How to Get Paid While Giving Away FREE Content with Lindsey Bomgren

Hi, I'm Holly Noel, host of the Everyday Entrepreneur podcast. If you've always wanted to start a business and don't know where or how to start, you've come to the right place. After leaving an unfulfilling corporate career, I decided it was time to start a business of my own. Today I'm a business coach and creator of the consultant code where I help people start services based businesses in 60 days or less. So grab your latte because you're about to be inspired, armed with knowledge and given simple tools to start a business of your own. From my interviews with everyday entrepreneurs. All right, friends, welcome back to this week's episode of the Everyday Entrepreneur Podcast. Let's start with a little gut check. Where were you this time last year? What were you dreaming about starting back then? And where do you wish you were today? If the answer is I wish I'd started my business, then let me tell you, you're not alone. I've been there. Back when I was sitting at my corporate desk, I had this business idea that I knew could work, but I just kept putting it off. I told myself I wasn't ready, that it wasn't the right time, and that maybe the next job would be better. Spoiler alert. It never was. In fact, things only got worse until I got fired. It wasn't the way I wanted to start my business, getting fired, but honestly, it was the push I needed to stop waiting and just go for it. And I'll tell you this, I wish I'd started sooner. I look at entrepreneurs that I coach now and so many of them tell me the same thing. I wish I'd believed in myself earlier. But here's the thing. You don't need a big office or some fancy setup to start your business. No, you can do it right from your kitchen island, right from where I started mine in 2016. And no, you certainly don't have to quit your job tomorrow. But start with 10 minutes a day, cut the Netflix, stop the doom scrolling and just start. Because every tiny step you take today is going to put you miles ahead by this time next year. And to help you do that, I've created a free resource just for you, the Business Blueprint. It's six simple steps to get started on your business. And it's totally free. Go to hollynold.com free to grab your copy. You literally got everything you need to make 2025 the year that you finally do this. All right, speaking of starting your own business and something from scratch and turning it into something big, let me introduce to you this week's guest, my Lindsay Bamgren. Lindsay is the founder of Nourish Move Love, a business that you might already know if you've ever searched for a free home workout online. Lindsay started back in 2015, and what began as a way to share workouts with busy women has grown into a business that serves millions of women every year. But here's what I love about Lindsay. She didn't wait for the perfect time to start her business, for everything to be done align just so. She just started and now not only does she give away all of this free content, but she's built a business that actually makes money through brand partnerships, affiliate deals, and creative strategies that don't require her audience to pay a dime. So in today's episode, we're diving into just how she does this and how you can take these ideas and apply them to your own business, whether it's fitness coaching or something completely different. So grab your coffee, settle in, and let's get into it. You're gonna love this conversation. Welcome to the Everyday Entrepreneur podcast. Lindsay, we're so excited to have you here today. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Well, I have been looking forward to this interview for a long time. A couple of reasons. We are in our brand new space here. It's the same space, but we have brand new chairs. We're here in, like, these cute little chairs. This is my dream. I always wanted to have, like, cute little white chairs at the table so I could have more of a fireside chat with people. So I'm really excited to have you here and host you as our first person. We used to be at that brown table right there, which I just. I like this more comfortable look. So I. My goal is eventually to put these videos on YouTube, which we're going to get to today. We would love to hear about your business, what you do, all of the places that you are. And so why don't you just start out by telling us who you are and what you do. You.

Yes. So I'm Lindsey Baumgren and I founded NourishMove Love, which is an online health and fitness platform for busy women. And basically, in short, we share free at home workouts and workout plans for women. And we live in the online space and it's really fun. And I founded that in 2015. And so we are in year nine of our business going into year 10, which sounds crazy, but it's so funny as you say. Like, this was my Dream to sit in these little white chairs and like, I just, there's so many of those moments I can look back on and, and be like, this was my dream. If you told me nine years ago that I would be filming workouts for a living and have a team of now growing to four amazing women, like, I just, I would have never believed it. And it's just really fun to have those moments where you look back on, especially as someone who's always like enneagram3, always going for the next big thing, what's next? So it's really fun to like, have those reflective moments and be like, I prayed for this. I worked really, really hard to get to this point. And so, so, yeah, so we are nine years in business and happy to say we're still true to our mission, which is making fitness free and accessible for women.

I love that I, I watch your videos and I'm like, oh, these women are strong. They aren't like skinny girls lifting little weights. They're strong. They're lifting, lifting big weights. You have a very practical approach to fitness. I think you really speak to me as just like an everyday woman who just wants to stay healthy, be strong, and like, set my body up for success in the long term. Why do. But, you know, obviously you didn't just wake up today, nine years later and be like, oh, my gosh, I have this really successful business with a team of four. No, tell us, how did you get started? What, what made you start this business? What did you do before? Like, how did you, how did you even get going?

Yeah, that is such a loaded question. But basically, long story short is, so I, I played sports my whole life. I played volleyball, basketball, softball in high school, went on to play college volleyball and graduated at college with a organizational communications and marketing degree. Okay, went and got your typical desk job like most people do. I was like, you know, actually in the financial industry at the time. I was doing marketing and finance and helping write a financial radio show. So I had to get my Series 7 and Series 66, which is not for me. Numbers are not my thing. So went down that road and was like, this is not for me. Transitioned into another marketing role, which brought me into the medical device space. Really grateful for that opportunity, I eventually transitioned into medical device sales and I thrived in sales. I loved sales. I loved that, how hard I work equated to how much I made. When I was in previous roles at a desk job, it was like I felt like I was always a very hard worker, but I was always Making the same amount as the person next to me. But sales was like my work equated to my commission and I loved that. And so medical sales was really fun, but I was traveling a ton and I was still ultimately making money for someone else. As hard as I worked, I was ultimately putting money in someone else's pocket. And I just loved the idea of being able to do that for myself. And so I feel like I've had this entrepreneur burning inside me and I just didn't know what it was going to be. But I loved fitness. And so I actually set out to after college, had the desk job, wasn't really motivated, put on some weight, was like, I need goals. I'm a goal driven person. It was the first time my life, no one was telling me to work out. I wasn't playing for a team. I had no one to work out for. I was always working out for a team or for a sport. And so I was like, I'm gonna run some marathons. I did that whole thing. It was really fun. Got stress fractures in my feet. So I was like, okay, can't run anymore. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna strength train. Got really into strength train.

Yeah.

I don't really share this on my social, so I don't even think people know this about me. But I did the whole, like, flexi on stage fitness competition for a while. But that's when I was like, I'm gonna. I did this while I was doing medical sales. So on the side. But I went back and I was like, I'm gonna get my personal training certification and some nutrition certifications for myself so I can learn how to be the best, you know, how I can cut and bulk and count my macros and do all this stuff to get on the stage in this bikini. And so I did that and I fell in love with fitness. Like, I just loved fitness. I loved that. It was. I love discipline. I love hard work. I loved fitness. It became a little bit not fun for me with the whole fitness competition thing. And then I found group fitness and I was loved. Like, fell in love. I was like, I want to be that girl that is on the stage in the group fitness studio. We show up, the lights are off, the music is playing. Everyone is having the best time ever. Like, no one's on their phone, like, for one hour, you're just committed to, like, getting better, being stronger. You're pushed by the person next to you. Everyone's having fun. And I loved group fitness. And I was like, this is it, this is my fire, this is my passion. So I, I got my group fitness certification, started teaching classes. But you can only teach so many in person classes.

What were you teaching?

So I was teach. I taught. Actually I was teaching at a bar studio for a while. So I taught bar classes, which I, I loved because it brought me to the other side of like the heavy strength training, being in a bikini on stage. And it slowed me down a little bit into like more smaller isometric movements, really building strength, which really paid off in my prenatal postpartum, like learning about postpartum fitness as well. And then I was also teaching at Lifetime Fitness, teaching strength training, hit classes, shred classes, pyramid class. Yeah, like fun stuff. So mostly strength training hit and then bar. And I loved it. And I love teaching. But you can only teach so many classes a week.

Right?

It's not financially lucrative.

Nope.

You do it because you love it. And so I was like, how do I make this a business? And so I'd seen people do this online and I was like, okay, how can I do fitness online? And everyone in fitness online either has an app they had. At the time, ebooks were still a thing. And people were like selling guides on like how, you know, six week strength guide or whatever. So this was when I quit my job and decided to go full time, was 2015. Okay, so this would be like a decade ago, like 10 years ago.

Yep.

So people. So actually, so I set out to film workout DVDs, which dates me.

DVDs? Yes. Amazing.

