How Lindsey Heppner Continues to Create a Lasting Influence
Today on The Jason Hennessey Podcast, we get real and raw with creative director, artist, and marketing maverick, Lindsey Heppner.
She’s the CEO & Founder of Vampped, the internationally renowned creative agency that revolutionized the social media space by being one of the first to monetize influencers and align them with brands on Instagram.
In today’s episode, Lindsey shares how she’s been making waves for as long as she can remember. We recount her journey from her beginnings as a California surfer girl, painting for her dad’s business, to creating Vampped with $0 after a chilling near-fatal car accident, to throwing historic celebrity parties at Coachella, and eventually working with such iconic brands such as Harley-Davidson, Amazon, Sephora, Puma, and countless others.
Lindsey is a fearless risk taker, big dreamer, fitness enthusiast, astrology lover, innovative designer, and is committed to inspiring others just as life has inspired her.
Please hit the play button on your favorite listening platform and follow along below. Thanks again for tuning in to today’s influential episode.
In this Episode
[01:29] Jason and Lindsey Heppner begin the show on the topic of Lindsey’s electric painted fingernails. She provides color commentary on the festival that inspired them and getting to attend it for fun rather than for work.
[05:03] Lindsey tells us about growing up as a surfer girl in “Surf City” and learning the value of being creative and creating your own waves from her dad. She explains how her business is about creating seats at the popular table.
[10:53] Jason asks Lindsey about being an entrepreneur. She recalls her first job working at her father’s business, and having up to five jobs in high school. Lindsey also opens up about the devastating car accident that gave her a second chance at life and empowered and inspired her to launch Vampped.
[16:06] Lindsey dives into how Vampped became a talent agency for social media influencers. She describes initially building clothing campaigns for local surf brands, and then setting up tours with other influencers to turn likes into dollars.
[21:16] Lindsey expounds on her business name, Vampped, and the creative direction she received from a friend and designer at Paul Frank. She also explores how working with clients such as Harley-Davidson and Paula Abdul have helped establish her company as a brand in itself.
[28:58] Jason and Lindsey discuss how social media has changed and impacted different generations. They point out the emotional and social pressure kids face to have a big social media presence. Lindsey also enlightens us on the benefits of muting accounts that aren’t beneficial to our mental health.
[39:07] Lindsey begins to describe her typical day, and gives us insight into the type of communication style she uses with her clients. She also reveals three tests she sends to her clients that allow her to work more efficiently by getting to know their personality more intimately.
[44:29] Jason asks Lindsey what her day is like when she’s not on calls with clients. Lindsey shares how she’s constantly being creative through strategy and mood boards, and she reflects on the opportunities her path has afforded her.
[46:29] Jason and Lindsey jump back to the subject of the zodiac. They each tell us about their astrological signs, and Lindsey explains the phenomenon of how different signs are more compatible with others, or can have certain tendencies and proclivities.
[51:09] Lindsey describes how her mom has been influential on YouTube and as a musical artist, touring with bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys. She gives us examples of how each of her parents helped shape her personality.
[53:07] We listen to Lindsey as she opens up about her guilty pleasures, how her favorite movie has special significance to her, health issues she’s had to overcome, her thoughts on past lives, and much more in today’s signature segment of “Hennessey Heart-to-Heart.”
[01:10:14] Lindsey gives us info on how we can keep up with her and the incredible art she continues to create. Jason mentions a mural that is being painted on the Television Academy campus while recording their episode, and Lindsey decides to check it out afterwards.
Transcript
Jason Hennessey: Lindsey Heppner, is that right?
Lindsey Heppner: Yes. Good job.
Thank you so much for driving all the way down here to Hennessey Studios and being in our studio today.
Thank you for having me. I’m really excited. I just appreciate any time I get to speak truth and talk some good sense in the industry.
Yeah.
[laughs]
Well, the moment you came in, I loved your energy and I’m thinking that we’re going to have an amazing episode here, but one thing that I couldn’t help notice was your nails.
Oh, you…
So, what’s going on with them?
…hurtful man.
Huh? I like it. I like it.
Do you like the color or did you like the story I told you beforehand?
Well, both. And I want to talk about the story, but I do like the color. I’m an ’80s guy. So, I love the neon stuff.
Oh, okay. Yes.
Yeah. See?
They look great when it’s just like this. You know, when they’re just moving really fast. Yes. I cut them. I told you before this podcast that I cut them because they were too long. Okay.
And now they’re short and jagged and they need another person working on them right now. So, yes.
So, you did those for an event?
Coachella. Can I say that?
Coachella. Yes.
We’re not going to get sued here?
No, because you were there, right?
Yes. It’s scary to say their name out loud on- Yeah.
Is it?
Yes.
Oh, okay. Well, let’s just refer to it as an event.
Yes. The festival.
The festival. Yes. So, you were just there?
Yes.
How was it?
It was actually amazing because this is the first year- Well, actually that’s a lie. The first year in a while that I actually just got to go for enjoyment. Besides, I cancel out the pandemic as the years of going, but prior to that, like the last 4 to 5 years we’ve been doing events.
So, we’ve done high level events at Coachella and those take 3 months to create. And usually we have like 50-plus influencers staying with us at a property and creating every single day an activation, a dinner, a high level event.
Our last event was like 5,000 celebrity influencers.
Wow.
Yeah. At a double property with an airplane hanger. We had a billboard, a private jet with our logo on it. We just went nuts.
So, it was nice to just go as just like, “I bought a ticket, I’m going and I don’t have to say yes to anyone.” [laughs]
Interesting. So, how long have you been doing events at Coachella?
For about 4 or 5 years. And then we’ve just been doing events in general. One niche that we work on, but we’ve been doing influencer marketing strategy for 9 years now.
So, we’re almost going to be hitting 10 years, which is crazy to think because I started my business with $0. I’ve never been funded. I’ve done this all on my own money and it’s been a very, very amazing ride and I’ve never felt so much risk taking in my life, which is also exciting for someone like me because I’m a big dreamer and very, very driven as a human.
I’ve never got to really sit down and really appreciate everything that I’ve really done, but the accomplishments that I’ve done in the past 9 years I think have probably made my mom really happy.
Well, let’s talk about that for a second. So, upbringing. So, where were you raised?
I was raised in Huntington Beach, “Surf City,” so I grew up as a surfer girl.
Cool. Got it.
Actually my ex-boyfriend who we’ve been friends for 17-plus years, who is a professional surfer still doesn’t believe I surf, but I think there’s something funny to be said about that because my whole being of who I am is based on my dad teaching me how to surf, teaching me how to paint, growing up as my own black sheep and going my own route and not going with what everyone else does.
So, it’s been very ingrained with me to be like the ocean, make my own waves, make my own flow of things. I really loved growing up in Orange County. It was a very beautiful place to be a kid and I didn’t grow up watching TV. I wasn’t even allowed to watch TV.
And so, my dad has always taught me to do things yourself and make your own money and just be on your own wavelength. That’s how I grew up.
And even now that I have my own business like this, that’s how I’ve always strategized business, is, “I’m not going to listen to anyone else.” That’s not like something like, “I’m too good for people.” It’s more like I listen to my own gut and I go the way I want to.
I think that’s why we’ve been an OG in the space, is because we’ve always made noise on our own and we’ve always gone a different direction than other people. So, yeah.
And so, you grew up as an only child?
