Female Founder Unplugged
Business & Finance
About
Welcome to Female Founder Unplugged , the podcast for ambitious female entrepreneurs who are scaling businesses, leading teams, and navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship—all while trying to keep their sanity intact. Hosted by Lindsay White, a people & culture strategist, leadership coach, speaker and best-selling author, this show dives deep into the unfiltered realities of growing and leading a successful business . We’re talking about the messy middle—hiring struggles, leadership challenges, burnout, and the moments no one posts about on Instagram. Each episode features honest, no-BS conversations with powerhouse female founders who share their wins, their failures, and the hard-earned lessons they’ve learned along the way. If you’ve ever wondered how to scale without losing yourself in the process, how to build a high-performing team without the hiring headaches, or how to stay connected to your vision when the pressure is on—this is the show for you. So, if you’re ready to unplug from the noise, the self-doubt, and the unrealistic highlight reels , hit subscribe and let’s get real about what it actually takes to grow and lead with confidence. 🎧 New episodes go live every Thursday! Subscribe now and let’s get unplugged .
Episodes
- [S5, Ep47] Why Ignoring Your Mental Health Is Hurting Your Business with Shulamit Ber Levtov
This episode discusses the crucial link between founder mental health and business success, highlighting it as a core strategy. Guest Shulamit Ber Levtov explains that a business is only as healthy as its leader and that prioritizing menta…
- [S5, Ep46] No Ego, No Power Struggles: Inside a High-Trust Leadership Model With The Team from Artemis Factor
Three co-founders of Artemis Factor share their journey of building a successful consultancy with a high-trust, shared leadership model, defying expert advice that three founders would not work. They discuss dropping ego, fostering healthy…
- [S5, Ep45] The Hidden Factor Behind Female Founder Burnout (It’s Not What You Think) with CEO Angela Johnson
Host Lindsay shares a personal struggle with burnout in 2024, detailing physical symptoms and the decision to push through. She discusses this with Angela Johnson, CEO of sanoLiving, a digital health platform focused on midlife care for fe…
- [S5, Ep44] Scaling a Startup Fast: Lessons from a Female Founder in Health Tech, CEO Aja Beckett
Aja Beckett, CEO of the #1 GLP-1 tracking app Shotsy, discusses how her personal health journey inspired the app. She emphasizes the importance of systems over discipline in both health and business, strategies for leading a distributed te…
- [S5, Ep43] Stop Building in the Dark: Community, Connection and Leading Without Loneliness (with Kristina Bartold-Sorgota)
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged features Kristina Bartold-Sorgota, discussing the challenges of entrepreneurial loneliness and the importance of community. It covers building intentional communities, managing difficult thoughts, a…
- [S5, Ep42] The Messy Middle Isn’t Just Structural — It’s Lonely (Why LPC Works Together)
This episode explores the profound loneliness experienced by founders in the "messy middle" of business growth, highlighting how isolation affects high-achieving women and the critical need for leadership, people strategy, culture, and com…
- [S5, Ep41] The People Strategy You’re Avoiding (And Why It’s Making Scaling Messy)
This episode discusses the challenges of scaling a business without a clear people strategy, focusing on the pitfalls of reactive hiring and the benefits of aligning your team with your company vision.
- [S5, Ep40] The ‘Nice Girl’ Trap: Why Female Founders Struggle With Leadership Boundaries (with Sarah Khan)
This episode features Sarah Khan, a leadership strategist, discussing the challenges female founders face with leadership boundaries and the "nice girl trap." It explores practical strategies for authentic and powerful leadership, moving b…
- [S5, Ep39] The Leadership Shift in the Messy Middle
This episode discusses how a founder's innate drive, if unchecked, can impede business growth. It highlights the importance of internal work to separate identity from output, addressing the "hyper achiever saboteur," and emphasizes the nee…
- [S5, Ep38] The Messy Middle: The Stage No One Warned You About
This episode discusses the "messy middle," a challenging stage of business growth where existing strategies falter despite apparent success. It explores why common solutions like hustling are ineffective and details the necessary leadershi…
- [S5, Ep37] The Most Underrated Growth Strategy? Your People Strategy
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses the critical importance of a people strategy for business growth, challenging the myth that it can be addressed later. It emphasizes that people are the core growth strategy and outlines h…
- [S5, Ep36] The Courage to Lead With Your Whole Story - A Conversation with Fallon Farinacci
This episode features Fallon Farinacci discussing leadership through personal experience, exploring how stories connect people and the courage it takes to lead authentically.