My first video series. But basically I was like, how do I do this for fitness? And I saw food bloggers and I saw food bloggers just posting recipes for free and somehow they were also making money. And I was like, how do I do that for fitness? I had read the book Blue Ocean Strategy. It was basically I was very into business, books, sales, all that stuff. I did all the sale traction, you know, all those business things that served me well and basically was look at other industries and what they're doing. And I was like, these food bloggers are crushing it. I want to do what they're doing. And so I got to know some of the food bloggers in the space, really dove in and I was like, how are you monetizing? How are you doing it? Saw how they were doing it. And I was like, I'm gonna do that for fitness. And so I set out and decided after two years of setting aside money, so I lived off my base salary while I was doing sales, set aside my commission so that in 2015, when I got married and got on my husband's health insurance, I could jump ship out of the corporate world, which I did. And then I had a bank. I had enough money to support me, at least for a same salary that I was making for a year, as well as some funds set aside to film these workouts. I knew I wanted to hire someone, get a website logo, all those things. It was very scrappy. It was very done, like organically. But filmed the videos and really glad I did it. Of course, you look back and you're like, I would have done things so differently. Because you look at these food bloggers. At the time, video wasn't really a thing. They were taking a picture, posting a picture. Everybody eats in the world. Not everybody works out. I couldn't just post a picture of me working out.

I had to film a picture doing a bicep curl. Mid curl. Like, not interesting.

Yeah, yeah, I had to film a video. It was more expensive. Not everybody works out. Like, it took me a lot longer on ramp to monetize. So I ended up doing a bunch of freelancing, all the things. But it's just like that path, right? Like, God orchestrates this little path that along the way, I met the people I was supposed to meet by doing fitness modeling. I met Chris Freitag, who became my mentor, who then bought my first set of DVDs, which I can't share anymore because they're now licensed to her. And, like, you know, it just all worked out the way it was supposed to work out.

Yes. I mean, I love that. A couple of things that stood out to me, what you said, the part about sales, and you make as much money as the work you put in. And that resonates with me so much because I compare that to, like, early, early, early when I first started working, I was waitress. And I knew that the days that I showed up with like, a good. A good. In a good mood, with a good attitude, I made more money. The days I showed up, like, you know, I was also like a college student. Hungover or tired or not wanting to be there, I made less money. And I loved having that control and that push and pull over how much money I could make. And I also knew that being in sales, which, you know, ultimately we're all in sales if we're in. If we're business owners, I had full control over, well, a lot more control over how much money I would make depending on how I showed up. And then also, I think I compared it to, like, another job I had, where I was at Banana Republic folding sweaters, you know, making minimum wage, and there was nothing I could fold a sweater better than anyone in the store. If I tried, you know, that would never make me more money. So one of the things that has always driven me to be a business owner is exactly that. I want full control or as much control as possible over the money I make. And so I really resonated with that part of your story. Okay, so tell us. It's, you know, you've licensed the DVDs out. You're starting to build, you know, your, your videos online. You're emulating the food blogger, you know, model. How do. How. I mean, for those of us that, you know, go to food blogs, I'm a big what's going to Be Cooking fan. She's been on the podcast. I love her business model. She, you know, she's done so much. But I have always wondered, like, yeah, how do food bloggers, you know, make a business out of this? And like, how did you make a business when it comes to exercise and emulating this model?

Yes. I think that's the number one thing. People, they're like, wait, I don't get it. If you just give away free workouts, how do you make money?

Yeah. Yeah.

And so, and fortunately, I had seen and I had friends like Lee, who I know has been on this podcast from Fit Foodie Finds in the Space. And they were, they were ahead of me in the game. Right? So she's like in year 14 of her business or so or 4 or 5, even more than that, maybe. And they shared their financials with me, so I knew what it took and how long it would take me. And I'm just so grateful for that because you do have to be patient. You do. This is not an overnight success story by any means. You have to build your content. You have to get the views. And so how we monetize now is our bread and butter is our website. And driving eyeballs to our site. So we're getting a million, a million and a half, 2 million views a month to our website through SEO. So search engine optimization. So by typing or by optimizing our site for words that you're typing in, best strength training exercises for women, postpartum workout plan, chest exercises, tricep exercise, like, those things are driving traffic to our site. When you come to our site, you get the content for free. There are display ads that are placed over the site. In the food blogging and slash my world, there's kind of like two big ad networks in it. There's Rautive and Mediavine. So you're either with one of those networks, they lay the ads over your site and then you do a rev share with them. So once you hit a certain threshold, your rev share gets more. So I'm at like a 90, 10 split with them right now. So I take 90, they take 10. I've had to work up to that. When you first start, it's not as high obviously, but it's, it's. So the display ads are the number one on our website. So when people are always like so many ads, I'm like, yes, that's how you get free content.

So annoying. I just want the damn recipe or the workout.

Yep.

What is your website built on?

WordPress.

WordPress.

Okay, so our site's built on WordPress. It's been built on WordPress from the beginning. We've gotten through iterations. Obviously. I started with like a template that I like YouTube videoed building myself with a friend and then have since now have a custom designer who's designed our site and things like that. And then it's YouTube. YouTube is the same thing. Display ads play on top of our video, which is a fun fact that we do have control. I shouldn't share that. I think Most people think YouTube just plays these ads. Right. Which is great if you think YouTube just plays them. But we do have control over that and we place the ads on the videos.

Do you decide what ad?

We don't get to decide what ad, but we decide when. So we can decide like the, you know, skippable or non skippable on the front end and the back end and then the mid rolls that happen in between. We have control of when those happen. So if you ever do my workouts, you'll notice they strategically happen during a water break. Right. Like we don't want to interrupt your workout.

Sure.

But we do want to play a mid roll because mid rolls make the most money. So mid roll ads make us the most money. But that's placed in the video. We only place one for user experience. Like we try to be very, very diligent about it. But in order to give free content away, that's how we monetize is those ads that are placed on our YouTube site.

And then you work with a. Do you work with YouTube directly or a third party vendor to put your ads on YouTube?

So it just Google AdSense. So Google owns YouTube?

Yep.

But it's. Yeah, it's just all done. You click like monetize or don't monetize. If you click monetize the video, they're going to put ads on it and then they can put a hundred ads on it. Or you can control and scale back.

Right?

Like, we try to keep it as user experience friendly as possible, but once you get to a certain threshold on YouTube, you can apply to be in the YPP, the YouTube Partnership Program. Anyone that is trying to grow on YouTube needs to be in the YPP, The YouTube Partnership Program. You can literally google that and it'll give you the standards and stipulations and how to apply. But it was like, finally I was like, in my business, I was like, let's focus on YouTube. YouTube is growing like we need. I didn't put time and energy into YouTube in the beginning. I wish I would have. That's like one of my biggest. Missed the mark there. Lessons was so focused on the blog, I bypassed YouTube. But YouTube is just the funnest platform in my opinion, because it's discoverable. It's so creative. It's like putting a video up. It's playing the thumbnail magic. Like, just when you get into it. YouTube is such an art and such a science. It is not just like, film the video, slap it up there. Like, there is so much, so much more that goes into every content. I mean, if you've watched the greats, Mr. Beast, any of the. He creates a hundred thumbnails for every single video before they choose one. Like, it is a science and an art. You a b test. There's so much funness to it. If you, like, love, if you like that stuff.

So for someone that's just getting started, like, like me, let's just use me as an example. So we're here in the studio. We now have the ability to shoot three different angles. It's like more dynamic, you know, video that we're doing for, you know, like a static podcast where you're just sitting down. And my goal eventually is to put. Start putting my podcast on. On YouTube as well. So for the listeners out there who are like, man, I really, you know, Instagram's great and all, but, like, I know there's opportunities on YouTube that could reach, you know, that could really help me build my business far beyond maybe some of the other platforms. How would. What would be your, like, advice for somebody just Getting started on YouTube who wants to create a YouTube channel? Like, how. How would you start and what do you need?

Yeah, so to peel that back first, my advice would be, you need to have something that's your Own. You need to have your own platform, whether it's your own website and you need to be collecting emails. You need to be collecting emails because otherwise Instagram, YouTube, all of it is living on rented territory. You don't own any of it.

Email list is everything.

Yes. You could get kicked off tomorrow.

Yep. But we could go down and. Yeah, you still need to have a business. So. Yes.

And so first and foremost, you want to have your own and you want to own it.

Yep.

But that said, secondly, if I were to tell you, like, from the business side, what's been lucrative, it's like YouTube is so much better than Instagram in the sense that we get paid by YouTube a significant amount because of the hard work we put in versus Instagram. We put in a ton of hard work and don't see that financial return.

You're probably paying Instagram if you want to run ads. Like.

There's no, we don't. All of our content is 100% organic. But yes, you can. Yeah, but. And you're still getting the community aspect. We have people commenting on our videos. We're still engaging. You know, we're still so much engagement on YouTube that's happening. But the content is discoverable. When I film something, it could just show up in your feed one day. And I know that, you know, Instagram is getting more discoverable with reels as you scroll, but really it's like kind of limited to the. Whatever half a million followers I have on Instagram. I'm kind of limited. And not even them. They're not even seeing my content. No, it's a thing. But if you click that subscribe button and the notify me button on YouTube, like, they will notify you when I pop. Publish new content on top of the fact that, you know, they push our content to other people based on people that are watching similar content. And so it's discoverable, it's searchable, it's like, it's so fun. There's long form, there's short form. Short form has taken us a long time to figure out, but now that we're figuring out YouTube shorts, short form is such a great way to drive subscribers. We are growing three times as fast on YouTube as we are on any other platform.

