#001 From High School Teacher to Multi Six-figure Online Business Owner
Download MP3Alright. I am thrilled to welcome everyone to the first ever episode of Her Story. We are kicking things off with a powerhouse guest who turned her teaching career into a multi 6 figure business by creating resources that simplify teaching and empower educators. She built a thriving online business that generated $600,000 in 2024 alone. She is now on a mission to help other women create and launch their own digital products.
Elizabeth:Her journey is a testament to the power of passion, creativity, and entrepreneurship. She is Lindsay Bowden, and this is her story.
Lindsay:Yay. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited.
Elizabeth:Welcome, Lindsay, to the podcast.
Lindsay:Thank you. I am so excited to be here. I'm so excited for this podcast. What a great idea.
Elizabeth:I'm so excited you're here. And, so let's start with if you had to describe your entrepreneurial journey in one word, what would it be and why?
Lindsay:Yeah. I was thinking a lot about this, and I feel like the best word would be nonlinear. I'm a math person, so, like, that is how my brain works. But, I I feel like a lot of people have the assumption that when they start their business, it's just going to go up and up and up and up. And it's definitely not linear or at least mine has not been, and I know many others.
Lindsay:They're they're feeling the same way. Some years will go up, some months will go up, and then it'll go back down. And there's setbacks and there's failures. And, I I really feel like the people that are successful are the ones that keep going even when those dips happen because they're gonna happen to everyone. And and I've experienced that, and, just continuing to move past that has been one of the keys, I think, to my success.
Elizabeth:Absolutely. I think I feel like every successful entrepreneur talks about this, and yet people get discouraged really quick even though, you know, you hear it from successful entrepreneurs that is success is, like you said, nonlinear. You just have to you just have to keep going.
Lindsay:Yeah. And, I mean, we live in an instant gratification kind of society. And so if it doesn't happen immediately, then they're like, oh, this just is not gonna work for me, where that's really not the case. It's just it hasn't happened yet. I need to have you just have the user set backs, use the data to make decisions to advance in the future.
Elizabeth:Absolutely. So can you tell me a little bit about your background and what inspired you to be a teacher in the first place?
Lindsay:Sure. So, I wanted to be a teacher for, you know, quite some time in middle and high school. I really felt like that was where, God was calling me. And I actually, when I started college, my major was music education. I really loved choir.
Lindsay:I wanted to be a choir director at a high school. Choir was a big part of my, middle and high school years. But I was in college during the big two thousand eight financial crisis. Yeah. And a lot of schools are taking out music or, getting rid of all arts, you know, any kind of elective.
Lindsay:And so I switched my major to math education because there was kind of an incentive during that time, for math educators in Georgia to get some of their loans repaid. So that's why I actually chose to be a math teacher. I know that's kind of weird, but I I also enjoyed math a lot, and I felt like I could explain it easily. And I really actually ended up liking math a lot and liking being a math teacher a lot. So I started, in tenth grade.
Lindsay:I taught geometry. I taught algebra one. I did a year of algebra two, and I taught for eight years and really enjoyed it.
Elizabeth:And now you were a junior high math teacher. Right?
Lindsay:I thought high school.
Elizabeth:Oh, high school. Okay. I recently, recently volunteer in my kids' school for the teachers and faculty breakfast, and I was in there for, like, an hour with the kindergarteners. Oh my gosh. I mean, after that day, like, my perspective and respect for teachers completely switched because I was in there for, like, an hour, and it felt like eight hours to me.
Elizabeth:So I I have a lot of respect for teachers. I've always had, but more more so now after I volunteer to be in a classroom for an hour. Do you miss teaching at all? I don't know. In a way, with everything you do in your business, you're kinda still teaching, but do you miss the classroom setting at all?
Elizabeth:Or
Lindsay:Sometimes I do, but there were a lot of challenges, especially with high school dealing with, you know, behavioral problems. That's probably the number one issue that we dealt with, lack of motivation, lack of parental involvement. So, yes, sometimes I do miss that. But for the most part, man, I love my job. I love my life.
