put a lot of credit to those who are planning it, because they do an outstanding job. And the things they come up with. It's not your normal run of the day, normal path items. It's stuff that's unique and interesting and mind boggling and makes you think. And it also makes you think where am I in this whole scope of economic impact and change through Kansas?
Dr. Katie:Yeah, it's been so eye-opening. I've been very vocal about being a city girl and learning the things I've learned, and even just you hear it on the news in Kansas City about water and the fear of healthy and abundant drinking water. But when we've gone over and listened to you know the garden, cities and the haze and everyone else, it's like oh gosh, it really is concerning. And so now I'm even watching the weather differently, like when it's raining out there, I'm like, yes, they're getting rain.
Kimberly Richtig:Yes, I have to admit, it's really opened my eyes to a lot of things, too, that I didn't think about before, and all of a sudden I'm more attentive to things that I probably just ignored before, and it is an experience like no other, I have to agree.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, and I'm always like we have a really cool program in Kansas City called Centurions and most people have different chamber leadership programs, which is awesome, and I'm always like it's not really leadership development, it's more like civic engagement. But after this program it's like, oh no, it truly helps us all develop as leaders because we're able to really step in and how can we make a difference and what can we do in our communities and all across the state.
Kimberly Richtig:Exactly, and I think it's really cool to see how everything is connected. It's just that is the amazing part, because it's like this whole ecosystem that's all depends on each other, from the water to making sure that the industry runs. And I think I was talking to someone on our last session when we were leaving Mercy Hospital about hospitals in these small towns were gonna have to close and that meant that the industry might have to move out, because to get insurance for their employees, just to run a company and I'm assuming that's through OSHA I need to investigate a company and I'm assuming that's through OSHA I need to investigate that more. They have to be so many miles from a trauma center in case there is an unthinkable accident on the lines or something. So that's just amazing to know that kind of information and to understand the scope of that.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, and the things we truly would never even think about. It's like, oh, now it's top of mind and how do we lean in and make a difference? It has been so impactful and the cool people we meet and the cool conversations that we get to have. I know you and I have a lot of really neat conversations about your work and the work I do, and you know really how we take care of the people that we work with and work for and the development and growth and I know in your role it's really important to you. So how do you do that for your team? How do you grow them and support them and care for them?
Kimberly Richtig:Yeah, Well, one of the things I do for my team, or I try to do, is I try to get to know them, because each one is going to have their own way of connecting. What works for one doesn't work for another, so it really comes down to taking the time into individually spending time with that person. I may have one that she's happy just getting little Teams messages with little GIFs on them, but there's another one she actually likes to have a verbal conversation and so meeting that need to how they communicate is a challenge in itself. But if you really care about your employees, you're going to rise up to that challenge and you're going to find that connectability. I also know that I have great employees here, very smart employees, and I also have employees that they don't know their potential and sometimes you have to encourage them to reach deep.
Kimberly Richtig:And it's never fun, sometimes it's very scary, and to grow and learn is a participation sport. Interest bank, if you're employed with interest bank, has endless opportunities, but you have to participate. You have to. They can't just give you the the opportunities. You have to participate and you have to grow and you have to learn and develop in those and reach for the next step and sometimes that's hard I mean sometimes it's a lot of extra work but that shows that you can persevere persevere through hard things. It also takes and shows you can handle many different things at once. Sometimes that's not a good match for people and they get frustrated A lot of times.
Kimberly Richtig:I was just talking to HR this morning about what someone had done for me. One time when I was very young, my manager brought in a chunk of coal and he put it on all our desks and he said that coal represents you and a day full of problems. And then the next day he brought in it was a piece of glass but it was shaped like a diamond and he put that he gave each one of us. It was a paperweight that we could keep and he wanted us to remember that under pressure weight that we could keep and he wanted us to remember that under pressure coal develops into diamonds and you sparkle in your job. And I to this day still have that paperweight and sometimes I look at that and I think back at that. Sure, it was a hard day. I really had to pull and dig deep and pull out that extra energy, but that pressure is what makes diamonds.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, oh, I love that. What a unique way to have people visualize and really see. And that's so true. I mean, it's through our experiences and sometimes it's our hardest day that we learn the most and grow the most Exactly.
