We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsey Vertner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsey below.

Hi Lindsey, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

In 2007, I survived a car wreck that technically killed me. I often say “fatal” in air quotes because, obviously, I’m still here. But at one point, I was brain dead and paralyzed. That experience completely changed the trajectory of my life, even though I didn’t fully realize it at the time.

During my recovery journey, people constantly asked me the same questions: “How are you still smiling?”; “How are you still positive after everything you’ve been through?”; “How are you creating such an amazing life despite all of this?” And I always laughed when people would ask me where they could buy my book… a book that didn’t even exist yet. At that point, I wasn’t a coach, speaker, nor entrepreneur. I was simply trying to rebuild my life.

But over time, I started noticing a pattern. No matter the background, age, profession, or circumstance, people were drawn to me for conversations about life, healing, perspective, purpose, confidence, and growth. Even complete strangers would open up to me and say things like, “I don’t know why I feel so comfortable talking to you.” I realized I had become a safe space for people long before I ever had a business.

As I continued healing and growing, I began to understand that my purpose was much bigger than just surviving a tragedy. My purpose was helping people create what I now call their “First Class Life®,” which means creating a life full of purpose, fulfillment, and happiness regardless of what circumstances they’ve been through. I wanted people to understand that trauma, setbacks, failures, disappointments, titles, or even success itself do not have to define the future they create for themselves.

What’s interesting is that I didn’t really “come up” with the idea for the business in a traditional sense. Honestly, it felt like the business found me.

The actual phrase “First Class Life®” came to me in September 2019 while I was in Bali, Indonesia. It was the early hours of the morning (still dark outside), and I was in a van with a group of women heading to hike a mountain to watch the sunrise. During that drive, the first pieces of “First Class Life®” started coming to me like God given downloads. Over the next several days, I began fleshing out what each letter represented and how it connected not only to my story, but to the human experience overall.

The core acronym became:
F. Faithful
I. Intentional
R. Reflective
S. Self-Care
T. Thankful

C. Confidence
L. Leadership
A. Action-Oriented
S. Self-Worth
S. Self-Discipline

I expanded “LIFE” as an additional bonus layer:
Lifelong Learner, Investor, Fearless, and Empowering.

What excited me most was that this wasn’t just motivation or surface-level positivity. It was a framework for living. It acknowledged the realities of pain, healing, leadership, identity, burnout, confidence, discipline, purpose, and personal responsibility all at the same time.

I also realized that one of my gifts is taking complex ideas and making them practical and actionable. People often tell me, “I’ve heard that concept a million times before, but the way you explained it finally made it click.” That’s something I don’t take lightly.

So, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m solving a problem no one else has ever addressed before. People have always wanted fulfillment, healing, confidence, and purpose. But I believe the way I approach it is unique because I address the whole human experience from a very unique perspective. I help people authentically become themselves while creating lives that actually feel good to live, not just lives that look good from the outside.

That foundation now shows up in everything I do, whether I’m coaching one-on-one or groups, speaking on stages, consulting with leaders, or hosting transformational self-care retreats around the world. At the core of all of it is the same mission: helping people create a First Class Life® that feels aligned, meaningful, fulfilling, and truly their own.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a mindset & leadership expert, speaker, author, and the founder of First Class Life®, a personal development and lifestyle brand centered around helping people create lives full of purpose, fulfillment, and happiness. Everything I do is rooted in the belief that success and fulfillment should not cost you your peace, your identity, or your well-being.

My journey into this work was not traditional at all. As previously mentioned, after surviving the car wreck in 2007 that left me brain dead and paralyzed, I had to rebuild my life physically, mentally, and emotionally. That experience changed how I viewed life, purpose, resilience, gratitude, and human potential. Over time, I realized that people were naturally drawn to me not just because of my story, but because of the way I helped them see themselves and their situations differently. Long before I officially started a business, people consistently came to me for advice, encouragement, perspective, and clarity.

What eventually became my business was really the natural evolution of who I already was.

Today, my work spans several areas. I provide keynote speaking, corporate trainings, leadership development workshops, coaching programs, self-care retreats, and personal development experiences. I work with both organizations and individuals, particularly high-achieving leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals. However, my heart deeply lies with high-performing women who are often overwhelmed, burned out, disconnected from themselves, or struggling to maintain fulfillment while carrying the weight of everything and everyone around them.

A big part of my work focuses on helping people lead and live from overflow instead of exhaustion. I help leaders improve communication, confidence, decision-making, boundaries, self-worth, and overall well-being without sacrificing ambition or performance. I also help people reconnect with themselves authentically instead of performing for titles, expectations, or appearances.