Lindsay:I sometimes I wake up and can't believe that this is my life, honestly. So
Elizabeth:That's
Lindsay:that's I would not train my life now to go back into the classroom.
Elizabeth:Oh, absolutely. I believe it. So what was the pivotal moment that led you to transition from teaching into starting your own online business? Yeah. It
Lindsay:was, getting pregnant with my first child. I didn't realize that teachers only got six weeks of maternity leave, and the thought of leaving my baby at day care at six weeks was just not for me. And so I I kinda already started a Teachers Pay Teachers store at that time. I I think I opened my store in 02/2017 and had one thing in there. I didn't really know what I was doing.
Lindsay:And then I got pregnant in 02/2019, and that's when I really started thinking, okay. I need to take this seriously. I'm going to really take my TPT store seriously. And then that summer, I got introduced to online courses, which is a type of digital product, and created an online course, and and it kinda went from there.
Elizabeth:That's awesome. What was your first ever online course about?
Lindsay:My first online course is the course that I still sell today. Today, it's called the Resource Academy. Back then, it was called Math Resource Academy, and it's where I train teachers how to create resources either for their classroom or to sell online. So in the beginning, I was only teaching math teachers, and then I expanded it to all grade levels, all subject areas, and I still sell that today. That's my my biggest, source of income.
Elizabeth:That's awesome. So in the beginning, what was your biggest obstacle, and how did you overcome it, I guess? It's it's hard to know the big
Lindsay:I guess the biggest was lack of knowledge, lack of knowing what I was doing. I am a doer, not a thinker. So sometimes I just, like, jump out of the plane before my parachute has opened. You know? I I am just like, let's just take action.
Lindsay:But I was doing things, but I was doing it the wrong way because I didn't take the time to get the proper training. And so when I kinda stepped back and thought, let me let me take some programs. Let me get some mentorship and figure out how to do this the right way, then things really started taking off. And then another obstacle I faced was once my daughter was born, you know, being a full time stay at home mom with a newborn and trying to build this business because my goal was to stay home with her for one year. And so I was just working every nap time before she got up, after she went to bed.
Lindsay:Thankfully, she was a good sleeper. Mine now. Second one is not. Couldn't have done that. But, but, you know, trying to fit in my business around her schedule and and that work life balance while working at home, that was another obstacle that, I never really figured out, but we just kinda got through it as a family.
Elizabeth:Right. Yeah. That's I I believe it because I've had little kids too, and it's hard for sure to balance working at home or not at home with the little ones. So you talk in your podcast about how you're not someone with any special skills, which I disagree, or, you know, you didn't have any degrees or background in business. So take me through your mindset at the time.
Elizabeth:How do you build confidence in yourself and in your vision? You know, you had this vision of staying one year with your baby. And how do you get the confidence to, you know, especially during tough times to stay consistent, I guess?
Lindsay:Honestly, I don't think I had the confidence. I was just desperate. I I think and maybe that's not, like, what most people would say, but I I feel like if you have a big enough why as to why you are starting your business, then you'll do whatever it takes. So staying home with my child versus having to put her in day care, like, that was I was desperate.
Elizabeth:That's a big reason. Yes.
Lindsay:So even though I didn't feel like I was qualified, I really didn't know what I was doing. I was like, I'm gonna figure this out because I refuse to listen. I refuse. You know? It's like that mama bear instinct in me.
Lindsay:Mhmm. I I feel like that's really what what pushed me through those days, not necessarily, like, confidence in myself.
Elizabeth:Right. Your your why. Absolutely. So I also think too that action like you said, you just took action. I think action creates confidence too.
Elizabeth:And I've seen it with myself, you know, starting this podcast. I'm like, I have never done anything podcast or anything. And the more I worked on it, the more I, you know, I bought a microphone, and I started started reaching out to all these amazing women. And, and they started, you know, agreeing to be on it. I'm like, oh my gosh.
Elizabeth:So Yeah. I think action creates confidence. So
Lindsay:Yeah. I agree. That's that's really good. Yeah. For sure.
Elizabeth:So alright. Let's talk about your business today. What does it look like today in terms of products, your team, and your overall focus?
