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Women are often taught to stay small

They’re told to make themselves physically smaller, talk less, push less, and generally step back and towards the outskirts instead of boldly holding the middle of a room. 

This often starts in our relationships with our body. Which is why we invited Sadie Lincoln, founder of Barre3, to join us for this episode where we discuss how to give grace to ourselves wherever we’re at, learn the power of accepting our bodies as they are, and how that carries over into our everyday lives. 

What you’ll learn:

• How Sadie started Barre3

• The importance of embracing the best movement for your body, without “weight loss” being the goal

• Why Tori and Sadie agree about empowerment coming from within

Sadie’s Links:

Barre3
Instagram

Resources:

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Transcript:

[00:00:00] Tori Dunlap: okay. I gotta, I gotta gush about Barre3 for a second. This is not sponsored in any way. I’ve been doing Barre for probably seven years, and I got almost forced to do a class by my boyfriend at the time. And I did not work out at this period because working out was for skinny people and working out was to lose weight.

[00:00:21] And I knew nothing beyond like running. And the first time I did Barre, honestly, I hated it, . I was like, never again. I have never been this sore in my entire life. I woke up the next day, I couldn’t walk. I was like, I’m never doing this again. But then I went again and again and again. And then I got to the point where I was going like three, four times a week.

[00:00:42] I worked at Barre3 Roosevelt for a period of time. I was running the front desk. The front desk manager is now a member of Her First $100K is now our admin manager here. And Barre absolutely changed my life. So I am so excited to chat with you today and I thought it would be fun and interesting.

[00:01:00] I would love to tell you all of the things that I learned about life doing Barre3, and if you wouldn’t mind talking about if that was intentional or if these are the, some similar things you’ve heard from other people. And then we can talk about the entrepreneurship stuff. But I’m just excited to talk to you cause I’ve admired you for so long.

[00:01:18] Sadie Lincoln: Love that.

[00:01:20] Tori Dunlap: so first maybe give us a context as to, before I dive in, why for you was, was it something that you were drawn to around Barre and it felt so different for me than any other workout I’d ever done. So maybe before I dive in, walk us through. How you came to this in this way?

[00:01:42] Sadie Lincoln: Really similar story to you, and I thought I was alone in this. That exercise was a chore. Something you did. Because we weren’t good enough right now. And if you do exercise, you can look sexy, attractive, worthy, you can belong, you can be successful. I bought into this manipulation, frankly. And so when I came into exercise with that mentality, I kind of beat my body up.

[00:02:12] Both physically, but also more importantly emotionally. I had a lot of shame around my body. And that shame was increasing the more I did fitness versus decreasing, which is really confusing. But I was in the industry. I was growing a different company working for them, and I decided to create, I I had an aha when I was pregnant to start exercising as a practice of being honest and present in my body as it was in that moment, a practice of compassion and courage.

[00:02:42] And I let go of the after picture that, that ideal I was. Struggling to reach, which we’ll never get there, by the way. It’s in the future. It doesn’t exist. It’s imagined. So that’s why we’re, we’re, we’re all set up for failure. And I, I decided to just scratch my own itch and create a program based on what I needed.

[00:02:56] And then I met people like you , and I’ve realized I wasn’t alone. It’s pretty

[00:03:03] Tori Dunlap: I knew I was gonna cry like six times. I, I’m gonna cry so many times in this episode. I’m just so excited. Um, I think one of the things that I love, and I know you’ve talked about and we’ve talked about on the show as well, and one of the things that kept me coming back was this idea that when you come into a class, you are there to be stronger in your body, not to necessarily lose weight.

[00:03:26] And that we’re working out to feel good in our body and to take up space in a society that constantly tells women to minimize, either physically be as tiny as possible or your personality, your beliefs, your values, to shrink them, to make other people comfortable. And that’s one of the things that I brought into my life outside of the studio was I can take up space, I can move my body in a way that feels good.

[00:03:55] I can build strength, not just because. Or or not because I want to lose weight or because I want to shrink myself, but because I want to expand and be every part of me and every facet of me.

[00:04:07] Sadie Lincoln: Yes, I love the word expand. A lot of what we do at Barre3, we combine strength, cardio, and mindfulness and we’re highly efficient and effective. So the workout does matter. It is, you know, we do want people to see progress to grow, to expand. And ironically, I agree with you a thousand percent, we have been conditioned to minimize ourselves to get smaller, and that motivation prevents us from achieving results.

[00:04:40] So I’ll give you a very specific example that’s embodied. I. like many women through I, I didn’t like my belly. I started to have a bad relationship with my belly probably when I was around 13 and I learned at 13 years old and I practiced every single day sucking in my belly as hard as I could. And I practiced that every day all the way through high school, all the way through college, all the way through many of my twenties into my early until I got pregnant.

[00:05:12] Then I was like, oh, wait, my belly should expand. Um, We added a, a hot bar, three that we’ve been conditioned with fitness to suck in the belly. And to not let the belly breathe. Like if you look at a kitten breathing the belly like naturally opens up and then softens down. That’s how we all should breathe.

[00:05:31] And when you breathe that way, when you let your belly totally open up and balloon and like expand, you send oxygen to every cell in your body and you increase your endurance, you decrease your stress. You be, you’re able to lift heavier weights. So by restricting our bellies and trying to be flat and little, we’re actually.

[00:05:50] Minimizing our, our fitness experience and our, our ability to achieve. So just that one insight led us to like different retail we now use beyond yoga, which is soft and stretchy, and we have bigger tops, so like flowy tops, so people don’t, you know, it’s easier psychologically to, to expand your belly if you don’t, if you’re self-conscious about it, to where like looser clothing, like we really took that one insight and you know, infused it into our whole concept.

[00:06:15] And because of that, people are stronger, they’re less stressed, they’re we’re motivated. Their endurance is better. The, the whole experience is better.

[00:06:22] Tori Dunlap: Yeah, and I find just the way I show up is. I never, I was never the person who craved working out. I was like, I don’t wanna do this. This sounds awful. And then I got to the point where I craved being sweaty and I joke, I had never, I was like, who is this person? But it was because I wanted to move my body in a way that felt good.

[00:06:43] And I think one of the other powerful things I’ve learned, I literally have a list by, by my desk here, is beyond, again, in studio and out of just modifying anything that feels. Any of the instructors in Seattle will tell you, I’m like the modification queen. I know every single modification that I need in order to make my body feel good.

[00:07:02] And
I think because we are told both in fitness and in life that no pain, no gain. And if you’re not in pain, that you are not progressing. And that if you are not suffering , that you can’t see the results that you want. And again, outside where you know, in existing, in my own business, in my relationships, it often felt like, okay, this is the necessary thing.

[00:07:28] In order to better my life, I need to be in this, this pain or this like unhealthy discomfort to see progress. And of course, that’s not true.