In addition to services, I’ve intentionally built products that integrate personal development into everyday life. I never wanted First Class Life® to feel like just another motivational phrase people repeat online. I wanted it to become something people embody consistently in real life. These products include: books, journals, workbooks, affirmation cards, lifestyle apparel, self-care teas, and other tools designed to help people incorporate self-care, mindset, confidence, reflection, gratitude, discipline, and intentional living into their normal routines.

What sets me apart is not just my story, although surviving something that medically should have killed me certainly gives me a different perspective on life. I think what truly sets me apart is my ability to connect deeply with people while making personal development practical, relatable, and implementable. A lot of people know what they “should” do. The challenge is applying it consistently in real life while navigating careers, relationships, stress, grief, responsibilities, leadership, and everyday human emotions.

One of the things I’m most proud of is seeing people truly change the trajectory of their lives. Watching someone go from burned out to fulfilled, from insecure to confident, from surviving to genuinely living, that means everything to me. I especially love hearing from people months or years later when they tell me things like, “I was about to react negatively, but then I heard your voice in my head,” or “Something happened and I remembered what you taught me.” Those moments are incredibly meaningful because it reminds me that this work extends far beyond a stage, a coaching call, or a social media post. It becomes part of how people navigate life.

I’m also deeply proud of the impact my work has had on my own family and children. Seeing how they interact with people, how they think, how they handle challenges, and how they view themselves further shows that the principles I teach are not just theories. They are lived experiences.

If there’s one thing I’d want potential clients, audiences, or supporters to know about me and my brand, it’s that authenticity matters deeply to me. I’m not interested in teaching people how to perform a successful life while secretly feeling empty. I want people to experience real fulfillment, real peace, real confidence, real joy, and real alignment with who they truly are. My goal is never to make people dependent on me. My goal is to help people reconnect with the strength, clarity, and value that already exists within themselves so they can fully create and live their own First Class Life®.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the biggest examples of resilience in my journey is definitely my death recovery story that I keep referencing.

I was driving home after visiting my mother for Mother’s Day. I lived about three hours away at the time, and the last thing I remember is driving down the highway listening to music. The next thing I remember is waking up in complete darkness. I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t speak. I just knew I wasn’t at home.

At some point, I drifted back into unconsciousness. When I woke up again, sunlight was coming through the window, and for a moment I honestly thought I had just experienced a very vivid nightmare. But then I realized I still couldn’t move, see, or speak, and I still didn’t know where I was. Before I could fully panic again, a nurse walked over and started asking me questions. In my mind, I thought I was answering her clearly, but in reality, the only sounds coming out were muffled noises because there was a tube down my throat keeping me alive.

That’s when I learned that an entire week earlier, on May 13, 2007, the car I was driving crossed over to the opposite side of the highway, flipped multiple times, and landed upside down. My head was pinned between the ground and the full weight of the car.

I was pronounced brain dead at the scene.

But God!

They still airlifted me to a trauma hospital where, again, I was pronounced brain dead upon arrival.

But God!

Despite that diagnosis, the medical team still proceeded with emergency surgeries, and I was placed on life support while they tried to contact my family. Once my mother was reached, she refused to give up on me. She started praying, and she had everyone she knew praying. Those people had people praying. There were prayer chains happening across the country.

Eventually, I woke up.

Not only did I wake up, but I woke up as myself. Doctors had already begun preparing my family for the possibility that if I survived, I likely would not be the same mentally or physically. Instead, over time, I regained my voice, regained movement, and eventually learned how to walk again.

What many people do not realize is that recovery was not just a miracle moment. I also had to put in work physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I spent an entire month in the hospital and went through every type of therapy imaginable: physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, shock therapy, and more. Some of those treatments were extremely painful. Shock therapy, for example, felt like my nerves were being repeatedly electrocuted (on purpose) in an attempt to get them functioning again. Nobody knew for sure if any of it would work. But every single day, I still showed up and did the work anyway.

That experience taught me that sometimes resilience looks like getting up one more day when you are exhausted, discouraged, scared, uncertain, or in pain. Sometimes resilience is simply refusing to quit. But honestly, one of the hardest parts of the journey was not the physical recovery. It was the emotional recovery afterward.

After the accident, the first (of three) newspaper articles written about me was front page news! Literally! The headline read in big, bold letters: MIRACLE ON THE HIGHWAY Woman Believed Dead Is Now Alive in Indianapolis Hospital. Also, people constantly called me things like “walking miracle” and “miracle woman.” While I appreciated the love behind it, internally I struggled with feeling worthy of those labels. I began putting pressure on myself to become this superhuman version of strength for everyone else. I took on too much, overextended myself, ignored my own needs, and eventually burned myself out trying to prove I deserved to still be here.

