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Chapter 1: What challenges did Katya face as an immigrant?
bulgaria is like an incommunistic country you're not good enough this is the message you're not good enough you better tone it down that is the message that you grow up with and look at you now look where it's led you to yeah well yeah one thing leads to another you never know this is the way to tell my story maybe it's meant to be so i'm just gonna roll with it and it was a
Katya Borisova is a strategic growth-driven real estate professional, investor, and certified appraiser based in Arizona. Drawing from her journey from corporate leadership into real estate entrepreneurship, she helps investors, homeowners, and industry professionals make confident decisions through valuation expertise, market insight, and a passion for building long-term wealth.
tell this to people all the time it feels like you're on on a path and something keep putting like a stone to step on to cross that river like that means you're on the right path you don't say no you just go you step on it and you keep moving i don't know where it's leading i have no no big business no big brand no nothing that doesn't matter to me i'm like if i can inspire one person hearing me talk and say you know what i think if she can do it i can treat you
it spans the globe like a super high school internet elvis today apple is going to reinvent the phone it's not over until i win the living your legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary the impossible oh that is sensational Chicago was the lead. Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. You can live.
Welcome to another episode of the Living Your Legacy podcast for Inside Success. I am Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today is another amazing woman in power, Katya Barisova. I've got some show notes. She is the founder of a Bulgarian school and grew a real estate portfolio to create opportunities for others while staying true to her values. Katya, wow, what an intro. How does it feel?
Feels grande, but I'm just a woman in power.
That's all, folks. That's it. so so no obviously my love welcome to the show you literally finish filming your episode all smiles i hope these are real smiles and not just loony smiles does it look like a little bit of both this is reality so welcome welcome to your reality welcome thank you what are we going to learn about you in your episode
Oh, my goodness. Well, I guess you're going to learn that I'm a Bulgarian. It's obvious by my heavy accent. I came to this country without speaking the language, so it kind of stuck with me. I was really trying initially to speak proper with not having the accent. Very quickly realized that this is not me, and I will be me. And you'd rather take it or leave it type of a thing.
But what I found out also through the years is that I obviously interact with a lot of people from different cultures and accents. And I hear them and I'm like, oh my gosh, this sounds so good. So then I started realizing what people were telling me. Oh, you have a beautiful accent.
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Chapter 2: How did Katya transition from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship?
Witchcraft, poetry, songwriting.
None of that, unfortunately. I'm a creative soul.
I love creativity, but I used to write some poetry, but I was young. That's not happening anymore. I sing in my own language. Beautiful. The accent, there is no accent because it's my language. But yeah, no, I have a school. And so I am very in love with my culture and where I come from. I grew up, you know, with history was a big portion, big subject in school.
And I just always was proud of where I come from and the heritage. And when I came to United States,
um then had my own kids one thing i did is i brought grandma over wow so my mom came she's been here with me helping me for many years but you know that helped with the kids to keep the language to speak but then at some point i was like i won't be able to preserve you know the language at the level i want because i work like crazy and who is gonna teach them the grammar and you know we're all busy so anyhow so i started the school because i wanted my kids to
be able to speak right and know the grammar.
Some people hire tutors, oh, just start a school. Exactly. So how does one start a school? Who do you call? Mr. School Guy? Like, how does this work?
No, actually, for me, the call was from the other side.
Wait, what? Oh! This is a first.
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Chapter 3: What inspired Katya to start a Bulgarian school?
Wow.
And she moved like just three months after I moved in and she moved in with the baby, not even a year old baby. So anyhow, we became close friends. Over time, I moved to one state. They moved actually a few months after that or before that to another state. But we kept in touch. And one day we were talking. It was around Christmas. And we were talking.
And, you know, hey, happy holidays, all of that. And I was telling her, she started a school, Bulgarian school in North Carolina. Oh, my gosh, North Carolina. In the Carolinas. There you go, the Carolinas.
Yes.
And anyhow, so I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so jealous. I want my kiddos to go. And someone opened back in, you know, in the time in Northern California. And I was thinking to sign the kids, but it was kind of toward the end of the year. Sure, sure. So I was like, okay, next school year. And it comes September only. I'm like, I'm going to sign them. And he closed the school.
So we're talking around Christmas. I'm like, oh my gosh, she was telling me about the school. I'm like, oh, so good for you. Like, I'm so jealous. You know, he closed the school. She's like, why don't you open one? I'm like, I can. Why? Because I have a career. You know, I'm just, you know, starting. I'm in MBA school, I think, at that time. No, actually, I was outside of the MBA school.
I'm sorry. But anyway, there was a lot going on, young kids and stuff. I'm like, there is no way. She's like, of course, there is a way. If you want to, I'll help you. I'm like, oh. What do I need to do? So she said, well, we need to do this, this and that. Connected with a few people, spoke about it.
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Chapter 4: How does Katya's cultural background influence her work?
And literally that is Christmas. And by January 10th, I think I started, you know, opening my LLC. And in April, 20th of April, that, you know.
Sure, sure.
After the new year, the school was live.
Wow.
So that's how I roll.
That's how I roll. That's an amazing story that you did it under 90 days or a little bit over 90 days. So how did you, how does the enrollment begin? Is it a small school? How did you build the curriculum?
Give me the montage. So it's a small school. So we are a small community, Bulgarian country. It's not like very big, but we do have quite a few people living in the Bay Area. We have very smart engineers. So anyhow, so there are people there.