Do you need to do short and long or can you just do shorts?

You can just do shorts. 100. You can just do shorts, but I think that you need to have like a. Like, what is your, you know, what is your end game with shorts or whatever. For us, it's using shorts to drive subscribers and obviously getting people over to our long form content.

Yep. Because you're, you're recording full, full workouts. Yeah. So you don't want people to just come in and do like a five minute workout. The goal is for them to stay and, and do the workout.

Right? Yeah. And we have a slight edge in that sense of like most youtubers are filming content or this. It's like you got to keep people engaged.

Right.

Like it's like if you show up to do a 30 minute workout, you're probably going to do the 30 minute workout. You might not do the cool down, but like no one really like shows up and just like dips out five minutes into the video. So we have a slight edge in that.

Like if you planned ahead, they're in their workout clothes, they're in front of their TV. Yes.

Because what matters for the algorithm in YouTube is watch time and view time and like how long are people staying on your content? Right. And so we have a little bit of an edge there because people are coming and they're doing our workouts. They're not just coming. Getting a piece of advice, jumping to the bouncing. You know, like, I'm going to YouTube and I'm like, oh, how do I do this in Excel? Great. Found it off.

Yes.

You know, totally. So we have a little bit of an edge there.

Yeah. Well, I'm still such a reader. I'm not a watcher, I'm a reader. I'm not, I'm barely a listener. Even though I, I podcast, I want to go and I want to read something online that's, I'm still the reader. But I know that there's, that's good for us.

But I'm definitely not that person. I am the visual learner. Yeah. And it is interesting now with AI because they're pulling into SERPs, which is what populates when you type something into Google. SERPs are the, the rich results that show at the top. And now with AI, it's basically scraping our content and pulling up to the top. So if you type in chest exercises, it's going to the five chest exercises. So it's getting harder for people to click into our content. So we are seeing like a 7 to 10% decrease in clicks into our site, into our content from Google. And so that's where we are getting creative. Right. And we are driving direct traffic through our email list. We're driving direct traffic by giving you downloadable PDFs with workout plans where you click back to our site every single day. Y so you have to find ways. Pinterest, obviously, is a great.

Staying ahead. Yeah, because the, the, you know, the, the platforms are always changing and always. You can't just like, oh, we made it, and rest on. On your laurels. You've got to be staying ahead or at least anticipating what could be changing or reacting quickly to what's changing. You know, on especially YouTube. It sounds like since that's where a lot of your business is coming from.

Yeah, it's just, it's all A lot of your.

Your revenue. Tell us. Okay, so for a new person on YouTube, they need their own content, obviously. You need an email list. What else do you need to get started?

Yeah, honestly, it's like people think, you know, obviously you have a wonderful, beautiful setup here, and if you can invest in the quality of your content, that's amazing. But when you start and you have zero followers, we all start at zero. Like, you just got to start. And you have to be consistent with publishing. Having a consistent publishing schedule is so important on YouTube. You can't just, like, log off for six months and not publish your whole audience.

They'll forget about you.

You need to batch film content. You need to have content curated specifically going out.

Right.

But it doesn't have to be super fancy. Like, if I went back and showed you what my content looked like when I had zero followers, you would laugh at it. But that's the reason, like, you get better as your audience grows. Right. So. But to that point, my number one video on YouTube with over 3 million views is filmed on my iPhone six weeks postpartum, showing people how to do diastasis recti ab exercises, which is your abs come apart during pregnancy. And then it's, you know, getting your abs to come back, gather after pregnancy, repairing that gap. That can happen, generating tension across that gap. Like, it is filmed on my iPhone. There's no microphone. It's me talking to my, like, iPhone 10. I don't know what it was at the time. Like, not even single budget, like, iPhone3. Like, whatever it was. And it's really crummy quality, but it drives so much traffic to our site. And that is the post that makes me the most money.

Because it's relevant. Because it's relevant and it serves a need.

It serves a need. It adds values to women's lives. It served a need.

So as you're talking, I'm thinking, I'm sitting here thinking, like, is Lindsay, like, an exercise. A fitness expert? Is she a digital marketer? Marketer? Is she, like, an. An expert In. Yeah. Is she a digital marketer? Are you an. A fitness, you know, nutrition expert? Like, how would you describe yourself? Because I am, you know, having worked in corporate America for so long and now I consult on the digital side for major companies. You know, we do major digital transformations and replatform e commerce platforms from something to something. And that my business partners are always talking and speaking like you do as a solo business owner. Well, now you have a small team. I am incredibly, incredibly impressed by like your, the knowledge that you have and the, the knowledge that you have in terms of the digital marketing without that official corporate background. So how did you learn all of this? How did you just figure this out in like relatively a short amount of time in nine years? Like you, you, you're definitely, you know, an expert in digital marketing.

Yeah, I mean, I think the best way to learn is to dig in and get dirty and do it yourself. Right. Like roll up your sleeves. And so I think the funny thing is, is cause I remember telling my husband when I was going to quit my job and do this and go try and do this full time.

Yeah.

And I was like, the thing that's so cool about this is that starting an online business has very minimal overhead. So I didn't have to take out a loan or anything. Yep. And I told him, I said, I guarantee I will learn more in this one year of me trying to start a business that if it doesn't work and I have to go back and work in corporate, I will be so valuable to somebody that I will have been way more valuable than ever. And that definitely proves true. And like, I'm so glad that it did work out and I didn't have to go back to corporate.

Right.

But like that holds so true in the fact that I have learned so much in the last nine years that I never, never could have learned in college. Like, I just hired a new. You know, the girls that are on my team, none of them went to school for this. This is a totally different new career. You just gotta pave the way. And so for me it has been. Yeah, just like I have YouTube. Everything from how to build a website to how to. You know, I was filming on my iPhone, I was doing imovie, cutting my workouts in the beginning. Like I did it all and I still run my business that way. Which probably isn't the smartest. If you read some of those top leadership and business books where like anytime we take on something new, example 2024, this year we launched Merchand, started like printing Our own sweatshirts and stuff. I owned it. I took it and I said, I'm going to build a Shopify site. I'm going to do it. Like, I, you know, it's me at midnight, like, learning how to do this. Me at midnight learning, like, how do.

I add an item to Shopify?

Like, literally, like, and. And I did it, and now I've done it, and I'm like, great, now we're going to hire somebody and hand it off. Like, I. Everything in our business I have learned first, and I've learned how to do it because I want to know how to do it. It's just been, like, how I built my business. I'm not going to say that's the smartest way as you continue to scale, because eventually, right. Like, I'm not an expert. Someone else could have figured that out in such a shorter time as me, but I've always just been, like, a scrappy person. We run really lean, really scrappy. I love figuring things out on my own.

Well, I. I totally agree that it's very smart to know the ins and outs of your business, your core business. Right. Like your Shopify site, you know how it works. You know, you know the basics. Sure, you can hire somebody to take and run with it, but, like, at least if that person quits, gets sick, whatever, then at least there's a fallback plan and, you know, the right questions to ask. You know, like, okay, if they're saying it's going to take longer than they. Longer than they thought, you know, how to smell, sniff out, maybe like, some bs versus not because you have the context and, you know, you know, because you've done it yourself. I am a huge proponent of learning as much as I can about my own business. Like, I had this podcast for three years. I then had Morgan come on as the producer, but I was able to train her on every single thing from start to finish. Our entire process on the back end, because I had been living it for so long.

Yes.

And now, you know, we've improved that process and we've optimized, but had I just been, like, clueless or had a mess, you know, of a podcast on the back end, I would. Would, A, have had nothing to hand off. B, like, we would have struggled. We would have just made even more mistakes. So I think it's important that a business owner does know the ins and outs of their business, and they have a really strong process established before they go hand it off. Yeah. Do you agree?

I. So I do. I've read the book Buy Back youk Time by Dan Martell. And I highly suggest it for business owners.

Okay.

Especially when you start to get to a point where you're like, okay, like, I can't do all of this anymore. And the part that's always bothered me, I love business. Like, I. I love self help books. I'm actually forcing myself to read, like my first, like, fiction, fiction book. I have yet to read a fiction book in my life ever. That's, like, horrifying to say.

I've always got a list for you. It's. It's how I escape personally from the business.

And like, you should have something. I'm always just like, I've, like, opened them and I'm like, oh, this is a waste of my time. I could be learning something. I could be.

I could be learning something to build my business. I know.

I love listening, listening to, like business building podcasts. I love reading business building books. Like, I just love the idea of. I love that stuff. I just, it lights me up, it excites me. And so I've listened to like all these podcasts and people are always just, you know, it's like, well, hire that, do this, whatever. It's like, okay, you're looking at it from the guy who's already made it, like, scale back to me, I've just started this business.

Exactly.

