The Work Within: Reclaiming Your Reflection

Season 6, Episode 5

Featured Guest: Lindsay Holder, Founder, Hustle Flow Lab

In a world that teaches us to shrink, this episode is about expanding—our confidence, our compassion and our connection to the bodies we live in. 

Through vulnerable conversations and personal stories, Lindsay Holder, founder of Hustle Flow Lab, explores what it means to heal body image from the inside out and finally see ourselves with the love we deserved all along.

Listen:

This episode is sponsored by Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Listen to more Dare to Interrupt podcasts: www.MeetingsToday.com/Dare-to-Interrupt.

Meet Our Guest:

Lindsay Holder is a dynamic force in Detroit’s fitness scene—a former collegiate athlete, expert trainer with over 10 years of experience, and a business owner for nearly eight. 

As the founder of Hustle Flow Lab, she is dedicated to helping women build confidence in every capacity—through movement, strength training and community. 

Her work centers on shifting the focus from how women look to how they feel, creating an inclusive, empowering space for all.

Connect With Lindsay:

LinkedIn
Instagram: @hustlehardholder
Facebook
Twitter: N/A
Website

More About Our Host:

Courtney believes that transforming past experiences into impactful conversations through raw, authentic storytelling challenges the status quo, connects people from all walks of life and results in great change for the world.

Courtney is the youngest member to have ever been elected to Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) International Board of Directors.

She is the recipient of Smart Meetings’ Entrepreneur Award, MeetingsNet’s Changemaker Award, the Association for Women in Events (AWE) Disruptor Award, the MPI Chairman’s Award and MPI RISE Award.

Named Collaborate and Connect Magazine’s 40 under 40 and a Meetings Today Trendsetter.

Recognized as one of the event industry’s most impactful change-makers, Courtney serves on the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, AWE’s Board of Directors, MPI’s Women’s Advisory Board, is a Meetings Mean Business Ambassador and is the co-founder of the award-winning movement, #MeetingsToo.

Courtney was named as a 2020 Meetings Trendsetter by Meetings Today.

Connect With Courtney:

Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: @courtneyonstage
Twitter: @courtneyonstage
Facebook

Transcript:

Editors note: The following transcription was facilitated by AI program Otter.ai and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Courtney Stanley

This episode is sponsored by Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
Hello everybody. This is Courtney Stanley, keynote speaker, public speaking coach and your host of Dare to Interrupt, the only podcast made by women for women in the world of events, hospitality, tourism and beyond.

Today's conversation is with someone who embodies grit, grace and the kind of strength that doesn't just build bodies, it builds belief. Lindsay Holder is a former collegiate athlete, expert trainer and founder of Hustle Flow Lab, a fiercely inclusive fitness space rooted in one mission: helping women feel strong from the inside out.

This episode is for anyone who's ever doubted themselves or needed a reminder that you are enough. Welcome to the show, Lindsay. How are you?

Lindsay Holder

I'm good. Courtney. How are you? Thank you so much for having me.

Courtney Stanley

I'm good, too. I couldn't be more excited to interview you. I mean, you've been such an important person in my life this last year and a half since we first met at the gym, and honestly, like, truly, truly grateful to have you as a friend and a cheerleader in my life.

Lindsay Holder

I feel the same way. I remember the first time I met you on Instagram. I was like, she's an instant best friend. And then you came into the lab and I was like, she is everything and more.

Courtney Stanley

Well, it's very mutual. And this is such a sign and a message to everyone tuning in that you can meet your best friends through Instagram. Yes. So, stalk away, yes, stalk away; find people who inspire you and then go and sign up and be a member at their gym, because that is exactly how we met and became friends, and it's just such a beautiful start to our friendship. Just the best. 

So, Lindsay, you're the founder of Hustle Flow Lab here in Detroit, Michigan. How would you describe the lab to someone who has never heard of it before?

Lindsay Holder

Gosh, we're just so different than any other gym that you know. I've just taken everything I've learned along the way and incorporated it into a space where people work out. However, it's very different than just a gym. I've created a community where we support each other, and we've shifted the mindset from how you look to how you feel, and it's just been one of the most incredible things that's just kind of started from something really small, and just snowballed into this incredible community of just humans supporting humans.

Courtney Stanley

I love that so much. And I mean, I can definitely echo and vouch for everything you're saying. Because the reason why I love this community so much is really because of the way that I feel when I'm part of this community and surrounded by all these people. I love it. Huge blessing. If anybody ever visits Detroit, please let me know, and I will bring you on one of my guest passes, because it's a game changer. It's a vibe changer, that's for sure.