Kimberly Richtig:So the first day when we first got that piece of coal, I have to admit. What is he doing, right, what?
Dr. Katie:are we doing here, bud? It wasn't even Christmas. Yeah, yeah, that's what. When you started the story, I thought where is he going to go with this? But that's really great.
Kimberly Richtig:But it's amazing that had to be and this is going to date me. That's been 30 years ago and it still resonates on a rough day. I remember back that and I still have that paperweight at home and I keep it. It's one of my dear objects. It does hold a lot of stuff down, but it reminds me that out of a tough time, no matter how hard you had to push and how hard you had to drive you want to make sure you turn into the sparkle.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, and I think it's those gifts. It's so funny because sometimes it's the negative stuff that most of the time it's the real negative stuff that sticks with us, but those little gems and those little pieces of nuggets of gold is so beneficial. I had someone early in my career, you know, pull me aside and say you need to learn a lesson, now that you know in work it's going to be hard and not everything's about you. And sometimes it can always feel like it's about you, like you're making a mistake or you're not living up to potential. But it's not all about you and the sooner you learn that, the better your life will be.
Kimberly Richtig:Yeah, that the better your life will be. Yeah, and I've also told my employees too. Sometimes we've had days where it's been extremely busy and we're short-staffed and everybody's. You know, it seems like the biggest projects come that day and you know, I always tell people just dig in. And those are moments that a team will bond and solidify because they need each other to get through all of it. If everything goes happy, go lucky day. You know, people don't have that time to work together, get in the trenches and bond and I think great relationships come out of those times too, because you, you can depend on your other coworker. Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Katie:I agree, I agree. I'm also wondering, though, with you know, you as the leader in the organization, sometimes leading and being kind of at the top of that can be hard and be lonely. So how do you lead when sometimes you feel isolated or you know how do you do that and take care of yourself as well?
Kimberly Richtig:Yes, sometimes it can be very isolating, katie, especially when you're trying to make sure a team is refocused and back focused on our mission. You know it can be hard to be the one man out saying no, we need to remember why we're here. This is not a game. We need to be professional in our business and you feel like you've just rained on their parade and you turn back and you go back to your office and you feel like you're going to have a bunch of arrows in your back. But you have to always remember why you're here and if you're not keeping employees on track and clearly defining expectations and making sure that the reason you're here is being basically done every day, then you're not doing your job. And sometimes there's tough conversations that have to come out. There's conversations that need to be.
Kimberly Richtig:An employee needs to be held accountable, because you can't sweep it under the rug, because bad behavior is like a mold it grows and it's infectious. And I've been blessed here. I have really good employees and they, for the most part, always know what they're supposed to be doing. You know people will be people and sometimes it's a little bit more fun to watch a video on your phone if you're slow than what you're supposed to be reading as compliance, because compliance is really dry, right. Be reading as compliance because compliance is really dry, right. But you know, you, you have to always remember too that they're people too and you can't just constantly drive them. They have to take back and have some fun, and so we try to do some fun things too, but it is something that when you have to lead and you feel alone, you have to be strong inside and you have to be willing to be alone and be okay with that.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, I think you're so right and I, when I was in the corporate world, you know, I was constantly having to remind people like you know people all are not going to like you all day, every day. We want them to respect you and to, you know, appreciate you. But I mean, if everyone likes you all the time, you're not holding people accountable, you're not making the difficult decisions, you're not pushing them to work harder and and you know, I don't want I want to think I'm a horrible human being and that I am unlikable. But also there's sometimes you got to have those difficult conversations with people.