And so I think it's always important to like, peel back the layers. Like, if I was just starting, I would do it this way. If here I am in my business now. But the whole thing about buy back your time, which I was bringing up, is that by doing it myself, then I learned my buyback rate. What am I willing to pay someone to do this? Like, I have done it now I know how much time it takes. I know, like, what education level I need for this. Like, is this someone who needs to have my brand voice? Do they need to be integrated into my brand? Can it be a contractor? Do they have to be on board on my staff full time? And it gives me a buyback and then it gives me a buyback rate. Like, how much time does it take and what am I willing to pay someone for this type of loan? Like, you know, so brilliant.

Oh, we'll link that book in the show notes.

It is I. So good.

And that sounds like you learned some good tools on when to know it was time to scale and where.

Yes.

So who's on your team? Who are the four women? How did you hire them? What do they do?

Yes. So I have Rachel, who's been with me the longest now. Almost seven years, I think. She's now in the workouts with me. She did not sign up. She did not sign up for that when she started.

But guess what? That's awesome.

Yeah. And Rachel literally, like, you know, was like being a substitute teacher and trying to figure out what she wanted to do. She actually had applied for Leap Fit Foodie finds role. Lee had an opening and she was hiring somebody. And then I was about to. I had just. I'm trying to remember now was it had. I just had my baby, my first baby, and I was like, raising the white flag. I'm like, help. I need help. And I was like, who was your number two? Who didn't you hire that?

You.

Who was. Who's the other person you didn't hire? She was like, here they are. Rachel met with her and I was like, you're hired.

Yes.

Like, I take you.

Yeah.

And brought her on as, like, an intern. I was literally teaching upwards of like 4, 15 classes a week at the time to pay her, like, in person classes. I was teaching classes to pay her because I had the business was still not. I was just. I needed another. Another help, another set of hands.

Yeah.

So she started as an intern and is now worked up to be what we call our chief content officer. Rachel's amazing. She's in the workouts with me as the modifier. She is all of our creative stuff now. So she's. That's what's so cool about hiring some people is like, both Rachel and I were doing everything. Then we added Megan Versaille, and now we've all moved into a zone of genius. And it is so fun when you have people on the bus in the right place seats. Like, you can have people on the bus with you, which I had for a little bit. But when you get them into the right seats, like, it is so much more fun. And so Rachel is our creative. She does all of our thumbnails, all of our graphics. She makes. I don't even know how to make a reel. She makes all of our reels.

So time consuming.

Right. She manages our Pinterest. She is our creative on the team. And then we have Megan, who has been with us now, like, four years. I'm messing this up, girls. I'm sorry if I'm messing up your years. It just feels like we're a family. I don't know how long everyone's been with us, but Megan, that's okay. And Megan's our content writer. Megan loves to write. She is behind the scenes. She's writing all of our email newsletters. She manages our email email list. She is setting up blog posts. She's managing our republish and SEO strategy. And.

And she has your brand voice.

And she has a brand voice. She is.

It's.

There's Rachel and Megan and everyone. They're so good at like having my voice, which is amazing. And then we brought on Caroline. She'll be with us two years now. And she is our social media and community manager. So she's finally. I have help answering all the DM. She's managing our DM. She's managing our Instagram comments, she's managing all the YouTube comments. And then she's managing our YouTube community. So when we launched YouTube memberships, I wanted to have someone to manage it. So she manages our YouTube community, our paid community as well.

Okay.

And social media. And then now I'm just having. She starts in two weeks. She hasn't started yet. Allison is joining our team as my executive assistant.

Awesome.

So if you're gonna read the book, buy back your time, it's gonna convince you that you need an executive assistant.

I. I would love Juan, I would, I would love one. I'm like, at this point, I don't care. I will take a virtual assistant from the Philippines. Time difference, I don't care. I just need help because I wanna move farther and faster and I'm only like capable of doing so much on my own.

Yeah. So I had the part time virtual or I tried the VA and it like never worked for me.

Yeah.

I got an executive assistant versus a va. The difference in that, I will say, like, if you are truly like hiring an executive assistant, such a game changer for me. I loved my part time virtual executive assistant, but it exposed to me how much I really needed someone full time. And I have just taken this role. I know everyone has, like, hire contractors from the Philippines. Do whatever you need to do. I love having my team in person with me.

Yeah.

Two days. One to two days a week. And I love having my team be fully immersed in my business. Contractors, we have some. But like, in order to have my brand voice, in order to like truly get me to where I want to go, you need to be all NML invested.

Yes. Okay, well, so this leaves. I want to know what your job is now. Now that you've delegated to everybody. And I'm also curious, like, okay, and this is probably where you come in. Like, okay, well, who's saying the strategy and the vision? Who is keeping up with all the trends on the, on the tech side of these companies. Like who is, who is setting the digital strategy? Or like just learning. Like, okay, now we have to pivot into the algorithm rhythms are doing this. Or like who's, who's doing your metrics and reporting and looking at the data and how making those business decisions given the data of your, your customer base. Who's working with the ad companies? Like who's doing all of that? Like the.

I don't know, the to do list literally never ends. But I will say my business changed radically and transformatively when I finally got in the numbers. I, like any entrepreneur started because I loved fitness. I wanted to film workout videos. That's why I started. That is my passion. That's why you should start a business and now have grown to love the business side. But that is not why I did not set out to love the business side. And so I set out to film workouts. I wanted to be the best at home workouts. Like that's what. And that's still what I want to be. But I was just like, film the workouts, do the things, create the content, willy nilly. And then finally I got into the analytics and I was like, okay, we have to start looking at where the revenue is coming from. It was just like, can I pay Rachel? Great. I can teach 15 classes a week and I can pay her. And then finally was like, I don't want to teach 15 classes a week. How can I keep paying her?

Yeah.

And then it was like, okay, how do we keep scaling this business? And in order to do that, had to dive into the analytics. And once I got into the analytics of my business, it radically transformed me and my business.

I love analytics. I love that much.

I love it.

Yes.

I despise them. When I started and now I love them because now I can like there is an artist. Oi.

Yes.

There's a reason we do this, there's a reason we spend more time on this platform than we do on this one, is because it drives revenue. There is a reason behind everything we do is so stinking strategic. While people think I'm filming a full body 30 minute workout. This workout was strategically filmed to be called the best weightlifting exercises. Or you know, like there's so much strategy. There is a 49 page document before we ever film a workout video that has the thumbnails, the color outfits we are going to wear, what it's going to be titled on YouTube, what it's going to be titled on the blog, the keywords we're going for the A B testing. We're going to do like. Like, we are so stuck in strategic and it's so fun.

Okay, I. I have an idea.

It did not start that way. To be clear. It did not start that way.

Can you publish that in a way that's like generic enough for the person that's just starting out? And like, I would buy that for 99 or however much. I would buy that for 149 or whatever as like, you're like the handbook to a new. For a new YouTuber. Like, oh my gosh, I need. Please, please do this. I would pay you for this. I honestly. Because you've done all of the heavy lifting and you know, it works. And like, I just think this could make. This could be an amazing digital product that you have in maybe your merch store or like, maybe not in the merch store, but somewhere. Because I'm like, how do. How do I get that? Can I have that? You know, but I would also pay for it because now that you say that. So how much value.

Genius. We have worked so hard to build these templates and. Right.

Like.

And figure out how. And we're still iterations and iterations and.

Iterations for a brand new. Okay, now we're like business. Like, we're, we're ideating. But this is my favorite thing to do. But like some sort of template or a toolkit for people that are just starting out on YouTube. And it doesn't have to be complex because new. New people don't want complex.

Right.

We want it simple, broken down. Like.

But before you ever have a video, you should know. Exactly.

Think about your keywords, your clothes. Like, I. I didn't even think about. You know, those are things. Maybe the clothes I think about, but like my keywords. Like, what do I want to. What? Yeah. Like what are you titling?

What does the thumbnail need to look like? What is. Yeah. Exactly.

It just some food for thought.

Now I'm in.

Let me know when it's. Let me know when it's available for purchase, because I will buy that for sure. And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that would do. I love the business side. I also want to talk about your exercise side of the business. But before we move on to that, is there anything about your business that we just didn't talk about or something that, like, you wish I would have asked or that you think people should know? Is there a big part that we haven't covered?

I mean, you ask well, you would ask, like, what do I do every day? And like, and as far as who manages all the analytics? And honestly, I've now finally gotten to a point reading these business books, all these things.

Yeah.

I'm still working on leadership. Like, I never set out to have a team, and now I have a team, and I'm still learning how to lead this team and be a good mentor and be a good CEO, because that's something that is. Is also, like, new territory for me. But I've. We've gotten to a place where, like, we have a meeting once a week and they own their analytics. So Caroline owns the social analytics. She owns that. And she needs to show up to the meeting, reporting on numbers and why we haven't hit our certain metrics. We all have KPI. KPI's. Everybody on the team has something they need to live up to. It's part of their job. Right. Megan shows up with the same thing for email and for republishes and SEO. Rachel shows up with the same thing for YouTube, for shorts, how they're performing for Pinterest, how it's performing. Like, we all have these. And so I'm managing the overarching, but I truly. Brand partnerships. I love sales. I still hold on to that. So I manage all of our brand partnerships. We don't work with an agency. It's all direct through me. I work directly with the brands we work with. So we have really fun partners like Lululemon and Garmin and Element. I manage all those directly. And so it's really fun to manage all the brand partnerships. And then the content calendar, I mean, it could go on for days. Like, it's just so there's so much strategy that goes into everything. And then a large portion is, I still write all the workouts. I program all the workout plans. Right. So everything we're filming, it's still written by me. I love it. That's the best part of my job, is writing workouts. Filming workouts. It's where it's. That's my creative outlet. I used to write all the blog posts. I no longer, praise Jesus, have to write blog posts because I did it first. It's one of those things where it's like, I did this for seven years.

