Lindsy Trotter: [00:00:00] I had a major identity crisis then of who am I if I’m not running this business? And so there, there was a lot of back and forth and a lot of conversations with my husband and with my mastermind, and I finally reached a point where I was like, you know what? I can continue to run chilled, and if there’s other things that I am interested in creating or doing, I have created enough margin and I have hired enough people and have this great support team, I can do those things if I want to. It doesn’t mean I have to choose one or the other. I can still have both of these things.

Jade Boyd: Welcome to the Business Edit Podcast, a podcast about redefining productivity for the modern woman in business and finding ways to work smarter, not harder in business and life. I’m your host, Jade Boyd, an MBA business minimalist and productivity coach. I help overwhelmed business owners simplify and feel their service-based [00:01:00] businesses by doing less but better.

I help my clients create business. Minimalist strategies and systems that allow them to pursue ambitious goals while working at a human pace. On this podcast, we’ll explore simple ways to grow your business with a life first approach. If you’re ready to scale your business, bring order to chaos, ditch the busy work, and spend more time living your life than managing your life, you’ve come to the right place.

Welcome to the Business Edit Podcast.

Welcome to the podcast, Lindsay.

Lindsy Trotter: Hello. I’m so happy to be here.

Jade Boyd: This has been a long time coming. You’re definitely somebody who I’ve thought for a long time she needs to come on the podcast, but for those who don’t know you, can you give us a little bit of a background on who you are and what you do?

Lindsy Trotter: I own chilled freezer meals. We are a meal prep company based in Center Point, Iowa, and we deliver to most of the eastern half of the state through our delivery drivers. And then we also ship meals nationwide. So [00:02:00] this business started because I had a daughter that had a lot of food sensitivities, so she was sensitive to wheat, dairy, corn, and nuts, and it’s like, what will I feed you, child? So like pizza delivery or drive-throughs weren’t really an option for us. And I needed meals that were easy when I didn’t wanna cook. So I started making freezer meals and then it turned into a business. It was a very accidental business, but I know looking back at all of the things I’ve done through my life, like entrepreneurship was absolutely my blood.

So it’s not a surprise that I turned a hobby into a business.

Jade Boyd: Yes, for sure. And what year was that, just for context?

Lindsy Trotter: That was in 2018. So chilled is about to turn seven on next Tuesday, a week from today.

Jade Boyd: And did I see that you’ve delivered over 200,000 meals at this point?

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah, it feels [00:03:00] wild.

Jade Boyd: what do you think you would’ve thought, like starting out if you knew what would come in the next seven years of chilled? I.

Lindsy Trotter: Well, I vividly remember. One of the first times that I had officially opened an order form and it was just a Google form and my husband and I were getting ready to go out for dinner and I just quickly opened the form on my phone and about fell over because of the number of orders that were in there. And there was probably like a hundred meals ordered. maybe not even that honestly, ’cause I was very brand new, but I was so ecstatic. There were people who actually wanted to purchase these meals for me so that Lindsy would just be incredibly humbled and honored that so many people have now chosen to have my meals on their table and that I get to serve them.

It’s pretty cool.

Jade Boyd: I think that’s really cool to start with because we’re gonna talk about contentment in business and I think it is so interesting to go [00:04:00] back and think about, you know, starting out how excited you are about like the first $50 you make. I remember my first photography client I made probably like, you know, a dollar an hour for how much time it took me and it was like the best. And then we get to a point in business where it just, there we need to have more. Like it’s more and more and more. And I think it’s really interesting to start with that point. And I wanna give a little bit of a history of our relationship because I have seen a lot of the behind the scenes in your business, like randomly of the different things that we’ve worked through together.

So first I did product photos for you of your freezer meals. And it was so much fun to be in your kitchen. I say often that if there was any reality TV show made about a business, I would want it to be chilled freezer meals, because every time I shot in your kitchen, it’s just like, wow, this is so much fun.

And also I cannot believe the stories that you and your employees talk about. And then we did SOPs when you had a new hire a couple years later and I was kind of out of the photography world. Again, got like [00:05:00] this crazy insight into Lindsy’s brain and how much you were keeping in your head that needed to be documented before you’ve hired a new person.

And it’s like, wow, this is a lot, Lindsy.

I can

Lindsy Trotter: A DHD.

Jade Boyd: need to write this down. Yep. And then recently I guess a year ago now, so not so recently, but we worked on your new course together, which we’re definitely gonna talk about kind of packaging your framework for starting a freezer meal prep business and empowering other women to be able to start a business that can give them, you know, the freedom that you’ve been able to experience over the last seven years and packaging that for other entrepreneurs.