I want to go back to the beginning of your journey. What did health and body image mean to you as a young girl, and how has that relationship evolved into the work that you do now with women in Hustle Flow Lab?

Lindsay Holder

This is such a great question, because I've actually never been asked it, but when I was reflecting on the questions that you had asked this, this moment, this very vivid moment came into my mind. And I was thinking about it because I was an athlete and a gymnast my whole life. I grew up with a mom who was very restrictive. You know, it was, if you're hungry, drink a bottle of water, you'll be fine. And I remember being probably, like eight years old, and I was a gymnast, and I had this picture of myself that you do like every year. They would do like your yearbook picture, but it was like my gymnastics picture. 

So, I was standing in this position where my legs were crossed and my arms were up and my hands were underneath my chin, and I took that picture one day, and I found a Sharpie, and I remember—and I can still in my mind see myself doing this. I took the Sharpie and I sharpied out where the fat was on my body, and I remember looking at myself and being like, “If I just looked like her, this skinny little girl, everybody would accept me. Everybody would love me.” 

And, you know, looking back at it now, I'm like, how do you at 8 years old come up with that? That was, I think, a very pivotal moment in my life, just not being able to accept myself until I got older, and I realized it in college when I was an athlete as well, and just never feeling good enough, never feeling pretty enough, never feeling strong enough, smart enough. 

And I really wanted to create a space where we could all support each other, because I'm just like all of you. Just because I'm the leader of the gym doesn't mean I don't struggle with those things, and I've overcome so much, but that really is the start of the scaffolding of getting to a point where I realized I'm not alone and I want to help people.

Courtney Stanley

Oh, yeah. I got emotional listening to you saying that you were 8 years old and just imagining this sweet young girl who's perfect as she is, just Photoshopping, essentially, before Photoshop was really a thing, her 8 year old body. That breaks my heart. 

It's so relatable. It's so relatable. I mean, even I'm sure there are so many people, myself included, who listen to that story and they can relate from a very young age. But even now, you know, as women in their teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, I think that there are probably so many women that still feel the need to edit, to self-edit, like that.

Lindsay Holder

Completely. Yeah. I mean, think about it. You're surrounded, you're consuming things all day that are fake and images that are not really real. So, then when you look at yourself, you feel like you're pointing out all the flaws, when really you have to really look within and see how beautiful you are.

It is really sad to think that I did that, and it was just from an innocent place. I remember, every year I would take my yearbook picture, and I would write my name, but I would write my weight every single year, and then I'd look back and be like, “Oh my gosh, this year I've gained, you know, 12 pounds.” And just think to myself, “How can I lose that? How can I do that so that I am accepted and loved,” and realize it stems from so much, you know, generational trauma.

Courtney Stanley

Oh, was there a moment in your life where there was a mindset shift so as a young girl, you're struggling with this particular mindset of thinking that you're not skinny enough. You don't you know the number on the scale is not good enough. Was there a moment that changed how you looked at yourself or the way you wanted to speak to yourself?

Lindsay Holder

It's kind of funny, but it was the era of Kim Kardashian, oh yes, when the booty was like a thing, and I didn't know it, because I always grew up like, you want to have, like, a small tone. 

But you know, the Shape magazine; you want the cute bikini where you’ve got the little hip dips, like the muscle butt. And I remember, like, being so different from all the girls that I grew up with, because I was always like, athletic and curvy, but I was always very athletic. I'm always like, “Thank God my parents kept me humble, because I always had the long tank top bathing suit on with the long skirt. And I'm like, if I would have been out here in a bikini, I don't know what would have happened to me, but I'm glad that my parents and everybody kept me very humble. 

But I remembered the Kim Kardashian era, and I had just…I was in college and I had just gone through puberty, so I'd actually just gotten my period and my body was changing, and I remember people started giving me compliments, and I’m getting all of this external validation that I never had. I would have high school boys DMing me that never looked in my direction, and then being like, “Hi, we should hang out.”

And I remember being like, “Oh my God. Like, I'm pretty. So, then I went from one direction to like the total other direction. And that was probably the pivotal moment where I was like, “Okay, I can rock these curves. This is great.” 

But then I had to kind of step away from that, because then I started searching for validation everywhere and anywhere. And if somebody didn't give me validation, it was like, well, then I'm ugly. 

So, I had to really find that point, and I really didn't find that until, probably my mid 30s, where I was like, “You know, I'm good with who I am, I'm good with how I look. Nothing's going to be perfect, and I just have to live with that.”