I'm so happy to get this off my plate.

Yes. So I no longer write the blog post, and I get to pour all of my creative energy into the workouts. Yeah. And the workout programs and the workout plans.

Real quick question. On the brand partnership side, and running.

A business you know, running a business, I mean there's HR and how many. I still do all the invoicing, billing, all the things.

And you have three kids. I don't know how you do this. My God. I have a dog in a cat myself and I'm like, I don't have enough time. You just have to be I'm sure with really good with your time management and have ruthless prioritization of your time too. Yes.

And that's why I've hired an executive.

Assistant and that's why you need to.

Help me stop working every night.

Yes, yes. Real quick. On the brand partnership side, you were talking earlier before we started recording on like equity and like the place that you've arrived to in your business where you can start, where you have new opportunities coming to you and you can kind of flip the script on like, like versus a brand saying this is what we will give you. And you're starting to flip the script on. This is what I require for to work with you. Can you talk a little bit about how that's evolved and what that feels like now and like the position that you feel that you are in given just where your business is at when it come, when it comes to people that want to partner with you.

Yeah. I mean I feel so grateful. We've grown so much. But brand partnerships have been an integral part of my business from the beginning. Because I came from sales, I just knew how to do that from the beginning. And actually so you talk about the path to getting to where you are.

Right.

Like before I even started this business I was fitness modeling on the side just for side money and because it was fun. And so I'd show up to these shoots and it would be this six figure set, producer, lights, audio, hair and makeup, the whole bit. Like I'd be sitting in the chair getting my makeup done, go out, do a couple battle roll ups, they take the pictures, it'd go on a billboard and I was like they just spent how much money? And I could have done this in a studio by myself, done my own hair and makeup, slammed the battle ropes, hired a photographer and like I could have produced the same thing. So that's kind of how the concept for me was also, also born was like I can create this content for brands at a fraction of the price they're paying. Yeah. And so if you are just starting out, it's proving your value to brands. Like I started reaching out to Fabletics, all these brands. I was like, send me your stuff.

My friend is the president of Fabletics. Is she really? Yeah.

Okay, well, they took forever. I was like. I was like, just. And they were like, no, we don't know. Nope. We film all of our content in la. I was like, trust me. And they did. They sent me an outfit, I filmed it and then guess what? I was on their blog and signed a brand partnership with them.

Love it. Are you still partner?

No, they dropped me when I got pregnant. So I have words for Fabletics.

Oh, I'm gonna see her. I'm gonna see her next.

Which is funny because Kate, I'm like the. They are a mom audience. But when I got pregnant and this was when influencers were very new, this was like in the beginning of my business.

Right.

So we were still new or whatever. And they were like, oh, this is a liability to have you, like telling people to work out in our clothes pregnant. And it became like a liability type thing. And it was when it was still a very new territory. But yeah, I still have. I still have qualms about that. No, I'm just kidding. I'm so grateful for all my brand partners. But like you said that I've been. The thing that has also helped is I think, think we live in a world today where people are just left and right on social media and you gotta stay true to your values. Like, I never have taken on a product I didn't really truly believe in or like use myself. And I think that's where I've cultivated the trust with my audience. And now our brand partners are an integral part of our. Our brand. Like, they are part of our brand. When we do a giveaway, like I'm paying for giveaways. We just did a thousand dollar giveaway to Lululemon that came from my pocket. Like, they didn't give me that.

Really.

So, like, our brand partners truly become like an integral part of us.

Yeah, they're part of your team in a way.

They're part of our team in a. And we're working together. We have KPIs, we're trying to hit for them. And so they truly. And so we've gotten to that point that was not, you know, in the beginning, but now we've gotten to that point where they are truly brand partners and I believe in them and their business. And, you know, not everyone has to believe with the brand partners that I pick, but you have to believe that this is the reason I get to do free content, is you get to work out with me for free because of these amazing brand partners.

Yeah, I mean, gosh, it. It Sounds like it really goes both ways. Like you're trying to hit KPIs for them. You have your own KPIs. Your audience benefits because get to do, you know, more content and, and show up in, in a, in an even better, more improved way because you have the financial.

My videos went from me filming it on an iPhone to me hiring a videographer because of the brand partnership revenue.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. Amazing. Okay, let's. Can we pivot into exercise? So I would love to just hear there's. I. I don't like, where do I even start? So I, I am obsessed with fitness. I would. Maybe not obsessed, but I, I work out six days a week. I take one day off on the, on most days. I have a trainer, Jose, who creates these amazing workouts for me. I also take one group fitness, a class class a week because I'm like, I can't just sit here and lift weights alone all week. Although he would probably rather I do that. But, you know, I've seen so many different changes in my body even in the past year because of the way I eat and the way that I'm combining exercise. So I guess what is your overall, what is your overall philosophy on food, on fitness, on, you know, women being in different stages of their lives, different places with their bodies? Like, what is your overall philosophy?

Yeah, yeah. My overall philosophy is that the best workout you can do is one you're gonna do, one you will actually do. And so it doesn't have to be Lindsay Baumgren workout. It can be like, there. That's why it's like, this is so fun. There are so many workouts in the online space you can choose from and so pick who resonates with you. Right. Like the best workout you're going to do is one you actually do. I'm just a huge proponent of people moving their bodies. And for me, we've tried to take a different approach to the fitness industry, which can be really like sweaty self pack, you know, six pack selfies. And at the end of the day sometimes I wonder, don't you? Like, I know my audience. I'm marketing to women. Women. Other women don't want to see me working out in a swimsuit. Like they don't want.

I really don't actually. Yeah.

So like, I never understood the, that, that aspect of it. But we've just stayed really true to who we are. And at the end of the day, that is helping women build strength and build confidence. And it's not for aesthetics. That is an awesome bonus that can come with this is that you feel more confident in your body, but it's really, truly building physical strength builds mental strength. And that changed for me significantly when I came into motherhood. And so I set out because I love fitness. Like, I've just loved fitness. I love teaching group fitness. It was really fun for me. I wanted to make fitness free and accessible and attainable for people. Like, it no longer had to be confined to an hour workout at the gym and all these things. And then I became a mom, and it shifted for me because my time was so much more valuable. It was so different. Going to a group fitness class was a luxury. And so when I became a mom, it really shifted for me. For, like, this is part of my mental health and also for my business. I have this amazing job, and this job is not just teaching women how to be strong. It is that I get to come into TVs around the entire, entire world, and my voice gets to just radiate positivity into you for 20, 15, 30 minutes, however long you choose to work out with me. I get to speak life into you and tell you that you are strong, that you are capable, that you are made to do hard things. I get to tell you all this stuff in a season that, for me, postpartum was really, really dark, and I needed that in my life, was someone to speak that into me. And so I just imagine every day that I set up that camera and we film. I, like, literally just pray that people will just see a little bit of light today through this. That, like, we get to radiate light into what could be a very dark moment for them in their house, in their marriage, whatever season. Like, we are all going through really stinking hard times. And fitness has got me through some of the hardest seasons of my life. And so that I get to do that for other people is now the coolest part of my job.

Ugh, I got teary.

I'm very grateful. Like, that is the coolest part of my job.

Yes. And I love you. Do not take this lightly. That you get to be. It's clear that you don't take this lightly, that you get to go be part of these people's lives and be an influence. And. And because you take this so seriously, I know that's prob. That's why you've been so successful, because people can tell you're being genuine behind. You know, it's not about you. Like, working out in a swimsuit, which I just click on. You know, any random fitness influencer on, on Instagram and they're working out in like a swimsuit or something with six pack sweaty abs. That video is about them and it's not about me. It's about them trying to show off how whatever they are. But like for you taking this like privilege that you have to be in people's living room and be that bright spot in their day, like that to me is such a difference and such a shift versus like those surface level types of fitness influencers that are out there.

And I think when you bring it back to starting a business in general. Yeah, I never set out to turn this into a six figure or like I never set out to turn this into a business. True. Like, I knew what I was doing. I knew I needed to make money. I remember having phone calls with my girlfriend who we quit our jobs at the same time and both pursued online businesses and being like, if I could just make $30,000 a year.

Yeah.

To just break even doing what I love. That is the goal. Right. And it's just like doing like you if you start with an intent of making money and there is no passion behind it, like you are going to burn out so fast because it is a grind. Growing a business is a grind.

Yes.

