Mastering Content Strategy for Business Growth: Lindsay Smith’s Journey from Corporate to Creative Entrepreneur | Ep #179

Are you a creative thinking about going into business for yourself?

You'll want to tune in for this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, where host Shannon Russell chats with Lindsay Smith, a seasoned copywriter and content strategist, about her inspiring career journey to building her own business. From her beginnings at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to a thriving career in advertising, Lindsay discovered her passion for storytelling and content creation. Now the founder of Lindsay Smith Creative, she helps small business owners transform their relationship with content by blending strategy, creativity, and intuition. Lindsay shares actionable tips for crafting compelling content, overcoming overwhelm, and trusting your creative instincts to grow your business in 2025 and beyond.

If you’re ready to use content to elevate your brand or considering a leap into entrepreneurship, this episode is packed with wisdom you don’t want to miss.

Takeaways:

1. Content Strategy Simplified: Learn why content isn’t just social media—it’s your website, email marketing, blog, and overall online presence.
2. Trust Your Creative Instincts: Discover how to unlock your best ideas by stepping away from the screen and embracing creative intuition.
3. Permission to Pivot: Overcome fear and take the leap into entrepreneurship by leveraging transferable skills from your previous career.
4. Consistency Over Perfection: Focus on sharing authentic, valuable content rather than chasing rigid posting schedules or algorithms.
5. The Power of the Long Game: Understand why success in business and content marketing requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to embrace mistakes.

SHOW NOTES:
https://secondactsuccess.co/179

Connect with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysmithcreative.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/lindsaysmithcreative/
https://www.lindsaysmithcreative.ca/contentmagic-podcast

-------

You are listening to the Top 2% globally ranked podcast Second Act Success!

Book a FREE Call with host and career/business coach Shannon Russell - https://www.calendly.com/second-act-success/coaching-strategy

FREE Resources
https://secondactsuccess.co/resources

LISTEN to the How To Quit Your Job and Start A Business Podcast!
https://secondactsuccess.co/listen

LET’S CONNECT!
Instagram - https://instagram.com/secondactsuccess
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/secondactsuccess.co
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@secondactsuccess
All the latest - https://secondactsuccess.co/links
FREE Resources - https://secondactsuccess.co/resources

REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE THE PODCAST!

Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Mastering Content Strategy for Business Growth: Lindsay Smith’s Journey from Corporate to Creative Entrepreneur | Ep #179
Episode - #179
Host: Shannon Russell
Guest: Lindsay Smith
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Lindsay Smith: Strategy is never going anywhere. It's always going to be around. But the real magic is like when you learn to trust those creative downloads. And that's always what makes the best content. Content. 



[00:00:45] Shannon Russell: Hey there, my friend. Welcome back to Second Act Success 

today I am joined by copywriter and content strategist, Lindsay Smith. 

Lindsay began her career working for the CBC, the Canadian broadcasting corporation. She then [00:01:00] ventured into advertising and ultimately she realized she wanted to work for herself. 

Now she runs Lindsay Smith Creative. She shares her more than 20 years of knowledge with other small business owners so that they can change their relationship to creating content. Content is key and that is what you need to grow your small business. 

So I'm excited to chat with Lindsay about her career journey and have her give us some really excellent advice on how we can use content in our businesses in 2025. Let's get to it.





[00:01:32] Shannon Russell: Lindsay Smith, welcome to Second Act Success. I'm so honored to have you here.

[00:01:37] Lindsay Smith: Oh, thanks, Shannon. I'm excited to come and chat with you. Always. I

[00:01:42] Shannon Russell: And I was just on your podcast, so we're just going back and forth, but I am so excited because we're in the same mastermind together and so we know each other's businesses, but here on the show, I want to inspire you. hearing how other women have changed careers and started a [00:02:00] business. So let's start from the beginning with you.

You went to journalism school. Is that right?

[00:02:05] Lindsay Smith: Yes, I did. So, my second degree was in journalism. I wanted to, like, write about manicures in restaurants.

[00:02:13] Shannon Russell: Ooh. Ooh.