And again, going through that and kind of helping you structure out the lessons and just like deep diving into your brain and trying to pull out all of the things that needed to be in your course, so amazed by everything that you’ve experienced and just your mind as an entrepreneur. I totally agree that you’re somebody who is just born to be a business owner, and especially with having, you know, that viewpoint in so [00:06:00] many different parts of your business. I am really impressed by what you’ve done and also so excited for this course to finally be out in the world. But I really want to start with an email that you sent me recently. Is it okay if I just read what you sent?

Lindsy Trotter: Yes, you can do that.

Jade Boyd: Because we’re talking all about contentment and I think this really frames the conversation that we’re gonna have today.

So, this was kind of like a random email. And Lindsay, I think you’re great at doing this too, just kind of, I feel like you’ve done this several times of just popping into my inbox or like in my dms and just being an encourager. But you said, just wanted to send you a note thanking you for planting the seed that I could run a business and not work myself to death.

When you used to talk about your three day work week, a four hour workday, et cetera, I thought you were insane. No way would I ever be able to do that and make money. But I think I’ve finally reached the point where I’ve let go of the need to be doing and growing all the time and I’m just so content to reap the benefits of what I’ve built.

Thanks for inspiration, even though there were many times I wanted to prove you wrong. This spark a little bit of a conversation about [00:07:00] like, okay, well how did you get to that place? ’cause I’m honored that I played a small role in that journey, but obviously the picture is so much bigger than that. So I kind of wanna start, with last year in that place where you’re feeling really discontent in your business, even though, like you said, it’s been so successful. So kind of take us to that place and what that journey looked like.

Lindsy Trotter: Well, first I have to say, you said all of those nice things about me and like how you’ve watched my business grow, but I absolutely need to give you the same accolades because you have done so much to help me grow my business. First through photography, then through the SOPs, and then in writing my course, all of those things like I would not have been able to accomplish myself. And I think that you and I are like the yin and yang of the business owner because I think we both have our strengths and things we bring to the table. And like for me, for sure, the things that you can offer are not my strong suit and I have [00:08:00] benefited so much from your expertise over the years.

So

Jade Boyd: thank you. Like I said, you’re the great encourager. You always make me feel good.

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah. So let’s see. So last year, at the beginning of the year I am not one that starts a new year and is like, alright, what’s my list of goals? What are we accomplishing? I have kind of always hated the New Year’s resolution side of things. But I started 2024 and I was like, we are going to absolutely crush this year.

We are gonna grow hand over fist, you know, all I’m gonna be making all of this money. And it kind of started that way if I’m being really honest. We launched our new power pack line at the beginning of 2024 and that took off like crazy and it still is doing very well. And my highest sales months of all time were last March and April, so I really felt like things were going in a really exciting [00:09:00] direction, but also it made me feel like I needed to keep that up, and last year was the first year we did this, we’re actually doing it this year too, where we offered birthday sales. And so we had four major sales during the month of April, and so of course that was a huge driver of my sales numbers, but I all of a sudden felt this pressure that I need to hit that number every month going forward. And at the time I signed up for a new mastermind and I was really excited about being a part of it, but it was kind of a stretch for me financially, and I went into it thinking, all right, this is gonna be the thing that absolutely explodes my business. That didn’t happen.

Spoiler alert, that didn’t happen. I didn’t continue with those same sales numbers that I had in March and April, and my business didn’t double, triple, quadruple [00:10:00] overnight because of this mastermind group that I joined. What I can say about that mastermind group is that it really sparked something new inside me that I could run a business and live a life where I was content and happy with where I was at, and I didn’t need to continue to chase the next thing that was gonna happen. So as a mindset shift, for sure, I.

Jade Boyd: So kind of digging into that, because I think most business owners, and you of course knew like you knew that, right? You knew that you didn’t have to keep chasing the next thing. So what was kind of that turning point where you actually really believed it?

Lindsy Trotter: Well, I had a lot of ups and downs through the spring into the summer and really even into the fall where I had to do a lot of inner work understanding that my self-worth wasn’t connected to the output of my business.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: And [00:11:00] you know, you hear that all the time, that you know you’re worthy just as you are for whatever you do, like rest, self-care, whatever. And I have always been the person that’s like, no, actually, if I don’t have a million dollar business, then why do I have business?

Jade Boyd: Yeah. What’s the point?

