We’re looking forward to introducing you to Ralph Borgess. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Ralph, 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 are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I wouldn’t call it cliché — I’d call it survival. I wasn’t cut out to follow orders or punch a clock for someone else. I tried it, hated it, and knew deep down I’d rather crash and burn on my own terms than play it safe. Building my business wasn’t some polished success story — it was ugly, messy, and full of failures. I screwed up, regrouped, and went at it again — over and over until it stuck. What I’m proud of isn’t just that the business is successful now, but that I refused to quit on myself when most people would’ve tapped out. The real turning point came when I stopped chasing a paycheck and started chasing freedom. That’s when everything finally clicked.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Ralph, the guy behind Hawkeye Home Inspections, and my path here was anything but straight. I wasn’t born into this industry with a roadmap or a safety net. I started out as a carpenter, learning the trade the hard way — long days, busted knuckles, and plenty of times wondering if I was chasing the wrong thing. What I did know was that working for other people felt like a cage. I hated punching clocks and taking orders, so I broke out and built my own thing.
Hawkeye Home Inspections isn’t just another inspection company. It’s a brand built on calling it like it is, even if it makes people uncomfortable. I don’t believe in sugarcoating or glossing over problems just to make a sale go through. My clients hire me because they know I’ll give them the truth raw, unfiltered, and with their best interest first. That’s rare in this business, but it’s the only way I know how to work.
Hawkeye now has 5 full-time employees servicing the DMV area, and we only hire people with the same exact mindset. I didn’t build Hawkeye to fit in — I built it to stand out, ruffle feathers, educate them and protect people the way this industry should’ve been doing all along.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world tried to box me in, I saw everything wide open. The world was my oyster and I knew I was smart enough to do anything I wanted. But then came years of trying to fit in, putting on masks, and pretending to be someone else. I was never someone to just to play by the rules, and that was the hardest part — living someone else’s version of me.
Funny thing is, after going through all that, I ended up right back where I started: being unapologetically myself. No filters, no pretending, no bending just to make people comfortable. I had to burn through a lot of bullshit to circle back to who I always was. And the difference now? I’m smarter, tougher, and I know exactly what I’m capable of.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me things success never could. Growing up, it was just me and my mom, and we didn’t have much. Money was tight, life was heavy, and I was surrounded by more death than a kid should ever have to see. I lost people I loved early, and that kind of pain doesn’t just fade — it rewires how you look at the world.
What it gave me was perspective. When you’ve lived through loss, you stop sweating the small stuff. You start realizing how short and fragile this ride really is, and you either let that break you or you decide to squeeze every drop out of life while you’ve got it.
I suffered enough to know I don’t want to live in that place forever. That’s why I made the choice to build my life around happiness and freedom. Success didn’t teach me that — suffering did. Success might feel good, but suffering carved me into someone who refuses to waste time pretending or settling.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Hell yeah! What you see is what you get. I spent too many years pretending to be someone else just to fit in, and it damn near broke me. I’m not interested in putting on a mask for the public or playing some watered-down version of myself. The version of me you see out there — raw, direct, sometimes rough around the edges, that’s the real me. I’d rather be hated for being real than loved for being fake.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If immortality were real, what would you build?
If immortality was real, I’d keep building exactly what I’m building now — a fucking empire. I don’t need forever to know what my mission is. I want to create something so strong my kids never have to struggle the way I did. I’d spend eternity doing what I’m already doing: grinding, failing, learning, rebuilding, and stacking wisdom along the way.
I don’t just want to hand them success — I want to clear the path, take the hits, and eat the bullets so they don’t have to. Because if we’re really here forever, then the only way to truly appreciate it is by knowing what it took to build it. And I want my kids to grow up standing on something unshakable that I carved out with my own two hands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hawkinspect.com
- Instagram: @inspectorralph
- Youtube: @inspectorralph
- Other: TikTok: @inspectorralph
