The Invisible Truth Most Women Entrepreneurs Never Say Out Loud

Speaker A: Welcome back to Dear Founder. Um, I'm your host, Lindsay Pinchuk, and today's episode is the conversation I have truly been waiting all year to share with you. Today's guest is Sadie Lincoln. She is the founder of Bar3 with 206 Studios, an online platform reaching clients in over 100 countries and a business that she's been building with her values intact since 2008. And if you've ever taken a Bar 3 class, you already know that there's something different about it. So something quieter, something honest. And after this conversation, you're going to understand exactly where that comes from. Here's what I want you to listen for in this conversation. Sadie is going to share something with you within the first five minutes of this episode that most founders never say out loud. She's going to tell you the invisible truth that became the foundation of Bar 3. She built a fitness business out of an eating disorder that she had hidden for a decade. She built a company designed to heal a problem that she had been quite quietly caring. And every decision that Sadie has made since 2008, including the day she walked away from a deal that would have made her a fitness celebrity, has come back to that origin. There is a line in this episode I want you to hold on to, sadie said. We all have these invisible truths that are painful. That is the whole theme of this month in one sentence. Your story is your strategy, because everyone you're trying to reach has an invisible truth that matches yours, and telling yours is what lets them find you. So with that, here's my conversation with Sadie Lincoln. Welcome to Dear Found Her. I'm Lindsay Pinchuk, founder, acquired entrepreneur and part of the less than 1% of female founders who have led a company through acquisition. I built my first business from just $500 to seven figures without a marketing budget, simply using community, smart publicity, partnerships and clear messaging. Now I host this show for women over 40 stepping into their next chapter. Whether that's launching, pivoting, or scaling. Each week you'll hear real founder stories about growing an audience, getting press, leading teams, navigating scaling challenges, and becoming more visible in the right ways. No fluff, no gatekeeping. Just what works around here. We build businesses that actually work with strategy, visibility, and each other. Welcome to another episode of Dear Found Her. I am very excited about today's guest. She may not remember this, but the first time I met Sadie Lincoln, she was having trouble getting into her hotel room. We were both at a summit together in Washington, D.C. and I walked out of my hotel room and I noticed this woman, like, struggling to get into her room. And I was like, do you need some help? And she, she was like, no, no, I've, I've got it. And little did I know it was Sadie Lincoln, who is the founder of Bar. I realized that later when I was introduced to her later. But she was coming from the workout that morning that I had slept through, the one that she had led and I had slept through and opted to stay in my bed at the kind of disgusting hotel we were staying in. And that was the first time I met Sadie. And then later I went up and I introduced myself to her and I was like, we have to get you on the podcast. And that was, ah, a good eight months ago. And here we are. I'm so excited that she's here. She has an incredible story she's going to share with you guys and hopefully she won't fault me for skipping the workout. So, Sadie, welcome to Dear Found her.

Speaker B: Thank you so much. I love that.

Speaker A: I love, remember that. And I was like, oh, shit, that's the woman who led the workout that I just slept through.

Speaker B: Well, chances of, uh, me being the woman that can't figure out the system to get into the hotel room are really high. So that story does not, is not surprise me.

Speaker A: Well, I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad we're making this happen. I can't wait for my listeners to hear all about you. And so I would love for you to get us started by telling us your story, telling us how you had this idea for Bar 3 and how you got started. And also tell us a little bit about what Bar3 is for those people who may not know.

Speaker B: Sure, uh, I guess I'll start there. Bar three is a inspired fitness practice based on many years of me prior to opening Barre 3, being, um, a consumer of fitness, but more importantly, an instructor of fitness. I've been teaching since I was 19 and I'm almost 54 now. Lots and lots of years, certified in a lot of different things, and worked for a large fitness company for many years, uh, and really set out to build Bar 3 based on solving a problem that I was directly experiencing in fitness. And so I pulled together my favorite elements of yoga, Pilates, functional fitness, and developed a group exercise program that also included the bar that was a big part of it to really heal myself and solve for where I was really struggling as a woman in fitness. And today, um, that's multiplied. We have 206 studios, we have an online streaming platform that Reaches clients in over 100 countries. But the problem we're solving remains the same. Creating a workout that is mindful and that it is a practice of being present and thriving in your body as it is in the very moment. And that is distinctly different than most fitnesses billed as you're going to change, do this fitness so you change. And we're doing this fitness so we can be alive and thriving in our bodies as our bodies are in that moment, which is a practice of mindfulness. But with the infusion of the science and uh, the sequencing that I know really well does work for the body because it is important to grow and to change and to be strong and to be mobile and to have endurance and to really thrive in our lives. But I think how we approach exercise and our relationship to exercise doesn't help many of us and um, specifically women. And I really set out to solve that. And now I have all these partners and all of my franchise studios supporting this vision and mission. A fleet of incredible instructors as well.