- [S5, Ep35] The CEO Dilemma: Why Growth Feels So Lonely (And What to Do About It)
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses the loneliness and lack of support often experienced by leaders during business scaling. It explores the pressure on high-performing women and the transition from founder to CEO, offering…
- [S5, Ep34] Redesigning Your CEO Role for Real Growth
This episode addresses the identity shift and emotional challenges founders face when moving from an operational role to a CEO position. It outlines four key CEO roles—Visionary Steward, Culture Keeper, Strategic Leader, and Decision Archi…
- [S5, Ep33] The Leadership Shift You Need to Scale
In this episode, the host discusses how founders can transition from handling every business detail to stepping into a true CEO role. The episode covers identifying decision fatigue, building invisible architecture, and implementing system…
- [S5, Ep32] Building a Team That Fits: Fewer "Shoulds," More Strategy (with Rachel Pedersen)
In this episode, host sits down with Rachel Pedersen to discuss lessons learned from scaling, downsizing, and rebuilding a team. They cover the pitfalls of panic hiring and people-pleasing, the importance of leading with core values, and s…
- [S5, Ep31] Why Being the Final Decision-Maker Is Holding Your Business Back
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses the "Final Decision Maker Trap," where founders remain the bottleneck despite attempts to delegate. It explores why teams may not make decisions, the link between people-pleasing and burno…
- [S5, Ep30] Delegation Stops Working As Your Business Grows
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses the common problem of delegation failing as a business grows. It explores how outdated leadership systems, not a lack of talent, cause bottlenecks and why "just delegate more" is often mis…
- [S5, Ep29] 2025: What a Year! Leadership Lessons, Overcommitment, and Scaling with Intention
This episode discusses leadership lessons learned in 2025, focusing on issues like overcommitment and the need for intentional scaling. The host shares three key shifts for leaders to adopt for greater clarity and effectiveness in 2026, es…
- [S5, Ep28] Fuel Your Leadership (with Dietitian Lindsay Martens)
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged features dietitian Lindsay Martens discussing the importance of nutrition and hydration for founders. They explore how neglecting basic needs impacts performance and introduce self-compassion as a l…
- [S5, Ep27] I Hired a Team… So Why Am I Still Doing Everything?
In this episode of Female Founder Unplugged, the host discusses the common issue of founders over-functioning and doing everything themselves, even after hiring a team. The episode aims to help leaders understand why this happens and how t…
- [S5, Ep26] Why Is It So F*cking Hard to Ask for Help?
This episode delves into the difficulties female founders face when asking for help, exploring the internal struggles and negative impacts on their business and well-being. It offers strategies and questions to help identify areas of overw…
- [S5, Ep25] The Accountability Gap - Why Your Team Doesn't Follow Through
This episode addresses the common issue of teams not following through, explaining that confusion, not laziness, is often the root cause. It explores how a lack of clarity erodes accountability and offers strategies to create ownership and…
- [S5, Ep24] Breaking Free from the Busy Trap with Peggy Sullivan
Peggy Sullivan discusses "time poverty," the feeling of never having enough time, and how busyness became a default for women leaders. The episode explores strategies to shift from autopilot to intentional action, focusing on achieving mor…
- [S5, Ep23] Chief Everything Officer - Stop Being The Answer For Everyone
This episode discusses the pitfalls of being a 'Chief Everything Officer' and explains why constantly solving every problem is unsustainable leadership. It explores how over-functioning leaders impact team function and offers strategies to…
- [S5, Ep22] Hiring Doesn't Have To Be Scary
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses the fear surrounding hiring. It provides a 5-step framework for making confident, values-aligned hires and discusses mindset shifts, defining roles, and measuring success.
- [S5, Ep21] Building a Bold Culture with Bananas & Boundaries (with Jennie Coleman)
This episode features Jennie Coleman discussing Equifruit's fair-trade banana business, fearless leadership, and their core values of Compassion, Commitment to Change, and Creativity. The conversation highlights the 'Don't work with jerks'…
- [S5, Ep20] Empathy Is Not a Dirty Word: Why It’s the Most Underrated Leadership Superpower
This episode argues that empathy is an essential leadership superpower, not a sign of weakness. It outlines a five-step practice for developing empathy, starting with self-empathy, and explains how it enhances performance, connection, and…
- [S5, Ep19] Why Am I Always the One? The Hidden Mental Load of Female Founders
This episode explores the hidden mental load carried by female founders, often stemming from being 'the fixer'. It discusses the negative impacts on focus, energy, and growth, and offers strategies for delegation and setting boundaries to…
- [S5, Ep18] Reconciliation Is Smart Business with Tanya Tourangeau
Tanya Tourangeau explains why reconciliation is a smart business strategy, focusing on building relationships and preparing for future workforces and clients. She highlights the economic benefits and provides actionable steps for integrati…
- [S5. Ep17] Burnout Starts in Your Calendar: Fix These 5 Leadership Habits Now
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses how burnout stems from leadership habits reflected in one's calendar. It outlines five key shifts founders should make: moving from reaction to regulation, control to trust, output to ener…
- [S5. Ep16] The 3-Step Rescue Plan for When You’re Totally Overwhelmed
