105: What You Need to Start a Business That Feels Aligned, with Homebuyer Coach Lindsay Thomas Milley

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

Have you been wanting to start an online business, but you just have no idea where to where to start, maybe you're completely overwhelmed. You feel like you have a million different passions and ideas and you're not sure which direction to go, you've heard that you should pick a niche, you don't really know what that means or how to do it. And you just want to feel confident and get some clarity that you can actually do this thing. Well, I have some exciting news. And this is actually something we have never done before. On January 5 2023, we're going to be kicking off a 30 day sprint with anybody who is ready to make 2023 your best year yet. And finally, launch your website and your first offer out into the world setting you up for Success with Soul. We're going to give you select access inside the incubator to do your 30 day sprint. So you will be getting certain modules that will help you complete the checklist for what you need to do. There's going to be tons of accountability and support to make sure that you actually do the work. We know how isolating and lonely it can be sometimes when you're in this trying to figure things out by yourself. And so this is our solution to best serve you. The best part is you'll have guided support from our amazing program coordinator, Rachel who will meet with you once a week and there's more. You will also have access to all of our coaching calls and support during this 30 day period. So you do not have to do this alone. Sign up now to take advantage of the three payment plan option only available through the month of November. With just a $777 deposit you can secure your spot now and pay the balance off by January. Get all the details at Kate kordsmeier.com/sprint. We also have a pay in full option available where you'll save 20% Again, you can get the details at Kate kordsmeier.com/sprint

Indira 2:01

Welcome back to the Success with Soul podcast. I'm your guest host Indira with Team KK and today we're doing our final incubator clients Spotlight. I'm so excited to introduce you to Lindsay Thomas Smiley. She's a homebuyer coach in Los Angeles, California. She purchased her first home in May 2020 and increased its value by $600,000. In 18 months, she helps people purchase a home that not only brings joy, but sets them on a path to growing personal wealth. She does this through her program the stress free homebuyer Academy, a six week course that helps people create and implement their personalized plans for building wealth and wellbeing through home ownership. I am so excited to dive into this episode with you all today. Let's do it. Welcome. Welcome, Lindsay to this episode of the Success with Soul podcast. I am so excited to have you on today's episode. Please tell us who you are where you come from. I'm want to know all the deets.

Lindsay Thomas 3:11

Absolutely, Indira, it's great to be here. Thank you so much. I'm Lindsay Thomas Miley and I'm a homebuyer coach in Los Angeles, California. But I'm helping homebuyers around the country with their home purchase, and helping them make a strategic home purchase so that they can help build wealth and well being. Of course,

Indira 3:30

I'm from Florida. You know this because I'm in the middle of a hurricane. But I am so interested to dive a little bit into this aside from questions that I'm going to ask you about the incubator, because I think we all want to know with like the new interest rates, and everything that's going on, like Is now the time for home ownership, or do we hold off? I mean, I'd love to know. But before we even get to that, I'm just so curious to find out a little bit about how you started your business, and what your entrepreneurial journey has been like.

Lindsay Thomas 4:12

Absolutely. Thank you. So if I'm honest with myself, I've been really interested in entrepreneurship for almost a decade. I actually I come from the nonprofit space and I've been in fundraising for the last 10 plus years. And my first job out of grad school was at an entrepreneurship education organization that based in New York City, which is where I lived before Los Angeles. And I just thought it was so inspiring to see the transformation that these young people had middle and high schoolers going through whether it was a camp, like a six week business camp or a full semester of entrepreneurship training and building their own business, what they really kind of went through and how they transformed in such a short time and I know Kate always says it's like a crash course in personal development to start your own business. So I have this in the back of my mind, but I never knew what I wanted to start because I never kind of found that passion or that right idea that I felt really fit for me. And so when my husband and I, we bought our home in May of 2020, which, just like you're saying, was a different reasons, but a very scary time to buy a home. Nobody knew what was going on in the world. And we were navigating this on our own. And we did go through a lot of ups and downs. And we, I could go into my story a little more. But yeah, we did end up buying our home. And we actually put in our offer, on the same day that we had our wedding, we had planned to have 150 people in Los Angeles, downtown Los Angeles, for our wedding. And we had to cancel that because it was scheduled for April 2020. And so instead, we had a very beautiful small eight person garden wedding at an Airbnb in Santa Monica. And it was beautiful. And instead of spending those funds on a wedding, we actually, you know, used it to, towards our downpayment and towards the renovations that we ended up doing. So yeah. And so basically, throughout this whole process, I felt like, this is so hard, it's so hard to do this on your own. And I learned a lot from our experience. And so I really want to help other people have a better experience than I did. So that really was the spark for creating my business growing home.