Speaker A: So you said that you were trying to solve for a problem you were having. What was that problem?

Speaker B: I, for many years, for a good decade, I had a very secret eating disorder, um, and disordered relationship with my body. And really I put so much energy and attention into changing my body, of conquering my body so that it could change and be a different shape and appear different so that I would be attractive, worthy, look successful and ultimately belong in this world I desperately wanted to belong in. And I, I think I was at the core of it, lonely and probably, you know, had some self esteem issues. Although on the outside I looked like I was winning and I was confused by that. I was at ucla. I made it in there after going to community college, you know, such an exciting opportunity. Um, from ucla I got my, my master's at the College of William and Mary, which is an amazing institution. And um, was running the fitness program there. And then right out of college I got this incredible job working for 24 Hour Fitness. Helped grow the company for 11 years. So like on my LinkedIn winning, right? And um, also in fitness. But my invisible truths were really different than what you could see. And I felt like an imposter. I was confused by my loneliness and also really shameful of my relationship with my body and not feeling good in my body because I was in this industry that promised to make you feel good in your body, right? And it wasn't until I was pregnant with my first child that I started to uh, exercise at home and I started to modify Moves based on what my body needed in the moment. I was exercising, and I started a practice of compassion being my motivator for my body because I was, you know, growing a child inside of me, and I was delighted by that. And I always say, Audrey, my oldest child, is my greatest teacher because she taught me in that very moment that I wasn't failing fitness, that the system and the narrative of fitness was failing me. And I probably wasn't alone. And maybe we could all start to exercise with this great science and with all these, you know, results, you know, proven, maybe we could start to exercise in a way that also was compassionate about our bodies as they were in the very moment, versus conquering them and changing them into a future ideal. And perhaps I'm best suited to do this because I've been in the industry a long time, and that was really the seed that was the beginning of Bar three and where I am today.

Speaker A: Thank you for sharing that. I mean, that was obviously very vulnerable. And I think, uh, just a lot of our listeners can learn from what you just shared on a lot of levels, but especially, like they hear me say all the time, to share your truth and to tell your truth. There are so many women who can identify with what you just said, and. And I commend you for being willing to share it truthfully.

Speaker B: I'm so glad I have. The more every year goes by, I think the one thing becomes more and more true for me, and it's that we all have these invisible truths, um, that are painful. And the more we can learn to sit with those truths, first of all, and compassionately hold them inside of ourselves and just know that that's part of being human, uh, and then share them when it's appropriate. And also that those dark times can lead to something really, really beautiful if we don't numb them, run from them, shame them, bury them. I, um, think great business is often born out of really hard times, and I would have missed that opportunity if I didn't have the tools in that moment to start taking care of my body. It really started with me quietly in my living room in Montclair, California, pregnant. You know, being honest with myself. That's. That's. And then the courage to share that story over time. And it's taken me time to share that.

