How Solving Chub Rub Will Transform the World with Marnie Rabinovitch Consky

Who knew preventing thigh chafe for thousands of women around the world could smash diet culture and fatphobia at the same time?

Marnie didn’t listen when experts told her chub rub was too niche for a business. Instead, she channelled her fire for solving this painful problem into a business that’s changing the world!

In this episode we dive into:

• When your business becomes a mission and you’re committed to changing lives you find the strength to keep going when things get hard
• How Marnie had to prove that solving thigh chafe was not a niche problem
• Changing society's preconceived notions that chub rub only happens to plus-size people
• Relatable stories on our mission to prevent chub rub
• How solving thigh chafe become a crusade for change
• Why Thigh Society became a transformative experience for Marnie on a personal level
• Challenging fatphobia, diet culture, and the way we objectify ourselves and each other

“The business was a really transformative experience for me personally. It became an evolution of myself, how I saw myself and how I started to shed those layers that diet culture imposed on me over the years.” - Marnie Rabinovitch Consky, Thigh Society

Visit Thigh Society
Thigh Society Website
Thigh Society Instagram

Resources
Book: More Than a Body
Book: What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

In the Press
Thigh Society aims to banish ‘chub rub’
The Best Ways to Prevent Thigh Chafe When It’s Hot and Humid Outside
‘Chafe Isn’t Just A Plus-Size Issue’ Says Chafewear Brand Thigh Society
Building a Global Business

Lindsay's Podcast Episode on Getting Clarity in Your Business
Podcast: 15 Year-End Questions to Ask Before Setting Business Goals

Get Lindsay's mini-course, 4 Business Building Basics Every Service-Based Entrepreneur Needs to Know

Join Easier Entrepreneurship Club

Connect with Lindsay
Instagram | TikTok | Website | Podcast | YouTube

Transcript

How Solving Chub Rub Transformed Me with Marnie Rabinovitch Consky, Thigh Society

[00:00:00] Marnie: We have to make money, of course, as a business, every entrepreneur knows this. But we, we believe in what we're selling because we're not just hocking something that's one of these nice to haves. For people that need this product, this is a game-changer, it's a lifesaver. This Is what keeps me going on the hard days.

[00:00:15] Marnie: And this is what really invigorates our team on a regular basis. When we hear these sorts of things like, okay, we are making a difference. Yes, this is a job. People have to make money. I'm fortunate to be able to now make a living off of this business. But ultimately my passion lies in, in our mission.

[00:00:29] Lindsay: Welcome to the work, less play more podcasts for busy entrepreneurs who are ready to ditch the hustle. Stop burning on busy work and get back to having a life. My name's Lindsay Johnson, AKA The Radical Connector, and I spent the last 10 years teaching first time entrepreneurs, how to get customers and make money.

[00:00:50] Lindsay: Listen in, as I chat with other hustle, recovering business owners, as we share our top tips, for you guessed it working less and playing more. Let's do this.[00:01:00] .

[00:01:01] Lindsay: Friends, I am super psyched that you're here today. I have a high energy conversation to share with you, all about building a business that rips down stereotypes and also has a magical way of transforming you. Now I have to warn you in is cherry blossom season right now,

[00:01:23] Lindsay: I am getting hit with allergies. And so you might hear me sniffle a little bit. I had to hit mute a couple of times to blow my nose. Oh, the struggle is real friends. This week I'm interviewing Marnie Rabinovich Konski, the founder, CEO and chief anti chafing champion of Thigh Society. Now, if you haven't heard of Thigh Society yet they are an undergarment brand a specializing in a moisture wicking, lightweight and breathable multiuse shorts that are not shapewear.

[00:01:54] Lindsay: If you are somebody who deals with Chub rub or thigh chafing, or very sensitive [00:02:00] skin that reacts to your thighs touching or seams in clothing, you are going to love these shorts. 

[00:02:06] Lindsay: Marnie is one of those entrepreneurs who identified a white space opportunity based on her personal pain point of thigh rub. She innovated a solution and then brought it to market even though as you're going to hear in the podcast, she was actually advised that her company might not do well because it was too niched. Huh?

[00:02:24] Lindsay: Hogwash. Without any related experience in retail, sales, manufacturing, or E commerce, she followed her hunch, quit her full-time pensioned job at 40 and bootstrapped Thigh Society

[00:02:37] Lindsay: to $1 million in sales, pioneering a new underwear category of anti chafing slip shorts she calls chafe wear. Thigh Society is now ranked as one of Canada's fastest growing companies according to the globe and mail's report on business, and Marnie has been featured in Forbes magazine, the Toronto Star, Bay Street Bull, 

[00:02:54] Lindsay: and several other notable publications and podcasts. Now, let me tell you, you are in for a [00:03:00] treat. We really get into it today.

[00:03:01] Lindsay: We talk about what it's like to start a business by first solving your own pain points. And what that looks like when that leads into you tripping into social issues related to the pain points you're solving and how good it feels to smash stereotypes and normalize important conversations that we all need to be having.

[00:03:20] Lindsay: We also touch on why it's so important to connect your business to a sense of purpose. Something that will keep you going in the business, especially when things get hard.

[00:03:29] Lindsay: And I think most impactful of all, at least for me, as I was interviewing Marnie was that realization that while you set out to create a business that transforms the world, oftentimes the biggest transformation happens from within you. Marnie shares some great advice on how do you turn that transformation into something that you can express out in the world?

[00:03:48] Lindsay: All right, friends. I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:03:50] Lindsay: It's one of my favorites. Let's get into it.

[00:03:53] Lindsay: Marnie. What's up? 

[00:03:55] Marnie: Hey, Lindsey. You know, living the dream [00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Lindsay: I feel like you can't ask an entrepreneur how, how it's going. How are you? What's up? It is such a loaded question. 

[00:04:11] Marnie: It depends on the day.

[00:04:12] Marnie: Depends on the hour. Depends on what call I just came off of what meeting I just had. Yeah, it depends. 

[00:04:18] Lindsay: Right? It depends. Well, we're here together, so we're gonna say .... awesome, 

[00:04:24] Marnie: For sure. My favorite time of the day. 

[00:04:26] Lindsay: Favorite time of the day. I love it. I love it. Okay. We have so many fun things to talk about. I cannot wait to dive in.

[00:04:34] Lindsay: Now. We got connected, I guess last year we were both on a panel. You were on the panel. We were both on the panel for, for BodCon. 

[00:04:45] Marnie: Uh, I think it was, Thigh Society was sponsoring one of the bod con events, the beach body event 

[00:04:49] Lindsay: Yes, and we connected there. Um, and it was awesome and I was so delighted to get to meet you.