I grew up as an only child. Yes.
Got it.
So, I have very only-child tendencies. Yes.
I was kind of an only child too. So, my mom had me at 17.
Oh wow. Yeah.
Young. And then I lived with my grandparents. Didn’t really have a father figure in my life. And so, because of that, I was very driven. I didn’t come from much.
And so, here I am now and like you, everything is built on my own. I have never received any kind of outside funding or anything like that. You just get that drive, right?
And you’re more appreciative of things, I think.
Oh, totally.
Like, you really sacrifice a lot to be thankful for a lot. Yeah.
You sure are.
So, as a kid, what were you like in high school? Were you arranging parties and starting the influencer thing back then or what?
Not at all.
No?
I don’t drink. I don’t do anything. So, I think a lot of people are very surprised by that when they meet me. They think like when they see my Instagram that I look like I party all the time and I don’t. I’m a very big homebody.
I’m an artist on the side and that’s a very lonely craft, you know? I can’t be around people when I’m creative and being creative just in general with other brands. It’s very- I have to be in my own world. No outside socialness, but when I was in high school, you know, I was a dork growing up and I think it was- also just stemmed from my dad.
My dad didn’t want me to have friends. And the only reason why I’m saying that is because the fact that he wanted me to be his only friend and he didn’t want me to have any friends because that was outside sources of creating a different world for me. And so, when I grew up, I was kind of in my own world with my father.
When I got into high school, I started getting noticed by the cool kids. I mean, for any kid that’s in high school, I mean, that’s what you want. I was being thrown around to each school by my mom.
And so, I didn’t have this gradual relationship with people because I was always going to a different school. So, I had to meet new people all the time.
When I was in high school, I felt like a dork. I felt like I wasn’t accepted and I was just an outsider. And when I finally found my people there, they were the cool kids and I felt accepted.
Just to kind of stem to where I am now with my business, that is our motto in my business is, “We bring brands to the cool kids table.”
And it’s translated from high school for me because I was bullied. Like I had this one girl who literally would throw gum in my hair when I was on the bleachers. She would bully me at dances and segregate everyone off the floor just to try to beat me up.
Oh my God.
Just stuff like that. And so, my business now is like, if I see someone who really wants to sit at that table, I’m there to make that happen. And that to me is like something that I always wanted is someone to like, reach out to me and be like, “Hey, this is not okay.”
So, I think that’s something that translates in now, my business, is like, I will grab- When I first started the business, no one thought influencers were important. They’re like, “These aren’t real models. These aren’t real people.” And I’m like, “That’s fine. I’ll take them,” and I created my own world with them.
Now, that’s everything people want is those people. And so, at that time, in 2014, everyone looked at them like they’re not capable of being anything. That’s a very, and I’m not saying that lightly. Modeling agencies, every single agency was treating them like that. As not normal people because they have a different leverage, right?
So, I looked at all these things as like, stepping stones of like, “I’m supposed to be here. I’m supposed to help these people. I know my purpose.”
And sometimes a lot of people don’t know their purpose and I feel like I had to be a light in a very dark industry.
I like that. So, taking a step back, so high school, I understand. And so, were you always an entrepreneur? It sounds like your dad was an entrepreneur, right?
Yeah. I have always been.
And so, you got that from him.
Yeah.
And so, what was your first business that you can recall?
Helping him paint.
Helping dad paint?
Yeah. I used to help him paint patios for houses and stuff, and building, and everything. So, it made sense that now, I just painted my first mural at a hotel last week. I was like, “Wow, this is like resorting back to my childhood.” I used to paint stuff like this.
So, yeah, that was my first job and I was making $60 an hour with my dad. So, I was making really good money.
Amazing.
I was always eager to do more things. When I was in high school, I had five jobs. But I loved being busy and creating new outlets of, like, being a personal trainer, working at a restaurant, like, doing all these things. I had my own swim line by the time I was 18.
So, I’ve always been very entrepreneurial. So, having Vampped now was just seamless for me. All my knowledge that I- My trials and errors of things just curated into this business.
Let’s bridge that gap. So, entrepreneurial, you did this, you did that. How did you get into this business that you’re in now? Like, what was the genesis of that?
I got into a really bad car accident in 2014 on Christmas Eve.
Oh, no.
No, no, actually, sorry. The day after Christmas. So, I had been living with my ex. He was like my childhood- I didn’t see him the way he saw me. He’s known me for my whole life and saw me as that girl that walks through the hallway when time stops. I was always that girl to him.
So, we finally started dating and it was a total reverse. I was obsessed more with him than he was with me and it turned into a detrimental ending of our relationship where I was depressed for a year.
I was a designer and a creative director for some pretty major brands. I just felt lifeless. I felt like everything was just not good enough.
And so, this car accident actually was something that I kind of manifested. It was the day after Christmas. I was driving home from the gym and it was like 6 a.m. I saw this car coming into the intersection and I had a green light, he didn’t. I was going like 65 already and there were so many moments where I could stop, but I just didn’t want to.
You were already in a dark place.
I was already in a really dark place. There was just like nothing left of me. It’s very much like, “Oh, this is perfect.” You know what I mean? “I can just end this right now.” And so, I went into it, not braking and just fully going full speed ahead and hitting him.
I woke up in the hospital and the doctor was so impressed that I didn’t have anything broken on me. I mean, my C4-C5 was messed up. I had all other injuries. Like my nervous system was a mess for months and stuff, but because I didn’t break, I didn’t die.
And that’s normal because you hear all these stories about drunk people surviving really gnarly car accidents because they’re not stressed and they’re not holding the brake down and being really straight…
Interesting, yeah.
…because that’s when you break everything and kill yourself.
So, I was loose and I was like closing my eyes and I was like, “Just take me.” That’s when I realized my purpose. I’m Christian, so I felt the power of God at that moment. I realized what I was here for. And so, it wasn’t my time.
I had no money to my name. I was starting a business plan in bed. My boyfriend who took the place of my ex was coming over, icing me every day. My whole body was a mess. But I knew that when I got out of that bed, that I was going to make something of myself and that’s what happened, is like, I just didn’t stop.
I just was like, “This is going to happen for me. I know it is.” I was not scared anymore. The word “no” wasn’t fear. After having something that traumatic, you don’t have fear because, what do you have to lose? Nothing.
It’s an awakening.
Yeah.
It really is.
And it’s very, very powerful because I remember the first year of having that power, I was like, “Man, no, I’m untouchable.” You cannot say anything that will offend me. Like nothing will break me right now. It was really, really a cool experience.
And I really appreciate that experience because I know a lot of people don’t get that opportunity in their life ever to understand the chance of having a second chance. So, yeah.
Yeah, no, that’s an amazing story. And so, that then led you into, I guess, what year was this? You said 2014?
- Yeah.
Okay. So, it led you into- I guess, 2014 was when YouTube was really taking off.
Yeah.
Like the Jake Pauls of the world were famous on YouTube.
Oh, yes. All those boys.
I think even before that was Vine. Was that?
Yeah. Vine was very close there.
Were you active on social media or just more curious at the time or?
At the time that I got into that accident, Instagram was only photos. Remember, you took, like, a weird photo and you’re like, “That’s so cool.”
As I was saying. Yeah.
There was no “selfies”, there was no video. There was nothing. There was no tags, nothing. So, it was very, very incubator stages.