Kimberly Richtig:And it's also part of coaching them to do the job that is expected to them. And if you're not doing that, I mean, one day it's one video on a phone, next day it's two, and they're being paid for their time, and so there's no other company that has a different philosophy. So they have to realize that we're trading time for money, and so they're working on our mission and we're paying them money to do that.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, and we're in such a unique time with the five different generations in the workforce. I'm sure you're dealing with it. I know we've talked about it before. It's such a unique, unique time and I actually just posted something recently on LinkedIn about. You know, gen Zs are getting fired at a faster rate than anyone ever before, which I understand because you know Gen Zs have some definite challenges they have to learn through. But I also think it's important for organizations to have those hard conversations and to train all generations and to support them and to not just walk away when it gets hard.
Kimberly Richtig:Right, well, I understand, and I mean there's different expectations in each generation too. I mean, I mean I came of the generation where you had to volunteer for almost everything so that you could be noticed. And you know gen z's their time is means something to him too. Not that it doesn't for me either, but you know they, they time to do their own personal things is more important than money. You know, and yeah, I mean, understanding that whole dynamics of each one of those generations helps a lot to understand and helps you to make those conversations with them.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah, I always tease. As a 48 year old woman, it's like. You know. I wish I would have said the things that my 22 year old says when I was 22. I mean, we, we did, we just came in and we did the work, and then we grumbled, and then we, you know, went home and did more work and and grinded. And you know, I don't think either is right or wrong and I think, as I continue to coach my 22 year old, he can, he can still ask for what he wants, but he can do it in a very respectful way, right, well, and you talk about leadership being isolated too.
Kimberly Richtig:I mean sometimes an employee who wants to do their job and follow what's required and meet expectations.
Kimberly Richtig:They can feel isolated too, and that's a hard place for them too.
Kimberly Richtig:And so I tell every employee in this market that my phone number is posted on our employee site and I'm available 24 seven, because if a problem is bothering them, I don't want to wait till the next morning or the next Monday, because I want them to spend the time with their family, not having that cloud hanging over them.
Kimberly Richtig:Call me, I don't care what time it is. I've had employees call me at 1 am because something was bothering them and they couldn't sleep and I said that's perfectly fine, we've talked about it, and then we've made a resolution to there's things we're going to do next morning or Monday and we're going to take and get that problem fixed. And then they know there's already a resolution in the works and I just I don't want things like that to ruin their time with their family, because that's valuable, and so that's the policy that I've always done, and I have a number of employees who have thanked me for that, because they said sometimes they just worry so bad and then they find out it's not really something they should have been worried about and they can't get that time back.
Dr. Katie:Yeah Well, and I mean I think that says a lot of you as a leader that people are willing to like. I always hear people say well, I have an open door policy and no one comes in, and it's like why don't they come in? Do they not trust you, do they not believe you? And so I think that says a lot about you as a leader that people are willing to be like. I know it's 1 am, but we don't want to happen in all the time though.
Kimberly Richtig:But you know what? If they're focused on their problem and they can't sleep, are they going to come the next day and perform at their top peak? No, they're not. It's going to impede their sleep. They're going to be worried about it. It's going to impede their time with their family, and it may be something that's an easy resolution. I mean, the other day we had one that an employee contacted me about. It took five minutes and she was like wow, I was so scared to even tell you about this and I'm so glad I did, and nobody's going to ever, ever get upset. We just need to find a solution. That's all it is, and sometimes it's a Rubik's cube, but we'll just keep turning that cube until we find it right.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, that's cool and you're so right. I think sometimes we get things so wound up in our head that when we vocalize it and then someone says, oh, that's not a big deal, it's like, oh, why didn't I do that sooner? What a good message. Well, and I know another thing that we talk a lot about is lifelong learning and being open to ideas and opportunities. So why is that so important to you and how do you continue to invest in your own growth?
Kimberly Richtig:I just think life is always changing all around us, from the season which we talked about to technology, and you have to be a part of it or you're going to be lost and you're going to be in a world you don't even know how to operate in. I read all kinds of books on different topics of how to coach people, employees, how to, you know, have better relationships. Just because you read them doesn't mean you have to follow everything, but you can sure glean ideas here and there, and I just. It's so important to learn because your mind is a muscle, your brain is a muscle, and people I always laugh.