[00:04:56] Lindsay: And then I love the way synchronicity works. I'm getting [00:05:00] ready to go to Australia, and I was like, I need, some shorts to wear under dresses and skirts, who is that person? Their company is Canadian. Who is it? I can picture them, but who are they?

[00:05:11] Lindsay: And then all of a sudden, you, you commented on one of my posts. It was like divine intervention. And it's like, we've just been having the best conversations ever since. 

[00:05:20] Lindsay: So here you are on the podcast. We're going to talk about some pretty fun things, uh, kicking things off with, oh my gosh, friends.

[00:05:27] Lindsay: It is spring. 

[00:05:28] Lindsay: Are you excited for spring? 

[00:05:30] Marnie: I am very excited for spring. I love spring. I personally am a dress person. Um, and I really don't like wearing tights and pantyhose who does, so, you know, spring is the time to finally, you know, shed all those pants and sweatpants and jeans and, and, you know, actually bust out those spring dresses if you're a dress person, um, and go bare legged.

[00:05:52] Marnie: So it is very exciting, especially with. As we know, I don't know if your readers are mostly in Canada, but you know, we have two seasons pretty much here in Toronto [00:06:00] that we joke about, you know, winter and summer, um, or winter and construction, 

[00:06:03] Lindsay: I was going to say, winter and construction! 

[00:06:06] Marnie: Winter and construction. 

[00:06:07] Marnie: Um, but spring is one of those strange seasons because it's such transitional weather.

[00:06:12] Marnie: And like, for example, here in Toronto, we had. Snowfall last week, which was jarring, um, and traumatic. But we, you know, we started to have to get used to the idea that the weather is definitely not dependable until probably June, but, uh, it's a nice day here today. And I'm hoping that these, you know, above zero temperatures keep going, because it just means we're closer to warm weather 

[00:06:33] Lindsay: So I moved to Toronto from Vancouver in 2011. And because I'm an outsider looking in or, or experiencing for the first time. One of the things that always shocked me, at least for the first two to three years, is that there would be, what's called the fool spring, where the weather would get really nice and warm for two or three weeks.

[00:06:55] Lindsay: And then it would snow mid, mid, April, like second, third week of April. [00:07:00] It would snow. And so I came to depend on that. I got excited for those couple of weeks of spring, but don't worry. It's going to snow at least one more time towards the end of April. And so it makes me laugh when people are shocked.

[00:07:11] Lindsay: Cause I was that outsider being like, but it always does this. It's done this for the 11 years that I've lived here. 

[00:07:16] Marnie: Well, you know, and that's the crazy thing because we all know this. Everyone lives your notes for the record. I'm from Montreal. I mean, I've been living in Toronto now for snow. Yeah. I'm like, I'll show you what a real winter looks like.

[00:07:27] Marnie: You know, every time people start complaining here, I'm like, really, this is a really normal. Schools get canceled here all the time. And back in Montreal. I was, I remember growing up, I was like, if you've got a snow day, there had to have been like 30 feet of snow. Like there is otherwise there's no snow days.

[00:07:42] Marnie: So yeah. I completely hear you. It's like we should, we all act surprise every year when it's the same thing and we've all been through it. So I think it's just part of that, like dance or that like, you know, conference making small talk with other people like, Hey, 

[00:07:55] Lindsay: Well, I feel like Canadians are known for complaining about the weather lately.[00:08:00] 

[00:08:00] Lindsay: And I'll tell you being in Toronto, that was also a shock weather-wise for me. Here we go. Friends. We're talking about the weather. 

[00:08:06] Marnie: Sorry.

[00:08:08] Lindsay: I had no idea how humid Toronto is. 

[00:08:13] Marnie: Yes, it is extremely humid. Um, and thanks, thankfully, it's humid because humidity is one of the key culprits in thigh chafing and they'd lived in a dry climate.

[00:08:23] Marnie: I often wonder, you know what I think I still would've had thigh chafe, but if I didn't would I still have had the idea? I mean, the humidity is brutal. It just. Feeling sticky and grows. I mean, I have a love hate with my curly hair. Your listeners can't see this right now, but you know, if I have the right product and the humidity is my friend, and if not, it is just, it's not, it's like up in a ponytail.

[00:08:44] Marnie: It goes there. You have it. 

[00:08:46] Lindsay: I do love my Toronto, my hair in the, in the summer of Toronto. Cause I have a wave and it just, it just pulls it right out. But this idea of, of chafing. Cause I want to get into that. Um, 

[00:08:58] Marnie: yeah, that's my favorite topic.

[00:08:59] Lindsay: Right? [00:09:00] Well, and, and as a person who experienced I've incredibly sensitive skin, I experienced the chafe even, even if it's not.

[00:09:07] Lindsay: Even if my legs are not touching, if it's just even like you say pantyhose in the comfortable seam right? 

[00:09:12] Marnie: Oh god. Yes. pantyhose, wool pants, polyester. All of that .

[00:09:16] Lindsay: Pants were that where the, the crotch part hangs a little too low and 

[00:09:21] Marnie: don't get me started.

[00:09:26] Marnie: That's why with rompers, it's always like, if you find one that fits you and doesn't droop in the crotch, you're like, oh my God, I'm going to buy 10 of these. So I never have to look for another romper again, 

[00:09:34] Lindsay: that's a fashion rule. If you love it and it fits great, you buy it in every color, like it's just the fashion rule

[00:09:39] Marnie: I mean, I do that so many. 

[00:09:42] Lindsay: I have so many duplicates, so many. Okay. Okay. Well, let's get back on topic. 

[00:09:46] Marnie: Sorry. Sorry. 

[00:09:47] Lindsay: All right. So, okay, so, so tell us a little bit about that journey because I do love your product. I do love that you're Canadian. I do love the thoughtfulness that you put into it, and I love that it's not [00:10:00] a shape wear piece of clothing.

[00:10:02] Lindsay: It is purely for comfort and feeling good in your skin, literally. Tell us about this progression. How did you come to exist? 

[00:10:12] Marnie: Yes. So. Such a great question. I truly, the way I like to start telling the story is I am the customer for this undergarment. Um, I have always suffered from Chub rub and I know that that term could be controversial.

[00:10:28] Marnie: Some people love it. Some people hate it. We can get into that later, but I would always call it chub rub. My friends, that was always the term. And I always suffered from this horrible rash when my thighs would rub together, anytime there was presence of heat or moisture or friction. And to be honest, my thighs have always touched regardless of how my weight or size has fluctuated.

