She Ignites

From Teacher To Trailblazer: Confidence, Identity, And Building A Life You Choose

• Kari

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What if confidence isn’t a louder voice but a truer one? We sit down with Lindsay Dollinger - teacher, travel advisor, business coach, and professional fire-starter in her own right, to unpack how identity, worthiness, and action braid together to create real momentum. From an upbringing that championed “you can do anything” to the grit forged through mean girls and toxic leadership, Lindsay shares the moments that forced a reset and the choices that followed.

We trace three pivotal “match moments”: saying yes to an unlikely business after loss, turning a conference high into same-night execution with a face-mask planning session, and using workplace disrespect as fuel to build autonomy. Along the way, we explore a crucial distinction, confidence versus worthiness and why you can appear bold while still questioning if you deserve the room. Lindsay’s answer is a playbook of micro-commitments: five-minute starts, tiny habit stacks, and introducing yourself as who you’re becoming so your actions catch up to your words.

This conversation also dives into the power of community that crosses industries. When teachers, authors, makers, and marketers collide, fresh ideas multiply and belief becomes contagious. We talk through the messy middle, renaming podcasts, sunsetting offers, rebuilding programs and how to trust the process without glamorizing struggle. Expect practical encouragement for non-business goals too: from choosing clothes that help you feel put together to hitting play on a hype song when you need a fast state change. If you’ve been waiting for perfect timing, consider this your nudge to start where you stand and let the evidence stack in your favor.

Connect with Lindsay here:

www.lindsaydollinger.com/quiz

www.facebook.com/lindsdollinger

www.instagram.com/lindsaydollinger

Subscribe for more bold, honest conversations. Share this episode with someone who needs a five-minute start, and leave a review to tell us the title you’re claiming next.


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Post-production editing by SoulFlow Studios - https://soulflowstudios.com/

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Sheep Night, the podcast where we burn the rule book, ditch the shoulds, and light up the lives we were meant to lead. I'm your host, Carrie Lowe, candlemaker, confidence dealer, and your favorite fire starter. Around here, we speak boldly, dream wildly, and show up messy and magical. If you're done playing small and ready to own your own spark, you're in the right damn place. Now let's get lit. Okay. Welcome back to Shea Knights, the show where we don't just talk about finding your fire, we hand you the damn matches. Today I have a guest who doesn't just climb ladders, she kicks them over and builds her own empire. So I want you to meet Lindsay Dollar. She is a lead gym expert, podcast host of the Passport Profits and Pixie Dask podcast, creator of the competent and ambitious mastermind and the social sales studio.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

She is a rescue dog mama and a Disney lover. She has been a Spanish teacher for 17 years and started growing her online business in 2016. She became a travel advisor in 2019. And she helps women with productivity and lead gen strategies to grow their businesses with a little pixie dust in her own head. So she is living proof that women who stop apologizing become unstoppable. So we're going to dive right in. So Lindsay, I am so excited to talk with you today and get some insight from you about you, your business, burning the rule book and all of those good things. I'm going to ask you a few questions. So we're going to get started. What does confidence look like for you? Not what you were taught, but what you have personally claimed.

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, oh my gosh. That's such a I should have asked for you. You did ask if I wanted these questions in advance. I'm like, no girl. No girl. Okay. So I feel like confidence is just so much of being truly you. Like without any inhibition, without worrying about what other people are going to think or what the world has told you you should be or what you shouldn't be, but just really standing in the magic and the power of you, like you and your true essence. That's like confidence to me. I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_01:

So to follow up with that, have you always felt that way? Or was there a period you had to work through to be able to get rid of the idea that you needed to please everyone?

SPEAKER_00:

That's a good question. So I think a big part of it has honestly been a part of my upbringing. Like I am very blessed that my mom and dad always instilled on us, like, you can do anything if you work hard enough and you put your mind to it. Like if you want to be a pro volleyball player, like go be a pro volleyball player. If you want to, you know, be the first one. Well, I wouldn't be the first woman on the moon. You know what I mean? If you want to go to the moon, like you do your thing and we will support you 100% of the way. So I was very blessed to have that because I recognize that a lot of people do not have that growing up. And I see that too. I'm, you know, still being in the classroom as a teacher and seeing really the impact that parents and families can have on children. Um, I don't think I ever really realized it until, you know, working in that field. But also, you know, I'm also human. So I went through, especially middle school. Middle school, high school was the beginning parts of high school were rough for me. I was a cheerleader in middle school. I loved cheerleading. And the girls just didn't love the mean girls and I had the mean girls, and I learned pretty early on like the blessing release and like the people that are for me, I will find and I found my tribe. So again, I was lucky in that. But a lot of it has been working at it as well, like trying to find the right way, but working at it as well and rem and having that self-awareness that, like, hey, if I don't take myself out of these, you know, friendships that are more toxic and that bring me down, you know, or there's definitely been in some that I've stayed in for too long. But if I don't take myself out of these, then I'm going to talk myself out of doing the things that I know I'm able to do. So I think that self-awareness piece has also been a huge string in that, you know, the confidence piece. However, also on the flip side, I don't know, I don't know if we've talked about this before, but the book Worthy by Jamie Kern Lima. Yes. Yeah. So I definitely think I struggle a little more with the worthiness piece than a confidence piece. And it was a big aha for me when I learned that they were actually different things. Absolutely. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

That is an amazing book. Yes. Yeah. That's great. So with you being, you know, you have an identity of a creator, teacher, leader, so many different things, has that the relationship with those titles, so to speak, has that evolved over time as you have grown and and learned, or has that kind of, you know, maintained the same level of relationship?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So I definitely have added more things to it and I have tweaked them over the years. I think one of the big ahas for me was realizing that I could be a teacher in the classroom, but I could also be a teacher in teaching things about social media and branding and networking and those pieces of my business because I really did struggle with that identity piece. And again, that worthiness piece of the identifying myself as the things that I wanted to be and that I was working toward being, versus, oh, I'm just a teacher and like that. And then I know I saw a definite shift in my business when I went to conferences and I met people and I introduced myself instead as a business coach, as a podcaster, as whatever the thing was in that moment that I was really focused in. And then the teacher thing came last or wasn't even mentioned at all. Like it came up later in a conversation. And I think those shifts definitely too can shift and mold not only your identity, but then going back to that confidence piece too. And in the first few times I said it, like I was nervous to say it, or kind of stumbled over my words, like, oh yeah, I'm a coach. So, but you you learn to say it more confidently. And it's almost like which came first, the chicken or the egg in that point, because you almost got to fake it till you make it until you make it. And then you're gonna be feeling that like that confidence a lot more strongly than you did before.

SPEAKER_01:

So claiming who you are, yeah and um, you know, stepping into it for sure. I love that. Okay, so I would love to know, you know, at She Ignites, we talk a lot about fire and matches and burning and that type of thing. So, what was your match moment, the time that you knew you couldn't keep living the same way? Like what steps did you take to make change? And I know you mentioned, like with your upbringing, that you were blessed to have been um, you know, confidence and dreams and all of that planted from the beginning. But I think even when that's the case, we all go through, you know, like you said, the confidence piece. So do you remember a specific match moment that you decided it's time to change and step into who I want to be?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Actually, I think there were three of them. So the first one is when I started my network marketing business, like the very first business I ever did. And that was about a year after my mom had passed away. And I was going to like a fitness class with my best friend at the time, and she was very against me joining network marketing, which I understand because I was against it too when I did it. And I just remember thinking, if I don't give this a try, I'll never know if I could be successful at it. Like, you know, you try, you're the girl who tries everything once. And that's always been a model I'd worked by. So that was probably the first one, and I'm glad I did it because that set the projectory, you know, or the trajectory, sorry, for everything that I've done since then. So that was the first one. The second one, I'm trying to think the order timeline-wise. So the second one would probably be when I was at a different network marketing companies conference, and I was sitting out in the audience. And by this point, I've been in network marketing probably three years, maybe a little, maybe two, maybe two years. And I'm sitting out there in the audience. I'm with some of my teammates. I've I've got some momentum, you know, at this point, but not enough to actually be bringing in serious money. And speaker after speaker was coming up and talking, and I was hearing what they were teaching, and I'm like, I know all of this stuff. Like, I know all of the things to do. I'm just not doing it. Like, why am I not doing it? And again, that self-awareness piece. And I'm like, I'm gonna do this. And I remember I went up to my hotel room, my team, we were in Orlando actually, and my team, we were gonna go out and do something. I'm like, no, let's just stay in, come to my room, we'll put on face masks, we're going to like do this thing. We're gonna make the plans, we're gonna message the people, like, we're gonna go. And so that was a huge spark moment because that I think single-handedly changed the trajectory of my business. And I grew that business to the top less than 1%. And pretty quickly after that, like it the momentum went and you know, the ball was rolling. And then I think the third piece that happened, probably actually during that year, which even further lit the fire, was my principal at work, and I did not get along very well. He put his hand in my face, told me to shut up, and then told me that no one at our school liked me. And he didn't care if I stayed or went. I just remember thinking after that, like, there's so much truth in that that he just said. And why am I putting myself through that when I could be building my own thing, not being subjected to that kind of treatment? And that I didn't want to be dependent on that job anymore. So it was up to me to take my finances into my own hands. So that would probably be the third big moment that I can think of that I'm like, okay, it's time to get time to get the stuff done.

