Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Kala Saenz of Phoenix and surrounding areas

Kala Saenz shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Kala, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
For the first time since I was in High School, I am allowing myself to take a summer break and spend the days playing with my son. Since I was 18 years old, I’ve held a job that required me to work year-round and even taking the occasional few days off in the summer was scarce. My son has had to attend day care since he was 3 months old, but now that I am my own boss (and frankly, the summer is the slow season in my business), I made the decision this year to keep him home with me and spend intentional, quality time together. We fill our days with swimming, local library events, play dates with friends, and art crafts. This time with him has been the most rewarding and fulfilling time I’ve experienced in quite a while, and I take a moment each morning to reflect and acknowledge the incredible privilege this entrepreneurial journey has given me to share this summer with him, and feel the child-like joy I felt when I was out of school for summer break all those years ago. I don’t know if I’ll get the same opportunity next summer, so I am soaking up each day as if it may not happen again.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Kala Saenz and I am an Independent Quality Provider for BabyQuip. If you haven’t heard of BabyQuip, it is an industry leading baby gear rental company, with Independent Quality Providers (like me) all over the world! BabyQuip was established in 2016 with a mission to help families “Pack light and travel happy”, with the most popular rental items being kid-friendly gear like cribs, car seats, strollers, and toys. However, BabyQuip has recently expanded its offerings to include items within the Pet and Outdoor categories. This is a really exciting opportunity for me, as this allows me to continue to cater to families with small children (my bread and butter) but also provide services to others outside of that demographic.

What makes BabyQuip so unique and appealing as both a consumer and Quality Provider, in my opinion, is that each Quality Provider is responsible for how they run their business. This means we own all of our own gear and have creative freedom to rent out different items and packages that meet our particular market’s needs. For example, items like water tables, hiking back packs, camping gear and box fans are common rentals in the summer months here in the greater Phoenix area. I personally enjoy creating fun and unique packages for a variety of occasions to meet the needs of renters in the Phoenix market, whether they are visiting from out of town or local. I offer packages such as soft play zones for young children that are popular for birthday parties, tailgating packages for major sporting events and holiday specific packages. I am a creative individual, so this has allowed me to tap into that side of my brain and come up with rental items that may be a bit outside of the box but still meets the needs of those looking to rent.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
The answer to both of these questions is the same: trust. Whether in a business partnership, a friendship or a romantic relationship, trust is the key foundation for keeping the partnership thriving. If you don’t have trust that someone will do right by you, then you go on the defense and put up walls or develop strong negative emotions about that person, and this breaks the bond between the two. However, if a lack of trust is present, I firmly believe it is possible to rebuild the relationship. It may take time, but a person who has broken the trust of another can work towards restoring the connection by showing up authentically, empathetically and with kindness.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of what other people will think if I go against the status quo is something that has held me back quite a bit in my life. I have resisted living the most authentic version of myself for many years because I am a people pleaser and strive to fit in. Whether it be with friends, family or coworkers, I have had a tendency to stifle some of my quirkier qualities as not to stand out in what I perceive to be a negative way. Perfectionism is partially to blame for this. I often strive to be perceived as the woman who has it all together, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that I’ve come to realize how much more important it is for me to love my full self than it is for other people to like me. In order for me to find success and happiness as a parent, wife, daughter, friend or businesswoman, I need to be true to myself and leverage my uniqueness. It’s a journey of healing that I am still on, but I feel proud of the progress I have made so far!

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I believe there are very smart individuals out there today who have overcomplicated their business model, even if they appear to be successful at first glance. With the plethora of technological advancements we have at our fingertips, it appears that so many people are focusing their resources and energy narrowly onto things like convoluted marketing tactics, complex social media strategies and pouring over analytics to see how quickly they can grow. I am a bit more old school in that I feel like business foundations need to be built on fairly simple principals. The fundamentals of everything I do within my business are rooted in kindness. I live by the Golden Rule in everything I do, whether I’m communicating with a client, preparing gear for an upcoming order or coming up with creative ways to market myself. I love to challenge myself to “wow” my customers with small, kind gestures that leave a lasting impact versus spending dollars on paid ads, for example. Sure, I may get a few leads from the paid ads, but the impression I make on a family who wasn’t expecting me to go the extra mile will result in them sharing their experience with many others. Word of mouth is king in my business!

There is certainly value in leveraging technology to streamline and enhance processes, but getting lost in the minuscule details seems to pull people away from their “why”, their purpose for doing what they do. While my strategy may sound overly simplistic to many, I firmly believe that if I stick to the basics like radiating kindness and showing up with empathy then everything else will fall into place.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
My role as a small business owner and Independent Quality Provider with BabyQuip has me tap dancing at work every day! Each time I receive an email notifying me of an order, I do a little happy dance. As I’m driving to deliver the gear I often reflect on this new career I’ve built, and it still feels like a pinch-me moment, even a year later. I think to myself “how is it that I get paid to do this and I absolutely love it?”, I honestly didn’t believe people when they said it was possible to get paid to do something you truly enjoy.

The majority of my customers are families that are traveling to Phoenix for vacation. When they arrive in town and I’m their first interaction, they are so happy, genuinely happy! I am amazed by this each and every time because my former career was in Human Resources, and as you can imagine I wasn’t often met with positivity in my daily interactions. With BabyQuip, I am saving parents the stress and energy it takes to lug heavy, bulky baby gear through the airport, or they have a sleep-deprived little one who gets to rest in a full-size crib as soon as they arrive at their rental home. So often, I am greeted with “this is such an amazing service” and those words could not be truer. If you are a parent, you know firsthand how hard it is to leave the house to run errands with a little one, let alone go on a vacation! My role is to take the stress out of travel for these families, and as a result they get to fully enjoy their time together and focus on making core memories. I couldn’t ask for anything better!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.babyquip.com/kala142
• Instagram: @babyquip_kalasaenz
• Facebook: BabyQuip Kala Saenz