Lindsay:Yeah. So I have three kind of main products now. So I talked about the first one, the Resource Academy. That was, like, my main starting program, and that's still, like, our cornerstone program. And then I kind of expanded to two other areas that I saw women were interested in.
Lindsay:And so the first area I expanded to was helping others create an online course because that is what is my biggest income maker right now is, of course, I had other people asking me, okay. How did you make this course? How did you launch it? What does your launches look like? What are your emails like?
Lindsay:How do you do ads? And so I made a program about that called, hey, online course. It's probably my most advanced program, and it's really only for people that, like, you know you wanna make a full course and you know you wanna, like, spend this time and energy because it's a lot to make a course. So that's my second program. And then last year, I expanded to other types of digital products because I saw a need in the marketplace for that.
Lindsay:So lower ticket products that aren't necessarily like teacher resources, things like mini courses or PDF guides or templates, those are selling really well organically. And so I made a playbook about how to create and sell those organically, which means you're not using paid ads. You're just using, like, maybe Instagram. And that's called, hey, digital product. So I have the resource academy for teachers, hey, online course, and then hey, digital product.
Lindsay:And then my team so I have, Emily, who is my online business manager, and she started as a VA with me and then moved up to business manager. And that just means she oversees all the day to day operations. She oversees all of my launches. She, runs the podcast and that my YouTube for me. We meet once a week and go over data.
Lindsay:She's like my right hand girl. Mhmm. And then I have, Johanna who does my customer service. She answers my emails, and then she's in my Facebook communities for my paid members and answers their questions as well. And then I have a couple of VAs that I work with.
Lindsay:Like, I have a VA that edits my YouTube videos. I have a VA that, helps us with Instagram, making carousels and things like that. And every now and then, I'll hire VAs for, like, one off projects.
Elizabeth:That's awesome. Because you're also not now you are helping other women, you know, bring income to their families with you creating this business and making it as big as you have. Now you have other members, other women, that are, you know, working with you and making money for their families. So
Lindsay:Right.
Elizabeth:That's another thing that I think you should you know, if you're thinking about starting your online business, you know, the impact you could have, not just for yourself and your family, but for other families as well.
Lindsay:Yeah. For sure. I mean, I I always tell people, if you're gonna start a business, especially a business like digital products where you're teaching people something, you should have the heart of how can I serve my customer the best? How can I give them the best transformation? Not how can I make the most money?
Lindsay:Now I will say when I started, I really didn't have that heart because I was desperate to stay home with my baby, but it wasn't about money. It was about my family. So having some kind of, like, anchor like that. And then, you know, as it grew, which I didn't expect it to be what it is today, but now, like, my heart is really, how can I serve women and and teach them to make income for their families so that they can have a life that they want? Like, I have been able to do that for myself.
Lindsay:I think that's really important for anyone starting a business to have a really good why like that.
Elizabeth:Right. A really strong why because, you know, that's really what's gonna take you through the tough times, like you said.
Lindsay:Right.
Elizabeth:Into the doubt or whatever that you may have. If you have that why is strong enough for you, then yeah. For sure. So what is the process to create a great digital product or online course that you can sell online? Like, what what would you where do you start?
Lindsay:Yeah. I I kinda have four steps. So the first thing is figure out your niche. What what are you creating a product or a course about? If you're creating a course, it can be more of a a wider niche like, parenting or health.
Lindsay:But then your course needs to be more specific, like how to get your infant to sleep through the night. Same thing with digital products. Digital products even more so need to be even more specific because they're usually smaller, so they're solving, like, a smaller problem. So it might be how to get your six to twelve month old to sleep through the night without crying it out. So really, really specific.
Lindsay:So finding your niche and kind of finding that problem that you wanna solve, then you need to build an audience. So I suggest starting an email list and creating some type of freebie that's going to be directly related to your digital product, your course, whatever so that you're getting the right people on your list. They're signing up for this free thing. They're gonna be interested in the paid thing because they're directly related. And then you can nurture them.
Lindsay:You can start sending them emails as you're creating the product. If you're creating a low ticket product, it's not gonna take you that long, like a month, to create it. For a course, obviously, three to six months to create, like, a a whole course. But as you are creating, you're nurturing this audience. And then product is the next step.