Courtney Stanley

Okay, I could not relate more when you mentioned Kim Kardashian, Dude.

Lindsay Holder

I swear it's a thing. It's a thing, like 2009.

Courtney Stanley

Yes, she changed the game for the curvy girlies. She really did. And did you know I know people tuning in maybe heard that and would roll their eyes, because I know people have strong feelings about celebrities, and we get it, but there was a lot of good that came out of Kim Kardashians body, all of a sudden becoming the thing like, that's the beauty that people wanted for the girls who were always too curvy for social standards, societal standards. 

And I think culture plays a role, too. I was just thinking about this as you were talking, because I'm a curvy girl, too. So, I've always been curvy. I've also always played sports, but I've always been curvy. And back in elementary, middle school, high school, too, growing up in a community that is pretty much all white, there was one body type, and that was the Britney Spears, the Christina Aguilera, like, a really, very small frame, and maybe some big boobs, but, like, that was it? 

No, but, yeah, I have a huge butt. Okay. I love my butt. I appreciate it now, but it did take the Kim Kardashian shift for me to feel like all of a sudden society was accepting of the body type that I naturally have. 

But from a cultural perspective, it also helped that I moved away. So, I moved to cities that had more diversity and therefore different cultural preferences for body types. And, my gosh, there are many other cultures in our world that are so appreciative of body types that are all across the board. It's not just one. But I hear you when you say there is a bit of a pendulum swing where you go from maybe not having a body type that's, you know, a plus in a certain time or culture, to having a body type that everybody is like, I want those curves, or I like those curves. And it is a little bit of a mindset shift where having that validation feels great…

Lindsay Holder

I remember being, like, somebody didn't compliment me, am I ugly? And then it's like the total opposite of what you started with. And you have to really come to terms with that, and it takes a lot of looking at yourself in the mirror and being good with who you are, and knowing that you offer a lot more than just your body and how you look.

Courtney Stanley

How do you teach that to your clients when they come in and they say things to you like, “I want to lose weight,” or “I don't like how I look.” How do you coach them?

Lindsay Holder

I really focus on building from the inside out. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you sleeping well? Are you in good relationships with people? 

And really, training for me is building connection and giving out energy. So, yes, obviously, we have goals; there's knowledge that I have, that I've learned to do what I do. So, I know how to help with fat loss. I know how to build muscle, but I also like to do it in a way where I love it, because people come in and it's almost like they have weights on their shoulders. 

And to see week by week, the confidence just slowly building; that in itself will build the muscle. We'll do all the things that we need to do, but for the clients that come in that don't like their body, or whatever it may be, they want to lose weight, I think the biggest thing is addressing the internal why is it that you don't like that? How can we change that and fix that? Because that's really what matters.

Courtney Stanley

So, there was a post that you recently shared on Instagram, and I'm definitely going to reshare it on my Instagram, because I am obsessed with it.

I know I couldn't figure out how to collaborate. Well, I'll show you. Don't worry, we're gonna figure it out. Yes, so Lindsay did a photo shoot at the gym. I was part of the photo shoot at the gym, and there was a candid shot of me looking in the mirror, and there's one line that you had written in the caption of this post, and it was something about building trust with the woman in the mirror. And that just hit home so hard, and the post in general was about showing up and doing reps and really showing up for yourself, but essentially, you're building trust with the person in the mirror. 

What is that? What does that mean? And how can we use that to advise the women who are tuning in?

Lindsay Holder

I think, more than anything, when I wrote that post, I was really thinking about when you are in the gym and you're pushing through hard things; you're teaching yourself rep by rep that you can do this.
However, it also correlates to stepping outside the gym. And when something gets hard, you go back to that moment where you were really pushing through and you did it, and you're building that trust with yourself.

I see it every day, and it brings me to tears every single day, because I feel like we as women—I'm gathering all of my thoughts—I just feel like us as women, sometimes we get so doubted. I don't even know if that's a word. And to be able to push yourself through a hard moment and know that you can do it, it's just one of the most freeing feelings, and it helps you with other things in your life. I guess that's a long way of saying rep by rep. You learn to trust yourself.

Courtney Stanley

Yeah, and I think there's something that's really special and unique about building physical strength. And there is a mental strength that comes with building physical strength. I think they go so hand in hand. 
And I think societally, when we think of building muscles, or, you know, being physically strong, our society looks at men, and I think that there's something really powerful about being a woman and deciding to do the work to make yourself strong. 