But I saw value there. I saw that you could create your own self off of this. And that was really important for me, is like: How do I create a brand that inspires who I am as a person, but also inspires other people?
So, I was initially doing it for me. I was going on there, going, “Okay, I’m going to do blogging, dah-dah-dah.” And even too, to this day, I’m like, “Man, if I just stayed with blogging, that could have also been a really big sector.”
Sure.
Because like that’s when people started blogging and creating their own following, a niche and stuff, but-
Yeah, and was it just about your lifestyle? Like, what were you talking about?
No, it was just about, like, how to eat, how to do fitness. Because I was really heavily into fitness. Like that is my- And even now, I’m really heavily still into fitness, but that was what I really cared about back then, and then also, being a creative director.
So, what I did because I was in the surf industry is I reached out to all my clients that I was working with or had relationships with and I was like, “Hey, can I take your articles of clothing? Can I go create a campaign with them?”
So, I’d go out to the desert and create content with me.
Interesting.
And build campaigns with their product on Instagram with myself.
And then I started realizing that I could be a creative director for these people, for social media. And then I started working with talent that were influencers that had really big followings and they wanted to be a part of these shoots.
And then they started asking me to manage them. And I’m like, “Wait, I’m onto something here.”
So, then I reached out to other influencers that I saw had followings and I was like, “Hey, do you know, you could get paid?” And they’re like, “We had no idea.” This was when you didn’t even get paid online.
Interesting.
And I found this outlet where I was like, “I can get you paid to just post photos.”
So, then I started accumulating all the people that are big in the space now. I was reaching out to them when they didn’t even know the-
They didn’t have the influence.
Yeah. They didn’t have a manager, they didn’t even know they can get paid online. They were just posting photos and gaining a lot of likes. It was just kind of like Myspace.
So, I just started accumulating these people. And then my next big idea was a year later, where I was like, “Okay, I don’t know what company’s going to trust me to do this, but I want to take all these people on a trip and create content around them and blow up brands.”
And everyone, like literally said, “No thanks. We’re good. Da-da-da-da.” One brand said, yes. They’re like, “I don’t understand this concept, but I’m going to take it for a leap.”
We brought 15 talent to Hawaii. We did a whole tour, an experience, through the week of highlighting their swimwear in every single thing we did. It blew the internet up.
And that’s how we became the agency internationally. Everyone found out about us through this one trip and now you see Revolve doing it at every level, like Bahamas. Like, if you look back on Revolve: Around the World, Sorry Revolve, I was there first. I did it first, and it was something we trailblazed.
Other companies actually had reached out to us early on trying to figure out how we did it and all that stuff, but it was such a great exposure piece, you know? And it’s kudos to a lot of these brands that do it because you have power in numbers.
When you have a lot of people in one situation, creating content and having people see it, and they’re all- Their followers are looking to see who’s there and trying to figure out the brand, and how you got there, and all that stuff, that’s high level engagement that clients want.
And so, we trailblazed that in- Well, that idea was coming out of me in 2014, and we finally executed it in 2015 because it was such a big project.
And now, 25-plus trips later, I’m still doing it, but I can do it with my eyes closed, because right now I know the essence of it, what makes a beautiful campaign like that. It’s not only just getting random people together. It’s like, who fits well together to make it feel like it was effortless, and to make talent feel like they’re not working?
So, what is the name of your company?
Vampped.
Vampped, okay. And what’s the origin story behind that?
So, I used to model for Paul Frank and I became really, really good friends with the owners, and the creative director, and Jonathan, who is literally one of my muses, and he’s a creative genius. Literally, how you saw and perceived Paul Frank was his mind, right?
And I came to him with this concept so long ago I was like, “I want to do this business called Vampped and everything.” And I showed him what it looked like, and “vamped” means like, “Vamping up your business.”
So, when people come to us, they want to relaunch, and have a new look, and a new feel and get out of the noise, so we “vamp them up.” And he helped me with the name to add an extra P like my last name.
He’s like, it just feels off with one P cause it originally was V-A-M-P-E-D. And he is like, “It doesn’t feel centered. It doesn’t feel centered.” And I mean, he works with fonts and he’s a creative genius like that, so he’s like, “Add another P.”
He’s like, “And then no one can ever tell you it’s not your business, because it’s like your last name.” Because my last name has two Ps in it.
Yeah, that’s why I wanted to make sure I pronounced it correct, right.
Yeah. So, that also has translated into like, you’ll always know the founder is me. And so, yeah, that’s kind of-
So, that’s how you came about that. And so, you went on this first trip in 2015, it’s like, you’re taking a big risk. You don’t know if it’s going to work, right?
Yeah.
And you said you blew up the internet.
Yeah.
Right? And so, then you’re like, “I’m onto something here.” So, then, what happens next?
Oh man, just everyone and their moms had a travel agency. Okay, everyone. It was every other agency had a travel agency and it’s obviously a compliment, but for me, I’m the type of person that- I like to be in my own lane.
And so, I was like, “Oh my God, it’s so annoying. Everyone thinks they can do this.” You know? But at the end of the day, I stay in my lane, I figure out new things I can do and make sure that I’m true to myself, and anyone can duplicate what I can do, but it’s not-
They don’t have the hustle, they don’t have the drive, the creativity exactly.
Exactly. So, it’s like, okay, you can go out and do that, but it’s not going to be me doing it though.
So, now is Vampped- Do you consider- Is it an influencer marketing agency? Is that what it is?
Yes, but honestly someone actually asked this yesterday, they’re like, “Are you an agency or what are you?” And I’m like, “From the outside, we’re an agency, okay. From the inside, we’re a brand.”
A brand?
And the reason why I say we’re a brand is because the way I marketed our agency was the mindset of Monster, you know? And to- If you guys really dive deep, Monster kind of took the approach of how the Nazis marketed themselves, like, always in your face,
Monster’s in your face. You know Monster first before you know who’s represented by Monster. Right?
Sure.
So, we did the same thing, you’re always going to know Vampped and then figure out who we work with. It’s not going to be like the other agencies where you know their artists, or you know the talent and then you never know the agency.
So, I wanted to do the reverse. I’m like, we’re going to just scream our name loud. And that’s what you’re going to know first. And so, that’s why I kind of say it’s a brand, because agencies usually hide behind the scenes and kind of just follow suit of their influencers, or their clients, or whatever.
I see.
And I didn’t want to be like that. I thought that we had more value than that, so.
So, who is your ideal client? Is it the person that has 700,000 followers that’s going viral on TikTok right now because of something. Like, who is your target?
Well, I mean, there’s two, I guess clients: the brand side and the talent side. Because we manage talent, but we also manage brand strategy creation, like brand development and everything.
And so, my ideal client, I already got. The fact that Harley-Davidson put a hashtag with Vampped on it really was my ultimate.
That is such a deep rooted brand that has lived and surpassed so many years of survival that I’m like, “Wow, I’m at a level where, Harley-Davidson, we’re working on their project.”
Let’s dissect that. So, Harley-Davidson, so what did you do for them?
Yeah, so we created an experience at one of our events and activated content with some high level collaborators for the brand, and just made this experiential, like their new bikes that they were launching, and creating jackets that were kind of- It was actually at a Coachella event, and so we had this hashtag with each other.
And the daughter of the owner, the founder, was there with us.
Really?