Lindsay:So you're creating this product, whichever one you're creating. And then the last step is to sell it either with, like, a launch model. If you're doing a course, you can do, like, maybe a challenge or a webinar. If you are launching just a lower ticket offer, it can just be an email launch. Like, send three emails to your list.
Lindsay:Hey. I have this thing. The price is going up after this weekend. Grab it now. So find a niche, start your audience, your email list, create the product, sell the product.
Elizabeth:What would you say to someone that thinks, oh, I'm not good at anything, or my niche is just too small. It's not gonna work.
Lindsay:Yeah. Well, if you feel like you're not good at anything, I feel like everyone can create a digital product around something. It doesn't have to be something that you're necessarily an expert in, but something that you have life experience in. Last summer, I kinda did a little experiment where I started a new business from scratch just to see, like, is it still possible to start a new business from scratch and create a digital product and sell it? And so I wanted to pick a niche that wasn't related to business or teachers really, so I chose gluten free eating.
Lindsay:I'm not an expert in gluten free eating, but I do eat gluten free. My whole family needs gluten free because of health issues, so I know a lot about it. I wouldn't say, like, I'm a health expert, and I'm not giving health advice. But I can tell you exactly what you can buy at the grocery store, what you can't, what products are good, what products taste bad, etcetera. So I made a little guide about, gluten free snacks that have clean ingredients for moms, and, it's sold within three weeks.
Lindsay:So within three weeks of me starting to advertise it. So you you don't have to be an expert. You just need to have some type of life experience with it and enough to make some type of product. What's the other question? I forgot.
Elizabeth:Like, if if somebody thinks that their niche is too small or too narrow.
Lindsay:I haven't really ever seen anyone have a niche too small. Usually, the problem is their niche is not small enough. Like, they're they don't wanna narrow down because they were have enough people to buy. I really I have never ever seen that happen, honestly, where a niche is too small. So I don't I don't think that will be a problem.
Lindsay:Maybe if I had, like, a specific example, but I've never seen that.
Elizabeth:Yeah. Well, I mean, I I get what you're saying. Like, maybe people don't wanna niche down too much because they're scared nobody's gonna buy. Right. I think, yeah, the more specific, I guess, the better chance you have to reach more people.
Elizabeth:Like you say, you did a gluten free guide. I don't know anything about that. So like you said, you are not an expert, but you know more than I do.
Lindsay:Right.
Elizabeth:So that that would be helpful for me that I don't know anything about. And there's I think there's people like that in every niche. You know? You don't need to be the expert. You just have to know more than other people
Lindsay:Exactly.
Elizabeth:That you are trying to help. So, alright. What is, how do you decide on the pricing of these products?
Lindsay:Yeah. Pricing is really hard. There are no set rules, unfortunately. But, typically, what I will do if I'm pricing a product, that I created, if it's a low ticket product, then I will do some research, and I will see what other products are out there that are similar and kind of find, like, a good average. That has worked well.
Lindsay:So, like, that gluten free guide, I priced at $14. I found that, like, $14, 17 dollars around those areas, that was a good selling price for just like a guide that didn't have anything to do with, like, money or business or, like, a need. For courses, it depends on the niche. So if you're doing something related to, like, money or health or relationships, you can usually price it a little bit higher. Also, if you are offering things like coaching or, like, a community where they get help, then you can price it higher versus just, like, a self paced course.
Lindsay:I would say courses start at, like, $1.97, and they can go all the way up to, like, $9.97. I've even seen higher than that for, like, really specific niches and people that already have a huge following. And then low ticket, offers, I usually see start around that 7 to $14 mark and then go up to, like, $97.
Elizabeth:Yeah. That's that's a good, price range. I feel like for the low ticket items, especially, like, $17 is probably a no brainer for most people. Right. And, if they really want it, they will spend, you know, the low ticket money for it because it's something that they need help with.
Elizabeth:So
Lindsay:Right.
Elizabeth:They're willing to invest in, whatever that guide or, you know, video or whatever is it that you're offering. What's what's a tool or software or system that you cannot live without in your business?