Speaker A: I couldn't agree with you more. We were just talking about this before we hopped on. I mean, my whole business here came from the darkest time of my life, when I was so depressed after I sold my company and said, like, what the fuck Did I just do? Because it was, it did not turn out the way I wanted it to turn out. And to your point, like with time, I shared and that me being able to share that is what led me here to even have this conversation with you. And so I couldn't agree with you more. And I think something that you just said that is really important is sharing when the time's right.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think it, there's phases and phase number one, I think requires faith and uh, just maybe wisdom over time, knowing you'll get through it. But it intellectually, probably everyone listening to this understands that. Yeah, that totally makes sense. You go through something, you hear it all the time, your failures can be your best asset, you know, and it makes total sense. But when you're in it, like really in it, that dark, dark time, it is so hard to have faith that this too shall pass. And what I've found the most important thing is to not put rose colored glasses on, but actually just get in there and feel the pain and just trust like to be really present with it. And I, uh, find when I do that it alchemizes to more of a beauty state from struggle state quicker, it's still there, it's still hard, but I rebound quicker. And this is such a metaphor for the body, by the way, and how we exercise at bar three. So one of the things we do as instructors, we guide our clients to notice when their body is in negative pain. So a lot of times we don't differentiate from good struggle in the body where like your thighs are burning and you're building your quads to like your knees aching because you're going low in the squat. Right. And we just think pain is pain. I'm just going to muscle through it. I'm just going to get through it because this is going to get the result. But what we guide our clients to do is to compassionately observe where they're feeling struggle in the body and sit with it for a moment and then ask yourself, okay, is this really what I need right now? Do I need the joint pain in my knee? No, let me modify. So pull up out of it and move that struggle to where I want to grow my quadriceps, my core, or maybe taking a break. Right. But had you not taken that M moment to really observe where the pain is and sit with it for a moment compassionately versus the idea of m, no pain, no gain. I'm going to push through it, push through it to the end. That will end up being an injury which derails you and you miss the whole point of exercising. So this is such a metaphor, I think in my own life, when painful experiences happen to me, which they do because we're all humans. Hi, I'm Leah Sullivan. Before TaskRabbit, before Venture Capital, before Breaking Precedent, I was a person learning how to perform under pressure.

Speaker A: I recorded an episode with Lindsay Pinchuk

Speaker B: for her Dear Found her podcast all about my journey.

Speaker A: We talk about the early days, scale,

Speaker B: lessons learned, and what I think the industry gets wrong. Stay here in the Dear Found her feed to hear my upcoming episode with Lindsay and listen to Breaking Precedent.

Speaker A: Wherever you listen to podcasts, when and how did you realize that what you were doing at home was something that other people would want and that, uh, people would pay for it?

Speaker B: I think, you know, sometimes you just know. And first, uh, of all, I'd been in the industry a long time. I was at 24 Fitness for 11 years. I helped grow the company. So I knew the business of scaling a company, and I knew a lot of different parts of it because I worked with the founder and then CEO, and again now CEO, he bought back his company, Mark Mastrov. Actually, he's not the CEO, but he's the new owner of 24 Fitness, which is super fun. I. I worked with him, and I was able to work in all different facets of the business in all capacity. So I had a lot of confidence in business because of that. Um, so there was that piece, but the actual workout and my ability to teach classes in a new way was something I trusted that was going to be successful. And honestly, I thought it was going to be wildly successful because I just had that such clarity and knowing that you can get results and have an amazing, challenging workout while also being kind to your body. And I had no role model in this. Yoga was probably the closest, but it was attached to a heritage and a guru kind of philosophy, which I wanted to create a workout where you are your own guru, where you were your own best teacher, and the instructor was there to guide you to remember that. And that is so different than most fitness. And I had no one to look to that was doing that. It was like the Tracy Anderson method, the bar method. You know, yoga was following specific gurus. Like, it was very much about kind of following a, uh, heritage with which, by the way, I have mad respect for, because I think that is a really obviously fruitful way to exercise and grow. And a lot of great companies have grown out of that kind of mentality. I just saw it differently. And I, uh, Knew I wasn't alone. Somehow I just knew. I didn't do surveys or insight work or anything like that. I just knew.

Speaker A: Did you just open a studio? Is that how it started? You were like, I'm gonna open a studio and I'm gonna teach people how to do this. And let me. I wanna also point out it was 2008.

Speaker B: Yeah, August of 2008.

Speaker A: So, I mean, I just wanna paint a picture for everyone and remind everyone, because I started my business in 2010 and it was very similar. There was no social media. Really. There was like nothing. Maybe a little Facebook, but actually probably not.

Speaker B: Facebook just started.

Speaker A: Yeah, it was. It's just coming off of like being student only. There were no business pages. There was no Instagram, for sure. No Snap, for sure. No TikTok, no for sure. I mean, maybe a little Twitter. So it was a very different time in how we got people in the doors. So you opened the studio, I'm assuming, was it in Montclair or was it in Portland?