[00:10:46] Marnie: And I'm, you know, a by-product of the WeightWatchers generation of like, mom's always on a diet, et cetera. And so. You know, picked up on some of that and have a history, had a history of disordered eating, eating, and always on diets. And like my size would [00:11:00] cycle from a size six to a 14, and yet my thighs would always chafe

[00:11:04] Marnie: and so, you know, I had a kit full of, you know, not so great solutions for this. Uh, what my most dependable one was a black bike short, a cotton bike short, um, that was, you know, ratty and tattered. I pulled it out one summer day. Like again, back to our two season, what we were talking about earlier, it was the first hot day of summer in early June.

[00:11:25] Marnie: And I went walking around downtown Toronto and had forgotten to put on these shorts. I put on a dress and it's like that short-term memory like Toronto winters and spring. We know what's going to happen, but yet we forget because there's been so much time elapsed. So, you know, innocent mistake forgot to grab my shorts, went out the door and wore my dress walking around at lunch.

[00:11:42] Marnie: And obviously within 10 minutes, I would say, my thigh started rubbing. I felt burning. I mean, very familiar sensation. I'm like, oh crap. Like Marnie how could you have been so stupid? You forgot to put on your shorts. And so I wattled to the nearest shoppers drug Mart, uh, grabbed some baby powder waddled back, you know, [00:12:00] this duck walk.

[00:12:00] Marnie: That's super awkward. What you're trying to get your thighs not to touch because it's like becoming unbearable by the minute. You know, ran to the bathroom, you know, got a powder all over my like black dress. It was a disaster. And I really was like, you know, proverbially, shaking my fist in the air. There has to be a better way.

[00:12:15] Marnie: You know, these, these black shorts that I have at home are black number ones. They would show underneath lighter colored things. They were on their last legs, you know, pun intended, I guess, like I was like, oh no, I'm going to have to go find something else. You know, they were, they were pure cotton. So, uh, they like absorbed moisture.

[00:12:32] Marnie: Cotton is nice and breathable, but it retains moisture and it, when you have it. Sweaty situation down there. The last thing you want is that moisture sitting on your skin. I did have a backup pair that was more like a spandex shiny like traditional bike short, um, which was also equally bad cause it wasn't breathable.

[00:12:48] Marnie: Um, and I just thought, you know, what are my other options? And so I hit the, hit the ground, you know, spent all my free time, that summer searching for, uh, what I was looking for, which was, you know, my wishlist, a long leg [00:13:00] underwear, uh, that was not shapewear that was not men's underwear that typically would have some extra unnecessary fabric around the groin region.

[00:13:09] Marnie: And it wasn't really made for, you know, my body or my shape, um, and something that was breathable and seamless, um, because I didn't want to have anything showing underneath my clothes. And like, most of us would love to be able to like run around and, you know, dance around in their legs, but it's not a possibility for all of us.

[00:13:26] Marnie: And so obviously what I was looking for was the next best thing to be naked under there. Like that's really what I wanted. And I, I honestly came up against, um, no really good solutions. Shapewear was basically my only option and I had not been a stranger to shape where, to that point, um, I wasn't a regular shapewear wearer, but when I did use it to prevent chafing it was a nightmare.

[00:13:48] Marnie: Uh, it was number one, hard to get on. It got really sticky and gross when it, on my body. Um, I nevermind trying to go to the bathroom in it and then trying to pull it back on when it's all wet, like just [00:14:00] remember no one likes one of the bathroom in a wet bathing suit, like similar example to like a sweaty shapewear.

[00:14:05] Marnie: And I honestly resented the idea that I had to squeeze. Into and shrink my body just to get some damn fabric coverage between my thighs. Like it seems so unfair. Men have so many long leg options. They have, you know, everything from like three inches down to like 12 or 14 inch underwear, um, in varying levels of comfort and performance.

[00:14:28] Marnie: And it's like, why wasn't there the equivalent product that I was looking for? Um, and so I spent the summer looking and ultimately decided that this was a viable opportunity. I mean, I had some focus groups with some friends I posted in what was then called a fatshionista live journal for those 

[00:14:44] Marnie: who've been on the internet for a long time, you know, and, and posted, and, what I was noticing is is that the only underwear I could find that were similar to what I was looking for were specifically offered in plus sizes only. So there was no acknowledgement that this was [00:15:00] not necessarily exclusively a plus size issue.

[00:15:02] Marnie: And I knew that it was not a plus sized issue. I knew it was an issue for anyone whose thighs the touched with sensitive skin. Um, and I also knew, uh, and started and started to uncover. And my research was sort of proving a time. And again, that it, that weights and thighs touching were not the reason why chafe was happening in the first place, because I was meeting women

[00:15:22] Marnie: who were, let's say a size 18 who had never experienced, thigh chafing in their life and women who are size two, who were telling me, oh yeah, I've always, my thoughts have always chafed yeah. And so I thought, you know, there's, there's an opportunity or not just, you know, to broaden the options available in underwear for women and non binary folks.

[00:15:41] Marnie: But there's actually, like, I became very passionate. Yeah. Wanting to demystify and de-stigmatize idea of chafing and, and normalize it and, and remove this false assumption that it had to do with your weight or the fact that you were plus-sized. And so that was [00:16:00] 2008, not 2018, 2008. A long time ago. Um, and then I launched in 2009.

[00:16:09] Marnie: Um, and so, and we've really, we've been doing this. We like to say, you know, we do shorts and only shorts like underwear shorts, they're built with a cotton crotch. So you can wear them as underwear. We've evolved over time in terms of what, um, fabrics that we've had available. We've been able to increase our size range over time.

[00:16:24] Marnie: Although we have been fairly size inclusive since day one, um, you know, before that was trending to be, you know, It w it was it's baked into the brand that we want to make sure that people know they are. They're welcome. Uh, we want to help people feel comfortable and confident in their skin because you know, something else I I'm thinking about now with shapewear is I don't think anyone ever feels good putting on shapewear.

[00:16:50] Lindsay: There's a, there's an inherent shame around it. 

[00:16:53] Marnie: There's a, there is because immediately you're like, well, I'm putting this on because I mean, and I'll okay, I'll caveat this. [00:17:00] Some people wear shapewear to help with swelling. So that compression of shape where it can actually help with a lot of skin issues with lymphedema, that sort of thing.

[00:17:10] Marnie: But I want to put that aside and talk about people who are, you know, myself included who have put on shapewear. You know, for body slimming. And the reality is when you're doing that, you don't feel good about yourself putting on that shapwear. 

[00:17:23] Lindsay: How could you, 

[00:17:24] Marnie: how could you you're feeling shamed some sort of body shame, whether you're conscious about it in that moment or not?

[00:17:29] Marnie: There's something underneath the surface that's telling you, this is why, you know, society's telling you, you need to slim out your lumps and bumps and smooth them out in order for you to be considered acceptable by society's beauty standards. And I really fundamentally resented that. And I thought, you know what?