Lindsay:Asana for sure. That's where we put all of our tasks. That's where we do our project management. All of our launches are in there. We have a YouTube project.
Lindsay:We have a podcast project. We have live launches. Everything is in Asana. So I have an app on my phone. It's on my computer.
Lindsay:If I don't have my Asana, I have no idea what I'm doing for the day.
Elizabeth:Is that Asana? Is it like a calendar reminder to do list?
Lindsay:Yeah. It's it's a project management tool, so it has, like you can do to do lists, but then you can have, like, projects that have, like, multiple tasks, and then you can have subtasks within those. You can have dates assigned to them. You can assign them to different people on your team. So it's it's really robust, and it's free.
Lindsay:So
Elizabeth:Oh, nice. I didn't know it was free.
Lindsay:Yeah. They have a paid version, but, I don't think anyone really needs them needs the features that Yes.
Elizabeth:What is the day in the life for Lindsay like?
Lindsay:It depends on the day, but I'll just go over Monday because Mondays are my workdays. I I'm typically only working one full day a week now because I have a a one year old at home full time. So I have a five year old. So I get up, get her ready, get my one year old ready, take my five year old to school while my husband stays home with my one year old. My husband is a stay at home dad too.
Lindsay:He also has real estate stuff, but, so that makes my life a little different than most people. We have two parents at home, but, come home, get started on work. I usually have, like, a power session from 09:30 to about twelve where I do podcast episodes, YouTube videos. I send my weekly email. I send an email every Tuesday, and I check data.
Lindsay:Those are, like, the four anchors that I do every week. And then I will eat lunch, hang out with my one year old, let my husband kinda have a break. And then usually in the afternoon, I'll kinda do light tasks like checking email or checking my to do list. I try to get a workout in on Mondays since my daughter is at preschool. And then we usually go on a family walk together.
Lindsay:And then I start dinner, and my daughter comes home, and we play outside and dinner in bed.
Elizabeth:That's awesome. That's the dream life. Is that is that your dream life? Did you just did you just describe your perfect Yeah. That's awesome.
Elizabeth:Congratulations, really. Yeah. What's the most rewarding moment you've experienced as an entrepreneur so far?
Lindsay:I think when I was able to let my husband quit his corporate job. That was a really big transition, for us. My husband was working full time as an accountant. When I first started my business, I was full time stay at home mom and trying to start my business while he was at work, and then my business grew. And then in 2022, he was able to quit his job and be a stay at home dad.
Lindsay:So
Elizabeth:That's awesome. Yeah. I was gonna ask you about that because you you've talked about it on your podcast and on your, content. You talk about how you were able to retire your husband, and I think that's a goal that a lot of women have. A lot of, you know, wives that start their business, you know, they're, tired of hearing their husband, you know, be unhappy at their job and all these things, and you were able to actually do that.
Elizabeth:So that's awesome.
Lindsay:Yeah. Yeah. It was a a huge blessing for our family, for sure.
Elizabeth:Absolutely. What's next for you and your business? Are there any exciting projects or goals in the horizon?
Lindsay:I always have something. I am not good at just, staying where I am. It's a double edged sword. But, this year, our focus is organic marketing. And so I'm doing, like, an official launch of our YouTube channel on February 3.
Lindsay:And so I I had not been doing YouTube regularly. And so now we're gonna start putting out one new YouTube video a week and really make that push towards organic marketing because Facebook ads are getting more and more expensive. Still use ads, but if we could get free traffic, free leads, that would be even better. So
Elizabeth:Absolutely. I think YouTube is a big platform for any entrepreneur, any niche.
Lindsay:Oh, it's huge. Yeah.
Elizabeth:Yeah. Absolutely. Alright. That
Lindsay:if if someone is ready to start long form content, I always say a podcast or YouTube. That's where you should start because there's already so many people on there.
Elizabeth:Yeah. For sure. What advice would you give to teachers or women who want to start a business but feel unsure or afraid to take the leap?
Lindsay:Yeah. I mean, find out your why. Why are you doing it? What's your what's your reasoning behind it? Do you wanna help people?