Lindsy Trotter: And there were countless calls. I actually started doing inner child work. I was doing breath work of the people that were in my circle repeatedly telling me over and over and over that what you do doesn’t define you. And one of the things that I discovered while I was doing all of that work was that I was kind of bored with my business, and then I had this seed planted in me that if I was bored with this and it wasn’t my passion, perhaps I shouldn’t be running this [00:12:00] business anymore. I should find another passion. Something else that really sparks that creativity in me and that I want to chase. So then I started the conversation of I should sell chilled. I should no longer be running this business if it’s not something that every day I get up and I’m excited about. And I think a lot of business owners go through that where. Yes, it’s wonderful and the very worst day I have as an entrepreneur is going to be better than the best day I ever had when I was working for someone else. But those days that are your very worst days still kind of suck. And so I was going down that path like, yep, we’re gonna sell it. But I had a major identity crisis then of who am I if I’m not running this business? And so there, there was a lot of back and forth and a lot of conversations with my husband and with my [00:13:00] mastermind, and I finally reached a point where I was like, you know what? I can continue to run chilled, and if there’s other things that I am interested in creating or doing, I have created enough margin and I have hired enough people and have this great support team, I can do those things if I want to. It doesn’t mean I have to choose one or the other. I can still have both of these things.

Jade Boyd: So I’m very curious in your season where you’re considering selling chilled, what were you imagining? Because I feel like we all have that dream of like, oh man, for me, it’s like, what if I just quit everything and became a YouTube like book reviewer? You know? Like, that’s just gonna make me happy. Was there something in mind of like, okay, I’m gonna sell chilled and then I’m gonna do this.

Lindsy Trotter: Well, I jokingly told my husband, no, actually, I, I take that back. It was not a joke. I said this in the middle of like, probably like snotty tears and just like having a whole meltdown. I’ll just go [00:14:00] work at a bank. I just go with this time and I leave it this time and I have all the federal holidays off and it’ll be

Jade Boyd: And I’ll be so happy.

Lindsy Trotter: And and then I was like, well, and then I can find my passion, right? Like while I’m doing that, then I’ll like figure out what the next thing is. And. Also I, you know, I had in my head that if I sell chilled, then maybe I have a couple years that I have income and I don’t have to be searching for something else that I have to be doing. I can just be content in living this life. But you know, as things go, we didn’t sell chilled and I’m very happy that we didn’t sound chilled. But sometimes it’s hard for me to really describe all of the things that led to me feeling content because truly it was so many factors that played a role.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: Big proponent of therapy, whether that be with a traditional therapist or if you work with [00:15:00] somebody who is doing inner child work or breath work with you. I actually worked with. One of my very good friends, her name is Sarah, and she isn’t a licensed therapist. She just like has intuition and the sessions that we did, like she would just be like, I’m feeling this from you, and tell me about this journal about this. And then she also led me on the path of like taking care of myself, which truly I hadn’t been doing for like five

Jade Boyd: Mm.

Lindsy Trotter: Starting chilled when I was working in the kitchen. Then when I was also trying to grow and do all the marketing, I was getting up at 5:00 AM I was sitting in front of a computer to get all of the orders and marketing done, and then I was going into the kitchen with my team at eight and we were cooking the whole day.

And then I was picking up my kids and going home and putting my computer on my lap at night. That’s what I, that was just normal. That’s what I had to do. [00:16:00] And I do think that there are seasons in your business where you do have to do that. When you are first starting out and you can’t afford to hire a team, you are gonna do some grunt work, and it’s gonna suck for a little bit. But there has to be an exit plan. There has to be a time where you say, okay, this is, we’re gonna transition to the next phase. And so in working with Sarah and doing all of the things that I was trying, you know, like making sure I was going for a walk every day, having sunlight be the first light that’s in my eyeballs and not my phone. Making sure that I’m eating well. So eating protein, drinking water. There was so many days that I was just grabbing whatever we were prepping at chilled, and not always is that the best option for me to be consuming for my body.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: So doing those basic things has also really helped with finding contentment and balance in my life and not feeling like I’m spinning [00:17:00] out of control.

Jade Boyd: So one thing we did in your course is we tried to tie every lesson to like a story, like a real story from your journey in entrepreneurship to like, okay, this is why this actually really matters and you need to listen to this lesson and pay attention to what I’m telling you. And I feel like there have been so many stories that I’ve heard from your business that I, it’s unbelievable.

And you just shared another one before we hit record. Not from your business, but why you started your business. Do you wanna share that one?

