Founder Spotlight: Naomi Bourgeois

Meet Naomi Bourgeois, our DivInc alumnus featured in this month’s Founder Spotlight series.

Naomi Bourgeois is an entrepreneur on a mission to change the way we give and receive support during impactful life events. She founded KikuPal after she lost her husband to cancer in 2012 and realized that there are a lot of gaps and inefficiencies in the way we support our loved ones during difficult times. While grieving with two young children at home, a full-time career, and a household to maintain, she found that asking and receiving support weeks after the memorial service was not easy. Life events, such as illness and death are inevitable, but the journey doesn’t need to be done alone. KikuPal was built to be your hub of help.

Below, Naomi shares with us a bit about her journey to building a company from the ground up.

Share your journey to becoming an entrepreneur. 

I remember thinking back in early 2012 how I could “see” the rest of my life. I envisioned my kids coming home from college for a Thanksgiving dinner, many years in the future. My husband would have made the turkey, and I would have made the sides… everything was going according to plan. I was a full-time engineer at a startup company with a good corporate salary and my husband was rapidly climbing the ladder at his job as well. Little did I know that later the same year, he was going to be diagnosed with stage four cancer and pass away six months after. It was devastating. The first year, I followed wise advice to not make any big changes, so I continued my full-time job, figured out my schedule for drop-off and pick up at school, and tried to do everything I was normally doing, plus all of those things my husband used to take care of like paying the credit card bills, taking the trash out, picking up the mail, etc. It was not easy! A few months later, on my drive back home from one of my widow’s support group meetings, I realized that my situation wasn’t unique because death is inevitable yet we are never prepared for it. I realized our journeys will all be different but what we all have in common are our needs for a good meal three times a day, wanting to have a safe and clean house, wanting to spend time with our loved ones and friends, etc, and that doesn’t change no matter what is happening in your life. So I started thinking about how I could help other people have a better and more supported experience through grief and other life events. In 2014, I made a significant change in my career and left engineering to become a real estate agent to have a flexible schedule that allowed me to be home for my kids, but I was still thinking about how I could help other people through life events. The idea of KikuPal was born slowly but at the end of 2016 I registered the company and it officially launched at the end of November in 2018. With KikuPal, people can support their family, friends, employees, and coworkers, with practical help such as house cleaning, lawn care, meal delivery, rides, and more. KikuPal continues to evolve and grow… and that’s a great thing. I didn’t plan to be an entrepreneur… I just wanted to make a difference.

What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve faced as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

There are a lot of obstacles, but one of the biggest obstacles for me that is not usually talked about is being okay with vulnerability. KikuPal was born from a very personal experience and even today, sometimes I find it hard to share my story. Also, when you build a company, you are telling the world what’s important to you and what you care about, and that takes courage because some people are not going to like what you are working so hard to offer. In those cases, I remind myself to lean into happiness instead of fear.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own business?

My first piece of advice is to find a cause that you are really passionate about. Building a company is not easy, but if you are really passionate about it, you would find that giving up is not a choice because you can’t help wanting to keep moving forward. My second piece of advice is to surround yourself with people who want to help. Being at DivInc, for example, has been a humbling experience. Their drive and commitment to KikuPal’s success is very touching. Not only they gave us tools, information, and connections that have been incredibly valuable, but also, they have raised our spirits when we were down and reminded us why it is all worthy and needed. You can’t be successful on your own… you need a village!