[00:07:41] Sadie Lincoln: It’s a huge myth. It’s a huge myth that the no pain, no gain is, is just the data is clear. When we modify, what we do is we take out negative pain in the joints of the body, like the wrists, the shoulders, the neck, the low back, the hips, the knees, the ankles, the toes, like the areas of our body. We, I think many clients don’t even know that they’re struggling in those, those areas.

[00:08:10] So we take that out and then you get the deep, healthy. You know, contag like the, the burn and the belly of the muscle that’s contagious. That makes you feel powerful and because you are powerful in that moment. And modifications, you know, one of my favorite sayings is and I, this is in a book called Rework that I just loved, but they, he, they said, copying skips, understanding. So when you’re in a room with 25 other people and you’re copying what everybody else is doing, or what the instructor is doing, you’re skipping the most beautiful part of what we get to experience together, which is body wisdom and understanding your body and learning to move in a way that honors you.

[00:08:51] in that moment. And like people like you, Tori, you’re such a role model. You’re more of an instructor than the instructor is when you modify in class because it gives everybody else permission to do the same thing. It’s probably the thing I’m most proud about in terms of our product that we, if you come to Barre3, you’re gonna see everybody doing their own thing and we’re all like giving each other props for it.

[00:09:12] Tori Dunlap: And I just realized, again, I’m crying again. The most brave moments I think I’ve had, I’ve had in studio, and one of them was like deciding to modify for the first time when no one else was doing it. I remember it was like one or two pound weights, and I got, my arms got tired and I felt so much shame of like, Tori, you can’t, you can’t lift this two pound weight.

[00:09:32] And it’s like, first of all, I’ve been doing it for eight minutes and I’m tired, . And second of all, it’s like, that’s okay, that’s okay. And I, I did, I’m literally coached myself through it of like, okay, no one’s watching me. Even if they are and they’re judging me, that’s their problem. I’m setting down my weights, I’m doing what feels good.

[00:09:49] And I remember the liberation of that, of like, oh my God, I can do what feels good. Even if it’s like not the right fitness thing to do. Or even if everybody else in this room is doing something different. I can’t tell you the amount of times people are doing burpees. And I’m like, I don’t wanna do burpees.

[00:10:06] And I do step taps instead. And if you’ve been to a bar class, they’re huge step taps are like, look at me, look at me, look at me. They take up so much space when everybody’s, you know, doing planks on the floor. But that’s what I needed to feel good. And again, it’s taught me so much of like. You need to do what’s right for you, even if everybody else is doing something different.

[00:10:26] Sadie Lincoln: And that’s success. That’s achievement. That’s crushing it. You know, think about it in life. when we stand up for ourselves in a meeting, you know, in a moment where you see injustice or you just wanna like, you know, do something that’s different than everybody else, but you’re honoring your intuition.

[00:10:44] That’s when we win. That’s when we grow, that’s when we live a full life. And I really do believe the more we practice that in our bodies, the more we can engage that way out in the real world. , you know, as we leave the studio,

[00:10:55] Tori Dunlap: right. I’m really, I’m turning this into an ad for Barre3, but Cause I love it so much.

[00:11:01] Sadie Lincoln: Well, I think that that honest experience and expression is so important when it comes to fitness because so many of us feel alone in it. There, there are so many people that are shell-shocked right now and truly stuck at home. If you’re listening to this and, and you can identify with that. Just know the founder of this giant fitness company feels the same exact way.

[00:11:22] I have a really hard time leaving my home and inserting myself into the routine I had before Covid. And when we hear stories like yours, Tori, we all are. And so it’s good to, it’s good to remember ourselves again, and we remember ourselves by, by storytelling and sharing and, and hearing, you know, honest experiences like that.

[00:11:43] So it’s a gift, you know, whether it’s Barre3 or any other exercise, I think, you know, it’s inspiring to.

[00:11:50] Tori Dunlap: Well, and I’m telling you this because I, I, I want you as an individual, but also just, just everybody to know, like, Yeah, , it’s very much changed my life and it’s made me show up in my business different and my relationship’s different. And I didn’t think any sort of workout, like again, I kind of am nauseated by people who are like, oh, I love the gym.

[00:12:10] And I’m like, okay, cool. Like, whatever. But like in so many ways, like it has transformed how I show up for myself and my body and the way I view my body and what I will or not will not tolerate in relationships. Like, it’s so interesting of just like, yep, I’m here in my worth, and like, yep, we’re not, we’re not gonna be in situations that I don’t feel worthy.

[00:12:31] The last thing before we get into your entrepreneurship journey, the other thing that was so powerful for me is learning how to stay present in discomfort.

[00:12:40] Sadie Lincoln: Hm.

[00:12:41] Tori Dunlap: And again, you can tell everybody better than I can, but in a class there are so many times where you’re holding. Position or a posture that feels incredibly uncomfortable.

[00:12:51] Not painful, but just uncomfortable. And the amount of times that I have had to coach myself to breathe through that discomfort to know it’s temporary and to know I’m gonna feel so powerful on the other side has helped with any sort of life event where I’ve grieved when I felt uncomfortable, when I didn’t wanna be here.

[00:13:11] But I knew on the other side of that was growth and transformation. And I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned is that me and Power leg does not last forever. It will end at some point. and I just have to get through it.

[00:13:27] Sadie Lincoln: That’s so beautifully stated. Truly learning to be still and compassionate and discomfort is a gift.

[00:13:37] Tori Dunlap: Yeah.

[00:13:37] Sadie Lincoln: The alternative doesn’t do any of us good. Ignoring it, put, brushing it aside. Numbing it with something else. You know, if you think about life when we learn to sit in discomfort and stillness with compassion, and my favorite quote is, this too shall pass.

[00:13:55] This too shall pass. And the good stuff passes too. Like during your favorite part, this too shall pass. It’s temporary, so why not? You know? But it’s honest and it’s what’s happening in the, in the body. And the other thing that that happens when you do that in your body, like if you’re in Power Lake, for example, for those of you who haven’t done Barre3, it’s your heels are lifted and you’re bending on and you’re, it’s a.

[00:14:17] exciting burn in your quads, and you often the legs start shaking. You go to muscle failure. And when you focus on that sensation, you can’t focus anywhere else. It’s mindfulness. You are so present and you are so alive. And that’s one thing I think I’ve learned in these hor, you know, this really hard time, is that to be alive in the moment, to feel, to not be numb, to feel the pain, to feel the sadness, to feel the discomfort, to you know, to kind of shake us up again.

[00:14:48] So, so we’re not kind of like drones walking around , you know, it’s, it’s truly like a way to build our focus and mindfulness in those moments.

[00:14:56] Tori Dunlap: and I’ve talked about, and I’ve alluded to in my, on my Instagram and our podcast before, like I went through a pretty difficult life event at the end of 2020 where I just, I didn’t know the way forward. And I think, one, I wasn’t doing bar as often as I had before because everything was shut down. And I kind of forgot that I forgot myself in that.