[00:02:14] Lindsay Smith: However, here in Canada, we have, um, the CBC, which is, like, our major, um, They're on TV, they're on the radio. Um, and so all of my journalism teachers were like ex CBCers.

So it was kind of, it was a one year program, because I already had a bachelor's degree, so I did like a condensed one year program. And then I kind of was like, oh, You know, when you're 20, you're like, I guess I'll go work for the CBC. So right out of school, I got a job at CBC radio. I live in Canada.

I'm originally from Montreal, but now I live in Hamilton, Ontario. I did my degree out east, , in the Alaton provinces. And so I lived in Prince Edward Island, which is a very tiny little island of a province. and it's really only. to go there in the summer when it gets to be cold, everything shuts down. 

[00:03:00] 

[00:03:23] Lindsay Smith: and I went to like all of the drive in coffee places or the drive thru coffee places and I gave them a travel mug wanted to see who would pour coffee directly into the, into the travel mug or who would waste a cup.

This was like some random thing I had. Yeah. And I drove around talking to drive thru people. 

[00:03:44] Shannon Russell: How many people would pour it into your cup?

[00:03:47] Lindsay Smith: most people wasted a cup. It had something to do. And this was like pre COVID, right? And there were young people and I was always like, Oh, are you going to put the coffee in a cup first or in my travel mug? And some people had it and they were like, Oh, I'm going to [00:04:00] put it in a cup first. Cause something, like everybody had a

[00:04:02] Shannon Russell: Interesting.

[00:04:03] Lindsay Smith: it. Anyways, that that's a.

[00:04:06] Shannon Russell: But that's fun. That's like a fun project to work on.

[00:04:09] Lindsay Smith: Yes, those are the kinds of ideas that I would bring to like the story meetings. And so then, fast forward a couple of years, um, I went back to Montreal and I accidentally fell into advertising. I met up with a girlfriend I went to high school with and she was like, Oh, I'm a copywriter. I was like, what does that mean? I had no idea what that meant. She told me about it and I was like, that sounds cool. So I went to go meet some of the senior writers, and actually, that's I think the whole reason I got the job at the time I had a flip phone and my my ringtone was 90210. Dana,

[00:04:42] Shannon Russell: Wait, Lindsay, that was my ringtone for most of the nineties. That is so weird.

[00:04:50] Lindsay Smith: So my phone went off and these two writers were like, oh my God, that's hilarious. Is that 9 0 2 1? Oh? I was like, yes. And I'm, I swear that's how I got a job, because it was [00:05:00] like a bond of 9 0 2 1. Oh. So that was my first job in copywriting, an advertising. I knew I was a good writer, but I don't think I knew.

I don't know exactly what that meant, like I'd have a client service person come to me and be like, Oh, can you check this sentence? And I'd be like, why can't you check this sentence? Right? Or like

[00:05:20] Shannon Russell: Right. Yeah.

[00:05:24] Lindsay Smith: remember it was my friend's deaf and she was like, Oh, we have to have a copywriter look over it.

And I think that was like my first day. I was like. Okay, it looks good, but I would like change this and that and that. She's like, okay, cool, thanks. And I just was like, doesn't everybody know how to do this? And then, you know, it was my early 20s and I eventually realized, oh, not everybody can do this. I worked in advertising for like 12, 13 years. The way it works, a copywriter is, traditionally, is teamed up with an art director. You put them together and we just come up with a ton of ideas. so, to me, coming from journalism, I was like, You mean we just make up ideas? We don't have to, like, fact check them? So, to me, I was just like, [00:06:00] Oh my God, so much freedom, right?

So, like, most ridiculous ideas, you know, like, I think one of my first clients was, like, L'Oreal, but it was, like, a men's campaign. I came up with some, like, Comic book idea. It was so ridiculous. So it's just like coming up with ideas all day long. , and then fast forward to having some children and moving to Ontario the advertising industry is You know in my 20s and 30s.

It was It was great. You know, like I, I was single. I, you know,

[00:07:00] 

[00:06:55] Lindsay Smith: what it would look like. For me to have a job outside of the house and , child care and before and after care, more car seats for my husband's car, , gas and I just was like, my take home pay was just like kind of ridiculous.