Yeah, it was just a really cool moment. And the fact that they used our content, our video we created for them, for their launch piece, and I don’t get really too excited about too many things, but that’s when I was like, “Oh, I think, I think I kind of made it.”
Even though I’ve worked with some high level brands, that was just like, it spoke to me, even though I don’t have a Harley-Davidson, I don’t ride motorbikes, I’m actually very cautious about people who do. But it was just a feeling of like, that brand has, in marketing terms, I look at them and go, “Wow, you guys really did it right.”
And so, I appreciated that they gave us a shot.
So, I love it because it sounds like you find the brand, right? You try to come up with something creative for them, and then it’s easy to- Not easy, but it’s easier to get the influencers that want to participate in this campaign, right?
Yeah.
Whereas I think some people kind of go and want to manage the influencers, and then try to find the brands to connect it, right?
So, you did something so brilliant right? You’re doing it the opposite way.
Yeah. And on the talent side, I mean, I’ve worked with so many people, and actually one of the most exciting ones recently was Paula Abdul. She put me on her TikTok.
We have a full blown TikTok video.
@paulaabdul Headed to Adrian’s Kickback like.. #adrianskickback #fyp 🎉 @vamppedofficial ♬ Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul
Is that right?
On her TikTok. Yes. And she’s been very, very great at promoting herself lately. She’s been very influential throughout the years. I used to listen to her on tapes, and try to know every single word and lyric. So, it was really cool to do a commercial with her.
And I have a video of her. I asked her to jump on me so I could hold her, so I was just so excited and I don’t really get too fanned about anyone, but she’s, I mean, an icon. Even for my mom. My mom used to be a singer and dancer, so that was a big deal for her to see me do a commercial with her.
But I think like a lot of people in this space, I look at people as humans, I don’t look at them as like, “Oh, I need to bow down to you or whatever.” I think we’re all just living through this life, curating and being in our space, and being artists.
And I give respect to anyone who has a craft, and I don’t think anyone’s better than me, and I don’t think I’m better than anyone else. So, it’s equal playing fields, and we’re all on different journeys. So, yeah.
So, let’s talk about this, even just the influencer space in general, right? It seems like that’s the thing that everybody wants; they want influence.
It seems like you’re walking around and people judge you based on the number of followers that you have, right? Especially like if you’re in high school. Maybe not people my age, it’s still some of that.
No. I think every age I think is some kind of value some–
It is, that’s kind of like your social calling card, if you will. And then there’s real influence. You look at like, a Justin Bieber, right? Yeah. Got talent, got hundreds of millions of followers. Right?
But then there’s Sally that goes to high school in Santa Clarita, right, that has 7,000 followers and is asking her dad to buy 100,000 followers so that she can be cooler.
So, what’s your thoughts about that? Is it oversaturated? Are people trying to be influencers for all the wrong reasons?
I honestly am so thankful I didn’t grow up in this space.
Me too.
I grew up surfing, I grew up playing basketball. I grew up being outside, and not on my phone, and not watching TV or getting so hooked on a different reality, you know?
And so, I think that the kids that are growing up right now, there’s so much pressure to be perfect. There’s so much pressure to be this perfect person, not only online, but just having to live up to what they see online, which is all fraud.
I will admit: Instagram is a highlight reel. It’s not reality. You know, we’re not showing our bad selves, we’re showing our best parts.
You’re controlling the narrative.
Exactly. Everyone’s controlling the narrative of what their reality is.
And so, when you’re a child, and when you haven’t fully developed, and when you’re not confident enough to like, just be like, “Whatever,” I’m at an age where I don’t give a f***, you know? But there’s kids who, like, everything’s impressionable.
I really, really think that at the end of the day, it’s the parents’ responsibility to take care of your child, and tell them they’re great every time.
Educate them.
And educate them that this is not real. There needs to be some education there.
Because I think also too, no matter how much you say to them, it’s your actions as a parent. And I’m not a parent, but I know that your actions speak louder than words as a human being.
And in the level that I am in business, I don’t tell any one of my influencers how to be, except for, I show them how to be.
And I know I’m not their parent, but they respect me, and they follow suit of who I am, because they’re like, “Oh, she doesn’t have to drink. Oh, she doesn’t have to do surgery. Oh, she doesn’t have to be this. Oh, she can be her authentic self.” And then they’re like, “Oh, I can be that way too. I’m allowed to be that way.”
And so, I know that also resonates when a small child is looking at their parents. Like, what are you doing to make them feel secure and safe to be a better person for themselves? Because there is so much pressure in school now, and I’ve been bullied, you know?
But my parents have always told me, “Do not follow them. Do not be the same person they are. Don’t ever do things because you want to be cool. Do things because you instinctively want to do them.”
And so, peer pressure has never been a problem for me. People have been asking me to drink my whole life. People have been asking me to do drugs my whole life, and I’ve just kindly been like, “I’m okay.”
Testament to your upbringing. Testament to your upbringing.
Exactly. And I can’t thank enough my parents for leading that path. Because they didn’t drink, they didn’t do drugs. You know what I mean? They pursued their dreams.
And so, I really feel like the kids now, you have to show actions more than ever, because these kids are falling in this trap of thinking that this is their reality. And it’s very scary.
You say that, right? But like you said, you don’t have kids, I do.
Our world, we didn’t live in that world. We went to the mall, we had to call our parents, we had to go find a payphone. You know what I mean?
Yeah. We had to figure it out. I had to print out a map.
Exactly, right? We had to do that.
On whatever that place- MapQuest. Oh my God.
You know what I mean? But anyway, so we have that knowledge to try to educate our kids. And I think we have to do that because if we don’t do that, now you’ve got uneducated kids that live in this whole social media world that’s now having kids. Right?
And then like, what the heck happens to society at that point. It’s kind of scary to think about that.
But I think kids listening need to know that it’s perfectly fine, like I mean, sometimes you got kids that are studying, like got into Harvard and they’re going to be a doctor, but they’re not as cool as the kid that went to Coachella and they got 10,000 followers because they post bikini photos of themselves.
I mean like seriously, right? You know what I mean? It’s kind of like, and that’s saying one’s better than the other.
It’s just different.
It is. It’s just different, right? And they both are just socially accepted for who they are. Anyway, it’d be interesting to kind of see how this goes.
And then there’s the other side of that, where it’s the business opportunity, you make a living this way, right?
Yeah.
But there’s also- My daughter doesn’t watch TV. She’s 5. She doesn’t watch TV. She watches the Ninja Kidz, right? It’s like a show where they’ve got 100 million followers on YouTube or whatever.
And it’s like, literally, I would think that the parents went to film school the way in which they kind of create this show. Like seriously, it’s like a reality show for kids and they just kind of show the Ninja Kids and they’re doing gymnastics and this and that.
But talk about sponsorships and millions and millions of dollars just from creating a home show on a limited budget, right? So, you think about that side as far as leveraging social media for reach, that’s pretty powerful.
Yeah. No, for sure. And that’s the thing, it’s so funny because I’m just really honest about the industry. Obviously, I’ve been super grateful that the industry provided, also, a career for me, but there is always the other side of the coin.
I too, as a human being have to mute certain things, I don’t want to wake up every day with anxiety thinking like, “This person has to give-” That’s the one thing that’s really scary about Instagram, or just social media in general is like, you never know what you’re waking up to, like the dopamine hit.
Am I going to be offended? Am I going to be upset? Am I going to be sad that I saw something with an X or is someone hurting me? You know what I mean? I’ve had to learn to mute a lot of things.