I used to live in San Francisco. Yeah, good, good, good. I miss it every day.
We... Again, I knew nothing, but I found out that actually the Bulgarian Ministry of Education is stimulating folks like me to open schools because they do want to preserve the culture. We are a small country. We are a very old country. Why not, right? What's better than that? You know, people to know their heritage. And there was one program that they had that they signed up.
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Chapter 5: What lessons has Katya learned about resilience and self-belief?
I was the conferencia. We had 350 people. The biggest meeting of a Bulgarian president with the Bulgarian community outside of the country at the time.
That's amazing.
It was really, really cool. And the kids had, I mean, I just opened. So we quickly got like, okay, a couple of, you know, rhymes and dances and stuff. I started two years before that, a Bulgarian folk dance group in... Of course you did. With some friends, obviously, not alone. But like, we had that going. So we had them dancing. Oh my gosh.
I remember, you know, the funny thing is like, obviously this is a president of another country. So the... special services were surrounding, you know, coming, checking the room, calling us, needed to give emails, phone numbers of people that will be attending. I'm like, what is going on? And so they came there and they're like, they were looking like really kind of scary just looking at them.
I mean, they're like obviously in their role and doing what they need to do. And suddenly, and there is a video of that, suddenly we are getting up and like we are dancing. Bulgarian folk dance is we hold hands and we go in circle, like counterclockwise. And everybody goes and I went and got the president by his hand. Now the circle is 300 people rolling.
I mean, you could see like the security guys were just frozen. It's like they don't know what to do. They went kind of in the middle. Like you can't, like there is something. I'm like, well, we're not going to do anything to the president.
Of course not.
But anyway, it was fun because I also had the chance. My father-in-law at the time, he used to work for the government. He's like, if you have the chance to ask for something, now is the time.
Oh, absolutely.
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Chapter 6: How does Katya define success in her journey?
Look where it's led you to.
Yeah, well, yeah. One thing leads to another. You never know.
And how do you feel sitting in this chair telling your story?
You know, I feel like it's meant to be. That's exactly how I feel. As I mentioned, like this for me is not for the marketing. I really can care less like, you know, what happens, you know, from that. But what I know, I've learned to trust my intuition and
So many times through my life in the United States, I've been like, I know everybody has a story, and I feel like I really want to tell my story. And I'm like, one day probably will be a chance to tell my story somewhere. So when I saw the email, you know, coming, women in power, I'm like, what is this for? Then I'm reading, I'm like, oh, no, this is not for me.
This is for famous people, important people that have done big things. I mean, I have businesses.
No, I just opened a school, moved across the world. I'm a great person now. Very engaging.
I just never felt like this is me. But I just, I don't know, something prompted me. And then from there it became like, you know what? If this is the way to tell my story, maybe it's meant to be. So I'm just going to roll with it. And it was a...
tough time for me because I was doing so many things making so many decisions but I was like you know what if it shows up on your path I believe that I believe that because I lived it and I saw it happen when something shows up and it feels like it's a stepping stone I tell this to people all the time it feels like you're on on a path and something keep putting like a stone to step on to cross that river like that means you're on the right path you don't say no you just go you step on it and you keep moving I don't know where it's leading I don't know I I
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Chapter 7: What role does community play in Katya's life and work?
I know, that alone is like, wow. Yeah, that was a lot. I mean, it's a beautiful place, don't get me wrong, but it's like I felt like so out of place. I didn't know how to dress for that environment. I mean, it's just the smallest things.
Yeah.
I lived in Switzerland for a year. I was like, I lived in Montreux. I was like, oh, Lake, Lake, Lake, Lake LeMond. I'm like, oh, where is it? Oh, yeah, not speaking the language.
It's really, really hard. Oh, it's very lonely. I didn't say that, but like in the... I remember the first time we go to a restaurant and my husband says... Read the menu?
Did he read the menu for you?
Well, I was thinking, maybe I asked him to maybe help me with some of the stuff. I knew some, I knew how to read and I knew grammar, but speaking was almost impossible. And so he's like, you're going to order for yourself. No, I'm not going to order for myself. I was so ashamed that I cannot talk. I can't even tell. It's a shame.
Like, I just know so many people feel the same when they come from, I think, from different countries, especially because we don't grow up like here.
people here have self-esteem they are built up and like in bulgaria it's like an incommunistic country you're not good enough this is the message you're not good enough you better tone it down that is the message that you grow up with and and i'm like oh my gosh what what do i do here like how and so anyhow the girl comes and i'm like can i have water without ice and she says No ice?
I say, yes, without ice, no ice. And I look at him and I'm already terrified because I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm saying something wrong. And he's like, you don't say here, my husband, you don't say without ice. You say, we say here, no ice. And I learned like British English. We were studying British.
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Chapter 8: What advice does Katya offer to others facing uncertainty?
You're funny.
You're funny.
I didn't say that, okay?
I didn't do it. I didn't say that. I can say it. That was born here. Yeah. Honey, where can people find you? Where is your website? Give me your social media. How can people find you?
So I'm an appraiser in Arizona.
Oh, is that what you do?
Yeah, I'm an appraiser. So that's what I do as one of my businesses. Okay. I love real estate. So I have a website. You can find me by my name, but Katya Borisov Appraisal Services, it's going to show up.
Just say that a little slower, honey.
Okay.
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