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah. So when I was in my daughter was born in October and then I had a pretty long maternity leave. I went back to school in March and she would not take a bottle. She was very stubborn with that, and I had a 25 minute lunch break because I was a teacher. So the bell would ring and I would literally run to my car, drive to her daycare, feed her for like seven or eight minutes, and then drive back to school. And that was my life from [00:18:00] March to May. And when we started having the conversations about not being in education anymore because it was not fitting our lifestyle.

Jade Boyd: But I feel like I have heard so many stories like that from you, and every time I talk to you, I hear another story where I’m just like, oh my gosh, how did she do that? And speaking of like taking care of yourself, I. I think that’s really common for women to just, you know, they’re used to doing that and you, especially like as an Enneagram three and just a really hard worker, there’s so many things that you’ve done where I’m just like, how?

How are you capable of doing that? And so it’s not surprising to me that you’re just like, you know the basic things of taking care of yourself. It is so life changing and it seems like such a small thing, but at the same time, it can be really hard when you have. Been used to working, you know, you know, not having those things and actually functioning really highly somehow.

I don’t know how, but you did it.

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah, I think that’s another part of my A DHD is like boredom is such an [00:19:00] enemy.

So filling time has been something I’ve always been after. So whether it’s like messing around with this side hustle or prepping freezer meals, honestly, like that just filled time for me. I could have just like continued to make dinner, but I was like, oh, like let’s try this new thing I saw on Pinterest. And I think I’ve finally come to a place where I don’t have to be productive to not be bored. There’s other things that I can do and social media and my phone have really been a big problem in the last seven years,

Jade Boyd: I did wanna ask about that next. So you’re already taking us there because you did mention that not being on social media, you said that there’s so many factors. It’s hard to narrow it down to one thing that helped you feel more content and like okay with sticking with chilled. But social media was definitely one [00:20:00] of the big ones, so I would love to go there.

Lindsy Trotter: Yes. So. So being on social media for me during, you know, probably the last like three or four years, I have just been like, I’m working. I, if I’m on here, like making reels, creating content, interacting, like that’s work. And it was time filler for me. But I’ve reached a point earlier this year where I thought. This is not actually working for me in both senses of the word. This is not work and it is not working anymore.

I need to be, I need to break up with social media, which as a business owner, that’s very difficult because you can’t just delete your profile and then say goodbye to it

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: I have earned so much business showing up on social media, and I am incredibly grateful for the people that have followed me and interacted and made purchases because they have met me on social media and [00:21:00] I also have a lot of really great friends.

You are one probably that we found each other through social media, and so you can’t just completely turn it off. So I had to find a way to balance that, and it, it’s still honestly a very much work in progress. I have an excellent social media manager that does all of my posting for me, so I don’t have to mess around with that at all. And she had been doing that for a while, but then in December I felt an even stronger push to put more boundaries in place because what was happening for me was. We would put all of these posts out, all of this content, and then I would go in and check it and think, well, why isn’t this getting more likes? And then I would be seeing other people, why do they have so many more likes than I do? I should be getting more dms. I need to be creating more things. We need to [00:22:00] refine this. And it was this constant chase of trying to be better and really. When you’re fighting the algorithm, you,

it’s very difficult to

know what the thing is you’re

supposed to be doing to be better. So I made the choice that we were completely cutting back on our social media posting. Now we do more evergreen type posting. So if people find my profile and they go to look at what’s available. It’s educational about chilled, how they can order what we offer, what our business is about, and not so much about the here and now. And then I deleted all of the apps from my phone so I can still access them in the browser. And that is still a battle I’m fighting of not scrolling in the browser. It’s a much different experience though because dms are much harder to answer when you’re. On your phone browser. I can’t even get to [00:23:00] Facebook messages and it’s really just like looking at things, so it gets boring a lot faster.

Jade Boyd: Yep.

Lindsy Trotter: So, and then I just, I have to delete like, all of my login information, and that’s been really helpful. And then for a little while it was like, well, what do I do if I don’t, if I’m not gonna be scrolling my phone?

Jade Boyd: That. And like you said, a lot of business owners are like, that sounds great. But then business-wise, what has that looked like for you?

Lindsy Trotter: I would say, we actually just had a marketing meeting this morning and I was like, we need to do a little bit more on social. I’m going to, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it and say that stepping back hasn’t affected our sales numbers. We have stayed like status quo, I would say, but I think it would be very difficult to really grow a business if you don’t use social media in the way that most business owners do. You do have to be [00:24:00] present there. So we brainstormed a little bit of what that might look like. Where I, I am stepping back into stories here and there, so then people do see me as the face behind the business and like connect with me as a person. But for right now, I put, I. Instagram back on my business phone. My business phone stays at chilled all the time, and so then I will post stories from there about what’s happening in the kitchen and only what’s happening in the

kitchen. It’s not gonna be about me or my life or the things that are happening. It’s really just gonna be centered around chilled and like that feels good for right now.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, I think it’s actually really helpful that you pointed out like, Hey, this isn’t so cut and dry where I quit social media and then everything was amazing because I do think that’s the narrative that shared a lot, especially around like Instagram and not being there, but there’s always gonna be a trade off.