Speaker B: Portland, Oregon, Yeah. And I did write a business plan to franchise it, so I knew I was building something to scale it. But, yeah, I built a studio based on scratching my own niche, like, everything, which was so fun because I worked for.

Speaker A: What happened when you opened? Because, like, how did you tell. Was it word of mouth? Like, how did you tell people? How did you get people in the doors? And a big reason why I'm asking this is because I very much hold the belief that those strategies, and at the time we didn't realize they were strategies, but those strategies that we utilized in 2008, 2009, 2010 to get customers still work today. And I think that it's very important that people go back to the basics of marketing and what it was like before we had social media to help amplify. So what did you do to get people in the doors?

Speaker B: Your, uh, listeners can't see me, like vigorously nod my head right now. I couldn't agree more. I was just talking to my husband about this. So August of 2008, I thought you were going to say the height of the global financial crisis, because it was during that time too. Yeah, there was no social media. And I was just talking to Chris about this on a walk, my co, founder and husband, that what still works today, I think what worked then is needed even more today.

Speaker A: A hundred percent.

Speaker B: So, a, I rented out a little space in a natural, um, food store above their natural food store. They had a little studio with a ballet bar randomly. And I taught free community classes there. And I made a really pretty brochure. My first piece that I could choose. The color, the design, the logo, the everything, um, put it around town. Um, I was new to Portland, so I was meeting new people. I actually, I did fun, grassroots things. I tell this story often, but I just. I just. It's so of the moment. I didn't overthink things. I had two little kids, and I would hang out in the summer at this fountain where all the little kids played in the fountain. And I hired a face painter, and mothers would come up to get their kids faces painted. And I paid for it. And I said, oh, this is my treat. Um, by the way, I'm opening a studio down the street. My name's Sadie. This, um, is my daughter. We're going to have a little area for kids. Um, and then I would give my pitch. You know, it was like, so literally grassroots. I was standing in the grass. I did things like that that were so honest, all about relationships. And that is what, at that time, during that kind of uncertain time in our world, I think it resonated even more for people and my contagious confidence around it. I mean, I was just so sure I was onto something and it was fresh and new and different, you know, and so today we're in a very competitive climate in boutique fitness. And then you add on social media, and I have started to be proactive in muting accounts or unfollowing, uh, because I realize how much information I'm getting through social media and how it's so not serving me. What serves me is to go into my studios and experience human beings, to go to that same health food store and, like, meet someone in the produce aisle and start talking to them about, you know, what's working for them. That relational, inhuman contact marketing and building and creating community, I think is the most competitive thing I can do at this point to create a sustainable business and to continue to kind of put the blinders on and do the work that I know the world needs right now. And, yeah, very passionate about that.

Speaker A: Well, but it's so important because I think often now when people start businesses, they just assume like, oh, I'll show up on social media, I'll cast a wide net. But, like, when you're casting a wide net, you're not necessarily talking to who you need to be talking to that are going to walk through your door, whether it's a physical door or a hypothetical door. And what you did was you showed up where your customers were, and that is still what I tell People like I have. My mentorship is called Marketing Made simple for Small Business. That is what it is called. And this is what we talk about. We talk about grassroots, we talk about partnerships, we talk about meeting your customer where they are. And those are all the things that you had to do in 20 2008, 2009, 2010. There was. There were no. There was no social media. And I always tell business owners, now, if you're not doing those things first, you're. You're doing your business a disservice. Not just first, first and continuously, but you are doing your business a disservice. And so I'm so glad that you're so passionate about that, because to me, community surrounding your business is everything. And my sense from you is that, correct me if I'm wrong, you started a business. There was a grand community surrounding Bar 3 in Portland, and that led to more studios opening and people wanting to open Bar Threes in other locations.