[00:15:17] And I was so focused on trying to move through grief that I didn’t just allow it to, to settle and to understand like, okay, we’re gonna be here a while. We’re gonna be uncomfortable for a while, but to your point, this too shall pass. So all of those things I’ve learned in my own life. Talking about your story and your journey, sort of components of your class, of your business do you see as life moments as, as you’ve built a company?

[00:15:47] Like what have you learned from your own, your own practice of Barre3 that has, has benefited your life outside the studio or the.

[00:15:58] Sadie Lincoln: that’s a really great question. I do. Every 60 minutes, I take a class. I love the full 60 minutes. We also have 45 minutes, and online we have 10 30 lots of different times. I, it’s a practice of kind of rediscovering myself getting outta comfort into what I call brave space, which is there’s like comfort in the middle, which there’s a place for comfort.

[00:16:19] But stepping into brave space, brave space is where we challenge ourselves where we’re present and alive and alive in the discomfort, but using the discomfort to move forward, to learn to grow. But right outside a brave space is what I call the fight. and that’s when you’ve gone too far. And now it’s a fight with your body to the finish line.

[00:16:40] That’s where shame comes in. That’s where pain comes in cuz we go past that honest place to a comparing I’m not good enough. I need to go harder. I know to go longer. And all of that, those feelings are feelings I have as a, as a. You know, I know when I go into Fight Zone, when I start to compare myself to what other CEOs do, or you know, how hard my company has hit compared to other people’s, and I start to, you know, fight with kind of myself over, over the finish line of getting there.

[00:17:11] But when I step back into brave space like I do in Barre3 classes where I’m challenged just enough and I have a growth mindset, you know, that’s where innovation happens. That’s where hard choices happen. Like maybe that person needs to leave the organization. It’s not a good fit for either of us anymore.

[00:17:27] . That’s where I see, oh my gosh, no, I need this new expert around the table. I need to listen more. , I’m not the expert. They are, you know, I, I just, and then modifying like every day is a new day at Barre3, especially in this climate. Nobody has a normal routine anymore, so we can’t count on our normal 8 45 class packed with a wait list one week, it is the next week.

[00:17:47] It isn’t like there is no, there is no routine anymore. So it’s really about being agile and modifying and listening to our clients more and meeting her where she is. And you know, all of that. When I step into the studio, I, I get to practice in my body. And I think it’s beautiful no matter what profession you’re in, that you can kind of start to see that, that metaphor in your body and, and in your life.

[00:18:12] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. Well, and you mentioned before, and knowing a bit about your story, it sounds like the, the comfort. And maybe you weren’t comfortable but the, the comfort you experienced at the beginning of your career, but to the point where you knew that wasn’t brave, maybe of like, okay, I need to do something different.

[00:18:27] And probably what, what prompted Barre3 in the, in the manifestation as it is now of getting outside of that, that comfortability into something that feels vulnerable and scary, but also very true to what you want and who you are.

[00:18:43] Sadie Lincoln: Yes, starting Barre3 was a courageous move. I was so depleted every day in my old career and in my old fitness routines, and I think that’s the easiest indication. The easiest litmus test is after this interaction, after this day, after this workout. Am I depleted or do I feel nourished and energized?

[00:19:03] It’s like the easiest question to ask yourself. Right. Well, I was consistently depleted, depleted, depleted. I was depleted socially in my job. Like connection wise, I was depleted. Just. values wise, it’s completed depleted on my body. And so, you know, Chris and I chose, my husband and I are co-founders to, to create Barre3.

[00:19:22] Honestly, just to re-energize ourselves based on our values. And once we made that cur courageous choice to let go of our, the salaries, you know, sell the house, put all that we had worked so hard to buy, we lived in the Bay Area we decided to sell the house. And we used that money to start our first studio.

[00:19:39] We let go of money as the end game. And instead we were like, let’s, let’s get plenty enough in our bodies, in our lives. Let’s like find a new definition of abundance and rich and wealth richness and wealth. And honestly, as soon as we did that, the money came, the clients came like, we were so clear on our purpose.

[00:20:00] And I think because of that we were so attractive to so many, so quickly that the early days were super easy at part three. It was just like, people were just flowing in those doors. No problemo. And you know, I, I think back to that time a lot, and I think it’s because I was so clear, I was so intentional.

[00:20:17] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. That’s so interesting. And again, I, I come back to, again, the things I learned in the studio of, you were talking about comparison. I’m doing that right now with my own body, is, my body is not the same and I
‘m really, I, I even my brain just went to. Yeah. Oh, I just went to, and I purposely chose the words not the same, because what I was going to say is my body is like worse.

[00:20:40] Right. And it’s just, it’s different. It’s heavier. It’s, I’m not as active. I’m fuller in my face. Like things are very different. Because I don’t have the same routine I did. And also I went through some shit, like I went through some shit in the past couple years. I also travel all the time now for work, which is very exciting.

[00:20:57] But I, I can’t have my normal bar membership because I’m traveling all the time. So I imagine for you it’s very easy, like you were talking about, to compare during a global pandemic that affects every part of your business. It, it, I would be comparing, oh, those early days were easy. Why is it so hard now?

[00:21:20] Ha. Have you struggled with that as an entrepreneur of, of doing that comparison of like, , everything’s really hard now.

[00:21:27] Sadie Lincoln: Yeah. again, that’s so, that’s so enlightened of you to see that. Yes.

[00:21:32] Tori Dunlap: Also trying to make this episode not be me fangirling, so I’m trying to like pull it back to like some common thread of like, let’s relate it back to the fitness and the things we learn in and

[00:21:43] Sadie Lincoln: you really get it though. You get it. You get the deeper our psychology. Of fitness, which it, it is, it’s exciting once you get that bug because you can just deepen your practice once you kind of connect the psychology of it, which is really exciting.

[00:22:00] It has been a conscious practice for me to let go of the old Barre3. What I, what it was because it is today so beautiful. It’s so beautiful. It’s not what

[00:22:13] Tori Dunlap: that loss?

[00:22:14] Sadie Lincoln: I grieve it well, it’s like a practice. I go back and forth, like we financially forecast all the time. Like our numbers aren’t where we want, we wanted them to be right now.

[00:22:23] Our clients are slower to come back than any other industry, any other fitness boutique concept bar, three bar and is a, the slowest to come back because our core client, frankly our exhausted women,

[00:22:36] Tori Dunlap: Yep,

[00:22:38] Sadie Lincoln: who are very me exact same thing as you’re feeling right now. Like, people I think were disassociated out of their body and now we’re, we’re, we’re inviting ourselves back into our bodies and it’s like a different body

[00:22:52] Tori Dunlap: And I have to get honest where I’m at. I led myself through a class two days ago and I, I can’t, I can’t be in, in, in the poses for as long and I, and it was, again, I’m crying for like the fifth time, but like, I, I have, I have to like, So much grace for myself in like, yep, okay, we’re not at five pound weights anymore.

