Female Founder Unplugged

<p>Welcome to <b>Female Founder Unplugged</b>, the podcast for ambitious female entrepreneurs who are scaling businesses, leading teams, and navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship—all while trying to keep their sanity intact.</p><p>Hosted by Lindsay White, a people & culture strategist, leadership coach, speaker and best-selling author, this show dives deep into <b>the unfiltered realities of growing and leading a successful business</b>. We’re talking about the messy middle—hiring struggles, leadership challenges, burnout, and the moments no one posts about on Instagram.</p><p><br /></p><p>Each episode features <b>honest, no-BS conversations</b> with powerhouse female founders who share their wins, their failures, and the hard-earned lessons they’ve learned along the way. If you’ve ever wondered how to scale without losing yourself in the process, how to build a high-performing team without the hiring headaches, or how to stay connected to your vision when the pressure is on—this is the show for you.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, if you’re ready to <b>unplug from the noise, the self-doubt, and the unrealistic highlight reels</b>, hit subscribe and let’s get real about what it <em>actually</em> takes to grow and lead with confidence.</p><p><br /></p><p>🎧 New episodes go live every Thursday! Subscribe now and let’s get <b>unplugged</b>.</p>

[S5, Ep29] 2025: What a Year! Leadership Lessons, Overcommitment, and Scaling with Intention

Send us a text 2025 stretched a lot of founders and exposed some serious cracks in the way we lead. In this episode, I’m unpacking the biggest leadership lessons I learned this year and the 3 high-voltage shifts I’m making to step into 2026 with more clarity, space, and CEO energy. If you’ve been the bottleneck, the fixer, the Chief Everything Officer… this one’s for you. Episode Highlights: ⚡ Why 2025 cracked open old leadership habits📉 The real reason your team is still waiting on you🧠 The ...

12-18
13:03

[S5, Ep28] Fuel Your Leadership (with Dietitian Lindsay Martens)

Send us a text This episode is a wake-up call for every founder who's ever skipped lunch, powered through with coffee, or told herself she's “too busy” to use the washroom. I'm joined by dietitian and women’s wellness expert Lindsay Martens for a refreshingly honest conversation about how self-leadership starts at the most fundamental level — with what your body actually needs to function, focus, and feel good. ✨ Episode Highlights: Why so many smart, successful women ignore basic needs...

12-11
34:57

[S5, Ep27] I Hired a Team… So Why Am I Still Doing Everything?

Send us a text Have you ever found yourself up at 10 pm rewriting things, fixing mistakes, or just doing it yourself… even though you’ve hired a team to help you? If you’ve been wondering why your team isn’t stepping up, this episode of Female Founder Unplugged is your wake-up call. Because truthfully? Your team isn’t the issue. But how you’re leading them... that might be. In this episode, I’m breaking down what over-functioning really looks like, why it’s costing you freedom, and how ...

12-04
14:14

[S5, Ep25] The Accountability Gap - Why Your Team Doesn't Follow Through

Send us a text If you’re constantly chasing people down, repeating yourself, and wondering why things keep slipping through the cracks — this one’s for you. Here’s the truth: your team isn’t lazy. They’re confused. What looks like a motivation problem is usually a clarity problem — and when clarity disappears, accountability goes with it. ✨ Episode Highlights The real reason “reminders” don’t work — and what to do instead.The three gaps that quietly erode accountability on small teams.Why bei...

11-20
14:57

[S5, Ep24] Breaking Free from the Busy Trap with Peggy Sullivan

Send us a text We wear “busy” like a badge of honour — but what’s it really costing us? In this week’s episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m joined by Peggy Sullivan, author of Beyond Busyness: How to Achieve More by Doing Less. Peggy’s research and her own hard-won lessons reveal what she calls time poverty—that constant feeling of not having time for what really matters. Together, we dig into why busyness has become the default mode for so many women leaders—and how to shift from autopil...