Speaker B: That's my hypothesis, and it still is run that way. We're very inside out and all. It's distributed trust. This whole model is distributed trust, um, in that I have owner operators, I franchise with other women. It's 100% owned and operated by women so far and in their local markets. Creating authentic relationships and community to build credibility and a sense of, like, this is my haven. This is where I can go, um, to be strong in my body, and I belong here. You know, that's a huge. Also part of our. My product is fighting lonely. That's just as important as exercise. And I knew that in my bones it was intuition back in 2008, but that's actually been validated through research that loneliness is as predictive of our longevity as, like, smoking a pack of cigarettes. And it's something we do. So, you know, really walking that talk and creating those relationships is central to the health of our. Of our organization. And it's. It's not through me, and it's not through anything you can replicate in a social media reel. And also, we learn our problem. The problem we're solving is validated, but also influenced how we can solve it better in real life versus on social media. Like if I ran with social media, oh, I need to have infrared in all my studios, because that's what they're all doing right now on my algorithm. Oh, maybe I need to solve. People want heat and they want. That's the problem I need to solve. If that was my lens, that is so not what our clients want or need. And so, like, you know, I. I think it can also. The algorithms can really mistakenly motivate us to solve the wrong problems as well.

Speaker A: I want to take a second to tell you about the Found Her Files, my weekly newsletter for women business owners over 40 who are building and want real, actionable advice without all the noise. Every week I'm sharing what's actually working in marketing, behind the scenes, lessons from the founders I interview right here on this show, and strategies from my sweep framework, the same system that I use to scale my first business from $500 to seven figures. No fluff, no gatekeeping, just what works. Subscribe through the link in the show notes because you shouldn't have to piece this all together alone. We are here for you. M. How long was it before you opened a second studio? And did you open the second studio? Or was like, what was the. What was that trajectory like?

Speaker B: It was about the same timing. Within a year, I was planning my second studio that I owned, but I had also signed my first franchise. And. And then it just went from there. So we, as soon as we opened, uh, our first studio in Portland's Pearl District, we put a tab up on our website that said, grow with us, and almost instantly started to collect leads because our design was fresh, the studio was fresh. It was definitely like a polished kind of. You could kind of sense that this is something that, um, has high standards and could scale. But the workout also deeply resonated. And so we got interest really right away from our clients that were in the studio taking the class.

Speaker A: Something that I think that is very different about Bar 3 than many other fitness franchises is you guys really have withstood the test of time. I mean, when you think back to 2008, 2008, there were so many different, like, bar classes, boutique fitness classes, and a lot of them were, like, gobbled up by private, uh, equity. And some succeeded and some were run into the ground and. But you have withstood the test of time. You have maintained your ownership. You have your franchises. Why do you think that is?

Speaker B: Number one, I came into Bar three knowing what it takes to create a sustainable business because of my career in fitness over the years. And so the structure of Bar 3 has always been about evolving based on science versus replicating. One of my favorite sayings is copying skips understanding. And so one thing we say in instructor training, for example, is that we're always changing. The one thing that never changes at Bar three is we're always changing. We're always evolving based on what our core consumer clients, women in their, like, early 40s. We know who our Persona is so that we're reflecting, we're. We're learning from her and research what her body needs to be balanced, to leave class energized and feeling deeply trusting in her own body. And so that evolves over time, and that will go on forever and ever. Like that Never goes out of style. But bar mite, traditional bar mite. That's why we're not linked to the Lottie Burke method, which is a heritage of bar. You know, colors might m. Sayings might, you know, women empowerment was like a big trending thing, but we actually live and breathe that. We don't necessarily say it, but it's who we authentically are. Our core values are in our DNA and in the product. That's what we put our blinders around. And who we listen to is our clients and our future clients who we're targeting. That is the most important data to inform how we grow versus what the competition is doing. What's hot in the moment where we can make a quick buck. And we're also willing to take a financial hit in the short term to uphold our core values. And that's a decision, I think, that's harder to uphold if you have a lot of investors that are trying to, um, get, turn their multiple.

Speaker A: Can you give me an example of a time when you did take a financial hit to, uh, uphold your core values? This is something I talk about all the time. I actually filmed a reel this morning about this because there's nothing that irks me more than when people don't walk the walk of the talk that they talk. And, like, it literally sends me into a tailspin. And I also have lost financially multiple times, only to come out gaining because I am staying true to who I am and to what's important and to my beliefs. And so I would love for our, uh, listeners to hear someone else talk about that and share a concrete example at one point.