No matter how much of your audience is on social media, a portion of them is always [00:25:00] gonna be there. And if not. Your existing audience, then a whole lot of people that could potentially be clients or customers. And so you do give up something like you have to count the cost and know if it’s worth it. But also I love that you shared that like, yeah, I tried it for a season and it was really good.

It’s been like a really great reset and there’s always room to like reconsider. I think we oftentimes think like I’m either gonna do it or not do it, and if I give it up, then it has to be forever. Like I have to delete the whole thing and be done with it. But it doesn’t have to be that dramatic.

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah, and I’m really grateful for Molly who does my social media, because when I said this morning, I was like, I think we need to start doing a little more on social. She was like, but I wanna protect your boundaries. She’s like, you’ve done a lot of work to get to the place that you’re at, and so I don’t want you to feel like you have to go backwards, which really, truly, that is my personality.

It’s like, well, I was trying whole 30 and then I ate some cheese and now it’s done. Like now we’re just gonna eat like

[00:26:00] cheesecake and pie. It’s like, fine.

Jade Boyd: Yep, totally. I just deleted the Instagram app from my phone this weekend actually. I finally, it was a gradual transition for me where I’ve started not showing up. On Instagram and kind of just relying more on the podcast and my email list, which has been actually working pretty well. But I’m in that weird transition and I feel like another reason why I really wanna chat with you and I’m like, come on the podcast, ’cause I have questions for you is because I’m also in that stage right now.

And when people ask me like, what do you do? I don’t know how to answer anymore. And I think there’s that safety and being like. Oh, I’m a business owner and this is what I do. Instead of being like like am I a stay at home mom? But I also am running the podcast, but I don’t take on clients anymore. Like I don’t know who I am.

And I think so much of our identity just by like the way our culture works is tied up in what we do for a living. So I would love to know, other than social media and taking care of yourself, was there any other big thing that kind of helped you separate your identity from your business?[00:27:00]

Lindsy Trotter: I also. I journaled a lot about this, and then I thought a lot about it because those two go hand in hand about how I really wanted to show up for my kids and model for

my kids what it’s like to be like in the working world and who you are as a person. So when I was growing up, my mom was a. Elementary teacher and then a principal, and her entire identity were those two pieces. And you know, she deserves so many accolades for being in that role. Like she impacted so many lives because of the work that she did. But also when she retired, it was like, what now? And I have watched her struggle since she retired with. Who she is as a person and what she’s contributing because so much of that [00:28:00] in her twenties, 30 thirties, forties, fifties, was about being an educator. And I don’t want my kids to watch me and think, well, all my mom was, was an entrepreneur. Like her whole life was about owning chilled. And although like I want to model for them that like you can do anything you want and like this is something you should be really proud of if you get to this point. And it’s really fulfilling. There’s so much more to life than what you do to earn an income. And so learning how I could separate those two things for myself and then show them that. You can have other interests and you can be passionate about other things that aren’t related to your job. I don’t know what those things are really for myself yet.

Jade Boyd: I am also in progress. I actually just, this is maybe two weeks ago. I don’t know if you know Lexi [00:29:00] Luneskas.

Lindsy Trotter: Uhuh,

Jade Boyd: Well, I’ll link her in the show notes too ’cause she’s amazing. But she made like a bingo card at the beginning of the year of like a 2025 bingo. And of course she used it as this, she’s a brand designer.

So it was all this cute like, you know, brand, a coffee shop and you know, fun stuff. And mine says like, finish one crochet project and like all the things that I want to like, you know, maybe it’s. Not good to have a checklist for things that you’re just supposed to have fun with, but it’s a bingo card, so it feels less like a to-do list.

It feels a little bit more fun, but I’ve just started writing down like, what are the things that I actually want to do that are fun? Because when I think about like, I have an extra hour, I should go do something that I enjoy. I like, my mind goes blank. It’s like, what? What is that? And that’s been really helpful for me.

Are there any things like that on your, not your to-do list, but whatever list that might be.

