Meet Erika Borden | A wife, mom, Veteran, and a Business and Mindset Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erika Borden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in Dallas, TX. My parents divorced when I was 5 and my mother passed away from cancer when I was just shy of 15. Most of my life my dad ran an exotic petshop. We always had alot of animals in our home and both my dad and I were blessed with the ability to really connect with animals and one of our sons has that gift now. My dad would board exotic animals for owners as they had no place else during the 70s/80s to board exotics so they trusted him. At one point, I can’t even remember how old I was now, he boarded a chimpanzee. The man, who boarded her, never returned to pick her up. My dad kept her and this started a new journey. He researched how smart they were and began teaching her sign language and manners. She ate with us at the table and could speak basic words to communicate with us. Before long my dad decided to share this with others and began a business. We had chimpanzees in our house until I was 17. They became little hairy siblings. Some I got along with great and others I did not. Lots of stories from this timeframe. With all I had experienced as a young woman, it really shaped my independence. I can’t say my perseverance at that point but independence yes and stubborn.

I left for college after graduating and a good case of fear of failure set in before I applied to medical school so I joined the Navy instead when I was 20. I was a hospital corpsman. I had good work ethic and strived to promote. My first 9 years were with the Marines. That is where the magic happened. I didn’t know it then though. I was a mess, boy troubles, financial troubles, and that led to more troubles. The Master Sergeant in charge told me that my life was like the fog of war. I needed to focus on the path and the fog was the noise that I needed to tune out. I thought he was crazy and turns out he was very smart.

As I matured into a leader and made Chief (E-7), I truly took a new turn to really help more Sailors and the journey became less about me and more about them. They truly were the future of the Navy and if I didn’t train them – I was doing a disservice to the Navy. The Chiefs are the backbone of the Navy. The transition from E-6 to Chief is one that you walk with humility and with wide eyes. We studied John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and by far had such an influence as well as all the Chiefs who helped me become the best Chief I could be. I was known to those in my office as Excalibur. The one thing you never did was mess with my staff directly. You had to go through me to get to them. They worked hard for me and I promised in return to protect them. Do your job with the right intentions and the mistakes you will make (as we aren’t perfect), I will take the heat for. Any challenges they had were a reflection of what I taught them. So I took the blame for mistakes and I would help create the plan to correct them (if needed). They were very loyal because they knew I had their back.

By this point, my husband (who was active duty too) and I had our first son. A few years after, we had our twins. All boys.
I struggled with motherhood and being a Chief. I knew at that point motherhood would be where I wanted to be and I retired at 20 years when our boys were 11 and twins were 7.

I did rush into a civilian job, as soon as I retired, with the Navy at the hospital and loved working in pediatrics. I truly grew even more. I was the Pediatric Residency Program Administrator. A job I loved. I have such respect for the doctors who not only saw patients but trained newly graduated, from Medical School, doctors to become pediatricians. Not only did I surround myself with the smartest people to take care of our 3 boys but I learned so much watching them. My biggest lessons were all about growth mindset and the constant learning. I had these qualities but never labeled them nor really gave the much thought.

By the time Covid happened, I quit my civilian job because I didn’t want to travel long distance to work and really wanted to focus on creating my own business. Something I had been doing all along – mentoring and coaching. I really wanted to help other women to grow through using a growth mindset and simple business strategies I learned while on active duty. I have 26 years of experience doing this, it just never had a fancy title and something the military left on me for years.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am a business and mindset coach. Using the techniques provided while serving in the Navy, to help and guide women in business to greater success. I am proud of where I came from and what I have learned and I use the same “tough” love approach to my clients. I have a direct approach to helping others and feel that the grit needed to be the business owner you want to be is necessary.

Sometimes we need help remembering just how amazing we are and keep doing that. Tuning out the fog and keep going down the path.

I am know as The GRITTY Coach because of this. The resilience needed to get up when you are thrown challenges and the growth mindset to recognize that they aren’t failures but a way that something didn’t work to follow with forging a new path to keep moving towards your goals.

The biggest challenge I have faced was my connection with people is best in person. Seeing that my gritty side comes from a place of love and not to be harsh in a mean way. So online has been a challenge for me. I had to learn about going live was the best place for others to get to know me. I had to break out of my own imposter syndrome of why others would want to listen to me. But I have 26 years of experience to share. I have recognized my strengths and continue to give that to other business owners.

Lessons I have learned: Social media while the biggest platform to getting your brand out there – is not the end all be all. Find your passion and go for it. Take the risk because it is where the biggest growth comes from. You cannot grow when you are comfortable. That anxious and butterfly feeling you get before doing something big – totally normal. Don’t let it get in the way of doing the thing. Lastly – do what you love and if you have to do other things until you get to that – keep taking steps to get there. Even if baby steps you are still moving forward.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A week long trip would have to include: Disneyland – truly happiest place on earth in the middle of one of the largest cities in the US (but you wouldn’t know it). San Diego Zoo
Hotel Del Coronado
The Maritime Museums (Star of India, The Midway, etc)
Balboa Park,
Old Town – taking the Ghost Tours, Whaley House
Take the Ferry to Coronado and walk around
The Tide Pools and the LightHouse
And if you time it right COMIC-CON
Watch a concert at Humphrey’s By The Bay (reasonably priced and the BEST SEATS)

At the holidays – watch the Boat Parade of Lights in the Bay.
Take a tour of a Mission.

Food:
Miguel’s
Hotel Del
Jake’s in Del Mar
Everywhere in The Gaslamp downtown SD
Coronado
The Yard House
La Jolla has amazing restaurants too
Old Town (great Mexican food too!)

Best Places to People watch:
Downtown
Balboa park
Anywhere on the boardwalk at the beach (Mission, PB, La Jolla)

My personal favorite beaches: Naval Base Coronado (private military beach) and Oceanside pier!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have a few that deserve the credit for who I became: My dad, Michael Stower
The Marines whom I served with My Husband, Brook Borden

The Chiefs who transitioned me to be the leader I needed to be
Naval Medical Center San Diego Pediatricians and Graduate Medical Education
Jenna Larson – Coach

Website: www.thegrittycoach.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_gritty_coach

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/thegrittycoach

Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/thegrittycoach

Other: Apple and Spotify Podcasts: The Gritty Coach – Sharing the HARD truth about mindset and business Apple: https://apple.co/3pL4Gwo Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3J8pB40 Subscribe to never miss out: https://thegrittycoach.kartra.com/page/subscribe

Image Credits
The multi-image. This credit goes to Jenna Larson.