Yeah, it is the physical, but it's also it's the mental. I don't think there's anything that has the same mental impact as strength training does. When you can lift heavy shit, you feel like you can do anything.

Lindsay Holder

I always say it's like, I get to my red zone, where it's so hard, but that's where I find the most clarity in everything that I do. It's like, you push to this point, and you're like, “Holy shit, I can do anything. I can do this.” And then you're finished and you're like, “I can't believe I just did that.” 

But then you look at “I can't believe I just opened a business. I can't believe I just bought my own house.” There’s so many things that can correlate to just pushing through a workout that it's you; you really are building the muscle, building the trust, building the strength, whatever it may be, and it goes right out into the world right as you walk out the doors.

Courtney Stanley

Oh, it's so magical. It really is. If anyone's tuning in and you haven't gotten into strength training, I definitely encourage you do so, because the mental high that comes from, oh yes, lifting the heavy stuff…It's a game changer. 

And so, I'm going to shift to gears for just a second here, because I know that you are preparing to step into a whole new season of life. I’ll let you share that news. But in this new chapter, how are you learning to redefine strength, both personally and professionally?

Lindsay Holder

So, I am currently almost 18 weeks pregnant, and this is something that I've wanted for a really long time, but the timing has never been right, and it is now. I actually really, for the first time in a very long time, I really struggled with my body image. Again, like being an athlete and being somebody in the fitness world defined by my body; it's been really hard for me as a personal trainer, to look the way that I do. And it's, I mean, this is my own issue, my own body, but just I've always carried weight in lower places. 

So, to carry something in my belly at first was a big challenge for me, and it almost has been the best thing for me, because I've had to look internally at like, “Okay, why are you feeling this way? What is it about? Is it, you know, your childhood wounds, like, Do you not feel loved? Do you not feel good enough?

I've had to do a lot of soul searching myself to rebuild again. And I think that's the cool part about life is you're reminded of these things, and you just keep going and moving. And so that's been kind of where I've been at and just redefining strength and learning to slow down. 

I've literally always been a hustler. I've always been somebody that's constantly moving, constantly going and need to be better. And that also stems from the overachieving. I always wanted to be the best at what I was doing, yeah, but in this season, strength is becoming slowing down, resting more, listening to my body, encouraging myself, looking at myself in the mirror and being like, “You really are so beautiful; you have wanted this part of your life for so long, and now you're here. You're never going to get this day back. 

So, live in this day and enjoy this moment. And you're carrying another human so you're doing amazing, sweetie, you are doing amazing, sweetie.

Courtney Stanley

I have to tell myself that every day you're doing amazing, sweetie. Oh my gosh. And it's so fun to see your bump, like, for me personally, from the outside perspective, it's so fun, especially when you're still, like, kicking ass at the gym and you're coaching everybody, and you've got this bump, and it's just so cool, so powerful. 

And we know that you're having a girl, so this is also so cool that you're in this space, you're coaching these other women, you're working on your own self-development journey, and you're going to have a daughter and get to be able to nurture her and support her.

Lindsay Holder

Oh, it's just such a karmic gift, you know? And I was just telling somebody this: I'm going to keep it together. But I never thought I was worthy enough to have a daughter. And I think that's just from like, again, like, you know, childhood wounds and whatever, but I set myself up for this gender reveal that we were having, and I'm having a boy, and I'm getting so happy. And I was really talking it up. And it just so happened that the day—and I didn't even know it—the day that we were having the gender reveal was International Women's Day, and I just remember, after it all, and after we found out it was a girl, I just remember laying in bed and being like, “I'm worthy enough,” and I got to remind myself of that something that I like lost along the way. 

And there's this quote that's like, if I ever have a daughter, it'll be payback. So, be all the love that I never had, and give all the love, or, I can't remember the exact quote, but it was something along the lines of, so be all the magic that was lost along the way. And I truly believe that my purpose, besides, you know, being a coach and loving on people, is to be a mother to this little girl and teach her all the things that I lost along the way.

Courtney Stanley

You are going to be the best mom, and you are truly the biggest cheerleader for other women. So, what a perfect match for you to have a girl and for her to have you as a mom.

Lindsay Holder

Yeah, I'm so excited. I really, genuinely talked myself up to having a boy. So, now I'm like, “Oh my God, my attitude in a mini version. Oh boy, it's gonna be great.”

Courtney Stanley

Can't wait. She's gonna be so cute. I can't wait. I can't wait to meet her. She's gonna be the best, I know. It. If you could sit with the version of yourself who was just starting Hustle Flow Lab, what would you tell her? And in reverse, what would she remind you of right now?