Kimberly Richtig:People go to the gym and work out because they want to be fit and strong, but yet they finish school and they think they're done. You have to push on and you have to keep learning and changing. It doesn't matter if you're going on to become a PhD which I think is a great aspiration but or if you're just learning a new craft or a new way to do something. You need to always keep fresh thoughts coming to your mind and you can pick and choose what you want to keep in the mind. That's your choice, but you need to always be exposing yourself to new ideas, new thought processes, new ways of thinking. That's the wonderful thing about my job. Here I have so many employees that range from my age to one that is just 20 and everything in between, and so we have all kinds of different ideas on different things, and I always tell my employees everything's a safe zone.
Kimberly Richtig:You can discuss anything you want to discuss, because that's how we learn from each other. It is like a magical thing. You can tell me what you think on different subjects and I can tell you. Now, we don't even have to like the same subject, right, but we learn things and we learn a point of view, because if I'm sitting at a table and I'm looking at you, katie, I'm seeing things this way. I see nothing that's here, but you're on the other side of the table. You're seeing everything behind me. We put those things together and it can be very powerful. We can learn. We also have different cultures in our bank. Very powerful, we can learn. We also have different cultures in our bank, and it is so exciting learning from the different cultures, the different ways they celebrate things. I mean, I feel like that is a true gift I get, and that's what learning too. That's not in a school, that's just learning and caring.
Dr. Katie:So yeah, that is so powerful and I I had a good friend about now it's been four years and he told me one time he was like you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable Like that's where the learning really happens and really pushes ourselves and allows us to be open to experience other things and, to your point, we don't always have to agree or like it, but to be open to it and to take in that new information and the amount of stuff that I've learned.
Kimberly Richtig:Just being open and willing to accept other ideas I don't have to keep them, I don't have to like them, I don't have to even agree with them but just to understand where that point of view is coming from has been so valuable. I mean, and sometimes, you know, it's changed my thoughts too. You know, I can see that now, and if I would have not been open to that learning and understanding, I would have missed a whole great opportunity.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah Well, and I find myself coaching so many younger adults and I always tell them like who I was when I was 20 and 22 and even 30, like I don't even recognize that person anymore and if I would have not continued to grow, not continue to push myself, like it's just so important to to keep that going and to keep moving along and and to not get hung up on the things that we've done in the past, right or wrong. They're all important lessons that we experience past, right or wrong, they're all important lessons that we experience.
Kimberly Richtig:Exactly. Yeah, I know one of your questions is you wanted to know if you could share, if I would share with you mistakes or missteps in my career. Oh boy, my whole life. I'm the queen of mistakes. I've had lots of mistakes in my life, but any person does any human makes mistakes all the time.
Kimberly Richtig:It's what you do with those mistakes. I mean, I always feel like when you make a mistake, you're in a fork in the road. You can either take it as a negative thing and beat yourself up internally. You know why did I do that? That was dumb. You know those are all negative things. Who does that help? It helps no one. It makes you feel worse. It doesn't resolve the mistake.
Kimberly Richtig:But I try to take mistakes and I try to encourage my employees to. If you make a mistake, use it as a learning process. Learn why. Why did that happen? What were the factors that led to that mistake? What was the outcome? How did we fix it? You can learn so much from mistakes and that's the important thing you need to take and make sure you're learning from those mistakes.
Kimberly Richtig:And truly, is a mistake really a mistake? I mean, unless you're a brain surgeon and someone dies in surgery. I mean, we all make mistakes that we learn from and it makes us a better person and we grow from them and that mistake may be the may be the springboard to something else that's even better for us. Some of my biggest mistakes that I thought were terrible ended up being good and ended up being my career. When I first graduated from college, I went to New York and I was going to design clothes and I actually had a job and didn't really enjoy all the hustle and bustle of New York and after three weeks I came back to the Midwest and went to work in a bank and you know it's been my career. So mistake is is it really a mistake? Yeah, Unless somebody dies, I don't think it's a mistake. It's a learning opportunity. Yeah.