Speaker B: This one's so blatant, so it's the easiest one. There's so many times, by the way, where I think we could have had a quick hit and we've decided, no, let's stay the course. Just trust, just trust that this is the right thing to do. This is a sustainable growth pattern. But at one point I was definitely. I had trained Madonna that was in the news. There was a moment and Bar was really taking off where I was getting calls from producers, and one in particular was in la and she'd worked with us, Jillian Michaels, and like some other major names and really said, hey, you're. You could be the face of Bar and this could be really huge. And this, I mean, frankly, excited me. I was like, wow, this is amazing. And it'll really serve to get us on the map. And I thought it would really serve our franchise partners as well. We started streaming Bar 3 online workouts in 2011 before most people did. So we were very early adopters there. And I was doing it with my husband. Um, he was like the camera guy. I was doing my own makeup, which is nothing. I was like, kind of like a little disheveled, honestly. And like, mess ups would happen during the workouts and. But I just stayed really true to not using cues around results. And like, you know, do this, you have a lifted, firm shaped rear or like rock solid abs or let's get ready for bikini season, or you're doing this to have teeny tiny arms or, you know, whatever was kind of trending at the time. Well, this producer, um, I signed on to do dates me, but DVDs that were going to be sold all through Target, which they were, and all over the place, and also some streaming workouts. And she had me do a script and she said, you have to use results for every move you do. You need to anchor it to a result. So that was one thing. She told me to lose weight, and she also said, you should get makeup and hair. And so I kind of started to do that with her. And while I was doing that with her for her, this product that was not Bar three, I started to also embody that for my online workouts. And our community came back and they said, what are you doing? We don't like this. Right? And my little community, compared to this big opportunity I had. Right. Um, and I, at the same kind of the same area, had done a book and they photoshopped me beyond recognition. Basically. We pulled that. We never. We ended up not selling the book anymore. I just kind of let go of the product and project I did with this other woman and I doubled down on my consumers and what they were saying and just trusting that my values were more important than this amazing trajectory I could have had as kind of a fitness guru or a fitness celebrity because I thought it was far more important and more rewarding. And I'm certain I took a financial hit in that moment, but it just was so clear to me.

Speaker A: And was it worth it?

Speaker B: Totally worth it. I think you can only, I mean, maybe make more money, but there's all. There's lots of research around, like, how much money Creates happiness. It's only up to a certain point. Um, and at the end of the day, like, I just keep going back to what my soul calls for, what energizes me, what fuels me, what excites me. That was the most depleting era of my life. I was all over. I was on Dr. Oz. I was like. I don't even remember. I was on all kinds of things at the time. And I was miserable. I was truly miserable. And it was starting to creep into my old eating disorder days, my disorder, thinking about my body. And also, I just felt empty. I felt like, why is this not making me happy?

Speaker A: How did you get out of it? Like, how did. Like, mentally, Like, I'm not talking about, like, how did you, you know, break the contract? Um, that I don't care about, but, like, how did you, like, really turn it around mentally? Because that's a dark place to go back to. Yeah.

Speaker B: And I was really fatigued because I also had the weight of the business on me. I was teaching way too many classes. So I was also hurting in my body. Ironically, even though I was all about modifications and not hurting in your body, I, um, was distracted as a mother, which was so painful, because my most important core value always has been to be a mother and to be present with my children. That was my greatest purpose and vision for myself, was to be a mother. I have a distinct moment where, um, I was in the kitchen with my husband. The kids were little, and he was talking. It was in the morning. They were all asking me questions, and he just grabbed me by the shoulders and said, sadie, are you listening to us? Are you here? And I just looked at him, and I was like, no. Like, I was there in person, obviously, but I wasn't there there. And it was a major reckoning for me. For whatever reason, that was the light bulb moment for me. And it was a. You need to start practicing being focused on what matters most to you, and you can't let all of this take you away. And it needs to be a conscious practice. And that's what ended up leading me to a more formal mindfulness practice of sitting and observing. My thoughts and remembering sensations in my body are really actually my m. Truth, um, versus the thoughts in my head that were hijacking me from being present to my values. And that was really a shift in Bar three, too. That's when we started to really put a flag in the ground around our North Star, which is to teach women and prove to women that a mindful approach to fitness will transform Your body, your life, and your business being present in your body versus trying to conquer it.