Indira 6:38

What you said resonates so much with me. And I feel that everyone that gets into the coaching space is really trying to help others through something that they have gone through. And now they have the roadmap or the blueprint, because they've been there and done that, and here's how I can show you to do it better. And that sounds like pretty much what you're going through right now with your business. It is I have to say, this is the first time I hear about a home buyer coach. So it's definitely a niche market, I would say

Lindsay Thomas 7:15

yes. And I think it is really niche. There's only one other woman I know who is doing something similar and has created resources, more, you know, robust resources for a home buyer. Obviously real estate agents to a certain extent, they might have a checklist. And they of course walk you through the process once you've kind of started your home search, but there's so much that goes into it beforehand. Before you even start going on tours or you know, tagging searches in Redfin or Zillow, you have to do a lot of preparation. Buying the home doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen. It doesn't start with hiring your real estate agent. So I'm a neutral third party who's helping people prepare, and then navigate their home process. And more than that, to really help create an asset out of their home rather than just buying a home which some, you know, finance gurus would say is actually not an asset sometimes.

Indira 8:14

Yeah, yeah. Well, those gurus that you reference, I know that they say that until you own it outright. It's not an asset. It's a liability, because it's not yours. It belongs to the bank. So yeah, I love that I've been in real estate, I have a broker's license. I have been in real estate since 2003. I have had my license since then. And I've living in Florida, South Florida. It's been fascinating to watch the market and the ups and downs. So I definitely think you would do great in the Florida market. Yeah, I can see this being like a franchise and the futures kind of like home edit. Yes, being with them. Very cool. Lindsey, I'm curious, what was your main reason for joining the incubator? Like what led you to Kate and the incubator?

Lindsay Thomas 9:07

Yes, well, I first listened to Kate on Super women, Rebecca Mincoff's podcast, and this was back in January of 2021. And I've been kicking around this idea because I finally felt like, I'd found the topic that I was deeply passionate about, and I wanted to help people. But I didn't know how to channel that or sort of what to do with that idea. And I heard Kate on the podcast, and she really just I felt like she was speaking to me. And I just felt like I really relate to this person. And I feel like using her roadmap at the time, she was doing six FBA, and the 21 days to impact programs. And I didn't know where to start. I thought, Oh, I'll start a blog because I think that's a common thing to think about and didn't think about necessarily how it would monetize or anything. So when I had heard her speaking, I was like, Oh, this is it. This is the roadmap. She's done it, I'm gonna learn from her. So I signed up for both those programs. And I slowly started working through it. But I spent a lot of that of 2021 kind of chugging along on my own. And not really, like, obviously, those programs really helped me, but because my idea wasn't fully fleshed out, and I didn't have like a mission or a vision, or a direction, really, it felt. And also, I was doing this all on my own, and no one else that I knew was trying to build an online business. And so I didn't have anyone to relate to, or to connect with about these, you know, challenges I was facing, and trying to really push through a lot of my self doubt and kind of feeling a little lost. And so when so I was always on Kate's email list since signing up for her programs. And so when she started talking about the incubator, I was like, I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I don't really know what I want to do. And then I joined her. It was the the workshops last year. I can't remember what you call virtual conference. Yes, yes. Thank you. Yeah, the virtual conference last year. And I tuned into as many sessions as possible, I work full time. Well, now actually, spoiler alert, I started working part time, starting in August, because I'm at a place in my business where I'm so focused and ready that I really, I'm 100% in after November. So I'm really excited. And that's what Caitlyn Incubator has been able to lead me to this year. But yeah, I just thought, you know what, even though I don't feel ready, I think I can learn from the other women who are in here, not only just from Kate, and that's been my experience.