[00:17:46] Marnie: Really was always thinking, why do I have to feel like crap about my body? Just to get some thigh cover. Like this does not make any sense at all. Do you think men feel bad when they put on long leg underwear under their jeans?

[00:17:59] Marnie: Do any of us [00:18:00] feel bad or even give a second thought to putting deodorant on in the morning to prevent perspiration sweat BO, under our arms? No, because it's normalized and that's the real, that's what I really started, you know, sitting on and saying, this is not right. And so. I am solving a literal pain point of, of Chub rub.

[00:18:19] Marnie: And I say, I w I mean, we, my team, my brand, all of us, we are really focused also on the, on our mission of helping people feel good in their skin, and confident, and like, I'm, I'm not against shape wear if somebody wants to wear shapewear More power to you. We're all free. And we are able to wear whatever we want whenever we want.

[00:18:38] Marnie: But I wanted an option for myself under, long dresses, maxi dresses, sheer pants where shaper was, was not called for, you know, it was just, it was not needed at all. 

[00:18:49] Lindsay: And I want to dive in, cause you said so many really good things there. I mean, I think first of all, I love that your business, like so many entrepreneurs, your business is built off of a problem

[00:18:58] Lindsay: you were having. [00:19:00] You were like, why is this not a thing? But then what I really think is so powerful is that yes, it's about solving the literal pain point that what you just said, but it was also. I don't know if you want to call it an, an anger or, or a fire around, you know, why is my only option connected to some sort of shaming of my body and having to change my body

[00:19:29] Lindsay: and I, I remember like even so same thing, I've always dealt with that, um, that quote unquote chub rub that's what we've learned to call it. Cause it was learned to be associated with people with thick thighs. 

[00:19:40] Marnie: Right. 

[00:19:40] Lindsay: And I never really minded that. I thought it was kind of a cute term. But I also bought into what that it was just for people with thicker thighs, just for people in, in larger bodies.

[00:19:49] Lindsay: I mean, I tried everything. I bought all the fancy, the sticks that you would rub rub on there. I bought the powders I bought the little things that you would pull on that would you just [00:20:00] wear around your thighs.

[00:20:02] Lindsay: They didn't work, they just fell down. You know, I tried so many things and, and shape where it's just never was an option because it's usually in the summer and it's hot and I don't want to wear this unbreathable, you know? Yeah. Like I've been that I think most people can relate and it's not till this year that I found out it's a lot of women just not, not just plus-size women or I should say a lot of people and people with thick thighs.

[00:20:28] Lindsay: Yeah. Can you imagine then, you know, we, we live in a world where media and society and capitalism and patriarchy are constantly telling, uh, especially people who are are women, or femme identifying that your body is not good enough, the way you look is not good enough, , you must buy these things and change your very existence.

[00:20:49] Lindsay: And it's just ooh it's infuriating. 

[00:20:53] Marnie: It's infuriating. And, and yeah, I, I agree with everything you said. And I like to joke that I, I built thigh society on resentment. [00:21:00] Built on resentment. I couldn't stand the idea that there were such limited options and. You know, to be, to be clear in the early days of my business, I was told by a lot of people that this was a really niche business.

[00:21:12] Marnie: And how was I ever going to be able to grow this as an entrepreneur? And maybe it would be a nice hobby or a passion project, but it could never really become a big business. And I believed some of that. And I was like, you know what, though, you can have a good business in a niche. And I do believe that to be true.

[00:21:26] Marnie: You, you can, if you find a niche that you're serving for your business, you can make a nice living that way. But as time went on and as we started opening up the conversations and having more talks about chafe and how it affects so many people, and it's not a weight thing, you know, it became very obvious that this is not a niche item.

[00:21:45] Lindsay: Was the person that gave that advice a man?

[00:21:47] Lindsay: Uh, a combination, 

[00:21:49] Marnie: but actually one was a woman and she is a very successful woman, a television personality entrepreneur, as a matter of fact. 

[00:21:56] Lindsay: And that's my first thing is. I'm like everybody needs these and [00:22:00] everybody like literally everybody. 

[00:22:01] Marnie: Yes. And, and her feedback was, well, we have shapewear already. And I was like, but no, you're missing the point.

[00:22:09] Marnie: We don't want shape where. 

[00:22:12] Lindsay: I remember going out, oh gosh, this was, this was fresh after my divorce. So I was single and ready to mingle friends. I was living it up and I had gone to the club to go dancing with my friends and I was running a really cute dress.

[00:22:28] Lindsay: And I, all I had was shapewear and living in Vancouver, so you walked your destination, you dance all night and got sweaty. You walked home, the chub rub. The chub rub would have killed me. So I was wearing my shapewear because it gave me some protection or my thighs. Yeah. I was so hot and you have to understand shapewear, especially if you're in a plus size, body is big, it goes up to, you usually have to your ribs and then it goes all the way down to your, like your thighs.

[00:22:54] Lindsay: If you've got the shorts on they're big. And so I had to take it off in the washroom at the [00:23:00] club and I got my little purse and I've got these big. Pantaloons. I remember having to give it to a friend and I was like, can you please not judge me? And can you please put this in your bag? 

[00:23:14] Marnie: Shove these in your purse.

[00:23:16] Marnie: We've all been there. It's like, did I bring a big enough purse to shove these undergarments they're not going back on. 

[00:23:23] Lindsay: I think I did end up putting them back on to leave. Cause I'm like, cause like you said, like that day of Toronto where you just forgot, like I, I I've been there and it's, it's funny, cause you talked about like the, the sort of the penguin walk or the cowboy walk.

[00:23:33] Lindsay: I'm the opposite. I like mush my thighs together and take little tiny steps cause I'm trying to get ... 

[00:23:40] Marnie: Yeah. Or you can actually the old hack is if you have an extra piece of clothing on you, or like take that shapewear and shove it between like literally an and then waddle back. 

[00:23:49] Lindsay: You had that thought on your Tik TOK.

[00:23:52] Marnie: Yes. I have so many more TikTOk like ideas of like any of your listeners, what a volunteer. I would have you to chat because yeah, there's, we've all been [00:24:00] there. This is relatable content. 

[00:24:02] Lindsay: This is not a niche thing. This is a universal problem. 

[00:24:06] Marnie: No, and I mean, even nevermind, you've touched a few times on the shapewear being hot and it is hot AF uh, and it also rolls down and the legs ride up.

[00:24:15] Marnie: And it's like, all of these things are defeating the purpose. I wanted to put something on and like I say, it's a set it and forget it, solution, put it on. And you don't think about it. It's a second skin. You should literally forget you have it on. And you do. I love getting messages from customers who are like, I fell asleep in these and I came home at the end of the day and I looked in the mirror and that's when I remembered I was wearing them.