And I was like, I'm pretty sure I can do this on my own. So that's kind of how it came to be. I freelanced, I called myself a freelance copywriter for a very long time. And it was just like a lot of projects just sort of kept falling in my lap. And I just was like, sure, sure, why don't you just e transfer me this random amount? , I don't even think I had a website. I built a random Squarespace website. At some point, and I was like, okay, and I threw a bunch of logos on them of like, the clients I was working with,

[00:07:46] Shannon Russell: Okay. Yeah.

[00:07:46] Lindsay Smith: Then, you know, my job sort of shifted. I was a copywriter, a content writer, you know, back in the day, it was called a community manager when you're managing a bunch of social media clients at once, you're scheduling stuff, you're creating content for people, you're writing [00:08:00] captions, all that kind of stuff. And so I did that for other people for a very long time, creating

[00:08:04] Shannon Russell: Silence. Yes. Oh. Mm hmm. Silence.

[00:08:32] Lindsay Smith: you know, the, the marketing, the blogging that I also, I was a beauty blogger at one time. I have a lot of past secrets. Oh, and I was yoga teacher too. And so I was kind of like, I wonder if I can take all of this knowledge and teach people what I know. that's kind of where I professionalized what I was doing and it moved from like a freelancer to more of a like I'm like, okay, I'm going to really make this work. I still take on copyrighting clients. I'm like absolutely a storyteller at heart. I [00:09:00] love my copyrighting clients.

I like nerd out on copy big time. I just so happen to be really, really good at nurture content. So those are sort of my two paths. and I love it. I love it.

[00:09:13] Shannon Russell: Let's talk about that then. So Lindsey Smith creative is your business that you created and now you take that experience you can copyright for others, but you're teaching your clients how to do the content and the copywriting basically for themselves via email website, all of it. Explain more about how you work with your clients now when you use your past experience to really help them. 

[00:09:49] Lindsay Smith: people immediately [00:10:00] think social media and they immediately think Instagram for sure. Instagram is a great tool, right? But it's just one tiny little tool. When I'm talking about content, I'm talking about your website. I'm talking about. I'm talking about, if you have a YouTube channel, I'm talking about blog posts.

If you have a blog, , Social media is part of it. Like I'm talking about like your, your online presence as a, as a whole. So when I'm talking about content, I'm talking about the big picture. My favorite is working one on one with clients. I usually, they come to me cause they're overwhelmed.

They have no idea what to say. They don't know, you know, they're just like, I don't know what I'm doing. Most people have like ghosted their email list. Or they have like a bunch of drafts or they're just like, I don't want to send them. I'm too scared. Right? So a lot of what I do honestly is like a permission piece. It's a, it's a lot of permission to be like, you don't have to listen to Such and such guru who's like some 20 year old dude who has knows nothing and has a team of like [00:11:00] 27 people right you don't have to listen to what the gurus are telling you there This is the permission to create content differently to use your creative intuition, you know, when I worked in radio, my producers were always like, Lindsay, you're not going to find a story idea sitting at your desk.

We didn't have smartphones then, but so much of us are, we're like this.

[00:11:19] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:11:20] Lindsay Smith: scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Listen, I do it too. However, you're not going to find your best ideas with your face in a screen. You know that my best ideas come from when I'm walking the dog, or when I'm in the shower, right?

In the car, Randomly with no, music on and no children

[00:11:37] Shannon Russell: No kids, 

[00:11:39] Lindsay Smith: right? Like those it's when your brain you give your brain a rest is when all those good ideas come from And so a lot of what I do is just like the permission to trust those ideas, right? Yes, of course your strategy Yes, absolutely.

We talked about strategy. I just had a client recently You know, she wanted to launch a workshop. So we sort of worked backwards of like what she was going to [00:12:00] talk about each week to give her sort of a strategy. Strategy is never going anywhere. It's always going to be around. It's going to shift and change. But the real magic is when you learn to trust those creative downloads. And that's always what makes the best content. Content. 

