Gravitational wave observatories are discovering black holes (BHs) that were previously thought to be impossible. Detection of the lightest BH and the extreme mass-ratio BH binary is forcing researchers to rewrite theories of stellar evolution and BH formation. Since stellar mass black holes evolve on faster timescales as compared to supermassive black holes, they are perfect systems to advance our understanding of black hole evolution, jet ejection mechanisms and models of galaxy evolution. In this colloquium, I will talk about how natal kicks (the additional velocity black holes receive when they are born) have the potential to unlock answers to black hole birth mechanisms using Black hole X-ray binaries as a probe. I will shed light on the current method of measuring natal kicks using Very Long Baseline Interferometry and the future plans to push the state-of-art of natal kicks estimations. I will also discuss a new framework that we have developed to find the quiescent, hidden population of black hole X-ray binaries.