[00:24:36] Marnie: It's like, yes, that's exactly what we're trying to get to. 

[00:24:40] Lindsay: So, oh my gosh. I'm so inspired. Okay. So you have started this business, actually. It was really, really quickly. I'm going to backtrack again. You said resentment and I just happened to watch this other TikTok with Brene Brown talking about, she thought that the root of resentment was anger, but she discovered that the root of resentment actually comes from envy.[00:25:00] 

[00:25:00] Marnie: Oh, interesting. 

[00:25:01] Lindsay: And it's so funny. Cause this is before she even said it, I'm like, yep. I can tell it's going to be envy. And it's funny because we think about that envious of men and what's available to them or that envious of like, you know what I mean? Like this envious people don't have to think about us envious of us.

[00:25:15] Lindsay: You know, it, it really makes you think about where does that envy come from? But to build a business. 

[00:25:21] Marnie: Yep. 

[00:25:21] Lindsay: That solves your problem, that solves other people's problems. And it's also based in, um, resentment, you know, in, in, in smash, these harmful beliefs and systems that are forcing us to do things that don't work for us.

[00:25:36] Marnie: Yep. 

[00:25:37] Lindsay: How big of a role does that play in your company culture, in your branding? 

[00:25:44] Marnie: So it plays a big role. Um, and that's it. So I'll say this, you mean any entrepreneurs listening to this know that entrepreneurship is really hard? You know, we started this podcast talking about, you know, your, your moods can fluctuate by the hour.

[00:25:58] Marnie: Some days it's a roller [00:26:00] coaster. It's a lot, a lot of work. It's it's one of those things that I think if you have that fire in you where you're doing it, because you are trying to either have a social purpose or solve a problem that is personal to you in some way, it can make some of those days easier.

[00:26:16] Marnie: It can steady you on those days where you're ready to throw your hands in the air and give it all up. Yeah. So I'll say from that perspective, you know, for me, I've channeled that energy for good. From a personal standpoint. And then from running a business standpoint, I would say that anyone that comes into contact with me or my team or the brand, immediately gets schooled,

[00:26:35] Marnie: in what we're trying to do. And it's important to me that the people that are working on our brand, are all, having this the same epiphany that I had, early on in this realization of, you know, wow this, this thing that we don't talk about is actually totally normal and should not be pinned on a certain group of sized people, because it has nothing to do with that.

[00:26:56] Marnie: And so it certainly affects the way we talk amongst ourselves [00:27:00] internally. You know, as a team, it is reflected in the language we use when we're talking to our community on social media and email on our website. It informs everything that we do because first and foremost, we are we're on a mission.

[00:27:14] Marnie: We have to make money. Of course, as a business, every entrepreneur knows this. But we, we believe in what we're selling because we're not just hocking something. That's, you know, like one of these nice to haves for people that need this product, this is a game-changer, it's a lifesaver. It's not a lifesaver.

[00:27:29] Marnie: Maybe I going too far. Although we do get a lot of customers who have serious medical issues who are finding our undergarments as being the only comfortable layer that they could wear, after surgeries or with certain conditions. This Is what keeps me going on the hard days.

[00:27:42] Marnie: And this is what really invigorates our team on a regular basis. When we hear these sorts of things like, okay, we are making a difference. Yes, this is a job. People have to make money. I'm fortunate to be able to now make a living off of this business. But ultimately my passion lies in, in our mission.

[00:27:56] Marnie: It's it's, our shorts are solving, you know, a literal pain [00:28:00] point for people. And I hope, you know, in. Are helping people to actually realize that they don't need to be devoting that negative energy to, and their bodies and hating themselves for a totally normal problem. And, you know, they can dust off those dresses and those sheer pants and all the things they thought were off limits to them, you know, going on a trip anyone's packing for a trip, you sort of think what's the weather going to be like, oh, okay.

[00:28:29] Marnie: Yeah, I guess I can't wear that. It's going to be a hundred degrees here, you know, and we're giving people opportunities and freedom to choose to wear what they want to wear. 

[00:28:36] Lindsay: There's just so many things that we do, and we're in pain and we pay for it that you're solving for people. 

[00:28:44] Marnie: Yeah. And I mean, for entrepreneurs, we're thinking about, you know, solving a pain point, often the best ideas come from our own ideas and our own problems. We think we're the only ones.

[00:28:52] Marnie: And then you start to talk to people and you realize, oh my God they have that problem too. I think any entrepreneur has the ability, whether you're in a service-based business [00:29:00] or a product based business, you know, put yourself in the shoes of the ideal customer, if that's you, or, you know, make a visualization of who that person is, what do they want?

[00:29:08] Marnie: How can you make a product that checks all their boxes? 

[00:29:10] Lindsay: Yeah. Yeah. So have you found that again with yourself within, within the company, within your team? By destigmatizing chub rub by normalizing these types of conversations. Have there been other things, ideas, beliefs that you all have de-stigmatized or begun to normalize?

[00:29:28] Marnie: I mean, I think, I think, yes, I'll say I'll make it, I'll make it personal. And I think it's interesting that, you know, entrepreneurship can be a very transformational experience. You know, it challenges you in ways. You never thought you could be challenged. It pushes you. Um, you know, you need to have that, you build that grit over time.

[00:29:47] Marnie: If you don't start with it. For me, I would say I, when I started doing this back in 2008, I mean, I had had a history of disordered eating, which was completely normalized [00:30:00] in my generation. And I think is normalized as well for most people nowadays where, you know, I would do stupid things like, and just manage my food and calorie intake and exercise to lose weight.

[00:30:12] Marnie: And I had some maybe preconceived ideas of what my body should look like. And I was always dieting, et cetera, et cetera. And when I started the business, these were the really early days of Instagram and I made it my point to start following, you know, the then hashtag body confidence, body positivity, you know, it's evolved into something quite different now.

[00:30:30] Marnie: But back then I was watching, you know, creators or influencers. Then they were mostly bloggers. You know, the term influencer wasn't really created yet. And it was watching, um, these women, uh, who were in all different body shapes and sizes. Although, you know, the Mo most of them were black and brown women who were of size who were wearing whatever they wanted.

[00:30:55] Marnie: Who looked stunning, who were so confident and [00:31:00] were breaking all the quote unquote fashion rules. Like, oh, if you're, if you have a belly roll, you shouldn't wear a crop top. And oh, you know, you really shouldn't wear any body con dresses, especially not shape wear, not underneath. And so I was watching these women.

[00:31:14] Marnie: So in all of them and inspired by the confidence they had to be unapologetically themselves. And these women paved the way for what ultimately, became more of this sort of body positivity hashtag and then, started being used more widespread for, from people in the non marginalized bodies.

