Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lindsay Harle-Kadatz, founder of Quirky Lindsay Harle, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Quirky Lindsay Harle, at its core, is a business that connects the dots turning brand into actions and actions into deeper meaning. It's all about aligning a company with its people because when businesses work on their people, their people work on the industry. And...this all starts with values in action. Values are the tasty mental prune juice that businesses need to create a culture of flow, enthusiasm, and joy to produce better quality bottom-line results. Really, values breathe life into a team, which goes beyond a pretty branding document. It goes to the core of engaging individual beliefs and accountability. It goes to the core of being human. This is the missing piece for teams - connecting the dots between values and business action for deeper, personal satisfaction.

Tell us about yourself

I am known as the Values Vixen (that…and a quirky human). As a leadership coach and team health consultant, I support leaders who want to have an immediate and lasting impact on their people - and it starts with values. Why values? Well, after growing my business developing brand voices and strategies since 2011, I realized something...values are what helped me choose to save my life. I kept hearing values from clients come out as these fluffy marketing statements that had no impact. When I took the time to walk them through values as actions, I witnessed business teams thrive, connect, transform. This led me on a journey to better understand how values could have a deeper impact. Through this, I became fascinated with the neuroscience of values, turning values into deeper mindsets, which transformed behaviour, which ultimately allowed teams to take action that truly mattered. Through this, I earned my Neuro Change Method™️ Master Practitioner certification, which allowed me to create better brands by using deep listening skills to create true clarity for clients when they connected their values to actions that matter to gain real traction in business (and life).

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

  1. Being awarded the Women of Inspiration - Influencer award in 2019 for the mental health advocacy I do. This stems from the book I wrote called 'Depression Constipation: How Pooping Saved My Life...and Other Stories." Being able to share my story with depression, anxiety, and an eating disorder using humour has been one of the highlights of my life simply because I have so many people come to me sharing their experiences. It's an honour to hear other people's stories of courage. Plus...I get to use poop jokes on a daily basis!
  2. Being in business for myself for over ten years. I had no clue what I was doing when I left the corporate world and have been able to grow and have an impact on simply by being honestly me.
  3. Connecting with my own personal core values and turning them into meaningful actions. As business owners, we get to learn who we are very fast. Having the courage to step into my own voice and own the quirky human that I am is something I never thought I'd be able to do...yet, I've learned, it's what makes people want to work with me. When I was in corporate, and for the first few years of business, I tried so hard to hide this quirkiness. When I finally stepped into this, I realized that that's what people always saw. And that's who they wanted to know. Learning who I am without having to quiet who I am is a big accomplishment. One that young me would look up to today.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Trusting yourself that you've got this. We're constantly being sold "the next big thing" or "the right way to do something." When we learn to trust ourselves break the molds being sold to us, we learn that we can grow and achieve how we're meant to. It's hard to trust ourselves, especially when we're the ones doing something different from what we were told to do growing up. But this is one of the greatest gifts. Hard? Yes. Worth it? Every single step.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. It takes time to learn who you are as a business. Take this time to really lean into who you are.
  2. Don't be afraid of feedback. Feedback is what helps you grow, what encourages you to look in the mirror and ask, "what did I do well? How can I keep on growing? who can I serve better today?"
  3. Save for tax time. Remember, especially if you're a sole prop, the government will want their taxes at some point...because you're not paying it on every "paycheque." The best advice I was given when I started was to save 25 - 30% of each cheque so that when tax time came around, I had the money available for the CRA. So much stress is taken off my plate because of this.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I love stories. I love interviewing people and learning about them, their journey, their why. Stories are the common denominator between every single human because we all have a story worth telling. It's why I started my podcast; Businesses are People Too! A Podcast! where I connect with business owners, sharing their stories and insights on what would happen if businesses realized that they are people too. It can be found on Anchor, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/businesses-are-people-too-a-podcast/id1537716238.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://quirkylindsayharle.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quirkylindsayharle/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayharle/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.