[00:23:13] We’re back. We’re back to threes or twos. And you know what? That’s, that is, it is what it is. And even me saying that, I’m like,

[00:23:20] Sadie Lincoln: yeah, even in ba I we’re back too is I am today.

[00:23:26] Tori Dunlap: yes.

[00:23:27] Sadie Lincoln: pounds today is what my sweet self needs. my, my body today. I get to give my body today what she needs. And this container, this space, allows me to do that. And acknowledging, you know, I think it’s important not to ignore those thoughts.

[00:23:46] And then, but then with compassion, like it kind of goes like this, like, ugh, I used to be able to do forward fold at the bar with, without bending my niece. I, and then it’s like, oh yeah, I’m kind of beating myself up with that. Right? Like, that’s normal. That’s what humans do. What do you need right now today?

[00:24:04] what do you need right now? Because that’s what matters. What do you need? I’m gonna bend my knees more. I’m gonna lengthen my spine. I’m gonna focus on my breath elongating throughout my spine. That’s what I need right now. And then it’s just a practice of returning to compassion and presence. And the more we do that, all of a sudden third class end lakes are extended again.

[00:24:22] Right? The the hamstrings have softened, you’ve opened up our bodies keep score. We, we can, you know, and I think when we shut ourselves down, going backwards in time, comparing ourselves or to our future, imagine self that’s when we, we don’t get to experience exercises as we all should have it, which is to be present and alive and honest.

[00:24:46] And truly that’s all we do at Barre3. Is, is that constant, constant reminder to be present and alive in your body in the moment. And the other thing is with the comparison thing. Truly. Nobody’s looking at you. Nobody cares.

[00:25:03] Tori Dunlap: we’re all

[00:25:04] Sadie Lincoln: We’re all, yeah. And also because we’re queuing so much mindfulness, we’re queuing so much, like, how do you feel right now?

[00:25:11] Like, you know, body scanning over and over again that nobody has time to look around and care about what anybody else is doing. And you’re shoulder to shoulder in a community of people who are at Barre3. Because we care about community, we care about diversity, we care about body positivity. So you’re also so held, you know, and I think we all need that.

[00:25:30] We heal in community. We do not heal alone in our, in our, you know, these hard times.

[00:25:36] Tori Dunlap: Oh, yeah. The amount of times I’ve cried in a Barre3, I literally can’t, can’t count. Like I, I called it my church for a really long time, and I’m trying to, trying to get to the point where I’m going back to church more regularly, both because like, yeah, trying to incorporate it back into my life.

[00:25:49] And also I think it’s, I, I wouldn’t be surprised again as someone, as a practitioner of it, if there’s a resistance to come back. Definitely because you’re tired and because women are exhausted and also. You have to get honest about where you’re at. And that’s one thing that I think has prevented me from going back at the, at the pace I was before is one, my body can’t do the pace before it.

[00:26:14] It is unable to do three to four classes a week at this point. I tried, I tried two months ago, my body broke down. And the other thing is when I go, I have the moment of, well, not where I used to be. And I it you have to be really, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable in that. And that’s really difficult.

[00:26:34] It’s, it’s hard for me

[00:26:36] Sadie Lincoln: I think easing.

[00:26:38] Tori Dunlap: so.

[00:26:38] Sadie Lincoln
: Easing in is important. Again, the fight sound like people go from comfort to fight with their body versus comfort to just step outside that comfort zone. So that might mean a 10 minute online workout. We’ve been fed the story that you have to work out at least 30 minutes. Have I, I don’t know if you’ve, I I still have to like unlearn that it’s so not true.

[00:26:59] You can do 10 minutes of a efficient workout and it is proven to perform really well, if not better. If you do multiple 10 minutes throughout the day revs your metabolism energizes you, you get the same benefits. So, you know, I think, you know, some, for some people it’s a time constraint, like just doing 10 minutes at a time to start.

[00:27:17] For other people it’s just remembering, like walking in the studio. I’m gonna modify like crazy today. , I’m, I’m not gonna do anything hard. I’m just gonna ease in. And then of course, all of a sudden you’re like, in a deep sumo squat. Wait, wait, wait, what’s going on? Here I go. And you’re ready for it.

[00:27:29] Right? I think we surprise ourselves. And we’re also, I don’t, I, I just feel like time is, we’re, I don’t think we have as much like room for stress as we used to. Like if I, or, or focus, like if I go and like crush it at a meeting, I’m so much more tired after than I used to be.

[00:27:47] Tori Dunlap: I was literally thinking that yesterday. I was like, I used to, I, I quit my job right before the pandemic to run H FK full-time. I quit in 2019 and I was literally, that’s so funny you say that. I was thinking yesterday, I was walking in my kitchen and I’m like, I used to sit at a desk for eight hours now.

[00:28:03] I hated it. But I would sit there for eight hours and now I get through an hour meeting, I’m like, I need an nap every single time. I’m like, I’m so tired, . I’m so tired.

[00:28:12] Sadie Lincoln: have to keep pouring into ourselves. Pour in except that you’re tired. Take the little cat nap, drink a giant glass of water. You know? I think taking time for ourselves is so important right now. It’s critical to rebuilding our strength.

[00:28:29] Tori Dunlap: yeah. Well, and what would you say to somebody, probably me, like five or six years ago that it’s like, Working out as a punishment. That doesn’t feel like time for myself. That feels like I have to, yeah. Get on the treadmill and run until I collapse, basically. Like what is your response to that person?

[00:28:46] Sadie Lincoln: It will not be a punishment, I promise. I know this, like every cell in my body. If you’re working out mindfully, if you’re working out with an intention to be honest and present in your body and to generously give yourself what you need, then you will start to anchor exercise to a gift, a, a true expression of.

[00:29:07] Versus an expression of you trying to do something. It’s l an expression of you, of your strength, of your mobility, of your resilience, of your flexibility, of your, you know, it’s a, it, it becomes you and then it’s not a chore. It’s not something you dread, it’s something that you is inherently who you are.

[00:29:28] And that takes practice. It’s not something we can do overnight. I’m still practicing it every day. But it really is a gift to figure that out.

[00:29:38] Tori Dunlap: I’m realizing in our conversation, which I didn’t even plan to talk about, but the similarities, it sounds like for you in your role as an entrepreneur, as running Barre3, but also I think a lot of the struggle we have easing back into life at the end of the pandemic, post pandemic. I don’t know what we want, we want to call it. I mean, everything’s different. And Barre3, you go from this incredibly thriving business to decimated seemingly overnight or at least very, very different kind of business. What is, what has your mindset been and what sort of hoops have you had to jump through as an entrepreneur from where we were in quote unquote normal?