But if you have the passion and you can marry that with the business and the love for that, like as you grow, you get to grow and be better and do more good things and as you make good money, you can be a really great person to your community. Like, it is just like the best, most beautiful thing.

That's the secret sauce right there for sure. I, I think you, you have to go where the passion is and go where, you know, follow where the things that you love to do. And I do believe that the money comes with it.

Yes, it will.

And sometimes we have to do the things that we have to do until we can do the things we get to do. I always remind myself that of that when I am working at, in certain parts of my business that I don't love to do. And I'm like, Holly, you won't always have to do things, do this. Or maybe this is just, you may always have to do this, but this is just part, part and parcel of being a business owner. And these are just things that you got to do and not every, you know, I think sometimes being a business owner can be glorified. Like, oh my God, it's so perfect. You get to be your own boss. Like that's the pro and the con. Because you get to be your own boss and Then if shit's not working, you're also responsible. Like, to, like, 100% responsible. And like, in a corporate job, like, usually it's like the team or, like, you know, a bigger part of the organization. But, like, no.

As when the IRS comes and wants to do an audit on your business and you don't sleep at night. Yeah. I mean, there's just stuff you have to do. You know, all the things. There's so much stuff that comes with being a business owner that I never signed up for. But have you heard of the rule of thirds?

Tell us. Maybe.

And I just think that this is so true in anything, whether you're going for a fitness goal in your life, whether you're trying to build a business, it is the rule of thirds. And it is that you know that you're going to goal and you're. What you're trying to achieve is great enough and perfect and on par. When a third of the time you are crushing it and loving it, a third of the time you're just okay, and a third of the time, you really dislike it and it stinks.

Yeah.

That means you have set out on a path that is success.

Yeah.

Because you're like, nothing is you. You can't always. It's the rule of thirds. Like, sometimes I'm like, yes, this is awesome. We are crushing it sometimes. Like, okay, we're just doing okay. We're gonna get up and go through the motions today, and we're just gonna get through this. And then the next day, it's like, this is the worst. How is everything on fire? We have 40 notifications from Google telling us they're gonna shut our site off. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I did not sign up for this.

Yes. That. You know that. Even for people that aren't business owners that are listening, I. I go through that with my workouts. Yes, exactly. Like, oh, my God, this is the best workout today. I'm so strong. I have so much energy. I feel great. And then most of the days, I'm like, yeah, this is great. Great. I. You know, I did my best. I showed up. I pushed myself. Great. Yep. Got to keep going. Some of it's boring. Like, just kind of keep the lights on. But, you know, I know I'm doing this because I need to.

Yeah.

And then there's the days that I'm like, I'm dehydrated, I'm tired. I didn't sleep well. I'm jet. Like, whatever. Like, this sucks. I am. You know, I'm. I Have. I'm so weak. Who do I think I am? I shouldn't have eaten what I did or drank what I did the night before. But yes, like, like it. And I think learning how to navigate and manage those peaks and valleys as well. Like, you just have to know it that some days are not always going to be the A plus days.

Right.

And, like, think things are going to go up, they're going to go down. And I think the longer you're in business or the longer you get comfortable with what you're doing, the. The valleys get less or they get less steep. Things do tend to even out a little bit over time. But I think it's really important to manage your mindset when it comes to working out or business and know that those peaks and valleys are going to come.

Yeah. Consistency compounds. You just got to keep showing up.

Yes. Yes. And regardless of if you're motivated.

Yes.

That's the other thing too.

Motivation is going to wax and wane.

Yeah.

Consistency and discipline is what's going to become the habit that keeps you.

Yep.

Everything. Like, I do not want to show up on Instagram every day.

Yeah.

100 do not want to show my face.

Does not care.

Doesn't care. If I want people to get on my email list, I need to show up on Saturday and tell them that a free workout plan lands in their inbox tomorrow and I have to do it every Saturday whether or not I want to.

Yep. Yep. Yeah, it doesn't. Yeah. Whether or not I want to does not matter in my business.

Yeah.

It. Like my. My customers or my readers or my listeners don't care. My clients don't care if I want to or not. Yeah, We. We have a. Yeah. Okay. So I would love to just get your thoughts on. I. I'm huge on. And one of the reasons I hired Jose to work with me is I was feeling like my workouts were plateauing and I just. I needed someone to help push me. I. I'm always. I've always been a fan of, like, lifting the heavy weight, but I don't think I was lifting heavy enough. And I think, you know, since then he's. He continues to push me. But talk to us about, like, just the fear that women seem to have around lifting the heavy weights. Like, what is your philosophy on that? Do we need to. Especially women that are starting to enter, like, their 40s and premenopause and like, what is. What are your thoughts around?

Like, there is where we need to be working, floating out in this, like, fitness abyss. We get messages every day from women. It's like, I can't do your hit workouts because my cortisol is going to go too high. And I'm like, really? Who's measuring that for you? And you know, why aren't we cycle sinking and why aren't we. And there's so much stuff that is going to come and go. But at the end of the day, what has held true is that strength training is the organ. Like muscle is the organ of longevity, right? Like building strength. Strength is what we start losing strength at 10, at age 30, like, you start decreasing strength. Like, you can combat that by building strength. Strength training is literally what gets all the pregnancy ailments to go away. Like, strength training is the bread and butter and it should be the bread and butter. And it's something that not enough people do. And it, it particularly women have been fed this Persona, that strength training. But yeah, five pound weights, like, I'm good with my five pound. And it's like, have you ever seen a mom walking out of a grocery store carrying a 30 pound, 20, 30 pound baby, pushing 50 pound cart of groceries and then like, and then she goes home and she picks up five pound weights.

She's like.

And I'm like, you are not training for life. Guess what? Fitness has nothing to do with how you look. Fitness is how fit are you for the task. What tasks do you do that you need to be fit for? Are you a mom? Do you like to hike? Do you want to run a 5K? Like, what are you doing every day? And that's what you should be training for. Like fitness is meant to be functional. It's meant to translate into your everyday life. And that is what I'm a huge proponent of is helping women feel strong so they can be the better mom, the better wife. They can be the most confident version of themselves, climbing a mountain or hiking or doing whatever they want to do. When a woman comes and says, like, for the first time I was able to hike this mountain, or I could move the couch with my husband, or I could, you know, lift my grandma out of her wheelchair and, or I could lift the tree off my car during Hurricane Helena, like the amazing stuff is just like, yes, that is what you are training for. You're training for everyday life.

For life.

It is about how fit are you for the task and what tasks, tasks are you doing every day.

But then at the same time, like, I look at maybe people who have like more of a sed. Sedentary lifestyle, who aren't lifting Heavy things who maybe quote unquote don't need to be strong, but they need to be strong. We still need to be strong.

Yeah. Strength training builds bone density. It, you know, combats osteoporosis as we age. Like there I could go on and on about the benefits but I think one of the biggest benefits we don't talk about enough is it combats depression and all the mental, mental anxiety. Like, like literally I just really we just did pull ups in our, in our New Year's program. I'm, I'm telling you early spoiler alert. There are pull ups in the New Year's program. A ten week study was done on people strength training and trying to get their first pull up in 10 weeks. And I could tell you all the benefits. It, it, you know, increased metabolism, increased strength, increased bone density, all these things that was like 2 to 7%. It decreased depression by 80%. A 2023 study showed that striving to get your first pull up in a 10 week strength challenge challenge, decrease depression by 80. You have a goal you're training for. Like it is like so many of us are in our own heads and we're struggling mentally in this world with anxiety, depression, all these things like strength, if your motherhood, it can feel isolating, it can feel lonely, like it's a postpartum depression. Like all these things, strength training can.

Be so good for all of that is incredible. Yeah. I mean if I'm ever in a funk, which you know happens very often, you know, we, we all get our in funks. I know I need to go move my body.

Yeah.

That is the one of the go to take a nap or move my body. Taking a nap does reset my mental, my mental mindset. And sometimes I can't fall asleep because my mind is racing or never, never fails to go move my body. And that immediately gets me out of my funk and it gives me like my renewed sense of confidence. I remember who I am, I remember why I'm doing this. I'm looking at my body and I'm appreciating what it can do. And so now I'm like maybe I need to start practicing some pull ups cuz I sure as heck can't do it once. 1.

You know what and it's also crazy is like, is how you talk to yourself in your head, right? So like when you are strength training and you're getting into those last reps and it's really hard and you say one negative thing in your head, it shuts off. It literally Causes a stress producing hormone that shuts off and tells your body you can't do it. Versus if you say one positive word to yourself. Yes, Strong, capable, it literally lights up the front of your brain, which releases adrenaline, dopamine, and tells you that you can push through to the next rep.

It's just incredible.

It's like our bodies are just wired to do hard things. We are so made for it. And so strength training is one of those things that's like, it's not easy. No. You know, if it was easy, everyone would wake up and do it. But I also think that women have been trained to, you know, just, if you've been lifting the same weights for a year, it's time to challenge yourself.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

And I saw. You can watch my videos. Go back for. I've been doing this for a decade now. Go back to the videos I filmed in the beginning. I'm using 10 pound weights, right. I used what I had and, and now I just filmed our New year's program with 25 pound weights.