That season forced me to confront deeper issues surrounding self-worth, boundaries, self-care, and identity. It taught me that surviving something traumatic is one thing, but learning how to truly live afterward is another journey entirely. That realization became foundational to the work I do today.

My story is proof that resilience is not about pretending life is easy. It is about deciding that your circumstances, no matter how painful or impossible they may seem, do not get the final say over your future. That’s why I firmly believe that if I can literally come back from death’s bed and create a life I truly enjoy, then there’s no obstacle that you can’t overcome to achieve your goals and dreams!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A big pivot in my journey happened at the beginning of 2021. It shifted not only my business, but also the way I view obedience, leadership, and trusting the process even when I cannot fully see the outcome yet.

On January 1st, 2021, I decided I wanted to become more intentional about my mornings. My plan was simple: spend time praying, reading devotionals, and journaling before starting my day. One of the books I chose was Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind devotional. It had 100 short devotionals that correlated with her book of the same title.
While reading it that first morning, I heard an inner voice say, “Read this on Clubhouse.”

At the time, Clubhouse was the place to be during the pandemic. Everybody was on the app having conversations through audio chat rooms. But I immediately brushed the thought off because it made no sense to me. I wasn’t a pastor, and I didn’t lead Bible studies. In full transparency, I still cuss sometimes! LOL! So, what do I look like leading a devotional?
But then I heard it again: “Read this on Clubhouse.”

That’s when I realized this was bigger than my own thoughts.

So before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the app, scheduled a room for a few minutes later at 10 a.m., and titled it “Devotional Time for Mindset.” Normally when I hosted rooms, I would invite everyone I knew, but this time I was nervous and honestly confused about why I felt called to do it, so I invited absolutely no one!

Yet within seconds of opening the room, people started flooding in anyway. I remember opening the room by saying something like, “Look y’all, I don’t really know what the plan is here. I just felt led to read this devotional on Clubhouse, so that’s what we’re gonna do.”

So I read the devotional, shared my thoughts, and opened the floor for discussion. At the end of the conversation, without planning it at all, I heard myself telling everyone, “This devotional has 100 insights, so we’ll be here every morning for the next 99 days.”

Even while I was saying it, I was internally panicking because I had not thought through my schedule, my travel plans, or how I would realistically sustain showing up every day for 100 days straight.

But I did it anyway.

Within the first week, there were regularly dozens of people joining every morning. Some days there were hundreds. People began sharing testimonies about how those conversations were helping change their mindset, strengthen their faith, and navigate difficult seasons in their lives.

Then came the real pivot…

At the time, I was already preparing to launch my third book, which was supposed to be a personal development project. The cover had already been designed, and the marketing process was about to start.
Then on February 1st, I heard another instruction clearly: “Write a devotional and invite the group to join you.”

Again, I resisted it initially because it was nowhere in my plans. I kept thinking, “Why would I write a devotional?” But eventually, I leaned into it. I announced it publicly to the group to hold myself accountable, and on Valentine’s Day, I officially launched the opportunity for people in the Clubhouse community to share their stories and testimonies.
More than 30 people participated, and those stories eventually became the book “First Class Life®️ Devotional: 35 Testimonies of Phenomenal Faith Through Turbulent Times”.

By the end of those 100 days, thousands of lives around the world had been impacted through the devotional rooms and the book itself.

What makes this story especially meaningful to me is that during that season, I made more money in my business (in a single quarter) than I ever had before at that point, while technically doing less “traditional” business work than ever. I spent hours every morning pouring into people with no real strategy or sales funnel attached to it. I was literally just being obedient to call. That obedience (without an agenda) led to unintentional business increase as a reward.

That experience taught me a great life lesson: sometimes the pivot will not make sense in the beginning. Sometimes you will not fully understand why you are being pulled in a certain direction. And sometimes the resources, support, opportunities, and provision do not appear until after you start moving.

I think a lot of people delay their next level because they are waiting for certainty before they take action. But in my experience, clarity often comes THROUGH movement, not before it.

That season taught me to trust the pivot, even when I can’t yet see the full picture.

P.S. I ended up hosting a second round of Devotional Time for Mindset at the beginning of 2024. This time, the series went live on Clubhouse, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube (where replays can be found); and it reached thousands more!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LiveAFirstClassLife.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lindseyvertner
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lindseyvertner
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyvertner
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@LindseyVertner
• Other: ConnectWithLindsey.com, www.instagram.com/lindseyvertnertalent