And it has nothing to do with not wanting to be excited for other people to thrive and be driven and everything, it’s my own mental health. And a lot of people don’t realize that you have the option every day to protect your mental health.
You do.
And so, for me, I want to see quotes in the morning of me being great, of people who are helping me live and breathe a better me. And sometimes, even with my circle of friends, that might not be them. You know?
Sure.
What you’re posting might not be it for me. And I love you from afar, but I might have to mute you because of the fact that you’re not building a better me.
I love that. I’m going to mute people now. I didn’t know that was a thing.
It is a thing. It definitely is a thing. And because we’re human and like, getting unfollowed hurts, you know?
Yeah. It does.
It feels very much like a personal threat.
So, muting someone nicely, where you don’t know, is just a lot better because it’s not like I hate you. It’s just that I don’t want to see it. I just don’t want to see it tomorrow morning.
It’s funny, in my days, when you wanted to unfollow somebody, you just take a pen and your yearbook, and you crossed it out.
Exactly. Basically, “You’re not signing my yearbook.”
Yeah, you give them devil ears, right? There you go. Take that.
That was hurtful when you didn’t get someone signed in your yearbook.
Exactly.
“I only am giving this to my friends.”
It was a whole different world, right? It is, but we have to kind of stay in tune, especially both of us, in the agency digital space, we have to.
Like TikTok, I’m getting pressure, because like we’re doing this show, we produced your show and they’re like, “Hey Jason, get these videos and TikTok yourself.” I’m like, “I don’t know. What do you want me to do?”
So, Jenna’s going to record me here after this and we’re going to start doing some TikToks here.
Yeah, I actually got- Meltzer‘s team was asking me to do-
David Meltzer?
Yeah.
Oh, he’s the best. Is that how we connected?
Yeah, I think so.
Awesome.
And David’s team was, “Lindz, you have to get on TikTok, do three TikToks a day.” I’m, “You’re out of your mind. You’re out of your mind if you’re thinking I’m doing that.” I’m like, “I’ll wait till hell freezes over.”
But I know that David’s been amazing at it, but he also has a great team to help achieve those goals.
Sure.
But for me, my goal is not to be on TikTok. My goal is to create and build brand awareness for other people.
Yeah.
At some level, I’m an influencer on Instagram and everything, but to my own narrative.
Good.
You know what I mean? And to my own capabilities of having time to post, I don’t have time to f***ing dance it up on TikTok right now.
Well, that’s interesting.
If there’s another one of me, maybe. But right now, no.
What does a day in the life look like for you?
Oh man. It’s different every day. Typical business, a lot of emails, a lot of Zoom. Oh man, we take a lot of Zoom calls and I’m very grateful for that.
We have a lot of referrals and a lot of leads to a lot of clients who want to work with us. And I think that’s also too, because I don’t take on any clients that I can’t execute for, and I don’t believe in the product or I don’t believe that we could do a good job and add value.
I think in this industry, a lot of people have been burned by marketing teams. And I try not to do that. I think it’s really important to come into a situation where we’re both excited and not one side’s like, “I already know you’re going to do a bad job.”
And I’m like, “Well, I’m not the person for you because if you already think that way, I’m never going to make you happy.”
Sure.
And I just don’t even want that, because when you are a referral-based company, and testimonials are really important, usually people who have a negative approach about anything and always think things are going to go wrong, are the ones that are usually bad mouthing you forever.
Sure.
I just don’t even- No money or value could ever make me say yes to that. I really enjoy working with people that give me leverage to be free. I’m a creative at heart. I’m not an agent. A lot of people come to me thinking I’m an agent and transactional person. I’m like, “No, I am a core creative.” I really care, live, and breathe the brand.
When you come to me and you’re excited and you’re like, “Lindz, paint how you want to paint, create how you want to create.” I thrive in that.
Sure.
When you have so much red tape on me, I will literally burst.
Sure.
And I will be very not good at my job. Knowing that and understanding that’s the kind of person. And I tell people, right away, I’m like, ” My genius is discernment.” And it took me a really long time to realize that.
I actually took a test because I was like, “Why is everyone over here in this agency world so good at fluffing things up and putting a f***ing bow on everything and I’m not?” I’m like, “Yeah, your shits shit.” You know what I mean? It looks really bad and they’re like, “Whoa.” You know what I mean?
I had one client who couldn’t believe I was saying all that. And two of the third, so there was three partners.
Yeah.
One of the partners was one of the people I was telling you, always mad, always upset. They’re like, “We’ll never work with her. And the other two were like, “I f***ing love her. She told us everything that was wrong with our business. We don’t have to go anywhere.”
Yeah. See.
And they actually took that person out of their business to bring me on.
Is that right?
Yeah. Because they were like, “We need someone who tells us the truth. We don’t want to keep going down this path of being told this, ‘We’re great, we’re great.’ Spending all this money for no reason. She told us everything that was wrong with our business in f***ing 5 minutes.”
[laughs]
I know some people don’t like hearing it, but I’ll save you a lot of time. And I’m always going to be like that. I’m a very honest person and I don’t know how to lie.
And I took this test and it’s this genius test of there’s six-
Your “zone of genius.”
Yeah.
Okay.
There’s six zones of genius in a company and you need all of them, right?
My genius is invention and discernment. And I was like, “Ah, that makes sense. That’s why I’m always picking out everything that’s wrong.”
Yup.
Because that’s what I’m good at and a company needs that because people will just keep throwing shit at the wall going, “Is this great? Is this great?”
And I’ll be like, “None of that’s f***ing great.”
Got it.
That is where I thrive and I finally learned what I was good at.
And building out my employees and everyone that works with me, I figured out their genius and how we thrive together, but not get into each other’s lanes.
Powerful when you get that data, so powerful.
It’s so powerful.
Oh yeah.
And every time I get on a call with someone, it’s either I learn their Zodiac. I literally send all my clients tests, three tests. A personality test, to know their- I’m a protagonist. I try to figure out who they are.
And then now, my new onboarded staff, they told me about numbers, I’m an eight.
They’re like, “We hate eights.” I’m like “Why?” They’re like, “Because they’re always so honest. I was like, “Well-”
See.
But I have a four in me. They said it was a weird combination, a four/eight was a really weird combination.
Interesting. I don’t know my number.
Yeah. Those little things I- Even too, I know I started this.
On our website we had for a while is, if you wanted to work for us, you had to tell us your Zodiac sign. And everyone was telling me like, “Oh, like that could be something where you could get-”
Insights into people, right?
Yeah. But people were worried for me because they were like, “Well, you can’t do that. You can’t-”
For HR reasons or whatever. Yeah.
Yeah. I was like, “That’s not possible.” It is personality. It’s a personality thing. You don’t hire just anyone, you hire people based on their personality, will they fit with the community? I’m allowed to do this, so I did that.
And people actually found out that my agency was doing Zodiac signs and there were certain things, I was like, “Oh, I’d only hire a Virgo for that.”
I want to get back to your day, right? Because you went off on a great tangent. We got so much because it went from, “I wake up and I check emails.” And then, “Here’s the reason for my whole life,” right?
I love it, right? So much information.
Well, yeah. Sorry.
What else? And I want to talk about Zodiac’s here because I’m curious. I believe in it, but I don’t know much about it and I want your thoughts about my Zodiac sign in a second.