Amazing look.

And I like, literally when women sh. Like, oh, you're looking toned, you're looking shredded, whatever. Like, I'm not doing this to look that way.

But look, it's a result.

There is a result of. And people are like, your workouts aren't as hard. Sometimes you're not doing as much hit. And I'm like, because I got smarter people. I do think cardiovascular training is important. I do think plyometrics is important. I think your cortisol is not going to spike by you doing a hiit workout on your period. You're gonna be okay just being honest. But also, strength training should be the basis. And I've learned now that I don't have to be all out, sweaty, holy bananas every day. That's not sustainable.

So I love this topic. I and this is something that I've had to unlearn myself because I used to think it wasn't a workout. If I didn't sweat my ass off and if I didn't burn at least 500 calories, the calorie doesn't count.

Doesn't count.

Yes. Thank you, Apple watch. Right. Like I, I used to think, well, that wasn't a work workout. I do a cardio workout once, maybe twice a week. I have my, the way my clothes fit me, are dressed drastically different than a year ago. I am way stronger than I used to be in terms of the weights I'm picking up. And I am burning maybe 200 calories a workout but what I.

But it's all day. It's not just the immediate calorie burn. It's the more muscle, continues to burn more calories all day. And I would say I truly learned this when I. Two years ago, I tore my meniscus, had to have knee surgery. It was like totally locked out. It stunk. I would not do it really stunk. But I couldn't do legit, did not do a single thing of cardio for six months because I could not.

You couldn't?

Could not for six months?

Yep.

And I put all of my effort into strength training, specifically in my upper body, more than I could my lower body and doing pull ups. And I saw significant changes in my body and I was like, wow.

And you weren't burning 5 or 600 calories?

No, definitely not. I couldn't even walk 10,000. I couldn't do the 10,000 steps. Like, I couldn't do it. It.

And you saw the changes. Yeah. This is something I've had to get over in my mind so fast because. Or so it's taken so long for me to get over this and think, well, that didn't really count because I didn't burn. I didn't burn enough calories. But, yeah, the. The gains that I've gotten by just, okay, I'm going to lean into this. I'm going to trust what Jose says and keep bringing him up because I. I feel lucky enough that I can have him on speed dial and be like, that wasn't even hard to day. And he's like, it's okay, Holly. It doesn't have to.

It doesn't have to crush every day.

Like, you can't. You have to go home and take a nap after you work out every time. So that to me is something I've really had to let go and trust. And after I've let go of that idea that I've had for like my whole life and leaned into just the strength training and following, following a program, lifting heavier weights. Like, I have, you know, an app that shows me what I lifted last time. And each time, sometimes I'm able to lift more in some areas and sometimes.

I'm not, but I'm g. To increase your We. Yeah, it takes a long time.

Like having that data just as motivating too. Like, oh, my God, I lift five more pounds than I did when the last time I did this exercise, like a month ago or whatever it was. So I think there's just a lot of.

And having a plan, like you said, having a Plan? I think so. When you talk about the YouTube space, people just like log on every day, pick a workout. It's like having a plan. That's why we create workout plans every, like, every week. It's like, here's a plan that is going to set you up for success, that's going to split train some days. Like, you need to have a plan. Following a plan is going to keep you more motivated, keep you on track, keep you accountable and get you results.

And you're not going to wake up one day. And same with having a business too. You need a plan every day. Like, I wake up to a plan. Yeah, but like, yeah, versus waking up and not really knowing what you're gonna do. And then you can make every excuse in your head just not to do it right and then just forget about it. And then the next day comes, you're like, I wish it worked out yesterday.

And you can't skip over the fact I'm not a nutritionist, I'm not a dietitian, but like, 80 is how you're feeding your body outside of your workout. Yeah, it's like 80. How you're feeding your body, body 10%, how you're training your body, 10 genetics.

So let's talk about the food and the eating and what are some of the myths that you think there are out there about food? What do you think people, what would you, like, encourage people to think about when it comes to food? And people who are training and, you know, trying to eat well so they can make the most out of the training and still love their life and enjoy food.

I am very much on the train of, like, I've tried the whole. I've done the whole fitness competition. I've done the whole restriction, I've done the whole counting, maximum macros, and it serves for a season if you have big goals like that or something you're straining for. But it's just not sustainable for a lifestyle, in my opinion. And so I am very much sustainability. Like, I am trying to eat the best I can. I strive for whole foods that God made. Like, that's just what feels best in my body most of the time. Yes, I do have some indulgences or things. I think everything in moderation is okay. I think talking about food with my kids is really important. And just being like, hey, buddy, if we have too much of that fat that's got a lot of sugar in it, that is going to hurt our belly and you are not going to feel great. And like, just having those, like, real Conversations with them. And, like, they talk all the time. Like, I'm like, oh. And, you know, sometimes I'll be, like, putting. And I'm like, mom needs to eat more protein, because I'm feeling really sluggish today. Or just, like, having those conversations openly with my kids.

Yeah.

And just showing them how we cook and how we eat real food. But.

And why do you eat it?

Yes. And why. Protein and produce at every meal is kind of, like, my goal. But at the end of the day, I think we all just need to eat more real, real food. And. Yeah. I don't think it has to be that complicated.

Yeah. I love that when it comes to kids. My sister has two daughters, and they're 3 and 7, and she is doing such, I think, a phenomenal job about teaching her kids about the value of eating healthy foods. These kids eat broccoli and peppers and, like, red peppers. Me, as a kid, I wouldn't touch either. No way. Gross. Absolutely not. I. I wanted fish sticks and Mac and cheese back in the 80s, but my sister has done such a great job about, like, helping them understand. Well, if you eat, you know, something sweet, your tummy might not feel good. Or that's not. She has a really good saying around, you know, that that's not gonna make your body grow big and strong.

Yeah.

And so just, like, helping these kids, like, feel empowered about the choices they're making and understand why they're eating the foods they do. I just. I wasn't taught that, which I've had to undo a lot of really unhealthy food and body image issues, you know, later in life. But I. I love that parents are starting to do this, or parents are doing this now, and maybe they always have. Have been, but I just. I love that you're being more conscious about it.

We grew up in a culture. I think a lot of us did, and, like, it was diet and exercise, diet and exercise. And I think we need to shift the paradigm to fitness and performance. Like, it is not like, I'm not exercising to punish myself. I'm being fit so I can perform my everyday tasks. I'm not dieting. I'm fueling to. So my body can perform. It's like diet. You know, the diet and exercise culture needs to shift to fitness and performance. Performance. Like, I'm doing this so I can perform at my best.

Yes. Oh, love that. And that could be a rule of thumb for making so many decisions for food.

Yeah. And I just think at the end of the day, it's just like, you know, how am I gonna feel after I eat?

Yes.

It's like thinking about how am I gonna feel? And, like, what are my goals? And I'm trying to be the best version of me. And that requires.

Yeah.

Eating well and feeling good.

I have two more questions just around, like, the food and, like, what we put in our bodies. Talk to us about alcohol. Alcohol. Where do you think that fits in with. With living a healthy lifestyle, being fit performance, but also wanting to, like, have a glass of wine or go out for Halloween and have some drinks with friends? Like, where do you think alcohol has a place or does it not? What are your thoughts?

I think it's totally personal preference. And for me, alcohol. I'm actually in a. I'm. I'm not drinking. Like, alcohol doesn't serve me. I'm never. I. I'm never. In the past couple years, like, felt great after having it. And so I'm just, like, I'm at a person where I'm. I have really high expectations for myself on a daily basis, and I just never want to hinder that. And, like, why would I do something that's going to hinder that and so impact your performance. Yeah. And so I say that with, like, the copy of, like, who I was, you know, 10 years, like, college me or whatever, you know, like, there's very many iterations of Lindsay like, that. What's the face? It's like the saying, like, if you saw my Facebook post from 2019, I'd, like, die or something.

Yeah.

Yeah, probably very true. And I'm not saying that you can't have it. It doesn't. What? Like, everyone needs to make their own personal decision for me. And my friends have just gotten to know this about me. Like, I just shove and I'm like, I'll take a sparkly water. Like, I'm in heavy shoot season. I got a lot of workouts. I got to film. My job relies on this.

I can't afford to drink.

I have high expectations for myself. And so, like, how do I occasionally. Or have I in the past had glasses of wine with my girlfriends? Yes. And things like that. But right now, alcohol just doesn't serve me and doesn't serve my family. And so for me, it's not something that's included in my life. Is that, like an end all be all? Like, who knows where I'll be? I don't know. Like, I. I just think you have to evaluate it. Your own. Your own life and your own, you know, like, what? Yeah.

What you're trying to Achieve and what your goals are.

My thing is I love a good sparkly butter and a bowl of trail mix at night. Like that's my vice. Like I love trail mix. Trail mix is my thing.

So yeah, trail mix and sparkling water, that'll be me tonight. I have no plans and I can't wait to have like a night in and just.