[00:31:32] Marnie: But I would say for me personally, this was a journey of my own body confidence issues and self esteem relating to my body. Where I started to, you know, and I was like, just gulping down and devouring, any literature and articles and books that I could get my hands on to just because I didn't even realize that this was a thing, that there were people out there that were saying, you know, what, diet culture we see you for what you are that we need to subscribe to [00:32:00] your rules, because guess what?

[00:32:01] Marnie: Your rules are arbitrary and made up and rooted in the patriarchy and the male gaze. We do not. This. And so the business, was a really transformative experience for me personally, , and an evolution of, myself and how I saw myself and how I started to, shed those layers that diet culture imposed on me, over the years.

[00:32:20] Marnie: And ultimately it ended up seeping through in all of our branding and again, it's all integrated. Yeah, that's because, at the heart of it, I still have a very deep connection to this. And I have a very personal mission, um, around the business. My wish is that, women in particular and non-binary folks that we stopped.

[00:32:38] Marnie: Uh, you know, we stopped it. We live in a society, unfortunately, that is very appearance focused. And there are certainly systemic issues around people of size that we can't, discount. And, I think you and I had talked about this before. Feeling more comfortable in your body is not the same thing as fat activism and, everyone, doing our part in society [00:33:00] for equal treatment of everybody and all sizes.

[00:33:02] Marnie: But I do think there's something to be said about the fact that men typically haven't had to deal with a lot of the emotional time, energy. mental space around, their bodies, , the exception might be, in some parts of gay male culture, there's definitely, I would say an equivalent focus on body size and appearance, it's just, it's almost like you have to imagine what would a world look like if we just didn't have diet culture, if literally nobody cared about what anyone looked like, other than the sake of saying like, I love you for who you are and everything, and that size wasn't relevant, So, yes, I'm going off on a little bit of a

[00:33:40] Lindsay: There's a book that you recommended that I'm just listening to right now is excellent.

[00:33:44] Marnie: It was more than a body in a body. I think that's what it is. Yes. And that's fundamentally the whole premise of their book, they're focused put simply.

[00:33:52] Marnie: What you look like should be the least interesting thing about, and that's obviously the goal. I'd love in my lifetime to see society get to that point. But I think [00:34:00] it'll take another generation for sure. At least

[00:34:02] Lindsay: This book is great because it really puts in perspective.

[00:34:06] Lindsay: Like how we, we have come to view the body as an object. W we, we see ourselves and each other as objects first, people later people second and how our bodies are not ornaments. And it is a really great book, especially if you are new into this space of becoming aware of the objectification or, the discrimination or the shame. Like all these things, that diet culture fatphobia, you know, and again, by the way, di culture and fatphobia are not just

[00:34:36] Lindsay: affecting people who are plus size bodies, it's affecting literally everybody. Yep. Okay. It's a great book. I recommend that you read it really. Hopefully it'll piss you off a little bit, get your fired up. But to your point about what we see this change in our lifetime, you know, I, I almost want to say that is an impossibly overwhelming question [00:35:00] to ask ourselves.

[00:35:01] Lindsay: I think if we can ask ourselves, can I stop seeing myself as an object? Can I see myself as a person first, because when we do that, we begin to see other people that way too. 

[00:35:13] Marnie: Yes, a hundred percent. And I think there is something to be said about it starting almost like a grassroots level at the individual level, because let's be honest the diet industry is about an $80 billion industry and growing, especially after the pandemic, because they love to shame everyone, all of us for putting on some weight during the pandemic, right? Like that's their bread and butter right there. 

[00:35:33] Lindsay: Oh, sure. They're cashing it in right now. They're using all that shame to.

[00:35:37] Marnie: Well, all of it, all of it. And so I think you're a hundred percent, right. You know, something I heard once that it always stuck is that, you know, we, the things we say to ourselves sometimes when we're being self critical about our bodies, would we ever say that to our best friend? Would we ever say that to a young person in our life?

[00:35:55] Marnie: No, we wouldn't. I do think that the more we start to have more compassion for ourselves and, [00:36:00] open up that space to say, , listen, I don't have to love my body every day. Who does it's unrealistic.. But you can sort of start shifting the focus away from how you look and focus on some of the things that your body does for you or all of the other qualities that make you, who you are in turn, it opens you up to spread that message to other people.

[00:36:19] Marnie: You know, call out your auntie, whoever at the table who is, you making an inappropriate comment at Thanksgiving dinner about how much someone's eating, or whatever it might be. It empowers you to say that, you know what, I have the tools. I can start having these conversations and making whatever small change I can make in my sphere of influence.

[00:36:36] Lindsay: Yeah. Well, and, and I think too, also like, like remembering that. What we find attractive, what we find appealing, what we are drawn to that is by design. That is by social conditioning and media and design. And I forget what book it is. It might be what we don't talk about when we talk about fat, um, which is a [00:37:00] great book, but it is also an intense book.

[00:37:02] Lindsay: I've had to fast forward through some of the stories and things. It's a little bit. And it's a great book. And, and I believe that's the one where she talks about, um, people. When they went in a study that was done, I'm going to butcher it. It's better in the book, but when they were exposed to images of fat bodies, Very quickly adjusted to the point where their brains found that attractive and found that desirable.

[00:37:28] Lindsay: But because we don't see it and we are told only this is what you should find attractive. This is what you should aim to be. And so we're all conditioned to think this is what is attractive. This is what I want. And then on the flip side, if you don't have that, the media is telling you, you are. The, you know, you become the butt of jokes, you were undesirable, you are, uh, you know, someone dates you because of pity or, you know, you are, you know, like it's just, they, so then they're reinforcing that.

[00:37:57] Lindsay: So then that's what we believe. And that's how we see [00:38:00] things. And so really, and I love the book that you recommended, which I've already forgotten again, more than. Yes. They talk about media literacy and, and challenging what you're being shown and what you're beginning to believe and how we're conditioned from a very young age.

[00:38:15] Lindsay: And, and that's why I say, when we start with first, you know, unpacking it in ourselves and, and, and processing this in ourselves, we begin to extend that out. And, you know, like you said, we start to see diet cultures or to see the media for what it really is. 

[00:38:32] Marnie: For sure. And you can, you know, speaking of media that we absorb on a regular basis, curate your social media feed, start following people that don't look like you, um, start following accounts that make you feel good.

[00:38:44] Marnie: You know, I always say I'm against every sort of cleanse under the sun, except for a social media cleanse. That's the only cleanse that I'm fro. So go through your feed, you know, take a minute. Pause. What are you feeling in your body after you see some accounts? Are they leaving you feeling less than, [00:39:00] shameful or, if you're following some fitness people, are they making you feel like you're inadequate because you haven't worked out that day?