[00:30:27] To the progression through the pandemic to now,

[00:30:32] Sadie Lincoln: we I, we just had our owner summits we’re a hundred percent owned and operated by women owned and operated. It is, and I think that’s why we hung on, I mean, every single one of us, we have a hundred, 170 studios. A lot of those are open, some of them are in various stages of development. We all had to close our doors, right?

[00:30:54] Had external force, close your doors. So together as an organization, we started Zoom classes and all the things you guys are all probably familiar with. What’s so beautiful is because these women owned and operated their own businesses, locals supported them and stayed with them enough that we’ve had very few studio closures compared to the industry.

[00:31:14] And we’ve been really proud a about that. And we had a lot of adrenaline through Covid because of it. 30% of boutique fitness shut for good and we were way lower than that. I think we had three closures last year of our fleet. Like it’s really incredible.

[00:31:28] Tori Dunlap: Sadie. That’s, that’s amazing. That’s in,

[00:31:31] Sadie Lincoln: amazing. And I would say we are hanging on at this point.

[00:31:37] It’s harder. And if you, any of you feel like this too, I think a lot of us, it’s like. . Oh, it’s, everything turned back on. We’re back to normal, but it’s not, and now we have a hangover.

[00:31:49] Tori Dunlap: and you can’t get back to that because we’ve been through so much, there’s no getting back to, yeah,

[00:31:55] Sadie Lincoln: Exactly. It’s, it’s a full circle conversation. It’s, it isn’t how it used to be. It is today. And today we’re, we’re like I was talking to my friend Jesse Dooley, who owns Burn Cycle locally here in Portland, and she was saying, I feel like, like I broke my arm. And I, it’s like the cast just came off, but it’s still really weak and atrophied, but I’m supposed to go, like, crush it and do like 20 pushups a day.

[00:32:19] You know, we’re kind of

[00:32:20] Tori Dunlap: to be a bodybuilder. Yeah.

[00:32:22] Sadie Lincoln: Yeah, we’re like atrophied right now. And so, so as a business, we’re slowly building our strength again. And it’s, we’re depleted. As owners, I’m depleted. We’re all, and, and yet we need to really show up and we need to do the best we can you know, to offer our clients the best workout we possibly can.

[00:32:39] And so that’s been like a struggle, but it’s also made us stronger as an organization. I am so proud. A hundred percent owned and operated by women. Every single one of these women who are bringing it so fully right now on a half tank, you know? And I think a lot of it has to do with our faith. . And, and the idea of hope because we’re crushed that there are so many women that haven’t come back to the studio.

[00:33:07] You know, fighting baby blues at home, you know, depressed in their bodies, shell-shocked, tired, exh
austed, and we just wanna figure out how to meet them where they are and to get them in our studios. And you know, I think a lot of it is just trust that, that that’s happening. And it is. I mean, our studio growth is, is happening.

[00:33:25] Stu classes are becoming full again. But it’s been hard. It’s been hard for all of us.

[00:33:31] Tori Dunlap: I imagine so much grief for what was, what could have been. I have I have a colleague who ran a coworking space for women. Literally was, you know, venture backed was on, was about to open 10, I think, 10 or 15. It’s the Riveter, you know, the Riveter, I think they were in Portland, right?

[00:33:54] Like,

[00:33:54] Sadie Lincoln: I’ve thought about her a lot.

[00:33:57] Tori Dunlap: devastated overnight, like was just on, just on the exponential crazy train and then just devastated through no fault of, you know, anybody’s business. And yeah, just so much, so much grief and loss in that. And I really appreciate though that that you are honest about that, but also framing it in to terms of like, where do we go from here,

[00:34:18] Sadie Lincoln: absolutely. Like it is. It is what it is. Here we

[00:34:23] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. Yeah. You can’t change it. Yeah.

[00:34:25] Sadie Lincoln: it’s like when you get injured, you’re, you know, identify as a really athletic person. You get injured and you suddenly can’t do your daily trail run. . Okay, so what am I gonna do? I’m gonna focus on a meditation practice.

[00:34:36] I’m gonna build that side of me, right? And that’s what we’re doing with business. Like, we’re really focusing on our digital business. How can we meet her? It’s mostly women, but we, we really, really invite anybody, however you identify into our studios. But how do we meet you um, where you are throughout all different inflection points in your day, 10 minute online workout.

[00:34:56] When you’re ready, come back to the studio. We’ve got play lounge starting to open up. If you’ve got a new baby, bring them. You know? And just being creative that way and flexible. It’s, it’s a new challenge. And when we invite and, you know, we’re really excited and, and we are seeing just in the, these two weeks in November, I just got done with my core meeting and people are coming back.

[00:35:15] Now it’s starting like we are starting to have full classes again. So I think, I think we all are adjusting and the grief period is, is waning and we’re starting to rebirth and come back. And I, I hope that for Riveter I’ll have to reach out to her. I think you know, woman to woman, owner to owner,

[00:35:32] Tori Dunlap: transitioned a lot.

[00:35:34] Sadie Lincoln: yeah.

[00:35:34] It’s all about supporting each other

[00:35:36] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. And again, I’m like relating it back to when I, yeah, when I was grieving the loss in 2020 and I was trying to process that, I realized a couple months ago, you know, I’m not where I want my body to be. There’s a lot of injuries that I’m dealing with and a lot of stress and tension, and yet I’m really happy and my mental health is pretty good.

[00:35:58] And so I realized, I was like, okay, we were putting my physical needs on pause because I was just trying to survive. I

[00:36:05] Sadie Lincoln: Yes. Yeah.

[00:36:06] Tori Dunlap: every day and okay, my mental health now is in a really good spot. Cause I worked for two years on it and now I can recomm. To taking care of my physical body because I have the bandwidth to do that now, or at least should, I’m busy as fuck, but like more I can, I can be more conscious of taking care of that part of me that I couldn’t when I was just trying to survive mentally.

[00:36:31] Yeah.

[00:36:32] Sadie Lincoln: Even five deep, mindful breaths is a workout. That’s

[00:36:38] Tori Dunlap: up and dancing around to your favorite song for four minutes.

[00:36:40] Sadie Lincoln: Absolutely. Absolutely. It all matters.

[00:36:45] Tori Dunlap: So you were talking about again, like comfort, the area of discomfort that feels healthy, and then do you call it fight like the fight zone?

[00:36:52] Sadie Lincoln: Fight zone. Yeah. When you’re fighting with your body to the finish line.

[00:36:56] Tori Dunlap: So again, if we’re relating fitness to our lives in our research about you, and again, knowing a little bit about you and your work, you’ve been kind of labeled by the public as a celebrity fitness guru, and you’ve talked about how that makes you really uncomfortable.

[00:37:11] Is that a fight zone thing for you?

[00:37:14] Sadie Lincoln: Hmm. Good question. Yeah, I really bristle at that.

