Part 2: SET Active's Lindsey Carter Has Thoughts on Maternity Leave

0:00Hey, business festies. Welcome back to the Female Founder World Podcast. This is part two of my conversation with the founder of Set Active, Lindsay Carter. Lindsay, this chat is all about your resource recommendations. And I want to start with a couple of resources that have just been helping you to show up as the business leader that you want. Honestly, I set a goal for myself last year when things were really dark that I was telling you about to fill out the five-minute journal without skipping a day until the book is done. And I did it. and it changed my life. Really? Yes. Because even on the hardest days, you have to still end.

0:42So there's two parts to the five-minute journal. There's the first part in the morning where you write what you're grateful for. You write what you're looking forward to that day in an affirmation. And then you go back to it at night and you end the day with the highlights of your day and something you've learned. And so even on my hardest days, I still have to fill out highlights of my day. And so to be able to retrain my brain to not focus on how bad the day was and focus on the good things that happened changes your perspective and just lets you rest easy, easier at night. I really, really recommend it.

1:15Not only because like it just changes your perspective, but it grounds you and like makes you realize that there's so there's so much to be grateful for that's outside of like my successful business that I think it's really important that like you're able to stop and recognize the small wins in your life. Yeah. Because it's just going to make you like a better leader regardless. And a book that has also really changed my life is Why Did Nobody Tell Me This? I've never heard of it. What is it? I love a recommendation that hasn't been said like 10 ,000 times on the show because we do hear the same ones a lot.

1:51I'm going to get you the author right now. Yes. And we'll also put a link in the show notes as well for people who want to buy the book after you recommend? It's Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before by Julie Smith. And it's filled with secrets from a therapist toolkit, basically. And it just, I don't know, the quotes in there. It's like one of those books that I've highlighted, like almost every line. Because you're just like... It's just all bright yellow on every page. Yeah. I actually first listened to it on audiobook. And then I bought the... It's just kind of like my Bible now. It's really, really, really, really good.

2:28Okay, business besties, let's switch gears for a second. Real quick, I want to talk to you about this season's presenting sponsor, Vistaprint. They are sponsoring this entire season of the Female Founder World podcast, and we love a supportive sponsor. So much so that we're actually working with Vistaprint ourselves to create the merch and all of those beautiful event perks that you know and love from our in real life female founder world events. If you haven't heard of Vistaprint, here's what you need to know. Vistaprint helps all kinds of business owners print all kinds of marketing products like super professional business cards, fun merch, eye-catching flyers and brochures and a whole bunch more and it's all completely custom so you can do whatever you want.

3:15Whatever you're imagining right now, Vistaprint can print it and if you're wondering if you're ready to be a designer girly. Their easy to use website makes it super simple. Plus they have designers on hand to help you if you really need it. Right now, Vistaprint is giving all female founder world podcast listeners a little something. 25 % off your first order at vistaprint.com. Use the code FFW25 at checkout and step up your branding game. We put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more. I know some people like have great thoughts and not amazing thoughts about Gary Vee, but like he gives such good advice too.

3:56And it's something that he said in, you know, in the office that we're trying and practicing is he was like, meetings should not be longer than 15 minutes. Anything that you have to say, unless it's like a collaborative marketing, like we have to talk about a lot of things. Meetings should be 15 minutes or less at most 30. And we've been doing that. And it's like, bought so much of my time back in the office. And that was from a podcast that I listened to that he was on with Lauren Bostic for the Him and Her podcast. And it was such a great listen. And he also said that I thought was so valuable.

4:30And it's something that I've been doing for, I think, since Seth's inception, but I feel like it gets lost sometimes is if you focus on sales and not the value of your product, your sales will not come. If you focus on the value of your product, your sales will come. And he says it a lot more eloquently than I just said it, but it's so true. Like if you're just focused on sales, sales, sales, sales, sales, they're not going to come. But if you really believe in what you're putting out there and the value behind what you're putting out there, naturally the sales will come. That's such good advice.

5:03You mentioned the gratitude or the journaling before, but is there anything else that's woven into your routine? Do you have a morning routine? I mean, you've got two kids, so I can imagine what morning looks like. I feel like as my kids grow, my morning routine changes. But first of all, unless I have a work dinner, which I try to limit to once or twice a week or a social dinner, I'm in bed at 7.45. In bed. In bed. Teeth are brushed. Retainer is in. My anxiety medication has been taken. My phone is plugged in. Lights are off. Bravo is on. 7.45 every single night. I love that. When I can. Yeah.

5:42Because it allows me to be able to wake up the next morning at 5.45 or 6 a.m. to go to my workout. Working out has changed my life. I was always someone – I was probably like – I was – I would never go online and like speak poorly about someone in particular. But I was always someone who was hating on the person that was like, I just hit 100 classes at my workout. Or I worked – got up at 6 a.m. to go to my 7 a.m. workout. I was doing that because I was jealous and insecure because I could never be that person. But fast forward to I am that person now and it's changed my life. Working out at 7 a.m.

6:24just I feel like provides mental clarity for my day. I'm able, you know, there's so many mornings that I'll wake up with anxiety, whether it's about what I have to do for the day or a hard meeting I'm going to have to have. But being able to like work, wake up, go work out, I can start my day just like a little bit more clear. Yeah. And it's really, it's made me a better leader. It's made me a better mom, a better wife, a better friend. What do you do? Like do you do classes or are you? I do one class only. It's called Burn. It's in Brentwood. They're actually opening up a location in West Hollywood.

6:56And I think they're going to expand across California within the year. It's a hot box. It's an infrared heated room where you do like high intensity and low intensity workouts. And it's changed my life. And I think why I like it so much is because it's so hot in there and the infrared is so great for your nervous system. You start sweating within like the first three minutes. And so you already are feeling successful in your workout. Whereas like before I'd work out in the gym and I'd be pushing myself for 50 minutes and I wouldn't even break a sweat. I'm like, what am I doing? Like it just, and I didn't even feel any differences.

7:29this I feel the difference it's the most incredible thing in the world but yes it's part of my morning workout I go I mean my morning routine I go five days a week I reserve my weekends for my kids and typically I come home I'll shower off really fast get ready go to the office and I'm typically in the office all the way until it depends now that my kids are older I'll I'll leave if no one needs me like at four. But I'm always emailing. I'm always doing something after the kids go down. Like if I'm in bed at 745 and like I haven't finished my work, I'll open my laptop and do what I need to do or get someone an answer that they're waiting on.

8:07But if the answer can wait overnight, then I'll do it the next day. I mean, juggling mom life, work life. Did you take maternity leave? No. And I regret it, honestly. I really regret it because our COO had a baby and our CBO had a baby and they both took maternity leave. And I'm like, so like jealous, like I'm so jealous. I don't know why I did it. Like I felt this pressure to just get back into it. Yeah. And it's my biggest regret. I mean, I didn't either. Yeah. So I get it. But yeah. Lindsay, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Of course. Thanks for having me. I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid Business Bestie subscribers.

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