Lindsay Holder

Gosh, the girl that I was, this is almost five years ago that I started even thinking about the lab. 
So, just a quick backstory I had. I worked in gyms. Right after I got out of college, I was a teacher, first and foremost, and then started working at CrossFit gym, and I worked with a bunch of male gym owners. 

They were very “get the numbers, get the clients, blah, blah, blah.” And I just remember one of the owners of one of the gyms I was at used to say the reason why I keep Lindsay around is because girls want to be her and guys want to F her. And I just remember that being something again, like reminding me, I'm not really that smart, I'm not really that worthy, like I'm just here to, you know, bring people in the door. 

And so I just thought to myself, COVID had happened, and I didn't have a job. I was like, “Okay, what am I going to do?” So, I took everything that I knew and I got 10 of my closest friends, and we hopped on Zoom, and we started doing workouts together, and we grew this little community of 10 people, then the next week, it was 20 people. The next week it was 30 people. And it just kept growing. 

And, you know, we were in COVID, which I thought was going to be for two weeks. I think we all thought it was in two weeks. I actually had started with a 14-day ebook. So, the first 14 days, the first two weeks of COVID, I had done this ebook that I randomly wrote on Microsoft Word, and I had every day I did the workout on Instagram, and I just posted it, and then I said, “Hey, we're going to do a Zoom workout together. Hop on if you want.” And that's with, you know, 10 of my closest friends, and then it grew and it grew. And every week we would just keep growing. And then it was like, alright, we're making spaghetti on Wednesday night. After the workout, we'll all keep the camera on and just continue on. 

So, we grew that and grew that. And I had a client from a previous gym that I was at—previous to COVID—and she just always believed in me. And she always was like, “You need to open your own gym.” And I'm like, “I have literally, like, $60 in my bank account. I could never, and during COVID, we virtually trained.” She was like, “I want you to personal train me from my garage, and we'll be on Zoom and whatever.” And one day, she's like, “I want to give you the money to open a gym.” And I'm like, “There's literally no way. I don't know how to do any of that.” And so little by little, she gave me the confidence, because being a trainer is very different from being a gym owner, and over the years I've had to learn that the hard way, multiple times, still in learning.

But looking back at the girl that I was, I knew nothing about business, I knew everything about community and how to love people and how to cheer them on. And, you know, I know fitness, but it really is about giving people your energy. And so, I think for me, that stays the same as that five, like the past five years, is just being able to give energy and love people and accept them where they're at and believe in them before they believe in themselves. And then, what was the second part of the question?

Courtney Stanley

What would the version of you five years ago remind you of today? What's a reminder she would give you today?

Lindsay Holder

Oh, to just keep going. It goes back to when you're in the gym and you're like, I just don't want to do it. I just don't want to do it. I'm having a bad day. I hate everything. Just keep going, keep doing the reps, and you will get through it. And I think that's just the greatest reminder that I have.

Courtney Stanley

That's such a good reminder for everybody. And I didn't know the origin story of the lab.
So that, to me, is such a treat to hear. And I'm even more impressed with your journey here. And I'm so inspired by the person who invested in you before. It just goes back to you saying that you know people believe in you before you do. And having somebody in your corner like that. I see what you're capable of, but you need some support, and I'm gonna do that for you. 

And then I mean, my God, people who are tuning in. You have no idea how successful this business is. This business is huge. The impact that Lindsay has made on the people who go to this gym, but also the community at large here in Detroit, is huge. 

So, this origin story is important. It's important to hear. It's so inspiring. I'm just in awe. I really am. Thank you. This was such an important conversation, too. I want to give you space to share any final words that you want to leave with the audience, any advice, wisdom, something they can write down on a PostIt and stick in front of their face for the week.

Lindsay Holder

I think the one thing I'll say is everything that you need is already within you. You have everything that you need. You're fully capable, and you can do it short and sweet, write it on the sticky note. You've got it within you.

Courtney Stanley

I love that. I'm going to put that on a sticky note in front of me, too. 

Lindsay, this has been so awesome. Thank you so much for your time, for your energy, and for sharing your story with us today, and audience, of course, thank you so much for tuning in.

Share what you learned from this episode with us on social media by following @MeetingsToday and @CourtneyonStage, and be sure to never miss an episode by subscribing to Dare to Interrupt on any major podcast platform. 

Take up space, know that you are enough and keep daring to interrupt my friends. Until next time. Wow.