[00:37:18] Tori Dunlap: Is it guru? Is it that idea?

[00:37:21] Sadie Lincoln: Copying Skip’s, understanding. I’m, I’m open. I will share my story as you will. You are just as much a part of Barre3 as I am. . I, I wanna hold space for.

[00:37:34] that’s my job, is to hold a container for people to not, to let go of that old way of looking up to the su I mean, in the back in the day, it was the supermodel, or now it’s the like uber athlete or the influencer who seems to have it all together. And then we, it’s, that’s aspirational. So we try to do what they do.

[00:37:52] It doesn’t, that just doesn’t work. I mean, it just frankly doesn’t work.

[00:37:55] Tori Dunlap: Yep. I’ve struggled with this too cuz you know, people have labeled me the finance guru and I’m like, I think I’m an educator and I think I have a lot of good things to say and a lot to teach you. But if I’m the only person you’re following, Like guru implies some sort of like God-like figure.

[00:38:12] And I’m like, if you’re putting me on a pedestal, I will fall off that pedestal and then you will be disappointed because I’m a human being and it will happen. And it scared me too in the same way that I

[00:38:24] Sadie Lincoln: Well, and also you’re about empowerment. You’re about like woman empowerment with their money. I equate guru with giving our, your power to someone else. Like, that’s my definition. But, but you know, in the yogi world, guru isn’t really that. It’s like, it’s like teacher, it’s a different, but that’s, that’s my kind of bias is I think of a guru of giving my power to something else.

[00:38:48] And I think both of us want to help people fi
nd their own power and their own strength. And, and curiosity and wisdom and you know, I think that’s so much more important than following or copying someone else.

[00:39:00] Tori Dunlap: Well, and I’d love to talk to you about this. It’s the reason I actually don’t use the word empower, and I’ve talked about this on the show before, the definition of the word empower is to give power. Right? And I, I already have power. You have power. Everybody listening has power. I don’t need to give power.

[00:39:15] I don’t need to be given power. I just need to know how to use it or harness it. So that’s actually one reason I don’t, I don’t say the words empowering women, even though for all intents and purposes totally believe it. Totally back it. That’s what I do. But I purposely have

[00:39:30] Sadie Lincoln: Well, it’s not your job. Yeah. That’s really interesting. So our mission statement is to empower from within. And we added that for that reason.

[00:39:39] Tori Dunlap: I sit there in power leg uncomfortable, and I read it on the windows every time, . And so I’m

[00:39:45] Sadie Lincoln: really about you with empowering yourself versus a brand coming out and saying, I’m gonna give you power. I’m going to, I’m gonna be the one that gives you the Yeah. We had a grand, grand fun debate around the words on that, so I, I couldn’t agree more. And also, like, we’ve heard women, women in empowerment so much, it’s like been co-opted, you know, we start to be

[00:40:06] Tori Dunlap: Oh, capitalism does that beautifully. They

[00:40:09] Sadie Lincoln: Yeah. . Yeah.

[00:40:11] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. Well, speaking of that, one of the things that I, that we struggle with as a company, and I struggle with, as an entrepreneur, with a growing business where I want a girl boss so hard, and I want, I want a big business and I want to be able to change lives, and I want to hire people and give people jobs, but also we’re participating in a system that actively disenfranchises us even as we try to change it.

[00:40:34] How have you thought about that? Have you considered it? I’m sure you have, but like, what, what is, what is that discomfort for you?

[00:40:43] Sadie Lincoln: Well, for one thing, I think that people who challenge the system are really attractive and like, you know, we, it’s like, it’s like people who are attracted to your brand are like, yeah, exactly. That’s what I’ve been thinking. Even though it’s counter to the, the norm, like, thank you. So like, I think it’s really important to be clear on the disrupt.

[00:41:06] Tori Dunlap: Yeah.

[00:41:07] Sadie Lincoln: am redefining what success and fitness means at Barre3. If that’s, if that’s energizing you, this idea that you can do fitness to, to feel an inner power and strength and and let go of the ideals and, and let go of all that, then, then you’re gonna love me. If you, if you really, if that doesn’t excite you, then you’re not, and that’s okay.

[00:41:25] Like, I really believe that the only thing that’s really gonna heal our world is, is, is if we can figure out how to make turn business to good. Almost every problem we have in our system and in our world is a business problem. , it’s a business problem. And I, I get so excited when I surround myself with really bright, courageous business people who are disrupting whatever their industry is because they’re trying to solve a systemic problem.

[00:41:56] The more of us that do that and make money doing it the, the greater the wellbeing of our, of our world could is, you know, there’s a possibility for greater wellbeing. And I truly believe that. And so, I don’t know if anyone’s listening to this and there’s sort of like a disruptor in their own right and feel alone in it, or obit everything else is against me.

[00:42:16] It’s like, no, no, no, no. There is so many people that are gonna be attracted to you because of that. Like, that’s your secret sauce. That’s you know, that’s where, that’s where you’re strong. I really, and including you.

[00:42:28] Tori Dunlap: Well, and I’ve talked about, thank you. I’ve talked about and, and had to come to terms cuz I, I just wrote a book, it’s coming out in December. I’m very excited. And the big thing was like, I don’t want to win capitalism because that means that I’ve probably exploited somebody, but if I lose capitalism, I suffer and my family suffers and my community suffers.

[00:42:50] And so it’s like, my job is to survive and, and, and thrive in that. But like, do my best to just do as good as I can, as as much good as I can. And then when I’m taken care of, use my money, use my power, use my strength and my resources to help everybody else around. But of course, again, back to

[00:43:12] Sadie Lincoln: you

[00:43:12] Tori Dunlap: we can, and we can relate all of this back, is like you cannot pour from an empty cup.

[00:43:17] So if you try to sacrifice your own happiness, your own stability, your own mental health to take care of everybody else, but you’re depleted, that’s not success. That’s not a win. If you are being sacrificial, and again, if we relate this back to the women, you know, who, who we both teach and both talk to, that’s what’s happening because we have had altruism ingrained in us of like, give everybody else your time, your energy and anytime you take for yourself is selfish.

[00:43:51] Sadie Lincoln: I would argue that if you’re, if you’re doing that, you’re probably not giving them your best energy. You’re giving them fumes. Right? But. . Interestingly, I just saw Lori Santos talk this weekend. She’s the science of happiness. It is statistically proven that when we are filling ourselves and we’re in an abundant place, whether that be energy or resources or money, um, when we share that, when we give, we become happy.

[00:44:24] It’s, it’s, it is shown that the more generous you are the more happy you are. The, even if it’s writing someone a gratitude letter you can write someone a gratitude, different people gratitude letters every single day. And your happiness will increase, increase, increase, increase. You only get fuller and fuller and fuller.