SPEAKER_01:

So did you leave that position? I actually did not.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. No, I did not. Uh, he ended up leaving, thankfully, because we what we would not have lasted much longer. Right. And I actually went into my assistant principal's office and I was talking to him about it. And he's like, no, Linz, he's gonna leave eventually. You know, like he has bigger, like he's gonna move up and become a superintendent or whatever. Thankfully, not in our district. Blinders on, avoid him, do your thing, stay the route. And you know, that's kind of what I did. But it also has helped, again, like I said, get the ball rolling so that I don't have to be there if I don't want to be, which is a nice feeling to not do that.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely, absolutely. And I love when you were talking about your second match moment where you were like, nope, we're not going out. We're gonna put on the face masks and start right now. Yeah. Because I think so many of us are like, I'll do it tomorrow, or I'll do it when it's perfect, or and then you just jumped right in that yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

It was. And I knew that if we went home, it would be like any other conference where we went home and we have these intentions and we might do a little bit of it, but like there's nothing about doing it together in the moment and then hearing like, oh yeah, she texted me back and she's interested in learning more and fueling each other's like, why not? Why not do it together? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, I love that. And of course, you know, we're we met through network marketing. And so, you know, those, I think we probably both have so many stories about that part of our life that have fueled our fire to be where we are today. So let's see. Here's a fun one. If your fire had a scent, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, oh gosh. So my first thought is obviously I know that you make amazing candles. If this is like not even like a like a fire scent, but there's no right or wrong. I really like lilac. I like the scent of lilac. It reminds me of home in my childhood, and I like the the fresh floral y smell. So mine would be lilac. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Did you have lilac trees at your house? Yes. Yeah, I have one outside my door, and I love when it blooms to open my window and be able to let it come. So it's like the best scent, yeah. Yes, that's wonderful. Okay, so if your life was a movie, who would play you in that movie showing your glow up story?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's if my life was a movie showing my glow up story. I don't know. I feel like I feel like kind of like uh Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality. Fun fact, I was Miss Congeniality of the Corn Festival in 2005. So there's that. That's amazing. That's a perfect fit that yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so you know, we all go through an in-between when we're um moving from one thing to another. So, how do you stay grounded when you aren't there yet, but you're not willing to go back? So that you keep your eye on the prize and you know, maintain that confidence and focus.

SPEAKER_00:

So I feel like I've done this so many times in my business. I've changed the name of my podcast four times. You know, I got rid of a membership in December of last year and just restarted one at the time of this recording in August. So my messy middle in this most recent season was for me that January, February, March, April season where I was changing my podcast. I was narrowing my focus a little bit more. And I think the way that I stayed grounded the most was just trusting the process, knowing that you've done this before, it's worked out before. I know it's scary, but you're also literally doing the things that you're coaching other people and doing and starting from the beginning as well. And I think there's something really magical about that. I know trusting the process can be easier said than done. Also having support, you know, I almost always have a coach that I'm working with, if not one, then two, having different communities, having amazing women around me, even if that's just on social media, but people that are my cheerleaders and are hyping me up, you know, I think all those things are the things that honestly is really what makes it worth it anyway. It's it's so much more that than the sales and the accolades and whatever your success matrices. It's for me, it's it's like that feeling of being around the people that get it and they get me and and having that tribe, you know, around you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So when it comes to um, you know, a lot of the women that listen to She Ignites or are part of this journey are not business women. Some are, some are not. So, you know, I know that in the business world, we a lot of times say done is better than perfect, right? Because we're so, you know, focused on making sure something is perfect before we release it, you know, just like back to the the beginning of the podcast here. I would have been like my skin would have been crawling, hearing my dogs barking in the background. I would have been like, stop, we gotta, you know, re-record. I can't have that. But you know, it's life. And so how how would you speak to the woman, not someone in business, that has that feeling that they can't step into who they're meant to be or who they want to be because it's not perfect.