Okay.
So, you wake up, you check your emails, you get on Zoom calls. What else do you do during your day?
Oh, I put together strategy, mood boards, creative.
Okay.
Because we do a lot of commercials and content. We also do activations for clients. Reaching out to talent, making sure they want to be a part of this brand, developing strategy.
A lot of communication, a lot of babysitting.
Yeah.
At every level.
And how big is your team?
We’re, I think, around seven right now.
Okay. Got it.
And it’s pretty interesting. I actually saw a meme on Instagram the other day. It was Jeff Bezos was saying, “You should only have enough people on your team that can feed one pizza.”
And I was like, “That’s pretty interesting to me.” I was like, “I’m doing something right?”
Yeah.
And what I took from that was if you have too many people, you’re not putting value to the people that should be putting value. I wear a lot of hats all day.
Sure.
But I know that I am 10 people. I know that. I can do a lot of things in one day. And I know my superpower is time management.
Got it.
For sure. A day in the life with me, I could be in Hawaii one week and doing a whole commercial. We just got back from Hawaii.
You travel a lot.
I travel a lot. I’m very thankful that the route I took was, “I want to travel. I want to create content. I want to be with fun people and I want to make money doing it.” And I did all those things.
And you love your life. See?
Yeah.
That’s awesome.
Yeah.
So Zodiac signs.
Yes.
What’s your Zodiac sign?
I’m a Pisces.
You’re a Pisces. My father-in-law’s a Pisces and he’s very emotional, right? Is that a thing?
100%. We’re the most emotional.
Every movie cries. He is.
Yeah.
He is, not maybe you, but yeah.
I got off birth control, so I don’t cry as much, but I cry a lot. And I’m a Pisces/Libra/Aries.
Okay.
That says so much about me because Aries is where I get my drive.
Yeah.
Libra is where I can be really analytical and thought out. And then my Pisces is my dreamer. Anything I dream up, I just execute.
That’s cool.
How it goes is your moon sign, your rising, and your actual self are- Yeah.
Pisces is more so when I’m at home by myself, that’s who I am. My emotional side, not so many people see it. And then there’s-
Is it you’re rising or your moon who perceives you?
What you think I am is probably an Aries, very driven, very- You know what I mean?
I see.
And then what I think you think I am, is a Libra.
Interesting. And I know there’s three different ways to look at it.
Yeah. But it’s just been so amazing to know that stuff because I really like to connect with people and it’s fine if you don’t believe it, that’s fine. It’s not for everyone. But for me, it’s really important to know people, even if they don’t know themselves.
Sure.
I like to add value to my relationships of, “I want to get to know you better, even if you don’t want to tell me what your vulnerabilities are and who you are?”
A lot of people I connect with really, really know that I like to hold space for people. And a lot of people don’t like to do that, especially in this industry, we’re very transactional and very surfacey, and have this mask on, and only show value to our best assets. Never show our vulnerabilities or what we’re scared of and-
Sure.
I like to hold space for people and be like, “You can tell me whatever you want. I will not-”
Be vulnerable. Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with that.
“I will not judge you.” Yeah.
My sign is Aquarius.
Oh, yup.
Yup.
Air sign.
Yeah.
And people think that’s a water sign, which is really funny.
People do think so. Yeah.
Yeah. They always think it’s a water sign. It’s not.
And then my wife is a Gemini, we’re-
You guys fit great, you’re both air signs.
Completely on the opposite spectrum, opposites attract.
But also you guys are very similar because you’re both air. You both understand each other.
Huh. Not every night. [laughs]
Oh, well. You’re also human. You’re also human.
Exactly.
But how I look at it is, when I try to explain to people, water is obviously the depths, right? We’re deep rooted, emotional people.
Yeah.
You’re a Cancer over there, you’re emotional.
Josh.
And then there’s earth signs, which is next. We can communicate with earth because they’re the nearest to us. Right?
And then earth can communicate with fire and water.
I see.
Very well. And then fire can communicate with air and earth.
Okay.
And then Gemini and I can only communicate with fire, which is why a lot of people stay clear of Geminis.
Oh, Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, no, Scorpios, I hear, are the crazy ones.
Scorpios are the water sign that are crazy.
They’re kinda nuts. They really are.
They’re both opposite-
Every Scorpio I ever met is way out there.
Oh yeah. They’re emotionally attacky-driven and I can understand them because I am a water sign and it doesn’t affect me as much, but to be on the opposite spectrum, they’re the opposite spectrum of a Gemini.
Both are very- Yeah.
Is there a book that somebody can read if they want to know about this?
100%. There’s this book that I have. It’s amazing. My ex-boyfriend who still- I’m friends with all my exes. I love them.
My ex-boyfriend shared this amazing book and I forget what it’s called. It’s a long title. But basically it’s every date, birthdate of the year, and you can read, actually who you are and who you develop as. It’s really an interesting book.
Really?
Yeah. And I love it. I go home every time I meet someone new and I’m, “March 12th, who are you?”
Send Jenna the name of it and we’ll link to it–
Yes. I will and I’ll take a photo of it.
That’d be great.
It’s just an enjoyable book to have. Even if you don’t believe in it.
Totally.
I’ve actually read people’s signs out of there and they’re like, “Holy crap. That’s me.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I know. I know.”
You said your mom was an influencer dancer?
Well, my mom is an influencer now. Yes she is. She’s on YouTube.
Huh.
And the first time she told me she was on YouTube, I was like, “Great mom. That’s amazing. What does that mean to me?” Because she would always ask me, “How do you turn on the computer? How do you do this?”
And I was like, “Mom, go to Apple.”
Yeah.
“Take a course.” Now she has 250,000 subscribers and gets 14 million hits.
What? Are you serious?
Yeah. And she-
Well, give her the shout out here so people can tune in.
She quit her job and she just makes money on YouTube.
What’s her name?
Sunday.
And my mom used to be an actual music artist. She was on American Bandstand. She was touring with The Rolling Stones. She was in Elvis‘ movies.
What?
She was dating The Carpenters–
Oh my God.
Beach Boys, everything. I grew up with a very artistic mom.
That’s so cool.
And a surfer dad.
My mom always needed to be in the limelight, which is a very Leo thing to do. My mom’s a Leo.
I don’t know how I’d feel if my mom had more clout than I did. Oh my God.
Oh, gosh. My mom, at one point she was a teacher and then she loved dancing, so we’d go and country dance at night. And I was like, “Who is this person?” You’re supposed to be in long skirts and then she’d be in Daisy Dukes.
And I’d be like, “Oh my. God, I have two moms.”
What? Crazy. Crazy. That’s cool. I’m going to tune in and check it out.
Yeah. But I grew up with a very confident mom. I pulled that.
My dad was very black sheep where he is like, “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I’m going to do it for myself.” And then I grew up with my mom where she’s like, “Everyone loves me.”
I’m like, “Okay.” I grew up with very confident people in my life and I think that’s why I am the way I am. I go by the beat of my own drum.
Love it.
Yeah.
We’re going to do something we call “Hennessy Heart-to-Heart.”
Okay, right.
That’s where I just ask you a simple question and whatever comes to mind just answer.
Okay. Sounds good.
Here we go. First question: Who knows you the best?
Ooh, probably my best friend, Jenna, of 25 years.
Okay.
Yeah.
Got it.
And she’s a Cancer.
See.
We get along really well. Yeah.