[00:44:41] So if you can hit strike that balance, it actually starts to fuel you versus deplete you. And I think you know, I think. . That’s the most important thing for people to remember is like, take care of you so you can then take care of other people, and then by doing that, you’re gonna be fueled to take care of you again.

[00:44:58] It’s like a, you know, it’s like an ecosystem.

[00:45:01] Tori Dunlap: Right. Right. And I agree. I think people sense and know when you can’t be fully present for them. And that isn’t because you’re not trying, but because you’re tired or because you just can’t. And I know that I would rather yeah, have my my friend be taken care of hers
elf, even if it means she can’t take care of me as much, then have her be a shell of a friend when she does show up for me.

[00:45:26] That’s, that doesn’t benefit her at all. Yeah.

[00:45:28] Sadie Lincoln: Exactly. Yeah.

[00:45:30] Tori Dunlap: Oh my gosh, I have so many things I wanna ask you. When you thought about growing a business that was so contrary to the marketing and the belief of what fitness. Could be. What sort of pushback did you get and how has the industry changed and maybe supported that mission more?

[00:45:54] I like to think they have

[00:45:57] Sadie Lincoln: Yeah. Well, it’s changed a lot. I, I’ve been, we’ve been around for 14 years. In the beginning we didn’t advertise at all. It was all word of mouth, and so that was like, Beautiful because it was like, wow, there’s curvy instructors at Barre3 that are kind of rad and inspiring, and they’re really like body positive.

[00:46:15] And yet I’m getting a really killer, challenging workout. To your point, like sore, like my body’s changing, it’s efficient, it’s effective. I’m getting cardio, strength and mindfulness all in one. So the workout mattered, but they, what, what everybody kind of talked about was the feels like how I feel about this so that it.

[00:46:32] you know, this great grassroots marketing and good PR in the beginning. As we started to grow then we had more money for marketing and more, more need to start marketing. As we started franchising, I did get swept up with like, producers and, and I became kind of a hot thing. It was like, Ooh, the new bar person, you know?

[00:46:50] And so I had like producer in la we, I did DVDs for Target and all these things, and they were in my ear about being results oriented, selling based on the body selling, based on, you know, what I considered the very old way. But truly like, we won’t, we won’t sign you unless you do that kind of thing.

[00:47:11] And so I went down that path for a moment. And what’s really interesting is the backlash was my clients like our digital clients for example, who, you know, we had. in 98 countries, people doing our online workouts, and we were on ca, Comcast at the time. They wrote in and said, whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re talking different.

[00:47:30] Don’t, don’t tell me what my body should look like. I’m here to be strong and resilient. Please le lose the bronzer. Like, why are you wearing makeup? I, I liked you the other way. You know, it was like, they they were so clear

[00:47:43] Tori Dunlap: Which

[00:47:44] Sadie Lincoln: on reminding

[00:47:44] Tori Dunlap: beautiful job,

[00:47:46] Sadie Lincoln: Yeah. It was, it was incre. Well, and I was also like, yeah, thank you for affirming my intuition, which is counter to what LA producers are telling me, right.

[00:47:56] In what will work. And they, and, and to be candid, when we do lead with a high result in all these things, we do get more sales, we do it’s a better hook. But once they’re in. . When we catch the right person not doing that, they’re fiercely protective of it, and they stay with us longer. So our lifetime value is longer because we’re attracting people for the right reasons and

[00:48:20] Tori Dunlap: And probably how successful they feel too. Right? Cause I imagine you tracked a lot of people who do it for, I don’t know, a couple weeks, couple months maybe, and then they fall off.

[00:48:29] Sadie Lincoln: Right, right. Yeah. We’re really investigating how to attract more people, how to hook people and, and in a way that does not ever compromise our values because we, we want them to get in the door and to experience this, this cool thing that we’re doing.

[00:48:43] Tori Dunlap: I’ve struggled with that as an entrepreneur as well. We had to cut our highest paying client because I don’t think they, we didn’t think they were treating our customers well. And that was a massive revenue loss. Like 60% of our revenue went overnight. And

[00:48:56] Sadie Lincoln: Con, courageous.

[00:48:58] Tori Dunlap: it, but it was so necessary because the trust of our, of our community, you cannot buy trust.

[00:49:06] You cannot you very rarely can earn trust back once you lose

[00:49:11] Sadie Lincoln: right,

[00:49:11] Tori Dunlap: And so for us it was like, we need to do right by our people and I’ll figure it out. And we did. We figured it out, but it was really scary.

[00:49:20] Sadie Lincoln: that’s such a great example of upholding a core value. How we define core values at Barre3 is they really are like, what unify us and what guide all of our business decisions is, are we willing to take a financial hit to uphold this core value? Cuz we, we believe in it so much. That’s one of our, you know, questions with the core value when we’re figuring this out.

[00:49:43] And that’s a perfect example and I’m sure because of that you strengthened your culture and your foundation and will be so much more attractive because of it.

[00:49:51] Tori Dunlap: Yeah, but it was super hard. , it was so hard because you’re also, you’re also weighing like, okay, but I have to protect my people, my, my, my team members. You know, I have to protect them and make sure we can keep the lights on. And, and so that’s, that’s the balance too of like, okay, if I, you know, if I, if I cut off this client, the random consumer doesn’t know what, what’s going on behind the scenes.

[00:50:17] Our team knows, our team now is feeling the stress of that. I’m feeling the stress of that. It was a hundred percent the right decision. But yeah, a really tricky one to make. A hundred

[00:50:26] Sadie Lincoln: Well, good for you.

[00:50:28] Tori Dunlap: Hey, thanks. I appreciate it.

[00:50:30] Sadie Lincoln: it.

[00:50:30] Tori Dunlap: I think so. What do you hope the legacy of Bar.

[00:50:37] Sadie Lincoln: I think that we are in it for the long game, that we’re a sustainable model of health and wellbeing. And that, you know, I think every company with purpose just has a little like, corner of the universe that they’re trying to make better. In my, in my little corner of the universe, I hope that because of Barre3, we we’re a catalyst to people redefining success and fitness and their relationship with fitness in a way that moves them forward.

[00:51:03] We’re all high performers that, like, they also see the results in, but in a really meaningful way that comes
from a motivation inside versus outside. I, I, that is our legacy today. You know, speaking of like legacy, I think of the future, but today I think that’s what most people would say about Barre3 so far.

[00:51:21] I think we’ll just keep that going.

[00:51:23] Tori Dunlap: And I think one of the ways that you and I connected was that I had sent, I think I had tagged Barre3 in a photo. I’ve never been a flexible person. And for the first time, I had touched my toes without bending my legs. And you can see in the video I posted, I again, I’m like, get in tears. Like I was so excited and that felt like the biggest win for me, but it was like so minor to anybody else, you know?

[00:51:47] Sadie Lincoln: you’re, I think your producer or someone sent me that message when you were inviting me onto the show, and I mean, I have seen hundreds, thousands of videos. I remember that video , because you’re delight, you’re delight in touching your toes. We, I remember my team and I were like, giggling about it and we were just like, this is it.