11-13
45:30

[S5, Ep23] Chief Everything Officer - Stop Being The Answer For Everyone

Send us a text If you feel more like the Help Desk than the CEO, this one’s for you. Somewhere between building your business and leading your team, you became the Chief Everything Officer — solving every problem, approving every decision, and holding everything together by sheer willpower. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not leadership. ⚡️ Episode Highlights 🚨 Why “firefighter mode” isn’t leadership — it’s survival🧠 How over-functioning leaders create under-functioning teams🤝 The truth about ...

11-06
14:02

[S5, Ep22] Hiring Doesn't Have To Be Scary

Send us a text It’s spooky season — but let’s be honest, nothing’s scarier than trying to make your first (or next) hire. You’re standing at the edge of freedom in your business… but all you can think about are the horror stories. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m breaking down how to take the fear out of hiring and bring clarity back into your leadership. ✨ Episode Highlights 🎯 The #1 mindset shift: Stop hiring for relief and start hiring for results.👥 How to define the real g...

10-30
21:57

[S5, Ep21] Building a Bold Culture with Bananas & Boundaries (with Jennie Coleman)

Send us a text What if your values were simple enough to live by—and strong enough to shape an industry? In this episode, I sit down with Jennie Coleman, President & Co-Owner of Equifruit, to talk about fair-trade bananas, fearless leadership, and why “Don’t work with jerks” might be the most effective HR policy you’ll ever write. ✨ Episode Highlights 🍌 The bold vision behind global fair-trade banana domination❤️ How Equifruit’s three core values—Compassion, Commitment to Change, and Crea...

10-23
29:16

[S5, Ep19] Why Am I Always the One? The Hidden Mental Load of Female Founders

Send us a text You built your business for freedom. But if you’re the one everyone turns to when the school calls, the groceries are forgotten, or the cat’s sick, that “freedom” can disappear fast. Being the flexible one feels like strength. But over time, it becomes an expectation — and the cost is your focus, your energy, and your growth. In this episode, I share the moment that made me realize bending for everyone else isn’t a badge of honour. It’s leadership fatigue in disguise. And...

10-09
19:15

[S5, Ep18] Reconciliation Is Smart Business with Tanya Tourangeau

Send us a text In this powerful conversation, reconciliation strategist Tanya Tourangeau of Tanya T Consulting joins me to share why reconciliation must be woven into the heart of your business. From building authentic relationships to preparing for the workforce and clients of the future, Tanya breaks down what meaningful reconciliation looks like—and why your business can’t afford to ignore it. ✨ Episode Highlights: 🌍 Why reconciliation is smart economics, not just a moral obligation👩...

10-02
28:47

[S5. Ep17] Burnout Starts in Your Calendar: Fix These 5 Leadership Habits Now

Send us a text Burnout doesn’t arrive overnight. It builds slowly — in the skipped lunches, the extra client you squeezed in, the 7:30 a.m. “quick call” that derails your day. Those aren’t just time management issues. They’re leadership habits. And left unchecked, they’re a straight line to burnout. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I break down the five calendar-based leadership shifts every founder needs to make: ⚡ From reaction → regulation: stop firefighting and start leading w...

09-25
22:19

[S5. Ep16] The 3-Step Rescue Plan for When You’re Totally Overwhelmed

Send us a text As female founders, we carry so much. We’re leading teams, serving clients, keeping the money flowing, protecting the culture — until the weight gets too heavy. That’s not weakness. That’s leadership fatigue. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m sharing the exact 3-step rescue plan I use with my clients — and with myself — to stop the spiral of overwhelm and get back in control. ✨ Episode Highlights Why overwhelm doesn’t mean you’re broken — and why it hits the most...