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged details a 3-step rescue plan for leadership fatigue and overwhelm, common issues for female founders. It explains why capable leaders experience overwhelm and offers strategies for grounding, findin…
- [S5, Ep15] Be the CFO of You With Shashi Behl
Shashi Behl, Founder & CEO of Joydrop, discusses financial leadership for women on Female Founder Unplugged. The episode covers financial reframes, taking agency, investing in oneself and business, and aligning financial vision for growth…
- [S5, Ep14] Money is Just a Metric
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses why money should be viewed as a metric, not a core value, in business. It emphasizes defining success through personal values like fulfillment, authenticity, and legacy, leading to a stron…
- [S5, Ep13] What’s the Rush? Why Slowing Down is the Fastest Way to Lead
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged argues that the entrepreneurial emphasis on speed can be detrimental, leading to a loss of clarity and joy. The host explains how slowing down, pausing, and reflecting can foster resilience and stre…
- [S5, Ep12] When is Advice Too Much Advice? How to Trust Your Inner Leader
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses the overwhelming amount of advice founders receive. It guides listeners on how to filter external opinions, trust their intuition, and identify their inner leader. The episode also differe…
- [S5, Ep11] Your Team Is the Asset: Why People Add All the Value in Your Business
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged explains why people are the most valuable asset in a business and how to lead a team effectively. It covers shifting from a "helper" to a "leader" role to achieve business growth and personal freedo…
- [S5, Ep10] Leadership Is an Inside Job: Brenda Rigney on Self-Discipline & Owning Your Worth
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged features Brenda Rigney discussing self-leadership, burnout, and the challenges midlife women face while building businesses. The conversation covers the reality behind entrepreneurship and the myth…
- [S5, Ep9] Detox the Drama: How to Stop Playing Therapist and Start Leading Like a CEO
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged focuses on how entrepreneurs can stop managing emotions and start leading with calm, confident authority. It covers why drama thrives in small teams, mindset shifts to exit "fixer" mode, and communi…
- [S5 Ep8] - The Resilience Reframe: Why Your Inner Critic is a Liar (and What to Do About It)
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses building practical resilience skills for entrepreneurs facing setbacks. It explores techniques to manage an inner critic, provides a quick nervous system reset method, and emphasizes the l…
- [S5, Ep7] Stop Avoiding It: How I Learned to Lead Difficult Conversations Like a Pro
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged addresses conflict avoidance and shares a 5-step framework for leading difficult conversations. It covers mindset shifts, common saboteurs like people-pleasing, and the benefits of clear communicati…
- [S5, Ep6] Scaling Isn’t Solo: The Real ROI of Building the Right Team
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged focuses on the importance of building the right team for scaling a business. It emphasizes that employees are the core value creators and provides strategies for female founders to transition from a…
- [S5, Ep5] Redefining Success: Why Natalia Hooker Built a Publishing Business Around Joy, Not Hustle
This episode features Natalia Hooker, a boutique publisher and mother, who shares her unconventional journey from banking and music to redefining business success around joy and personal values. She explains her hybrid publishing model, em…
- [S5, Ep4] Culture Isn’t a Perk — It’s Your Secret Growth Strategy
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses how culture, built by people not perks, acts as a growth engine. It covers identifying red flags in company culture, the impact of scaling business without scaling culture, and the importa…
- [S5, Ep3] Burnout-Proof Leadership: How to Stop White-Knuckling Your Business
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses burnout in leadership, explaining that it may not always manifest as exhaustion but rather as a feeling of depletion despite doing everything right. It emphasizes the importance of alignin…
- [S5, Ep2] Hiring Isn’t the Problem — Your People Strategy Is
This episode of Female Founder Unplugged discusses ineffective hiring practices, suggesting a lack of a clear People Strategy. It introduces a 3-part hiring framework emphasizing values, strengths, and future growth, and encourages founder…
- [S5, Ep1] Welcome Back: A New Season, a New Mission, and the LPC Method That Changes Everything
This episode introduces the LPC Method, a leadership framework designed to help female founders transition from reactive to strategic business management. It covers aligning teams, identifying growth gaps, and building a sustainable busine…
- [S5 Trailer] Scaling as a Female Founder: No More Burnout, BS, or Doing It Alone
The trailer for Season 5 of Female Founder Unplugged introduces the season's focus on scaling a business without burnout. It will cover topics like aligned leadership, people strategy, and building a supportive company culture.
- [S4, Ep#41] Season 4 Finale: How to Make Power Moves and Become Unstoppable with Founder Lindsay White
This season finale episode of Female Founder Unplugged reflects on Season 4's key leadership lessons, including making bold moves, building confidence, taking risks, and transforming conflict. It provides strategies for scaling businesses…
- [S4, Ep40] Trust the Messy Middle: Learn How to Pivot with Purpose with Female Founder LauraAura
LauraAura shares her journey of transitioning from a branding agency to a career as a speaker and coach, emphasizing the importance of embracing neurodivergence, listening to intuition, and making purposeful pivots in business.