What’s one thing that you’re never caught without?
Oh, never caught without? Sad to say, my phone.
Your phone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah. That’s horrible.
You’ll know in a second, once you get in the car. You know what I mean? You’re like, “Wait a second, I’m missing something.”
I know, it’s like trauma. It’s like you just lost your kids. “Where’s my child?”
I think that’s everybody.
It’s annoying.
In fact, Adam Sandler wrote a song called “Phone Wallet Keys.”
Yeah.
Have you heard it yet?
No.
Oh, you got to listen to it. It’s the best, because those are the three things that you always have to have with you. Your phone, your wallet, your keys.
Well, now you don’t even need your wallet because your phone has your wallet on it.
See, you really don’t.
Know what I mean? That’s really frustrating.
And then he needed to make a new one: Phone Wallet Keys Mask. Because that’s the dreaded thing you leave. You’re like, “Oh my God, I forgot my mask. I can’t go into the store. What am I going to do?” Right?
Not anymore. Anyway, let’s hope it stays that way. Do you collect anything?
It’s a weird thing to say, but I collect people. And it’s because if I find a really good person, I want them to know everyone I know that’s good.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
I like that. You’re a connector.
Yes. Very much.
Me too.
Yeah.
You don’t drink, you don’t do drugs. What is your vice? What’s your guilty pleasure?
I guess my guilty pleasure is being creative. I have so many outlets. I paint, I design. Anything that’s just getting my hands dirty and creating something. That’s my outlet.
Do you schedule time to be creative?
Yes. 100%. I have to.
Yeah. I do too.
Yeah. At night, I thrive in that. I don’t like to work late. I like to create late.
Wednesdays is my creative day.
Really? Yeah. I need it.
I wrote an article. I think it was on Forbes or Entrepreneur about taking an 8-hour shower.
Yeah.
One day a week, not literally. But just because your ideas come in that 20 minutes that you’re in the shower, right? But why don’t you just block a whole 8-hour day to just-
Just to do that.
Yeah. That’s what I did. Wednesdays is my 8-hour shower.
That’s awesome. Yeah. I love that.
We’ll link to that article, too. What’s your favorite movie of all time?
We actually had this discussion with one of my guy friend influencers, who was like, “Oh my God. Vanilla Sky is one of my favorite movies.”
Tom Cruise, right?
Yeah. Tom Cruise, Penélope.
I just like the thought of- And I’ve experienced this myself, as having a second life. But he created his own reality again, but it’s just an interesting narrative of like, oh, so gut-wrenching, how it happened, car accident, everything.
And then having to create this new persona of how do I rewind that back and live a life that’s a better life? And I resonate with that.
Mine’s Karate Kid.
[both laugh]
I love that movie. I don’t know why.
Anyway, what is one food that you would be really sad if you were suddenly allergic to it?
Oh, I already am, peanuts.
Peanuts?
Yeah. I’m heavily allergic to it. Yeah.
Really?
And not like the EpiPen or whatever. I have a 4-day allergy. I never knew I was allergic to peanuts. I was really destroying my body on purpose, for no reason.
I found out and I was so bummed because I had peanuts every day. And it was just destroying my body. Yeah.
Wow.
And I thought it was dairy. Everyone’s like, “It’s probably dairy.” I got rid of dairy and ate more peanuts and then when I found out I was like, “Oh my God, I am not allergic to dairy.”
Wow.
So, I have so much dairy every day and it doesn’t do anything to me.
Huh.
I’m very thankful for that.
Mine would be pasta. I eat a lot of pasta. It’s not a good thing. Yeah.
I almost thought it was going to be avocados, which would’ve been another bummer.
That could be a bad one. Yeah.
Yeah, but peanuts was a big bummer, yeah.
Yeah. Is there anything that you fear? What’s a big fear of yours?
I think I fear not being happy. I fear that something easily can take my happiness away. And that can be financially. That can be a friend or losing a parent. Or you know what I mean?
I don’t have normal fears where I’m like, “Oh, I’m so afraid to not get this-” You know what I mean? This, whatever. I’m past that. I think my fear is just the happiness of something is being taken away from me. That’s what I fear. Yeah.
Interesting. For me, I’d say my fear is getting older and becoming lonely.
Your kids go away. They start to do their own life. And God forbid, one of us, me or my wife, pass. It will happen, I think, right? It will probably happen.
For sure.
Kind of, being lonely. I think that’s mine. Are you fearful of dying? Are you afraid of dying?
No. Not at all. Honestly, I’m on my third life right now. I had Lyme disease. That was another thing that was very traumatizing.
Oh, my.
I’m not fearful of dying at all.
Me neither.
And I’m not fearful of getting onstage, either, which is equally…
Yeah. Exactly.
…for some people.
Yeah.
Yeah. No. I lost a lot of fears from my car accident.
Interesting.
Yeah.
What inspires you the most?
My friends.
Yeah?
And people that are creative that I see living out who they are.
When I say my friends it’s because I love seeing my friends thrive. I love seeing my friends be who they want to be. And that gives me energy to be better for them and be better for myself.
And then when I see people creatively in the art space, in the music space, whatever, I get so inspired by other people’s creativity. Yeah.
I love that.
Yeah.
What would you friends say is your superpower?
Being a f***ing boss.
[laughs] That’s a quote. We’ve got to make that a t-shirt.
Yeah. Yeah.
I love that. That’s great.
My friends are very proud of me. And sometimes, I’m really hard on myself. I don’t ever sit back and like, “Good job, Lindz, you did that.”
They’re like, “No. We see you. You’re doing good.” Yeah.
What’s a cherished childhood memory that comes to mind?
Playing chess with my dad. We used to play chess a lot, to where we would actually build out big chess boards and play them on the big ones.
Really?
My dad was a- He built things. We’d build out chess pieces, paint it, create this whole thing. And so, I don’t have a relationship with my dad for the last 18 years. When I turned 18, we stopped having a relationship.
Those memories. I don’t look at my dad-
I’m so thankful for my father, because he’s literally made me the woman I am today, and so creative. But I do remember that. I loved the strategy part, but it was also creative, because we created our own pieces.
And then also, it was something I did with him. So yeah. Yeah.
We should talk offline.
Yeah.
We have some stuff in common.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Let’s see here. What zodiac sign do you get along best with?
For each different thing, I actually really enjoy Geminis, which most people don’t, but it’s because I like-
That’s my wife.
Because I love that they’re two people. And I need to always be entertained.
My ex-husband was a Gemini, and I love that he was two different people, because I got “Crazy Daniel” and I got “Normal Daniel,” and so-
We do have a lot in common.
Yeah. I’m the type of person that gets really bored really quickly.
Yeah, me too.
I need to be around people that stimulate me in different ways. And I really enjoy the stimulation of it.
And then I get along really well with other Pisces. I just know them so well. They don’t even have to say anything. I know what you want from me. I know how you do things. Everything. I really like my own sign around me. Yeah.
Okay. If past lives are real, what was yours?
Oh, I completely believe that they’re real. And which, a little food for thought of digestion, déjà vu, there’s something weird about that, where you feel like you’ve been there before, but you haven’t. I feel like that’s a past life feeling.
Oh, wait. You came back. I don’t think déjà vu really happened. I think it was a past-life feeling. I don’t know.
It’s so interesting that you say that because that is the next question.
Oh okay.