Indira 11:46

Yeah. And you all have an amazing group of women, I have to say, so you're definitely in good company. And so what would you say is like the biggest risk that you've taken, or the biggest challenge that you've had to overcome in your business so far?

Lindsay Thomas 12:06

Yes, I think it's a lot of the feelings of impostor syndrome. And self doubt, I think we underestimate how often those things come up. And even if you like, Kate always says, As long as you don't stop moving, if you don't stop, stop, basically, you'll be successful, because you're you're pushing through all of those things. And that's a huge part of entrepreneurship, from what I've learned so far. And yeah, I just really feel like that's been a real key to overcoming the challenges is like really having the mindset piece and the constant reminders and encouragement from Kate and Rachel, and everyone on Team KK that, you know, you can do this, and we were providing all this support for you. So just tap into it.

Indira 12:56

Yeah. Love it. So what immediate impacted being inside the incubator have on your business?

Lindsay Thomas 13:04

Yes, well, it goes back to the vision and values. And that starts with the baseline, really, of the foundations of what you're building your business on. If you don't know where you want to go, how can you get there, really. And so providing those exercises that were very, I joked with Kate that I journaled until my hand hurt. And so I was really doing a lot of introspection on why I was starting my business and who I wanted to serve and how I wanted to serve them, and what are my personal values? And how am I going to install those into my business? So right away, I joined in November, and by mid December, I had so much clarity on that. And that was such a huge kickstart, that was what was enabled me to really envision where my business could go and where I wanted to take it.

Indira 13:58

Yeah. And so I know that some of the wins that you've had inside the incubator have also been like, you've created your first lead magnet, which I'm a former entrepreneur myself, I've done all the things created the lead magnet, and it's incredible how much time sometimes those things can take. And one thing that I learned is to just take imperfect action, as long as I continue to take action, which I think is something that you said as well. And then I know that you've also set up your evergreen welcome funnel. That's amazing.

Lindsay Thomas 14:35

Yes, I'd say those two things, getting those sorted out. What are two really transformational pieces and all along the way I had the encouragement. One thing that I love about the incubator and I take full advantage of almost every week is the critiques and so as I was building my lead magnet, I submitted my just my you know, work or document version to Kate first. And then she gave me great feedback. And then I did the design in Canva. And she gave me great feedback. So it's all those small, yeah, imperfect actions that don't seem like a lot, week to week. But then you look back on your month, and you're over, you're thrilled that you've accomplished all these things. And same with the Evergreen funnel. And that's the great thing is, if you ever hit a stumbling block, or you have a question or anything, where you if you just want a little bit of feedback right away, you can post it to the Facebook group, there's just so many ways to help you get over any of your sort of stumbling blocks.

Indira 15:38

I love that you mentioned the critiques, because I think that that is something incredible inside the incubator. It's priceless. I cannot imagine trying to build a business and having the ability to submit my funnels or my welcome sequence or anything and get real time feedback like this is how you can improve this is. To me, that's one of the key things about the incubator and the community bit that like you mentioned, even in the Facebook group, you have the community, you have a bunch of experienced entrepreneurs in there as well, that can also provide feedback. And that's incredible.

Lindsay Thomas 16:19

Yes, I love that. Honestly, I would recommend the whole incubator just for the critiques even like that, to me has been so incredible. And yeah, when where else can you get that targeted feedback and encouragement really along every step of the way. So I have loved that. And I've really, really taken advantage of that opportunity.