SPEAKER_00:

It's not perfect, they're not there yet.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I think just the reminder that it's never gonna be perfect, you're never gonna be there yet if you don't just start embodying whatever that is now. So I it's interesting you asked that. I just listened to a Rachel Hollis podcast, which if you don't listen to her show, I feel like because she doesn't always do business stuff. Actually, a lot of her stuff's not business, but she is a really good one about reminding people the ways that you can start embodying, you know, future you, best level you, whatever you want to call it now, and like small ways you can do that. So one of the things, you know, just that she was suggesting, I'm like, yeah, so true, is you know, how can you feel more put together? Because we all feel better, more put together. Is that a certain clothing that you could wear? Could you wash your hair today? Could you put on, you know, a little mascara? It doesn't have to be full face. Like, what makes you feel the most confident? Let's start there. Let's do that. Um, and then we start tweaking, you know, the little things or the little habits that we either want to change or we want to add in and start small, but then also give yourself the grace that it's okay if you slip up. Um, another thing I know that I it helps me especially is I know a lot of people probably have either a health goal, maybe a weight goal. And there's lots of days where like tonight, I didn't really want to work out. But I I so and I don't know who started this, but someone said that if you do like five minutes of a workout, make yourself do the five minutes. And then after the five minutes, if you still want to continue doing it, you can, but if you want to stop, you can't. Oh, that's about on Google. Yeah, and most of the time though, like tonight, I that's what I did tonight. And then I ended up doing more because I was like, okay, now I'm sweaty, so now I gotta do now I gotta do it anyway. Then lots of times that's what happens. But sometimes you'll do the five minutes and then you're like, I'm I'm done for the day, you know, I've tapped out. But you're at least doing something that you can be proud of. You're giving it, you know, the little bit of a go. And then if you're motivated to do a little more, then you can, but you've at least done just like a little bit toward whatever that goal is. So it doesn't have to be working out, it could be, you know, whatever, whatever that could be for you in your personal life. Maybe it's the like a dating app. Well, download the app. You don't have to do that. One step at a time. Yes, like breaking it down to those baby steps. I think if if people are like me, and I assume a lot of people are, is that you want to do the perfect, you want to go all in, you don't want to give up on the things. And then it's like the all or nothing mentality where if you get off track or you don't do, then it's back to nothing. Right. And we don't we don't have to be that way. Absolutely. I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

So what do you want other women to know about what's possible?

SPEAKER_00:

I think anything's possible. And I know that sounds really cheesy, but really, you know, we have one life, and if it is something out there that you are seeing someone else do, there is no reason it can't be you to be the one doing it. You know, all of us were made out of the same human DNA. Beyoncé doesn't have some like bionic DNA, right? Right or resources or whatnot, but she started at, you know, ground zero with all of us. And I think just remembering that, that the only person truly that is holding you back is yourself. So that self-awareness piece when we get aware of that, okay. And then, you know, there are deeper pieces to that. There's the trauma and there's, well, you have obligations and yada yada. But I do think that we can find creative ways to make all of our dreams come true. It might not be all at once, but there are ways to make them happen. And if you can't figure it out, then open up and find a trusted friend or a therapist or a coach to talk that through so they can help you make a plan to figure it out. Because you can do it a hundred percent. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

So, do you have like a hype song? Something that um you turn up loud whenever you're having a rough day or you need some inspiration or you know, some oomph put in your stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, ooh, uh honestly, anything by pink. I think she is an incident, badass. Yes, anything, anything by pink. I will turn. I don't have a specific one, but I would say anything by pink. I really like the song So What? That's a good one. Um, or her song. I'm trying to think what word she uses instead of the F word, and I can't, but the F imperfect song.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh that one as well. I think that's a good reminder. Fight song by is it Rachel Patton? Yes, yes, that one. I like that one as well. And then every once in a while, you know, a fun Disney, yes, yes. Some how far I'll go or some uh I can I can what's the I can see the distance, I can run the dis the Hercules song. Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. I have a whole Disney run playlist from when I did my marathon, and so those sometimes get in there in the hype up too.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, so I would love for you to share some about your business and how people can connect with you. And you know, for the businesswomen that might be listening, what possibilities there are to work with you, or just what it is that you'd like to share, Doctor.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So if you're not a business person, or I guess if you are, I am a travel agent. I do specialize in Disney and all things cruising. So if that's your jam.