Lindsay:Do you wanna quit your job and have more time for your family? That's a huge why. And then use that motivation to do it scared, to take messy action. Do it even if you don't feel like you're good enough. Because even though I've been doing this for a long time and I've you know, people may think like, oh, she's got it all figured out.
Lindsay:I still every day have imposter syndrome and feel like I'm not good enough, and why would anyone buy my thing, or why would anyone watch my YouTube video? So it never goes away, unfortunately. You always have that in the back of your brain. Not to, like, be discouraging, but just know, like, you're always gonna have that. You just gotta keep going, and and it's gonna be fine.
Lindsay:And you're gonna get those moments where someone's like, oh my gosh. I found you on YouTube, and you're like, you listen to my YouTube? Like, are you listening? What? And it and it feels great.
Lindsay:And then you're like, okay. I'm really doing this. And then you have days where you send an email and no one opens it, and you're like so it's just it's nonlinear. It's nonlinear. So you're going to have days that you feel not good enough, and you just have to keep doing it anyway because you have that strong why.
Elizabeth:Right. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to start this podcast is to show people that are wanting to start how women like yourself that are, you know, in my eyes, so successful, they still have these doubts. You know what I mean? They're still afraid, but you still do it anyway. So that's one of my biggest whys I get is to show other women how everyday women like you, like me, are, you know, successful, and they still have doubts.
Elizabeth:They're still, like you said, imposter syndrome and all these things, but you still show up and do it anyway. Like you say, take messy action.
Lindsay:Yes. I see it. That was I had a business coach last year, or two years ago now, Rachel Engle. Mhmm. She's awesome, and that's her quote, take messy action.
Lindsay:So that that wasn't for me. I got that from her, but she always says, just do it anyway. Take messy action, Donald.
Elizabeth:That's right.
Lindsay:Figure it out figure it out as you go.
Elizabeth:Yeah. For sure. And that's that's been my philosophy starting this podcast. I don't know if you heard, Blake Lively says, if you don't know how to do something, that's your biggest blessing. Yeah.
Elizabeth:Quick interruption here, guys. I just wanted to clarify that I meant to say Sara Blakely here. Sara Blakely, not Blake Lively. Sara Blakely. I was so mortified when I heard this back for the first time, and I'm like, oh my gosh.
Elizabeth:But to my defense, I was very nervous. I was very nervous. It was my first ever interview. I the Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni thing was, like, peak at the moment, so my head, my brain wasn't working right. I apologize.
Elizabeth:But Sara Blakely Sara Blakely said that I love her. You may carry on now. You know? Because you're gonna do it the your way and the way you think it is, and then you might, you know, you might just be disruptive or you know? If you don't know if you don't feel if you don't think you know how to do something, take it as your biggest blessing and just take action the way you think it should be done.
Elizabeth:Because, like you said, you're you're here. You were able to retire your husband, and you're living your dream life. So, absolutely, if you can take anything from this episode, is that, like, take messy action. I love that. Absolutely.
Elizabeth:Alright. And lastly, where can we go to learn to learn more more from you and your business?
Lindsay:Yeah. I'm on Instagram at lindsay bowden, and then my website is lindsaybowden.com. If you want a freebie for me, I have a list of a hundred digital product ideas. You can grab that at lindsaybowden.com/list.
Elizabeth:Absolutely. And I'll make sure I put all those links in the show notes. And, I just wanna say before we go that Lindsay was the very first person I reached out to be on the podcast. And not only she said yes, but she said that's such a great idea, and that really meant a lot to me. So thank you.
Elizabeth:Thank you so much for that. And that just
Lindsay:great idea.
Elizabeth:That should show you her great character and how great of a person she is. So definitely check check her out because she she's great.
Lindsay:Aw. Thank you so much. This is awesome. And, yes, I love this idea. I'm gonna be listening every week because even, you know, they have been doing this for a long time.
Lindsay:We still need motivation and inspiration too. So I love this idea.
Elizabeth:Absolutely. Lane Seed, thank you so much.
Lindsay:Thank you, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth:Have a great day. You too. See you.