Indira 16:40

Good for you. So how has your relationship to your business changed over the last six to 12 months? Like do you? Do you spend less time on social media? Or do you get more organic traffic now? Tell me all the things.

Lindsay Thomas 16:55

Yes, yes. Well, so before joining, as I mentioned, I've been kind of slogging along and just not feeling very confident or even not really knowing what to do next. And I feel like I kind of got shiny object syndrome. And I didn't know what to focus on, you know. And I feel like you joining the incubator really helped me just move forward and take that next right action and not even bother with some of the things that I was worried about before. So like you were saying social media, I haven't even I haven't started my Instagram, yet I have the handle. But I'm not too worried about it. Because I have a plan. I've gotten all my other foundations in place. So that once I, you know, can build in. And each month, I basically kind of reflect on my schedule. And I love the whole cycle syncing concept to so I've really been practicing that. And I just think I feel so much more at ease with my business. Before I was feeling like, kind of frantic. And I was really overworking myself, because when I started and up through last July, even this past July, I had been working full time as well. And so I was waking up early and spending an hour or maybe even two before work. And then I was working late after work. And then I was working on the weekends. And I just felt like I have to like hustle, hustle, hustle. And the Incubator has really helped me change my whole perspective. And now even from the beginning, even though, you know, I haven't ever been full time on my business yet. I am going to build myself such a good schedule that works for me, because I've learned all these concepts and all these great, yeah, all these all these great tips from Kate and the rest of our of our incubator.

Indira 18:46

Yeah, I love that. I love that. So what's one word that you've been used to describe your experience inside of the incubator?

Lindsay Thomas 18:56

Oh, gosh, there's so many words. All very important. I think, I think growth I think I have grown so much, personally and professionally. And as a leader, like I'm a director in my day job. And I found myself taking some of the concepts that I was learning in the incubator and applying it even to my work. And so like what I'd love to know, yeah, like some of the meetings when we were going over clickup, which is one of the tools Kate recommends, and she had gone through your clickup you know, the incubator, or team KKs clickup and showing us kind of how she organizes the meeting agendas and things like that. And I loved that and I I took that right into my workplace. So I you know, even benefited in other parts of my life that I didn't even think thank you better had anything to do with but, you know, I'd say even if you're trying to do this as a side business, you can take a lot of these law earnings, because it's a lot about leadership. And it's a lot about personal growth. And you can apply those to other other parts of your life.

Indira 20:06

Yeah, I do love that you mentioned that you started this journey while working full time. Because I feel like a lot of times, people procrastinate because they think, you know, I can't do this while I work full time. Yeah, you absolutely can. You absolutely can. And you're a testament to that. So kudos to you, because I know how challenging that is with time management, and just with having all those, you know, plates that you're needing to juggle at the same time.

Lindsay Thomas 20:42

Yes, and one thing I really think incubators helped me with is not not being so hard on myself, if I don't get everything done. I'm like, very much a doer. And I just really focus on kind of doing, I love to check things off my to do list. And I feel really like it's a good day, if I've checked off, you know, three really big things. But you know, Kate and the other incubator clients and Rachel have really helped me see, oh, you know, it's okay, you can have a good, better best goal. Like that was something Rachel and I talked about in our milestone call, which was, it's okay, if things come up. You might be doing some traveling, you know, there might be an appointment you have to go to, and it kind of throws off your day. And that's okay. Just kind of regroup. And I think yes, I would say that that's been such a huge learning. For me, that's been that's, again, kind of gone into other parts of my life, too. So I just feel so much better about the work that I'm doing and that I'm doing the most important things. Great.