Lindsy Trotter: I do like that. So I’ve been trying to read a lot more, which I feel like is the the thing that people always go to. Actually, it’s funny because I [00:30:00] think one time on my stories and then another time when I was having a business conversation, I was like, what do you, what are your hobbies? And like, what do you do outside of. Work and you know, your have tos of life. And I would follow it with, and don’t tell me to read a book, but I have been trying to read because I do think it’s just like good for your brain actually. Sarah, who I worked with for therapy, she said that reading is such an excellent thing for your brain. Physiologically because you follow the left right pattern. So if you know anything about EMDR and about how therapy, like you’re moving your eyes left to right, like you’re literally doing that when you’re reading a

Jade Boyd: Interesting. And it doesn’t matter if as long as it’s left right, I can read on my phone because that’s what I’ve been doing.

Lindsy Trotter: yeah, yeah. Because it’s the motion of your eyes going back and forth

that is creating the connection across your brain.

Jade Boyd: Are you reading fiction or nonfiction?

Lindsy Trotter: Oh fiction. A

hundred percent fiction.

Jade Boyd: I think [00:31:00] fiction is also, it’s been inspiring for me to find things to do. Like I just read a fiction book where the main character is a poet, she’s in an MFA program, and it’s just like this, like romcom, you know, easy read. But then I’m like, this actually got me really interested in poetry.

And I added on my bingo card, write a poem because why not? And only, like, I never would’ve done that. But the book made it sound really good, right?

Lindsy Trotter: Well, I, when I’m reading fiction, it’s usually about murder, so maybe I

shouldn’t put that on my Bingo card.

Jade Boyd: that on your list. But also when I was this, I did not read a book, but I watched How to Get Away With Murder, so that’s what made me apply to law school. So be careful what you

Lindsy Trotter: , last week I actually, my husband was traveling and he, his birthday was at the end of the week and I decided, which, you know, three years ago, Lindsy would absolutely not have done this. I was like, you know, I’m gonna take this whole week off and I’m gonna tear out his desk and his office and completely rebuild it. I previously had loved [00:32:00] to build things. For my 30th birthday, my husband got me a table saw, and I was so excited about having a table saw. But it has been sitting in the shed for five years. And so I pulled that out and I built this desk and now I’m like, what else can I build? What else am I gonna mess around with?

So yeah, it transitioning and moving from the, I have to always be doing things to grow my business into what other things can I be doing and my business can just sustain itself.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: I’m obviously still here working every day, and there’s still things that require my brain and I can’t outsource. But knowing that there are times when I can just completely disconnect and I have to worry about what’s happening is it’s a gift.

And if you’re

an entrepreneur, you understand

that gift.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. I was gonna ask, I mean, it sounds like you’re kind of in this maintenance [00:33:00] phase, but what has been the impact I feel like are. Health and our business are so interconnected. Even if we think like, oh, if I just go hard on the business, obviously that’s the best way to invest my time. But it is more of like this back and forth relationship between the two.

And so as you’ve been prioritizing your health, I’m curious what other impacts you’ve seen business-wise. Has it really just been on your personal health and like you feeling better? Or have there been other impacts on the business?

Lindsy Trotter: I think one of the benefits, I can’t necessarily track it, but I think my ability to long-term plan and to be able to be strategic about what we’re gonna do in the business has really. Increased. So it’s funny because on the marketing call we had this morning my email manager, she was like, are we gonna have another meeting like midsummer to just like plan out the whole rest of 2025?

And [00:34:00] I said, you know, I don’t think that I need that because I’m not just trying to throw spaghetti at the wall anymore.

Jade Boyd: Hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: I. A couple weeks ago had a call with a friend slash coach who she helped me map out kind of the big rocks that I wanted to do for 2025. I wouldn’t necessarily call them goals, but the things I wanna focus on. And then we came up with ideas of how we’re, how I’m gonna accomplish those things. I know, like I have my roadmap in front of me instead of in the past it was like, well, let’s try this and let’s try this and

let’s try this. And maybe that is because I have done a lot of work to cut back on screen time and to eat better.

And so then my A DHD is more check.

Jade Boyd: Fair. Fair.

Lindsy Trotter: so I’m not just grasping for those things, but I also think like I have made the shifts within my business to know [00:35:00] these are the things that could really work, and I know these are the things that probably won’t, so we don’t need to

spend our time here. We can spend our time more strategically here, which I feel like is also the whole basis of your business.

Jade Boyd: Yep. I’m gonna say it sounds familiar and also it can be so helpful and I think it’s hard to do that if you try and force it, which is sometimes what I fall into. Like I’m just gonna sit down and figure it out. But it actually doesn’t work like that. Like unless you give yourself the space to think and have time where you’re not staring at a screen, it’s, it’s really hard to get that clarity.