[00:12:15] Shannon Russell: Yeah, that's a great explanation because it really is all encompassing and it's really what how you want others to view you and your business and your services or your products. , it's very intimidating, I think for people who aren't as creative as you and you know, don't have your background, but I love that you are there to kind of help them teach them and guide them.

Along so that they can get their ideas out there and realize it doesn't have to be in every email. I think I've learned that myself. It's if you have something to say, put it in an email and send it. Chances are the people on your email list are not always going to read your emails anyway, but you might have something that's a little different and a little off that will spark them wanting to read and scroll [00:13:00] further.

So why not? 

[00:13:02] Lindsay Smith: This story a lot when I was teaching yoga I always wanted my husband to like either come to one of my classes or like come to yoga with me and His whole deal was like I can't go to yoga until I'm good at yoga Right, when I met him He had done p90x

[00:13:17] Shannon Russell: okay.

[00:13:17] Lindsay Smith: was like, yeah, so he was like super buff and then so for the 12 years We've been together.

He's like, gonna start working out again. I'm like It's been 12 since I met you and it hasn't happened. Anyways, so to him in his mind, he's like, I can't go to yoga if I can't touch my toes. Like everyone's going to be looking at me. I was like, no one's looking at you.

Everybody's worried about their own downward dog. Nobody's looking at you. So it's like a blessing and a curse, right? As entrepreneurs, we're in our head a lot,

[00:13:45] Shannon Russell: Mm hmm.

[00:13:46] Lindsay Smith: So you think if you put something out once, right? Everybody's seen it and it's like this this idea of taking your message dropping it at someone's doorstop and just being like, okay And like running

and it's and it's [00:14:00] not that's not really how it works So it's kind of like and a curse because nobody's watching As closely as you think but also nobody's watching as closely as you think right?

[00:14:09] Shannon Russell: True. You could have stayed in freelancing and not actually made this leap into being your own boss and, you know, really, truly having a business of your own because you were like, Oh, I don't know if it's going to work. And it's that whole getting in your head again.

And I think there's a lot of my listeners probably who feel that. tug inside when they're thinking about leaving that nine to five and taking their skills and experiences and starting a business. Oh, what if it's not good? Well, you're not going to know if you don't try it. You can figure out, , things as you go along, but it's taking that leap sometimes that like fulfills you and brings your life together to fit a little bit better.

[00:14:53] Lindsay Smith: Yeah, entrepreneurship is not That glamorous. I feel like, and you're probably feel the same way. [00:15:00] Like, I'm unemployable now. Like one, I don't have a portfolio.

Like, if I wanted to go back to agencies, I don't have any portfolio to show what I've done. , to also, I would have so much attitude. I just be like, don't you tell me what to do. Don't you know who I am? Right?

[00:15:16] Shannon Russell: It's so true. Yes. Yeah. 

[00:15:23] Lindsay Smith: called me into his office and he was like, Lindsay, I feel like you don't have like that fire in your belly. This, like desire to , move up and succeed. And I was kind of like, cause I don't the last TV ad I made was for cold sore medicine. I'm very creative and I'm good at what I do, but it's like, I don't want to stay here till two in the morning working on a pitch.

Like that is not my life. And that's kind of what was expected. And I just was like, I'm doing my job, but no, I don't want to, like, I didn't want to be him is what I Right. Like, I didn't want to be a creative director. And I have friends, like I see them on LinkedIn from 20 years [00:16:00] ago that I've, when I started in advertising, like I see them, they are creative directors now. And that's. Sure. It's more money, but it's like double the hours. So I was kind of like, I don't see that for myself.

[00:16:15] Shannon Russell: That's the red flag that I, I think all the time is if you can sit there and know you're unhappy and then look and say, I don't want my boss's job. I don't want to move up. Then that's your key that it's not right. I felt the same way in television. I don't want to be that boss in the corner office, giving notes to all of the producers and staying late and having no life.

And now looking back, the entertainment industry here in the U S has changed a lot and most of the people in those roles. Our men, men that I worked with 20 years ago, because I think a lot of us were in Los Angeles and New York City and you're doing that commute. And like me, like, this is not a way to raise [00:17:00] kids and you know, it just didn't fit anymore.