09-18
23:59

[S5, Ep15] Be the CFO of You With Shashi Behl

Send us a text As women in leadership, we may feel equipped to lead our team and ourselves.. But what about our finances? In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m joined by Shashi Behl, Founder & CEO of Joydrop, for a powerful conversation on the part of business we often avoid. We get into what it really means to lead your financial future with clarity and confidence. ✨ Episode Highlights Financial reframes to take a more grounded approach to your financesWhat it means to...

09-11
30:19

[S5, Ep14] Money is Just a Metric

Send us a text Success isn’t just revenue, fame, or milestones—it’s about alignment, fulfillment, and leading from your values. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I share why money is a metric—not a value—and how confusing the two leaves businesses looking great on paper but empty in reality. From family connection to authenticity, team growth to legacy, grounding success in what matters most transforms not only your own fulfillment but also your culture—where your team feels real o...

09-04
15:19

[S5, Ep13] What’s the Rush? Why Slowing Down is the Fastest Way to Lead

Send us a text Entrepreneurship teaches us to move fast: fail fast, scale fast, bounce back faster. But here’s the truth—when you’re always in overdrive, you’re not leading, you’re redlining. And eventually, that pace will cost you your clarity, your creativity, and your joy. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, I’m unpacking why slowing down might just be the most powerful leadership strategy you’ve been overlooking. Because real growth doesn’t come from constant hustle—it comes from...

08-28
15:40

[S5, Ep10] Leadership Is an Inside Job: Brenda Rigney on Self-Discipline & Owning Your Worth

Send us a text Quick question: When did running your business start to feel like dragging a dumpster fire uphill… in heels… during a hot flash? Today's episode of Female Founder Unplugged is for every midlife woman out here building a business, raising a family, caring for aging parents—and wondering when the ‘freedom’ part is supposed to kick in. I’m talking to my brilliant friend Brenda Rigney about what really goes on behind the highlight reel—and how to build a business that doesn’t...

08-07
36:10

[S5, Ep9] Detox the Drama: How to Stop Playing Therapist and Start Leading Like a CEO

Send us a text Let’s be honest: you didn’t start your business to spend your days playing referee, therapist, or emotional clean-up crew. But if you’re finding yourself caught in team tensions, tiptoeing around tricky conversations, or putting out fire after fire—you’re not alone. Here’s the truth: drama is a leadership tax—and it’s one you don’t have to keep paying. In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, we’re breaking down exactly where drama hides in growing businesses—and how to lea...

07-31
19:39

[S5 Ep8] - The Resilience Reframe: Why Your Inner Critic is a Liar (and What to Do About It)

Send us a text Resilience Isn't a Buzzword—It's a Skillset. Here's How You Build It. Let’s be real: “build resilience” gets thrown around like it’s just another item to check off your to-do list. But what does that actually look like when your launch flops, your team’s floundering, and your inner critic is on a rampage? In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, we’re cutting through the fluff and breaking down what real resilience looks like for you and your team…when things don’t go...

07-24
15:19

[S5, Ep6] Scaling Isn’t Solo: The Real ROI of Building the Right Team

Send us a text Let’s get real: You didn’t build your business to be the overworked taskmaster, the fill-in-the-gaps manager, or the fire-putter-outer. But if you’re stuck in that role, chances are your team isn’t set up to thrive—and that’s holding you back from the very things you crave: ✔ More freedom ✔ Bigger impact ✔ Real, sustainable scale Episode Highlights: 🔥 Your people add ALL the value in your business. Not some. Not a little. All of it. (1:40) 🔥 Is the “sel...

07-10
18:02

[S5, Ep5] Redefining Success: Why Natalia Hooker Built a Publishing Business Around Joy, Not Hustle

Send us a text This week on Female Founder Unplugged, we’re flipping the script on success. Meet Natalia Hooker — a former banker, one-time girl band member, now a boutique publisher and devoted mom who's quietly redefining what it means to build a business with heart. In this episode, we dive into what happens when you stop chasing someone else’s definition of success—and instead create a business that aligns with your life, your values, and your joy. From the stage in Italy to the world of ...

07-03
30:19

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