It is interesting to me to see this like shift though. Like in Gen Z it's like coming like they're like being much more sober, curious and much more. And like that, it was like that was never a thing when you were younger.

Nothing.

It was never. And even now like it's, it's just genuinely happened organically in my life that I've cut out alcohol. I just, it's genuinely just happened organically.

Yeah, you have. I, I find the older I get, the less well I process it and the more it gets in my way. So like last night I went out with some friends and had I think three drinks and over an extended period of time but I Woke up at 2:30 in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep. So I had racing thoughts and my sleep score felt absolutely awful.

And yeah, like even when I was drinking it would be just like a glass of wine. Like I'm very, you know, like I never, after having kids I just never really started drinking again and so I never had a tolerance and so it's always just like a glass of wine.

Yeah.

But even on the nights I had just a glass of wine my sleep score stunk and I was like, I can't handle a crappy sleep score. And so for me that's when I was just like, it's just, that's not serving me. I don't like the crummy sleep score. I want the best sleep score. I'm a product.

You use the data and you made.

A decision and I made a decision. I was like, I'm just not going to do this anymore.

Yeah, creatine, I'm super curious about that because what is it? Is it good for our bodies? Should women drink it or you know, consume it? Like what are your thoughts on it?

Yeah, it's funny because it's having its moment. Right. And so creatine is the most researched supplement on the market. So it does have that going for it. Because a lot of supplements are not highly researched. Creatine is the most researched supplement on the market. But basically I think again it comes out. It's funny because I took creatine back in my muscle building days. When I was doing fitness competitions, and I was like, I'm not trying to, like, get, like, you know, Hulk, Hulk Hogan strong. Although people say, like, when women are like, I'm trying to get, you know, I don't want to get bulky. And I'm like, I'm trying. Trust me, trying. Do you know how much work and effort it takes to get bulky? I've been trying for 10 years. Like, I love muscle, actually is your goal. That is my goal. And it's really hard. It's really hard. It takes a lot of dedication. I don't have the. The time. Spend hours in the gym to do that. But if you are, it is funny because it's been shown over the years to have a lot more actually, like, mental benefits, mental clarity. And so especially women potentially going into perimenopause, menopause, it's showing a lot of benefits for just women in general in, like, mood stability, clarity, brain fog, things of that nature, as well as helping you build and maintain lean muscle mass. Helping with recovery time. For me, I have started taking it. I started taking it this year.

You did? Okay.

It was funny because I. So I do these Q and A's on in my YouTube membership with dietitians, and every dietitian was like, you're not taking cream.

Creatine.

You should be taking creatine. And I was like, have this kind of, like, rule of three. Like, if someone recommends it to me three times, buy back. Your time was recommended to me three times. I'm like, I'm gonna read the book. If someone recommends something to me three times, I'm like, maybe I should explore it.

Yeah.

And multiple dietitians had said, like, oh, yeah, creatine. You should be taking creatine. Like, recovery time for you. You're getting older. You want to keep muscle mass. You should be on creatine. And I was like, wow. So all these dietitians are, like, taking creatine. They say I should be taking creatine. And I was like, maybe I'll give it a try. A lot of women don't give creatine a try because, yes, there is a loading phase. I don't suggest it. I do suggest just taking the 5 milligrams a day of creatine. 5 milligrams a day? 5 grams. Sorry, 5 grams. Not milligrams. 5 grams of creatine a day. But with that, there is a little bit of water weight on set. Bloating. I felt definitely, like, five pounds heavier for the first month or so, at least. And a lot of women are like, nope, not interested. And I'm like, if you can stick with that and get over that hump.

Yeah.

I've seen improved sleep. I feel like my workouts are a little bit more explosive and recovery time. Recovery time is something I've been struggling with as, like, especially these days that we have to film multiple workouts. And so I've been trying to explore things that would help with that. One of the reasons I cut out alcohol, one of the reasons I'm really focused on my sleep score and my HRV heart rate variability is something I'm really, really in tune with. If you wake up with an elevated heart rate, like, that means your body's fatigued. Like, what can you be doing? If you're going to bed with an elevated heart rate means you're not going to sleep at night as well. So I pay really close attention to my heart rate as an indicator for me. But I did start taking creatine. I'm not saying, like, oh, it's magic. I'm, like, totally ripped and I feel amazing. But I do think it's helped with improved sleep quality. I do think that my workouts are a little bit more explosive and recovery time is better. And so I'm continuing to take it.

Okay. And I've read that, like, there could be, like, it could be hard on your liver to take it. Is that true? Is that. Do we need to drink more water if we're taking creatine?

I mean, you do. They do say to increase your water intake if you're drinking creatine. I haven't seen that specifically published. You know that. That's because it is one of the most researched supplements. There aren't a lot of downsides to it.

Okay.

I would not suggest taking it during pregnancy or postpartum like that. It has not been researched on pregnant women, so I would definitely not suggest it during pregnancy. And, you know, the initial. If you're still breastfeeding, like, it's just not been researched.

Right.

But. But yeah, I have not seen the liver thing. No. Okay, look into that.

Okay.

I do think you need to drink more water, and I think you need to eat, like, in order to see. Create. So creatine. Our body naturally makes creatine. You just start decreasing, making it as we get older, like everything else. Right. Like collagen, everything else. Like, you start. Your body just makes less of it. And so how do you keep up with it? And you need to eat the equivalent of something like 4 pounds of ground beef in order to get the creatine that yeah, like gross.

So as a non meat eater I'm.

Like, well, oh you're not. Okay, that's really good. Even something to the equivalent of like you need to eat like 4 pounds of ground beef to get like the creatine, you know, so you get the same effect of so but then you.

Do all the downsides, like all the fat too and like you know, not going to happen for most people. Right, right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So.

Huh. Okay. Well that's good to know. I'm gonna go buy some creatine because I've been just thinking about it so I, I thought you of all people would have a point of view. So thanks for sharing. Yeah, well we are def. I could definitely keep chatting with you forever. Lindsay, you have shared so much. I am fascinated by your business. I want to buy the 49 page guide.

I have a new business I'm starting tomorrow.

Yes. No, really. I think everything from like how to start like a YouTube channel to you know, why metrics matter, how to buy back your time. We'll link that book in the, in the show notes. I think that seems like a great book because who couldn't use more time at the end of the day and have some tools in order to evaluate. I for one want to read that book. And then just your perspective on exercise and just you've provided just so much. The last thing that we want to know is how do we work with you, you know, how do we work with you from like an exercise perspective or a business perspective if there's, you know, brands out there that are listening or. And how do we get on your email list? How do we subscribe to your YouTube Chann channel? Tell us all the things and where can we find you?

Yes, you can find us@nourishmovelove.com on our website. You can subscribe to our email list from there. You can find all of our content there or you can watch us on YouTube. Nourish, move love. Follow along on Instagram Nourish, Move Love. We're also on Pinterest and yeah, that's how you work out with us. Free workouts, free workout plans. If you get on our email list, it'll free workout plans land in your inbox every Sunday. We tell you what we're doing this exact week and give you a full follow along video that goes with it every single week. So all free and accessible and super awesome. And if you want even closer communication to me and my team to really reach your fitness goals you can join our YouTube membership community. We click the join button on YouTube. It's $5.99 a month. So stinking affordable. You get interviews with people, the creatine experts, dietitians. Like, we bring in experts. We're doing lymphatic drainage this month. We pick like a new topic. Yeah, we pick a new topic every month and dive into it. Something that's trending in the health space and the building an online business is going to be my next. My next business feature. So you can just contact me at. Lindsay Nurse Move love dot com. It's something I've been exploring for a while. I get people who reach out to. I do do some off. Like one off consulting for. Oh, you do businesses? I do.

Oh, good to know.

I do, yeah.

Well, thank you, Lindsay, for being here. One last question, Nurse Move. Move Love. Where did you get the name? Like, how does love fit into your business? I just love that you have the word love in your business. How did you. Why did you decide on those three words?

Yeah, so when I started the business, I'll tell you the concept. We've really honed in on the move part. Like now move is the big part. It's bold now. But when I started my business, the concept was kind of threefold. I to wanted want it.

It was.

I didn't know exactly what my business was going to be at the time, but the concept I wanted to put out into the world was nourish your soul with God's word and your body with real food. Move your body and create movement in your life. Love yourself and others unconditionally. And that's kind of like the. The mission of Nourish, Move Love and how we were founded.

I love it. And what type of ideal customer or client are you hoping to attract with your business? Or who's your ideal person that you want to help?

It's of kind. Kind of like me. It basically it's. It's women anywhere in their twenties to their. We have women all the way up into their 70s working out with us, which is just amazing. Like, I'm blown away. So it's really kind of a breath of women, but like really the busy, ambitious woman who wants to stay active and. But also has a lot of other priorities in life too and wants to make it accessible and at home and doable and. Yeah, I'm just like a Minnesota mom who loves fitness and wanted to share it with other people to make them better.

Killing it and crushing it in her business. Thank you.

It's been a grind.

Well, but clearly like you love what you do in that show. So thank you for being here. Lindsay.

Thanks for having me.

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