And I think that red flag, like you said, that's when you go, okay, well, why am I here? Yeah, you're collecting the paycheck and it's good money, but sometimes you can think, well, why don't I take everything I've learned these last 20 years and start something on my own where I can get the kids off the bus and,

[00:17:22] Lindsay Smith: Yes.

[00:17:23] Shannon Russell: work in my sweats or whatever and, and still provide for my family.

[00:17:28] Lindsay Smith: Yeah. , I don't knock my career. Like I love, I loved it, but it, it, because I was like 25 in my early thirties, I'm 45 now. It was such an awesome job at the time. Same as you. I got to travel, got to work on these fun projects, right?

I love the people I worked with. Everybody was super creative. Sometimes I think about the shoes I wore to work and I'm like, who was that person? Like now my like going out shoes are like my Blundstones. And I'm

who was this person who had these ridiculous [00:18:00] high heel boots?

I'm like, who was this person? I don't know who that person was, right, but like, I think about it and I'm like, yeah, it was an incredible. Incredible opportunity, but same as you, , it just didn't fit anymore. , it just kind of grew out of it. And I absolutely love what I do. You know, sometimes I think every entrepreneur has this idea. Probably once a week at this point that I'm like, what if I just go work at the Starbucks? What if I just go work at the grocery store, right? Where it's like you're in and you're out your brain shuts off and you're done but I kind of think I I would come back to this every time because i'm Obsessed with it kind of

[00:18:39] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:18:40] Lindsay Smith: Like I'm like a creepy stalker when it comes to like copyrighted content. Right? Like I can't, I can't not talk about it. I can't not do it. It's like part of my DNA now.

[00:18:53] Shannon Russell: And how lucky are you, that you can actually say, I loved my career, for you and I to say, we loved our first act, we love [00:19:00] that career, I look at it like you check the box, right? We did it. We have that experience for years, but now we can take that and create something else that we love and that we're obsessed with and that we're creative and excited about.

So we're very fortunate in that sense. But I think for a lot of people, if they are sitting here and maybe they don't like their job and they're thinking about venturing into a business, I love your advice because I often think you can dig down into the things in that job that you may not like, But the skills or the, duties that, that your role entails that you do like, and take those out and look for something where you can still use those in a way where you can feel fulfilled.

And I'm wondering if when you were starting to create your business, how you went ahead and did that and kind of put those boundaries so that it was, you weren't leaping into the same thing again, the

[00:19:55] Lindsay Smith: think, you know, in the early days when I was freelancing, I worked with a lot of [00:20:00] agencies it was, you know, Very different being on the outside because it was, you know, like any full time job. There's a lot of politics There's a lot of you know, In advertising it was very much like who gets the good projects, right? You know and the best teams got the best projects or the best clients or whatever And so there was a lot of that. , but being on the outside, it was, it was like a kind of a breath of fresh air because I still got to do what I loved, but I was not part of the, I don't want to say toxic culture.

I don't, I mean, for sure. I worked with toxic

[00:20:35] Shannon Russell: machine, right?

[00:20:36] Lindsay Smith: yeah, the machine, I wasn't part of the political

[00:20:39] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:20:40] Lindsay Smith: of, of, of being in the agency. Right. So I still got to do what I love. Right. Tell stories, use words, and really use my brain to like, you know, copywriting it like you're solving a puzzle. So I love that part of it. And then I would get to submit it to the agency and say, see you bye. that

[00:21:00] Still open to working with agencies for sure. However, there's something different when you get to work on someone's personal brand. It's different than working on, you know, Tim Hortons or, Garnier or Red Bull, it's something different.

[00:21:33] Lindsay Smith: I get super excited. Again, I nerd out when I get to like rewrite somebody's web copy. I just got a new copy client this week. She's like a she's so super creative We had like one call together. a page of notes and I looked at her website and in my head I just was like, oh my god, we're gonna create such an awesome website and to me I just this person to be [00:22:00] super successful.