It’s not something that you can just schedule a day and do.

Lindsy Trotter: Yes. I remember when you first were talking about time blocking and you might have our, like, we might have been on a call and you talked me into doing it and I tried it for like two weeks and I was like, this is the worst thing that could ever happen. I cannot do this. This is so terrible. And I won’t say that time blocking is a tool that I use. Really at all. Which is [00:36:00] actually interesting because I did learn something about this recently. We had somebody come into our mastermind that did human design

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: and so she was talking about my human design and I’m projector and whatever is in my channels or whatever it’s called. She was like. In the moment, you have to decide exactly what’s right for you and you can’t plan that ahead of time. You have to decide in the moment what you need to be doing. And I was like, that’s why time locking never worked for me.

Jade Boyd: I think I also remember seeing your calendar with time blocks of like 15 minute things, and it was like packed one after the other,

Lindsy Trotter: Yes.

Jade Boyd: which to be fair, I would hate that too.

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah. It’s not fun. So yeah, I, but I do feel like now I have like a much clearer roadmap of the things that I’m gonna work on. It’s also just made me think of when you first helped me [00:37:00] write my SOPs. I remember I had hired someone to help me with fulfillment and like ordering groceries and packaging and things.

And so she was taking over a lot of the role that I had. And after she had worked for me for a little while, I was like, oh my God, I don’t know what my job is. I don’t know what I am supposed to be doing because. The things I was supposed to be doing were so in my brain. They weren’t. Things that I’m like, okay, yes, I submitted the distributor order, or Yes, I packed these people shipments. It was a lot of thinking

and a lot of planning and, so she stopped working for me. I took all of those things back on and I have since hired another fulfillment manager and she’s taken over all of that and that learning process of like [00:38:00] failing, quote unquote that at the beginning and then now having that be a really successful way that I’m running my business, I think it is a lot to do with. Taking care of myself, understanding that my worth doesn’t come from the number of things I cross off my to-do list, and that I don’t have to be working 60 hours a week like I was.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. You now have a team of eight, right?

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah,

Jade Boyd: So you’ve grown a lot in delegating, not all at once, like over the years, but I would love to know, as a manager of eight different people working in your business, what has that journey looked like for you to let go of control? Because it’s still is kind of like your baby, right?

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah. Well, first I need to say that the people that are on my team are incredible, so I know that I can trust them to execute all of the tasks that they need to do, and I don’t need to be looking over their shoulder. [00:39:00] Like of course, there’s still things that I check in on to make sure that you know it. We’re following food code and like people are getting the correct orders and we’re answering emails in the way that I would like peop that to be happening. But I don’t need to be there holding their hand. One thing that really helped is having SOPs, which Jade helped me put together and. The another thing that’s really helped with that is like being very clear and upfront when there is something that needs to be adjusted. So that can be a really difficult thing when you are the boss and you wanna make sure your relationships with your employees is good. One of our. Four pillars of our mission is that we have a fun and supportive work environment. So that has really nothing to do with my customers, but I wanna make sure that my employees are happy when they’re at work. And so making sure that if I need them to adjust or change something, like letting them know upfront right away, like, we’re not gonna [00:40:00] beat around the bush on this, but like. For them too. Like if you make a mistake, this isn’t tied to your self worth either.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I can attest, I may have already mentioned this, it is a lot of fun to be around your team, even for just a short product shoot. I had a lot of fun interacting with your team, and I feel like I. That’s something that you can probably read about, you know, like how to make your workplace fun.

But I think a lot of it also just comes down to the type of people you hire and like how you act as a boss. And so I’m, I’m thinking that the trust is probably really mutual for them too, because I think you’re somebody I. Who is naturally trustworthy, and also when you give people trust and like, you can do this, like, I’m not gonna micromanage you.

I think that that just comes back mutually for the, the way that they, you know, treat you too as your boss.

Lindsy Trotter: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And there’s definitely times where I’m like, oh, like that could have been done better, but then. If I really get like in a rabbit hole of that, [00:41:00] I’m like, I could have done the exact same thing and it would maybe had that same mistake like that could have happened to me too. So it’s not that there’s like a lack of effort or there’s like some problem.

It’s like those things are happening to everyone and so we can just have a quick conversation about it, like adjust it, move on. Just setting the expectation that. What we put out for our customers, we want them to want to come back. And really that’s like the main goal.

Jade Boyd: Yeah.