Speaker A: So something you said in the beginning of our conversation was you were talking about how everything from the outside seemed like it was great, and your LinkedIn profile looked great, and it just, like, was. Everything just weren't as they seemed. And I think, like, we live in a world right now where unfortunately, a lot is not as it seems. But I feel like you have turned this around for yourself, and you have built a business on just being truthful and what's important to you and really, like, shining through these moments. And you have a business that is. Is very authentic to what is going on in your world right now. And I think that's awesome.

Speaker B: Yeah. I think one thing that has shifted for me, and this is so powerful, is that I just trust that we all have invisible truths that are painful, even if we're not sharing them. And, uh, knowing that, especially with other women, for the first time in my life, Lindsay, I'm not lonely because I just know, like, women walk into the studio, it almost makes me want to cry because I just. It's so beautiful. Like, just yesterday, I was teaching class and all these women come in, and I still teach for this very reason to remember this. They're all coming in, and it's not like we're all sitting in a circle crying and being like, uh, I'm in pain. M. But I just know we're all have these invisible truths. And we're in the circle, in the class, working out together. I'm guiding them through the workout. And I just had this sense of, we are so much more connected than we realize. And it's true. When I'm in groups at the DC gathering, it's like all these. You and I were part of this gathering. That's all these, like, powerful women with amazing public platforms. Right. But that's not what made me feel close to all of you. It was an invisible truth that I just quietly know we share. And, um, you know, I like to share that because I. We talked about that earlier in this conversation about when do you want to share these vulnerabilities? Sometimes you don't really necessarily need to. I think the more important thing is to remember if I'm feeling this pain. Well, I have to remind myself, everybody probably does. Right. It's a universal truth of being human.

Speaker A: It's also the power of community.

Speaker B: Totally.

Speaker A: I mean, that's really what it comes down to. And I think when you build a community around your brand that is that powerful to your point, you don't need to say it.

Speaker B: You don't. And we actually talked about this at our owner summit on the stage is that this idea of invisible truths and that women are coming and just to get there in the first place, like who, who the heck knows what happened to get there in the first place? The babysitter canceled the can't find the parking place spot. Um, you know, I look shitty in my outfit. I feel awful today, whatever it is. Like I have this awful meeting or my mother in law is driving me crazy. You know, we have, we all come in with these crazy stories, right? And then you walk in the studio and you have to act like you have your shit together. And uh, like all of us at the front desk, play lounge and in the studio, just to quietly know that there's just so much going on we don't know. And then to hold space for everyone to be present in their body and to know the sensations and to be compassionate and to build strength and to listen to the music and just to have a haven of presence but in community with a quiet understanding that these women get me. These women are, uh, really, truly here for me. And we really are, you know, we are every owner, every instructor. And that is why I think people like our company so much and like our classes so much. Because you just get it and we hear it from clients all the time. It's like, I just feel good here. Like, I feel like I can be myself here. And uh, to me that's a great measure of success.

Speaker A: What's next for Bar three?

Speaker B: Well, uh, really exciting. I have a new president at the helm of the organization and so I brought her in. She has a playbook for accelerated growth. And she's really focused on making sure that everything beneath the hood is rock solid. Our systems, our processes and our organizational development is really, really like, you know, bulletproof. And so that's really, really exciting to have that because she has this playbook for growth that way and systemizing the organization so that we can continue to expand and grow sustainably. And she has a deep respect for me and a, uh, real alignment around our vision, mission and values. So I think the key in all of this for me has been all along the way letting go when I need to let go, and finding the right people to partner with me so I can serve the company in a way that I'm best needed in the moment. So that's number one. What's next is like really building out her team and she's really put together A stellar team and continuing to foster what we have so that we can franchise more and be more proactive versus reactive. We've grown from the inside out, which we'll continue to do at, but it's really important to also be proactive in markets we're not in that we definitely could be in, like Houston or Brooklyn or, you know, international growth, and then doubling down on our online streaming product and creating a seamless client journey for our clients, um, based on insights, based on what they need. And so it's basically more of what we're doing just at a broader scale.