[00:22:01] Shannon Russell: Yeah. Um, uh, Uh, Um,

[00:22:20] Lindsay Smith: kind of like I just want you to be Be really successful and I want you to have a website or email marketing plan that you feel really proud of and excited to send and to share links with people like that to me is like, that's way better than like the political machine that I worked in when I was

[00:22:39] Shannon Russell: uh, Right. You can pick your clients, you can pick what you're working on, and then you can see, like, if there was a listener of mine that was ready to launch that business, and they have these ideas in their head, but they don't know how to put it out in a story form on a website to make it actually tell the story.

What they're offering. You're that person who can [00:23:00] sit there and get their ideas and put it into a structured format so that someone can go on that website and really see them. And that's such a valuable tool. And You must get such, pride out of seeing your clients succeed in that way.

[00:23:14] Lindsay Smith: Yes, absolutely. Most of us start a business because we're really good at something and we want to help other people. , I think that's why most of us into entrepreneurship. And I'm sure that's probably why a lot of your clients come to you because they're not making the impact they are in a A full time career or a corporate career.

And they're just like, to me, it's just like, they want more, like there is more out there. Any of your listeners, whatever it is you do, there are transferable skills. There's so much of it, and even if your business idea is crocheted bookmarks, right, whatever it is, you [00:24:00] know, like, so much of whatever they're doing now, there are transferable skills, um,

[00:24:05] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:24:06] Lindsay Smith: and I think it starts with the talent, absolutely, and then, The other stuff you can learn the, the, marketing, putting in systems, accounting, well, I don't learn

[00:24:17] Shannon Russell: Yes.

[00:24:18] Lindsay Smith: We love accountants. But, that part can be learned said to me once, they were like, if you have the drive, That is than 80 percent of other entrepreneurs. If you have the drive to succeed, to want to succeed, then you're already ahead of the game.

To any of your listeners, if you have the drive, you're already ahead of the game the safety, right? There's something to be said for safety. Like all of us want that. Absolutely. Like safety is safe. A paycheck, a pension, insurance. All of these things are important.

All of us want to feel safe. I think for anybody listening, if you just have like this little seed of an idea that you just can't get rid of, then [00:25:00] it's worth, it's worth exploring it. it's, the little seed about the idea is never going to go away. It's just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. That's what I think.

[00:25:08] Shannon Russell: Yep. Don't ignore it. And, and that drive I think is what makes you hustle and what makes you and I on those weeks where we're like, oh, it's just not working. Or we're feeling like, you know, the ebbs and flows are down that that drive is what keeps us going. , we don't want to go back to that.

We're going to make this work. And that's where that hustle really comes in. You and I both have podcasts. I want to talk about your incredible podcast, which I love listening to called content magic. Tell us about your show.



[00:25:38] Lindsay Smith: My belief is that content is really a combination of strategy, intuition, and creativity. Those are kind of like the three pillars of, of content that, , one feels good to you and also connects with your people.

Because I think the best compliment you could ever get on your content is somebody being like, [00:26:00] oh my god, are you in my brain? Right. It's

seen like the best comments you can ever get are like, Oh my God, you're so right that that's the kind of when people talk about engagement, that's the kind of engagement you want.

You want your people to know that. You get them and that kind of takes like a mishmash of things. I do work with clients who are like very, very strategic, very like tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, right? And then I, sometimes it just takes a little to be like, just trust the creativity.

I said to a client once, I was like, just have more showers in the day. If that's where you get your, your good ideas, just keep, keep showering. , so that's kind of my belief. we can look at metrics. We can look at numbers. Those do serve a purpose, right? But I think so many of us got caught up in that stuff. than we need to, 

We can look at different pillars I think we can look at like lenses [00:27:00] like what is your intention here? Are you do you want to entertain? Do you want to nurture? Do you want educate? I think that's what we need to look at right rather than like oh this week I'm going to post a tip Tuesday and a wisdom Wednesday like And if that works for you, amazing, but you

have to be quite that stringent. And also, here's another thing, now that I'm on a rant,

[00:27:26] Shannon Russell: Yeah. Keep going.