Lindsy Trotter: So whether it be customer service or the product that we’re selling or the interactions that you’re having with people, like all of those things relate right back to that point.

Jade Boyd: What I am really excited, I mean like what came through this conversation that I’m glad came through the way it did is that you finding contentment is not like, oh, I found it here. It is like, got it. Check that box. But it, you’ve all the things that you’ve talked about that have kind of contributed. To you being able to take a step back, [00:42:00] like taking care of your help, hiring a coach, delegating to your team, rehiring for that job that you were finding a little bit of your worth in.

Like all of those things have helped, but also it’s not the end all be all, and I would love to know what’s next for you.

Lindsy Trotter: Well, I did just finish my course, so that was really fun. A wrestling match with myself for about a year. I had been thinking I wanted to write a course for a long time, and I set that as one of my 20 24 goals. And, you know, it comes right back to knowing that my worth was not linked to my work because I didn’t complete that course until about two weeks ago. So I didn’t accomplish that in 2024, but I did finish it and I am. So extremely proud of that. So the course is called Cooking Skills to Cash, starting a Meal Prep Business from Scratch, and it walks a new business owner who wants to make prepared meals for their community on how to get [00:43:00] started doing that with really, I. Little cash input. Just having the skills to be able to prepare meals and then learning along the way how to set it up as a business. So I’m really excited to be able to share that with people across the country and be able to coach them and kind of hold their hand along the way because it is absolutely something that I wish I had had when I got started. There were so many things that I spent hours Googling or making phone calls or I’m like, let’s just give this a try, and then it failed.

Jade Boyd: Mm-hmm.

Lindsy Trotter: So I would love to be able to help other women kind of take those barriers down for them so then they can really hit the ground running and get this going in their community.

Because I have really seen from chilled that. People in local communities really want to support local businesses and everybody needs help with dinner. [00:44:00] And so building a business around that and allowing people to, you know, see you as a community kind of staple really creates a good environment.

Like it’s reciprocal. It’s really filled my bucket in building chilled. And so I’d love to do that for other people. I.

Jade Boyd: And we’ll definitely link that in the show notes. So if anybody listening is thinking about starting a meal prep business or knows somebody, because I feel like as entrepreneurs, we all have those friends who are like, you know what? You need to quit your job and start a business if you. Have one of those people in mind, send them the link.

Because again, from behind the scenes of like, from the very beginning, I’m sure it’s developed a lot since we outlined it, but there are so many stories in your business that I just can’t believe. And you really designed the course to, like you said, how about let’s not make the mistakes that I made and make this a little bit easier for you.

And some of those are in the course. I’m sure you’re gonna share some of those as you’re launching too. So go follow Lindsy on social media since you’re there. But also where else can we find you?

Lindsy Trotter: You could follow me on [00:45:00] social, but like I said, there’s not a lot going on there. But on Instagram, I’m at chilled freezer meals and for my. Of course business. I am Lindsy Trotter, and both of those, I think you’ll put in the show notes, Jade.

And then if you’re interested in Meals from Chilled, we’re at chilled freezer meals.com.

Because we’re not on social, we have a ton going out in our email and text lists all the time. So if you are interested in that, make sure we get on both of those. But yeah. It’s kind of where we’re hanging out these days and trying to read books and build things and not be doing business all the time.

Jade Boyd: Perfect. Perfect. And I mean, just like the back end of your business, I feel like you are a very fun person to follow. I know you’re doing less on social media, but. I’ve learned a lot just from your journey and even from following like the chilled email list and the promo that you do. It’s so fun and interesting even from, you know, following other businesses who are not in the same industry as you are.

I think [00:46:00] that can sometimes be the best way to get inspiration from things. And so I am learning from you all the time. So thanks so much for coming and sharing your story, and we will link all those things in the show notes.

Lindsy Trotter: Awesome. Thank you for having me. It was great talking with Jade.

Jade Boyd: It’s always fun.

Lindsy Trotter: Yes.

Jade Boyd: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Business Edit Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, I’d be so grateful if you take a screenshot and share it on Instagram. Tagging me@jadeboyd.co. I’m on a mission to empower a new generation of women to become the types of wives, moms, and business owners that they’ve always wanted to be because empowered women change their families and communities for the better, and this is how we’ll change the world.

Sharing your takeaways from this episode on Instagram will help more women in business discover helpful episodes and level up in life and business each week. Don’t forget to check out the show notes for the tools and resources mentioned in today’s episode because good ideas don’t grow businesses.

Action does. I’ll see you next [00:47:00] time on The Business Edit podcast.