We recently connected with Scotty Lindsey and have shared our conversation below.
Scotty , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I was creative and used my ingenuity during this entire process. The first two questions every entrepreneur must ask themselves are 1) what problem exists and 2) do I have a solution for the problem. America is inundated with corpulent and/or unhealthy people and everyone is always looking for simple solutions to these concerns. Once I identified the problem, I made a commitment to myself to be resourceful and find a solution. My good friend is an MD, so I decided to make a presentation to him with the information I had garnered and the solution I was proposing. He had many questions, and it was a brutal session. Our conversation confirmed my desire to move forward: I had to find the right herbs that would be beneficial to the human body with names that people would be able to pronounce. I find it funny when people take supplements and/or pills and can’t pronounce the names of the ingredients. You should be able to pronounce the name of anything you are consuming. Further, you should be aware of the side effects of all supplements and pills you are taking. After solidifying a plan of action, we went to work, and I traveled to different states to talk to herbalists. My good friend has connections all over and that expedited the process. Once we formulated the product, we instructed approximately 70 participants in the correct way to take the tea. For a 3-month period, we had participants drinking the tea on an empty stomach and walking for 30-minutes in the morning. After the three months, 90 percent of the participants received great results. Everything was history after that.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
After returning home from playing football, I didn’t know which career path I wanted to pursue, but I knew whichever path I took, it had to be worth my while. While attending a family event, I was informed about my sister’s health concerns. She was overweight and had been diagnosed with high blood pressure. I’m not against medications when needed but I am an advocate for natural products and solutions, so I was determined to assist with her weight loss journey so she could be relieved from the medication her doctor had prescribed. Like most people, my sister didn’t understand the correlation between blood pressure and weight gain. As a fitness professional and former professional athlete, I knew how to resolve this minor issue, I just needed her to commit to the process. I said, if you can lose 20 pounds in two months, your doctor has no choice but to reevaluate you due to the dramatic change. She was excited and fully committed. For two months, we worked together 2 days a week and everything I asked of her, she did with little resistance. When the end of the two months rolled around, she was hesitant about stepping on the scale because she didn’t want to let me down. But once she stepped on the scale and looked down, she was at a loss for words: the scale displayed a 22.2-pound weight loss. She had lost 2 pounds more than what she expected. She was eager to see her doctor now. She eventually set up a doctor’s appointment and he took her off the medication. My sister was the main reason I pursued this career. I knew there were many more people just like her who knew very little about fitness and nutrition. I also knew I didn’t want to work a corporate job my entire life. I followed my heart. When people don’t follow their heart, they are basically living in prison. With the help of my sister and other clients, I established my own mobile personal training service. Upon building a name in the fitness realm, I ventured out to help those who couldn’t afford my personal training packages by offering fitness consultations. Fitness consultations are very valuable; they allow me to assess anyone and still devise a program that would be beneficial for their overall wellbeing. I consider myself a fitness connoisseur given all the clients I have worked with and the different health issues and/or problems I was able to help them with.
The fitness industry is so misguided, it is ridiculous. It makes a simple process very complicated with all the new fad diets, programs, etc. Everyone is trying to make a dollar bill. Now, I’m not hating on anyone’s hustle, but Damn! When will America wake-up? We are letting external factors dictate what we should be doing and how we should be doing it. In reality, if a person changes their mindset, they change their life. It’s that simple. I’ll use a great metaphor that a sagacious man once told me. He said Scotty, if I told you the stove was hot, would you touch it? I said no, that’s a stupid question! He said exactly because you know it would cause physical and emotional damage. I said, correct. He said being corpulent and unhealthy has become the norm because we have medication and synthetic drugs to control related ailments. He said, when people fully understand the long-term effects of medications, they will also make a drastic change in the way they perceive them. What people fail to understand is that our body already has everything it needs for change to occur. We are letting society dictate our life. If you suffer from high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol, you begin to search for ways to correct such issues. If we observe our lives and/or habits, we can pretty much solve our own problems. You don’t need a doctor to tell you that you are eating too damn much, that what you eat is not good or that too much sugar is bad for you. We know what’s good and what’s bad, but we somehow still search for validation when we already have the answers. I’ve been able to help people find themselves and that’s why I love what I do. I’m a fitness counselor. I basically evaluate your body and your mindset. If your mindset isn’t aligned with your goals, you’ll never achieve the goals you desire. Motivation and desire are not enough to achieve goals. You must be willing to create habits in order to reach any goals. Motivation is ephemeral and could vanish at any time. When you create habits, you will continue striving for those goals even when that initial euphoric feeling is gone. Create habits and you’ll never go wrong.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Well, the goal is to be different. We have so many people trying to be like others. We’re all gifted with special skills. I think in order to build a following, you must be true to yourself. Find out what you are really passionate about and own it. Too many people are looking to follow in lieu of leading. I agree we all have to follow at some point until we get the courage to lead, but don’t follow too long because all great leaders made many mistakes before they really became great leaders. We only learn from experiences and setbacks. You should want to fail so you can learn more. And your true followers will find you. You don’t have to buy followers or ask marketing companies to help you out. If your message resonates with one person, it will eventually become two and so on. Don’t rush the process of growth because every stop in life is teaching you a valuable lesson.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
My team is small, but we are all aligned. We know our expectations and the message we want to convey to the world. Managing a team is fun. As a leader, you must allow your team to own their job duties. I’ve never been a micro-manager. I will also say, it is incumbent upon you as a leader to be ballsy. Your team is looking to you for the answers in desperate times, so never show weakness. Your team will always respond based on what they see. If they see you are confident, they’ll remain confident and calm. The moment you show a sign of weakness, you’ll lose team members. Be cognizant of everything you do because team members are always watching.
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