[00:27:28] Lindsay Smith: thing, um, idea that you have to show up in your content 97, 11T billion times a day, like, this is nonsense. There are times when I have nothing to say, and I'm sure there are times when you have nothing to say, and when your listeners have nothing to say, it's okay,

[00:27:49] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:27:50] Lindsay Smith: you can take a week off. You don't have to be on Instagram every single day and you don't have to show up and be like, sorry guys, I was MIA. No.

[00:27:58] Shannon Russell: Nope.

[00:27:59] Lindsay Smith: [00:28:00] knows. And also, normal. It's normal to take a week off.

[00:28:05] Shannon Russell: Yeah.

[00:28:05] Lindsay Smith: the other thing too, right? You go cuckoo. If you're, if you're posting stuff every single day, you're sending emails 17 times a week, like you go cuckoo. , Go walk your dog. Go take a shower. Go play in the snow.

[00:28:21] Shannon Russell: Yeah,

[00:28:22] Lindsay Smith: else, because that's when the ideas are going to come.

[00:28:25] Shannon Russell: thanks for giving us permission because that is, I think what stresses anyone out entrepreneurs, especially that are just like, Oh, do I have to log in? Do I have to be on this app again? And then you're posting things just for the sake of posting it and it's not getting you anywhere and it's not showing truly what your talents are and what you can offer.

So thank you. I needed to hear that. And I'm sure a lot of people listening did.

[00:28:49] Lindsay Smith: good.

[00:28:50] Shannon Russell: I'd love to ask you before we finish our conversation, if there is someone who is ready to start their second act, what advice do you have for [00:29:00] them?

[00:29:00] Lindsay Smith: I think to be patient, it's the long game. We live in this world of instant everything, we think everything is supposed to come immediately, right? Maybe five, six years ago, we lived in a time where you could just be like, DM me the word da da da, , and you would get sales, right?

That time is over. It's the long game. It does take time to grow. And I think making mistakes is probably the best thing you can do 

also think don't take it so seriously or don't take yourself so seriously. This tiny little squares in our phone. Don't let them rule your life. It's a tiny square in your phone. When you think about it, it's kind of ridiculous. Like they have

[00:29:41] Shannon Russell: Yeah. [00:30:00] Okay.

[00:30:02] Lindsay Smith: you launch something and it's like a flop, people don't know, so don't worry about it, and just keep going, you don't really know what your mission and your values are until you, you come up against something that crosses the boundary, right?

That's where the learning happens is kind of like the screwing up or the failed launches or the, whatever it is, or not letting 20 people in. into your Zoom room because you're too busy talking, right?

[00:30:28] Shannon Russell: right, yes, and all of us have those stories. All of us have those stories.

mm hmm, mm hmm,

[00:30:36] Lindsay Smith: Blakeleys and the Mel Robbinses and the whatever, they all have those stories of screwing up somewhere, that's where the success comes from.

Like, you think of it like learning to ride a bike. How many times, you know,

[00:30:47] Shannon Russell: right, yeah, yeah, mm hmm, mm hmm, mm

[00:30:55] Lindsay Smith: kind of the same thing, right? And I think we lose that as grown ups. We [00:31:00] sort of lose that courage as grown ups because we know too much now.

[00:31:03] Shannon Russell: Yeah, we think we have to be perfect from day one, and it, and it's not,

[00:31:08] Lindsay Smith: man. Start a business and be a toddler. Like, what would a toddler do? I

[00:31:12] Shannon Russell: asking ourselves. Yeah. And it's a journey. Oh, Lindsay, it's such great advice. I'd love to ask you how everyone can get in touch with you or what are the best places to follow you?

[00:31:24] Lindsay Smith: Instagram and threads is where I hang out the most. I'm @lindsaysmithcreative. Uh, A Y, Lindsay. My website is lindsaysmithcreative.ca I always love chatting in the DMs. So, yeah. Send me a message if, you want to chit chat about content and copy. I legit nerd out on it. So, , I love to talk about it. Thank you for having me, Shannon. This is lovely.

[00:31:47] Shannon Russell: Thank you. This was so much fun. I really appreciate it.

[00:32:00]