Dr. Katie:Well, and I love that, and that's exactly why I love that question so much is because I think so often we get hung up on the things that didn't go right in our career journey and, yes, it didn't go right for that moment, but if for not that happening, you would not be where you are, and I think it's important for us to acknowledge that and learn from it and grow.
Kimberly Richtig:If I could take a chance. There's one thing that I always think about when I do a mistake or I'm trying to make a big decision, that it's like, oh, if I do this, will this happen, will this happen? There's a movie and it's quite dated and I believe Ashton Kutcher was in it, and it's how something bad happens and they try to go back and change it, and then how it changes everything along the way. And I always think about that that when you do something and you feel like it's a mistake, is it a mistake or was it a learning opportunity that made you catapult to this next level? Because if you go back and you correct the mistake, would it change the outcome and something else may not happen. That was good for you. I mean, it's a mind-boggling movie. I spent many, many hours thinking about it and equated it to my life, without any resolution.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, well, it's so true. My husband will say all the time I wish I wouldn't have taken this job in Jacksonville when he was 22. And I'm like but if you wouldn't have gone to Jacksonville you wouldn't have realized that that wasn't the right fit and you wouldn't have come back to Indiana State. And that's when we met. He had been. He left Indiana State, went to Jacksonville, came back and I met him on day three of him being back in town. But if he wouldn't have gone to Jacksonville he would have gone and seemingly gotten some fantastic job someplace else at some point. We would have never met. I met him at his coming back celebration. I was with my boyfriend at the time, but that's a whole nother story. But he can't dwell on making that choice because without that we wouldn't have the life we have now Exactly.
Kimberly Richtig:Well, I think back, they've have some noted events at 9-11, and 9-11 is very much resonates in me because when I was a senior in high school I was a delegate to the United Nations on a youth envoy for the state of Nebraska and we were in the United Nations building and so I was in those buildings. I remember taking the elevators. You couldn't take one elevator to the top. You had to take and go so far and then get on another one and go so far. And I still remember we went to the top and it was just, it was so eerie up there Because you could feel the building kind of move, and so I knew what it was like to be in that building.
Kimberly Richtig:And when that happened, that was also I started with. I moved to Kansas and I started with this bank the day before 9-11. So I know my higher date. It's embraced in my brain. But there's so many accounts of people that you know they woke up late, their alarm didn't go off, so they didn't make it to work, so that was a bad thing, that was a mistake, but was it it saved their life? Yeah, people who stopped at donuts and they were running late. One person's battery was dead. It's just amazing how those things all added up and they're still alive because of that, but they were considered mistakes.
Dr. Katie:Yeah, yeah it is. It helps you reframe so much of those things and that's why, again, I just I love this question, because I, I just think it is that opportunity to reframe and to to bring it back to reality.
Kimberly Richtig:So and I think so much of our life we're spent trying to be so perfect and we miss the whole opportunity to know ourselves and just be happy with ourselves.
Dr. Katie:Yeah yeah, I think that's such a beautiful point and that is a perfect wrap up to this conversation, and I think everyone needs to take the time to get to know themselves and to give themselves some grace. So thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us today, and I have just loved getting to know you through Leadership Kansas, and I look forward to as know you through Leadership Kansas and I look forward to as we were talking about before hitting record many, many, many, many, many years of continuing to grow with each other and get to know each other. So thank you so much.
Kimberly Richtig:And Katie. The feeling is mutual. I have enjoyed getting to know you. You're a fabulous person and a great inspiration.
Dr. Katie:Oh, you're so kind. Thank you so much. Well, and thank you everyone for joining us on this path to leadership, and I will talk to you next time. Bye, everyone.
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