[00:39:04] Marnie: I mean, these are not the feelings that are healthy to be absorbing, especially with all the time we spend on social media. So you can use social media for good. You can curate your feed to broaden your horizon. for Positive encouragement, whether that's about, your body, whether it, maybe it's entrepreneurship, maybe it's following a whole bunch of varieties of different entrepreneurs with different messages, things like that.

[00:39:24] Marnie: Yeah. 

[00:39:25] Lindsay: I love it. And the biggest thing that I'm already taking away from this conversation is what happens when you create something out of a need that ends up challenging stereotypes and stigmas, but also what happens when that business transforms you? 

[00:39:43] Marnie: It's very empowering. I have to say. I mean, yeah, look at that potential.

[00:39:48] Marnie: It should be inspiring for other people to say like, wow, you don't expect your business to transform you, but I could see my career going in all kinds of different directions now because it's unleashed a really [00:40:00] strong. Passion I have, and myself to talk about these issues and have these conversations.

[00:40:06] Marnie: And it's like if thigh society were not to be able to be a business tomorrow, which I hope never happens, but if it were, I would be on the speaking circuit and I'd be giving talks and I'd be doing podcasts and I would be continuing this message because it's so important to me. 

[00:40:20] Marnie: I feel very fortunate that to be in this position, that it happens to be that I found a product that solves a need, but also has ignited this, crusade, I guess, that I'm on, um, to keep the conversation going. And, the more we talk about it, , there have been other brands that, cater to this sort of, problem, over the years who are also engaging in conversation.

[00:40:39] Marnie: And I think it's great. It's not gonna be. Single brand or when, you know, it's never one single person that's able to change the change society's preconceived notion. So the more we have added to these conversations, the better. 

[00:40:50] Lindsay: Exactly. And I think that that helps a lot too. Especially if you are somebody who is working really hard to make the world a better place and a more equitable place , a kinder place [00:41:00] is remembering that you're not the only one working on this problem.

[00:41:03] Lindsay: There are other people working on this problem. 

[00:41:05] Marnie: Exactly. Yeah. 

[00:41:06] Lindsay: So what advice would you give to somebody who is realizing there's more than meets the eye with their business and there is something deeper underneath there. What advice would you give them for nurturing that within themselves fanning that flame within themselves?

[00:41:25] Marnie: I think, I would say, start to dig a little deeper into what your hunches are, what you want to learn more about, treat this like a research project, get curious, I think as maybe Jonathan van ness. I don't know if that's podcast or like getting curious. Be curious, be a student of your own curiosity.

[00:41:44] Marnie: And so go online. We have Google that you can essentially find research, papers, articles, you can look people up, you can do anything. So start Googling and seeing what you can find and immerse yourself in this world. Take books out of the library, like [00:42:00] read. Start joining, maybe there are some groups or forums online, you can join to be a fly on the wall for some conversations and eventually, you know, or jump right into those conversations.

[00:42:08] Marnie: Try to sign up for everything now is virtual with the pandemic, even on our way out, it's normalized, you know, virtual meetings and whatnot. I'm sure there's, there probably are going to be tons of things in an area that someone's interested in, where they could just, you can hone in on. It's like clubhouse, where there's like all kinds of conversations going on at once.

[00:42:25] Marnie: But I think really it's about immersing yourself in it and like, you'll know very quickly if this is something that feels like a chore or something that you can't even believe. You've just been down the rabbit hole of like, and four hours have passed and you can't even believe it because you've just enjoyed it so much.

[00:42:40] Marnie: And so I think that's really ultimately how you start to foster some of that. And it also helps you uncover, whether this is something that, that is like going to keep your energy. I used to be a career coach and, uh, what I used to tell a lot of my students was, it's possible that we can be good at a lot of different things, but there are different activities that we could be good at [00:43:00] that are energy draining versus energy giving.

[00:43:03] Marnie: And you want to avoid. Those areas, in your professional life, if you can work that are energy draining. I mean, of course, there's going to be times that you'll have to do things you don't want to do, especially as an entrepreneur. And Hopefully over time, the goal is to be able to, grow and be able to outsource some of that stuff to other people's.

[00:43:19] Marnie: You don't have to deal with it, but inevitably there's always going to be a little bit of something that you don't love, but it's just part and parcel. But if you can maximize the number of things that you're doing, that you love that are energy giving, it's not going to be. Like you're working, you're going to want to seek out and develop and nurture these interests.

[00:43:35] Marnie: It's going to feel additive to your life as opposed to taking away. And, you know, I don't love the term work-life balance because it means something different for everybody. And my work-life balance might be working 12 hours a day, but, but maybe I don't feel like all that's work, maybe working on a Saturday feels is intolerable to somebody else.

[00:43:54] Marnie: But if the nature of the work that I'm doing on a Saturday, you know, Is is fulfilling to me and is [00:44:00] satisfying. Then it doesn't feel like work. 

[00:44:02] Lindsay: And so well, and I I'm told jumping in, I know I just kinda I'm told jumping in because, you know, I think when we hear the term work-life balance, we associate that more with like a career corporate nine to five type deal.

[00:44:15] Marnie: Sure, sure. 

[00:44:15] Lindsay: And you know, like what you just said is. In entrepreneurship, when you catch onto something that becomes bigger than your business and bigger than you, it's not really work like, like to, to read and to learn and to get into a conversation with somebody, you know, like. It's not fulfilling orders or packing orders or answering emails or doing your bookkeeping.

[00:44:36] Lindsay: It really is like, what is this deeper thing that I'm excited about as a human, I want to develop within myself. And that's really what, what you're talking about here. 

[00:44:46] Marnie: Yeah, absolutely. And I thank you for detailing that so well, cause you're right. And what I'm thinking of when I said things like that is if I'm scrolling on Instagram or like, Really insightful posts from people that I follow or news articles or things coming up, pop culture moments that have to [00:45:00] do with, bodies and things like that, or shape wear or whatnot.

[00:45:03] Marnie: To me that is pure enjoyment for me. It's an intellectual exercise as well, you know? And it challenges me to say like, what is my opinion on this? How do I feel about it? Um, and it doesn't feel like work, but really if we were like keeping score, we might say, well, that's all part of me as my role as CEO of thigh society, but yet it's so interconnected with who I am, person.

[00:45:23] Marnie: It's hard to break those two things up. 

[00:45:25] Lindsay: I think it does happen for a lot of entrepreneurs. Things become very interconnected and, and truthfully that could even be in the corporate space as well. We hear that a lot about how. The, the delineation of work and life is not as clear anymore. 