[00:52:07] This is Barre3 in a nutshell, like delighting in our bodies, delighting and also playful again. And, and like those, those milestones are real like res. We do care about results at Barre3. , great to be able to touch your toes, right? It’s great to rock the one minute plank when you could only do 30 seconds before.

[00:52:26] We want to move people forward, and we wanna, but I think we celebrate it in such a an, and that was such an example of celebrating it in such an authentic, wonderful way. We, yeah, we love that

[00:52:38] Tori Dunlap: and I I, it was a little scary posting that video too, and it was so touching to, because I think you reached out to me as well, and I think you guys, cuz Mary told me, Mary, who runs the, the Seattle studios had told me, I think you guys played it like at your, like a team retreat or

[00:52:53] Sadie Lincoln: Oh, , I, I’m sure I did.

[00:52:55] Tori Dunlap: it was something

[00:52:56] Sadie Lincoln: I really remember

[00:52:57] Tori Dunlap: touching.

[00:52:58] But like you can see I have a visible stomach.

[00:53:01] Sadie Lincoln: I think I played that at our owner summit. I

[00:53:03] Tori Dunlap: yes. Maybe it

[00:53:04] Sadie Lincoln: played at all of our owners, Mary LE’s, one of our owners in Seattle. I love her. Yeah, we played that. Yeah. But you can see your stomach is that you were saying? Yeah. You’re just like, just like the, that video.

[00:53:15] It’s like, and I think so many of our clients, it’s like, I wanna have a glass of wine with her. She could be my friend. She’s, she’s me. You know? Yeah.

[00:53:23] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. And it, yeah, it was a visible, yeah, I had a visible stomach, you know, and I, I still do, still do. And I, yeah, and I, I often show up to Barre3 and that was actually again, part of my fitness journey is I remember once walking out the door to go to class, this was like five or six years ago, and I had gone two days without shaving my armpits.

[00:53:41] And I went back in the house to shave my armpits cuz I was like, oh, no one can see me. That, with that, two years ago when I was gonna class all the time back in 2019, I did like, no. October, November and December and I showed up and I did not care and it was like full armpit hair and like that was my own progression of my body and, and my relationship to it.

[00:54:01] And knowing that I felt safe enough to show up in class and no one was gonna say anything weird and no one was gonna demand that I look a certain way. And that was so freeing for me, again, in my journey of like loving myself and loving who, what my body is and what my body shows up as. So,

[00:54:19] Sadie Lincoln: I love that. My daughter’s 18 and you know, all the kids are doing that. The cool kids, just so you know. . Yeah. Which I love. It’s so, it’s so embodied, so confident. So cool.

[00:54:32] Tori Dunlap: What for you, has been your biggest success as a business owner, and what’s been your biggest challenge and what have you learned from both?

[00:54:41] Sadie Lincoln: my biggest success as a business owner, as a business owner has been, Learning where I serve the organization and really focusing on that, like going, all, putting all my eggs in that basket for myself and managing my energy around those things. And then being honest about where I don’t serve the organization well, where I fall, where it’s just not me.

[00:55:11] And finding people who, who can fill those roles, but not just any people Demanding the highest level I can of people. And, and, and giving myself knowing that Barrie is so valuable that we deserve to have people around the table who I look up to, who I need, who are my teachers who can help us take Barre3 to this next generation of growth and, and sustainability.

[00:55:41] In the business world. And that journey for me has been so amazing so enriching and like really extends into the rest of my life because it’s really a journey of honoring my core values and where I’m strong and then showing up that way versus trying to be something I’m not as the CEO and founder.

[00:55:58] So, and it, it serves the whole organization. I mean, just related to that, I wish I did that sooner.

[00:56:05] Tori Dunlap: Yeah.

[00:56:05] Sadie Lincoln: wish I knew to do that sooner. I I wish I knew to always hire people because Barre3 needed those people versus hiring people because I was endeared to them or they were endeared to me, which is an ego thing, you know?

[00:56:19] And but I also don’t think I could have got to this place if I didn’t learn. That along the way. And I think that’s Sahara’s journey. It’s the entrepreneur journey. We live and we learn and you fail and you pick yourself that back up and you fail and you pick yourself back up. Yeah.

[00:56:37] Tori Dunlap: If anybody listening is thinking, again, not where I was, both physically, emotionally, mentally, like you and I have talked about we’re not where we were in 2019, early 2020. What words of wisdom or what kind thing would you say to them?

[00:56:56] Sadie Lincoln: Thank goodness you aren’t where you are because you are where you are.

[00:57:02] Tori Dunlap: Yep.

[00:57:03] Sadie Lincoln: the before is an our imagination and so is the, after looking back does not exist. That’s not real anymore. It’s a, it’s a memory, but it’s not real. And. pretending forward also is imagined. This right now is you and me, and our l
ife right now is what matters.

[00:57:27] And being honest and alive in this moment and grateful for this moment is what is going to give us that feeling of abundance to, you know, right foot, left foot, breathe, , right foot, left foot, breathe and to really fully live into ourselves every, every wakey moment.

[00:57:45] Tori Dunlap: Thank you for being here. Thank you for your work. You and what you have built have changed my life utterly and completely. She has not paid me to say this, but if you have not experienced a Barre3 class, and I would recommend going to more than one, because again, my first one I was like, oh, this is hard.

[00:58:00] Never again

[00:58:01] Sadie Lincoln: Absolutely. . Yeah. Or it’ll feel easy. It’ll feel too easy at first too. It’s either

[00:58:07] Tori Dunlap: you’re moving

[00:58:07] Sadie Lincoln: or too hard. Yeah. But later on it hits

[00:58:12] Tori Dunlap: Yeah. Please go to a class. Experience it. And my favorite, and we haven’t really talked about this, but my favorite part about class is that every place, regardless of where you go, I think this is why I call it church, cuz I, I grew up Catholic and so it’s like no matter if I go to a bar studio in New York or Portland or somewhere else, we always end in breath.

[00:58:29] And that is my favorite part is you get to breathe typically for the first time all day, maybe all week is you get to sit there and breathe. And that is as important, I would argue, probably more important than anything you just did physically. And it’s my favorite part of class. So yeah. If you haven’t experienced a Barre3 class, please do.

[00:58:49] Sadie. Thank you. Where can people find.

[00:58:51] Sadie Lincoln: I’m on Instagram, Sadie Lincoln. I love, you know, connecting there. And then same thing with Barre3 on all the platforms. All the platforms. B a r r e three.com and then, you know, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. We’re all over the place now. Yeah.

[00:59:08] Tori Dunlap: Thank you. Thank you Again.

[00:59:10] Sadie Lincoln: You’re so welcome. Thank you for having me. This has been delightful.