Indira 21:45

I love that you're giving yourself grace, that you know, today, you didn't accomplish everything. But tomorrow, maybe you will. So yeah, I love that. So, Lindsay, we are now this is my favorite part of the podcast. And we call this the lightning round. And I'm just going to ask you a list of questions. Don't overthink it, whatever comes to mind. You ready? Yes. Okay, great. So what's your favorite way to make time for self care while running your own business?

Lindsay Thomas 22:19

Yes, well, I really feel like my morning routine changes my whole day, if I am able to do that, and I don't wake up, I wake up maybe a half hour early. It's not you know, anything huge, earlier than I might have before. But if you have 10-15 minutes to have time for yourself in the morning, before everyone wakes up, and you kind of set your day I do a little bit of meditation, I do some exercise as well. And just kind of ease into your day. So you're not feeling frantic from the start. I think that's really important. It's a very simple thing. And it doesn't have to be very long.

Indira 22:58

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So what's one tool or strategy that you use to help with time management?

Lindsay Thomas 23:07

Yes, so actually, this is something I learned from Amy Porterfield, I got connected with it. But the full focus planner, I use that a lot. And that's really helped me again, and sort of stress some of the things that the Incubator has taught me, which is, okay, identify your top three things for the day. And try to focus on that and consider that a good day, if you can get two to three of those things done. So I love that it really helps me focus on what's most important.

Indira 23:33

I love that I've heard of the planner, but I don't know anyone that's used it. So it's interesting. I think you're the first person that's mentioned that that I've interviewed. So I love that. So what's the most powerful business or mindset or entrepreneurial or book that you've ever read? You know, this is the one that you like, reference over and over again.

Lindsay Thomas 23:55

Hmm. Oh, that's a good one. I spent so much time before building my business, like reading up on real estate investment books and, and all these different things. Oh, you know, actually, one that Kate recommended was do last by Kate north. Right. And I, I loved that. And I had not heard of her before, before working with Kate.

Indira 24:18

Okay, wonderful. So what's your favorite quote, or mantra or affirmation for when things get tough? And you feel like giving up?

Lindsay Thomas 24:29

Yeah, well, so part of the exercise we did last year in the incubator going into q1 of this year, was to kind of pick a quote of the year and or, you know, a theme or a quote of of the year. And I actually, I'm just going to read this quote, it's growth can be slow, but it can't happen at all if you don't plant the seeds. What was the first word? growth can be slow? Yeah, but it can't happen at all. If you don't plant the seeds.

Indira 25:00

I love that. I love that. You know what Brian Tay said something about seeds as well. So I find that interesting, very similar. I think hers was like, the day you plant the seed is not the day you see the fruit.

Lindsay Thomas 25:15

Yes, I love that. And that's so important to remember. Because, like, we were saying, you know, you don't see maybe what the impact of what you're doing from day to day, but then you look back, and you're amazed by what you've accomplished.

Indira 25:29

Yes. Okay. And this is the very last question. So what does Success with Soul mean to you?

Lindsay Thomas 25:38

Yes, I think it's feeling successful, and being able to define your own sense of success. Feeling successful, doesn't look the same for everyone. But I think if you feel like you have success, both in your personal and professional life, then that's the goal, and to really think about what that means for you personally. And for me, it means having a full life. And that means enjoying time with family with friends, not overworking, having the freedom to set my own schedule. And that's really what I'm going for. That's one of the main reasons that I joined the incubator.

Indira 26:16

Wonderful. It that definitely sounds like Success with Soul. So you're definitely in the right place. So Lindsey, where can our listeners find you?

Lindsay Thomas 26:27

Yes, I'd love everyone to check out my my website, growing home la.com. And I'd love to connect with you. They're

Indira 26:35

wonderful. And I know that you have a special offering for our listeners as well. And we'll go ahead and link that to the show notes. It was a pleasure to have you on today's episode, and I'm so excited to see your business growing.

Lindsay Thomas 26:57

Thank you so much. Indira. It was wonderful to be here. Thank you.

Indira 27:00

Thanks. Bye.

Kate Kordsmeier 27:04

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