Speaker A: Hi guys, it's Lindsay Pinchuk, host of Dear Found Her. As entrepreneurs, you wear so many hats, don't you? Sometimes it's hard to know how and when and who to hire for help. But I want to say finding hivecast to produce my podcast has been a godsend. They've been producing Dear Found her since season one, and honestly, I'm not sure what I'd do without them. Each week I give them everything that they need to create the episodes that you hear. And not only do they produce and put out the episode, but they create all the awesome marketing materials that you see to promote it. They save me so much time and honestly, their rates don't break the bank. What I love about them is that they make podcasting accessible to any small business owner who wants to create a podcast. I know that many of you have reached out to them already, but I just want to say, if you're thinking about a podcast of your own, reach out to the hivecast team. I promise they will make it seamless from the start. You can find them through the link in the show notes. And now back to the episode. And this is my last question for you. It's the same thing I ask everyone at the end and that is what are three actionable pieces of advice that you would give to a woman who's just starting a business?

Speaker B: Make sure that you're prioritizing your own well being and your own practice of being honest with yourself. And, uh, even when you know you're not winning or you're in pain, that you can sit with that and trust that you have the answers within you. And I really think that needs to be a conscious, proactive practice therapy, executive coaching, mindfulness meditation. You know, there's so many ways to do that. Maybe following thought leaders, reading good books, really truly a practice of basically self awareness I think is essential and that never goes away. That's number one. Number two is pretty nuts and bolts, but do your research like I did research before opening the studio. Um, yeah, data. Point of one. But I did a lot of research and wrote a business plan. I think that is important. So self awareness, you know, a business plan. And then, um, number three is you are deserving, 100% deserving today to surround yourself with people who are excellent at what they do and who respect you for why you're excellent. And you are deserving of that today. And do not compromise in who you surround yourself with, because that is, I believe, a winning formula. All three of those things.

Speaker A: Sadie Lincoln, founder of Barre3. I'm so glad I skipped the workout that morning, because I don't know if we would have bumped into each other or had this conversation. So now. Now I owe you a clasp, and you owe me a class, because I

Speaker B: was gonna say, yeah, you're not off the hook.

Speaker A: I'm not off the hook, and I want to come take your class. But I do believe in kismet, and I do think that that happened for a reason, so. So I'm glad it did. But I'm glad that you were here. I feel like I could ask you so many more questions. I feel like we just scratched the surface, but I really appreciate you being here and being so vulnerable and sharing your story with us. And I also just want to say congratulations on building a business that really has withstood the test of time across many different eras of business. And, you know, all the while staying true to your core values, and not just your company's core values, but your core values. And I. And I think that that is just so commendable. And so congratulations.

Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you. Really appreciate it.

Speaker A: That was Sadie Lincoln, the founder of Bar3. I want you to do me a favor. Before you do anything else this week, go back and listen again to the moment in the kitchen with her husband, the one where he grabbed her by the shoulder and. And said, sadie, are you listening to us? Are you here? And she said no. And the next thing she did was walk away from the version of her career that would have made her a fitness celebrity, because she knew that that version of her career was going to cost her something she couldn't afford to lose. That's the moment your story becomes a strategy, becomes your strategy. The day that you stop performing the version of your business someone else built built for you, and you start telling the truth about the one you actually want to build. Sadie said something else in this conversation I can't stop thinking about. She said, I just trust that we all have invisible truths that are painful. And the more we can learn to sit with those truths, the more those dark times can lead to something really, really beautiful. If your business right now feels like it's in a dark time, I want you to hear Sadie, really listen. That's not a sign that you're failing. It's often the seed of what comes next. I know mine was two things to do this week on, um, Thursday. That's June 25th, I'm publishing a premium substack piece that I've been waiting all year to write. It's the story of the WGN segment I got early on in the Dear Found Her Days, what actually it took to land it, what it did for my business, and the lesson about publicity that almost no one teaches. Honestly, I've never told this story in full before. It's for our premium subscribers only, so you're going to want to make sure you subscribe. The link is in the Show Notes. If you are paying attention to story content this month, this is the one for you. And on Friday morning, June 26th, if you're in Chicago, I'm hosting a live networking event, small and in person, the kind of room where the rest of this month's conversations actually take root. Spots are limited. We're almost full. The registration link is in the Show Notes. So if you're in the Chicago area, please join us next Tuesday on the show. Steph Wybring, founder of Joy Creative Shop and one of my favorite small business stories of the year. She closes out June and sets up something new. I'm bringing you in July. I'll see you this Thursday on Substack. Sam.