SPEAKER_01:

And definitely follow her on social media because even if you're not someone that likes to travel, you're going to what to because of watching her explore the world.

SPEAKER_00:

It's amazing. Thank you, Carrie. Yeah, so I like to post a lot about traveling. So there's the travel piece of what I do. And then, you know, I really just love to empower women to grow their businesses, whether that's a side hustle, whether you're going all in, you know, I really don't care where your business is. I do have a mastermind. Um, most people don't just jump out of the gate and go into the mastermind, but uh, I do have the mastermind. That's kind of like the highest level of working with me. And then I have the social sales studio where I help you with your marketing and your social media. That is a monthly membership. Um, I do limited one-on-one coaching. I don't do that as much anymore, but I do have some of that. And then uh stay tuned, at least get on my email list because I have something up my sleeve for building community. And that's all I can share right now because I don't want to share too much and then not not follow through with it. But I have something that I am brainstorming that I think is gonna be really, really awesome. Um, a local option if you're local to Ohio, um, and then a virtual option as well. So that's exciting. I can't wait. You know that. I know, I know. I saw you comment. I was like, yes, Carrie.

SPEAKER_01:

So I know that, you know, for those of you that are listening that are in business, I attended an event that, you know, that you had hosted, and it was amazing. And what I loved most about it, well, I loved so many things about it, but one of the things that I loved most about it was that the room was filled with so many different women. There were, you know, teachers, authors, you know, people that were in the direct sales, network marketing, you know, massage therapists, people that make um body products. Um I just absolutely loved that because it gives, you know, especially me being there, and I'm sure every other woman that was in the room felt the same way. It gave me the opportunity to be able to hear from different people encouraging me to the belief that my ideas were good like I thought they were. Whereas sometimes, you know, and and again, the I haven't talked a lot about my network marketing story um yet on my podcast. Um, but you know, when you're in a room at conference, they're amazing and they light you up and they give you fire on the inside, but everyone sells the same thing. And so it's a little harder to um get outside of the box with ideas as far as um understanding your worth and you know what you have to offer and getting ideas because you're all kind of thinking on the same um, you know, product path. And so I love that so much. And um so um when she has in-person events or even online events, um, make sure you attend because they are amazing. We had such a good time. And so I have one more question that I want to ask you. And this is something that I ask all of my podcast guests at the end. If you could light a fire in every woman listening today, what would you want that fire to say?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I don't want to be a broken record and repeat what I did, what I said earlier, but really and truly, I want you to be your biggest cheerleader. I want you to be your hype girl, and I want you to be whatever you want to be and really sit with that, really, you know, work through this, and this can change over time and remind yourself you're allowed to change every time, you're not a tree. That you can really be that woman. And if you count it, sometimes this happens to me. You know, I come up from where and I'm like, I'm not really happy with how I was today. Like, I was not the nicest person. That's not how I wanted to behave, that's not what I wanted to think, you know. You can start tomorrow. You can start tomorrow, you can be whatever you want to be. It's up to you, though, to take ownership of that and be that woman. Be her because you can be her. Uh, and you are her and you can do it.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. One of the things that I like to um tell myself and think to myself is that um, you know, when you're trying to compare yourself to someone, the the thing that you need to compare yourself is to who you were yesterday. If I'm better today than I was yesterday, then I have achieved something. And um, you know, even if it's about I'm gonna drink more water today, or I'm gonna be nicer today, or I'm not gonna let that annoying coworker bother me today, or you know, whatever it is. And um, I think it's important to focus on the positives because so much, so many times we focus on the negative. So I am going to make sure for everyone listening that um I have all of your links so that um I could post it in the show notes and they can connect with you, follow you all the places, and um be able to connect with you and learn from you in your amazing business, as well as um book a travel adventure with you. Hi. So thank you so much for sharing your journey and your business with me, and I appreciate it so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Carrie. This was so, so fun. I appreciate you and just love you so much.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's it for today, babe. But your fire is just getting started. If you're feeling lit up, go ahead and hit subscribe, leave a spicy little review, and tag me at G Ignite Candleco so I can hype you up. Remember, the world doesn't need a quieter version of you. It needs the bold, blazing, fully expressed view. Until next time, keep flowing, keep going, and never, ever get your damn life.