It says, “What do you think about déjà vu?”
That’s what I think about it. I think it’s your past life…
Wow.
…of being like, “Wow. I was there at this moment before.”
And do you have any sense of what your past life was about?
I must have done something amazing to be amazing in this life. You know what I mean? That’s how I feel. How did I get so many superpowers this year- I mean, this lifetime?
I must have been doing something right the last time to not have one limb off, be a mess.
What’s a lesson that you learned from a past relationship?
Don’t date anyone that has great sex.
[laughs]
They’re f***ing psychopaths.
That’s another…
Yeah. You know what I mean?
…quote here. You are just-
Honestly, to be honest, let’s be real here. You stay in a relationship because of the sex.
Yeah. [laughs]
For all the trauma they put you through. Real talk.
It is real talk. That’s a sound bite.
What does being spiritual mean to you?
My dad was very, very spiritual, and when I look at him and I think of that word, I think of just accepting everything in your life for what it is and holding space and opening space for other things to come into your life, almost like manifestation.
Spirituality is just kind of being free in the things that are around you and having an ebb and flow with it. And I think spirituality is a really beautiful thing.
Sure.
People who really connect in that way are really amazing people. And they don’t have any of this forcefulness or judgeyness. They take you for who you are. And people who have that spirituality kind of just have this, I don’t know, just energy that just-
Yeah. I think that’s kind of how I feel about it.
Okay.
Yeah. Okay.
I love it.
What do you do to heal? What’s therapeutic for you?
I step away from the noise. I need to recharge as a human being, and a lot of people don’t understand that. They’re like, “Oh, just keep going. Da-da-da.” No.
Some people get energy from people. I get energy away from people. When I need to heal, I need to be away from everyone. I need to be basically hibernating.
Sure.
And I can recharge that way and collect my thoughts. And I’m really, really careful about my boundaries and people, because I really feel like energy and frequency of people affects your body.
Oh, sure.
And I really believe that from how I got Lyme disease. I think there were too many people around me that were toxic, and some type of disease like that affected me because I was vulnerable. And so, I will never let that happen to myself again.
I choose to not be certain places. I choose not to be around certain people, because when you walk into a room and you feel this energy of anxiety or whatever, because you know that one person there is you’re going to see them, that’s real.
Oh, yeah.
Your gut instinct, your body telling you, “Alert. Alert. High alert. I’m going to react.”
Yeah. And everybody else can feel that energy, too.
Exactly. I really think that our bodies are made at frequency-level to connect us to certain people and to- If you don’t have boundaries on yourself, you can get ill just by being around certain people.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I learned to hibernate.
I do that, too. Yeah. I seriously do. I go to these conferences, and it’s all this stuff. Dinners. “Come, come, come.”
I’m like, “I just need to go to my room and literally plug my cell phone in and plug myself in for a little bit, just to kind of get my battery life back up.” Yeah.
Oh, yeah. The pandemic was actually where I was thriving, because I was by myself. Yeah. Yeah.
A lot of people. Yeah. Lyme disease.
A question is, what is the hardest thing that you’ve ever had to overcome? Would you say it was that?
100%.
It was.
That was worse than my car accident, because I was scared I was going to have it forever, and a lot of people do. And my heart goes out to them, because it’s one of the scariest diseases you could have because it’s an invisible illness. No one knows what you’re going through.
My best friend, who I actually said that knows me the best, she had it at the same time as me, except she had it for 4 years longer, and was about to commit suicide based on it because it tells you to kill yourself.
And I knew. I knew for a fact that I got it to save her. It was such a weird thing that I got it right-
That’s deep.
I got it right when her family was calling me saying, “There’s something wrong.”
Yeah.
And I got it exactly at that time, because I know I’m stronger than her. I know that I was going to figure it out for both of us.
The fact that you think like that tells me so much about how you think.
Yeah.
Yeah. I love that.
We’re both free of Lyme now.
Wow.
Yeah.
Congratulations. That’s amazing.
Thank you. Yeah.
What do you say to somebody that has Lyme disease? Isn’t Selena Gomez, isn’t she dealing with that?
She has Lupus.
Oh, she has Lupus. Okay.
Justin Bieber has Lyme disease.
Justin Bieber has Lyme disease.
Avril Lavigne has Lyme disease. Yeah.
What do you say to somebody that’s going through that? How do you encourage somebody? What did you have to have?
To each its own, and my process for getting rid of it was very different than what I was told to do. We’re told to go and get antibiotics and get plugged in all day, and I was like, “That’s not me. I am not going to go down that route. I have another option for myself.”
Sure.
And I knew that I could always go back to that option if I needed to, but I’m like, “I’m seeing these people going this route, and they’re not getting better. This is the route I’m taking.”
I fully let this amazing human into my life help me become free of it, and I truly believe it wasn’t about the medicine. It wasn’t about what I ate. It wasn’t about all those things. It was about the mindset because he gave me freedom.
He told me every day, “You are going to heal. You are going to get better.” And if you tell yourself things, you believe them. I was like, ” I’m not going to go with this doctor who tells me that I’m going to have Lyme disease forever because I’m going to start believing that.”
This man over here told me I would get rid of it, and we worked on that. I got rid of every single toxic person in my life. I feng shui-ed my house. I did exactly what he said.
Eleven months later, I cured myself.
And it started with the doctor.
And it started with him. I trusted him immediately, because he was so powerful in giving me the right words. And when you feed yourself with good words, you are going to react that way.
Sure. Yeah.
Yeah.
Very powerful. Last question. What does the thing that you, or the thing or experience- What are you most grateful for, basically?
I’m grateful for my health. That is something we do not ever put first. I will never do anything again that destroys my health. And there’s so many things that I can do and overachieve, but I’ve been there. It’s not worth it. If I can’t be healthy, I can’t do anything.
I struggled that 11 months in trauma, in torture, trying to do my business and basically have amnesia. My brain was working backwards, and I was losing memory, and I was suicidal.
And in a creative space where my brain is what my clients need, that was traumatizing.
I think the most grateful thing I have is my health. Hands down. I love the people around me, and I’m so grateful for the support I have, but my health is what makes me live and breathe every day.
Physical and mental health.
Yes. Yes. Physical and mental definitely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, this has been amazing, Lindsey.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
I really appreciate you being vulnerable with me, telling me all about your life, your business.
How does my audience learn more about you? Where do they follow you?
As long as you don’t come over and judge.
[both laugh]
I’m a multifaceted person.
My Instagram is Linz, L-I-N-Z, Heppner, H-E-P-P-N-E-R, on Instagram. My business is Vampped, V-A-M-P-P-E-D, dot-com, and online, on social platforms.
And, yeah. I’m painting. I’m creating for businesses and doing the most.
And it’s interesting that you come on the day that they’re literally outside painting a mural on our building.
Oh, my. Yeah.
Did you see that out there?
No, but I saw that one over there. It was beautiful.
Yeah. They’re doing it on this side, actually, right now, as we’re talking. You got to go check it-
I need to go check it out.
Yeah.
Yeah. I have so much respect for murals now.
The one I just did in Palm Springs in 100-degree weather, 28 hours, I’m like, “This is like the option you have at jail. ‘Do you want to fold clothes, or do you want to paint a wall for the rest of your life?’”
I’m like, “F***. This is gonna work. So yeah, thank you.”
Awesome. Thank you, Lindsey.
Yeah. Thanks.