[00:45:40] Marnie: I mean, people can find their purpose in all different ways and work doesn't have to be purpose either. I will say that that's a fallacy we have, and it puts people in some dark places when they think, oh my gosh. But like work has just worked for me. Does it have to be more? Am I less than because. Work is not more than that.

[00:45:55] Marnie: It's like, no, everybody can define what work is for them. And I know you, and I [00:46:00] think talked about this in our, one of our earlier conversations, which is before starting Thigh Society, I really was an intrepreneur, which I didn't know as a term back then, I think it's a relatively new term, but I was taking on very entrepreneurial roles in big corporate settings, academic settings, public sector.

[00:46:14] Marnie: And I always felt pretty autonomous in what I was doing. And for me that was enough. If I hadn't thought of the idea for Thigh Society, I still be working in that type of environment nowadays. When I think back, sometimes I am nostalgic about being able to shut down my computer, , at five, six o'clock and then that was it.

[00:46:30] Marnie: Didn't have to really think about work until the next day, but if I'm being honest, I was always that person who was responding to emails at nine o'clock. I just liked to have a clean inbox in the morning. That's sort of my MO. I was fortunate because I think I had autonomy in my work,

[00:46:42] Marnie: I never felt like I had to respond to things. I felt like it was because I had that control and power over my workload and workflow, I felt like I had the choice to respond at night and I luckily didn't have horrible managers who were breathing down my neck and asking me to work overtime and all of this stuff.

[00:46:58] Lindsay: To your point too, I just had this, like [00:47:00] this visual of, of, you know, to your point of does it have to be connected to my purpose and what is my purpose and do I have to invest all my time? And I think when we were kids and, you know, I would go to baseball practice or I would go to a basketball game or I would go to sewing classes.

[00:47:14] Lindsay: I did the thing in the moment or the what's that look? What is the look? 

[00:47:18] Marnie: Oh, I love it. I love the diversity of your activities. I'm like kind of jealous. I wish I could turn back time. 

[00:47:24] Lindsay: Really random things.

[00:47:25] Marnie: I love it. 

[00:47:26] Lindsay: I took sewing classes so many times, even as an adult, I tried to do it again cause I really wanted to be able to sew. But I had to make

[00:47:32] Lindsay: peace of the fact that I'm just not ever, I don't enjoy tedious, repetitive things. Like I just, you know, pinning and marking. I just, I hate it. I wish I was, but I'm not. Um, but you know, for that moment that you're at that basketball practice or you're in that book club or, or whatever,

[00:47:49] Lindsay: for that moment you're present and you're in it and you're learning and you're doing, and then you leave and that's it. And I think that's really important to remember in your business or when you're [00:48:00] researching or when you're learning, whatever you can be fully present and immersed and you can close down the mental laptop and leave and you don't have to carry it and be thinking about it and doing it all the time.

[00:48:13] Marnie: Absolutely. And sometimes that distance will always not sometimes that distance I have found through my experience always is when I come up with my best ideas. Right. And you'll hear people say, like I was in the shower and this idea came like, yup. Because you know, you just don't know when these ideas are going to pop in and you need some time, some distance from your business to be able to see it from a different perspective.

[00:48:33] Marnie: Otherwise you're basically just Naval gazing, you know? 

[00:48:36] Lindsay: Yeah, silent walks friends. When I get stuck on something, I go for a quiet, silent walk, right. Or I'm a big believer in just stop. Like I just stop. If I cannot see my way through something, I just don't. I don't take action. I stop. And I wait for it to come to me the answer or a podcast or somebody I meet, or just like, I get more information.

[00:48:55] Lindsay: I get space from it. The other thing too, I find doesn't take us up on it on a big [00:49:00] deviation is I find myself sometimes pushing myself to do something I don't really want to do, but I feel like I should. And I talk a lot about that. You know, right. Yes. I can see your face. 

[00:49:12] Marnie: I'm like, oh yeah. 

[00:49:14] Lindsay: We're not immune.

[00:49:15] Lindsay: We get going down a path and all of a sudden we're 80% of the way there and we can't figure out what we can't close that last 20%. It's like, cause I don't really want to do this. 

[00:49:25] Marnie: Yeah. Yes, I, I get it completely. And then it's, you know, procrastination and delay, delay, delay, and then maybe you're someone that works well under pressure.

[00:49:35] Marnie: You sort of wait for the last minute and then just hope that you have enough time to get it done. Yep. My CFO has always given me, she's been with me for many years and has given me some really good advice since day one, which is as you're running your business

[00:49:48] Marnie: try to really be mindful of the tasks that you're doing that you enjoy the most. Because, as you start to grow your business, and as you're able to potentially start outsourcing some aspects of it, you're going to [00:50:00] want to know which aspects to keep for yourself because they're that energy giving right,

[00:50:05] Marnie: type of activities. And I've always. I kept that in the back of my mind when there's things that I really don't like, it's like, oh, some things I don't want to do, but I have to, I try to keep them to minimum and avoid. And then I make a note. Or on the positive side, Hey, I really love doing this.

[00:50:20] Marnie: I want to do more of this. 

[00:50:21] Lindsay: Yes.

[00:50:22] Marnie: It's not always the most practical. My team jokes with me that I'm our backup developer. Like I, I love programming and technology and I'm like, Hmm, maybe I'd be a coder. I'd probably be, could be a really good. And it's like, certainly not efficient for me to be spending my time doing backend website

[00:50:37] Marnie: stuff, but, for other people, that could be the opposite. So just taking note of that, because hopefully you get to a point where you could lean on other people for some support or at least then figure out how to manage it yourself so it's not just this like dreading roadblock every time you face it.

[00:50:51] Marnie: Chances are in a business and things going to keep coming up again and again. 

[00:50:54] Lindsay: It really it's so true. Oh my gosh I'm going to stop us from going down this path. I feel like we need to come back to [00:51:00] another podcast and do like advice for a growing entrepreneur. What do I enjoy doing? What do I enjoy doing, but I probably shouldn't be doing. Oh, we should. We, if, if anyone hasn't heard it yet, if you go back and listen to the last episode of 2021, I talk about the 15 questions you got to ask yourself before setting your business goals. Yeah, let's go listen to it.

[00:51:20] Marnie: I am, I am adding it to my list. 

[00:51:22] Lindsay: Some of those things that I ask you or are in there, some of those questions that you just brought up to help you think about how you're spending your time and what you want to do or not do in the, in the new year and so better, late than never.

[00:51:34] Lindsay: You can go listen now and use it throughout the rest of this year. So, oh my gosh. Marnie we have covered so many things I cannot wait to tell everybody to come listen to our episode. 

[00:51:46] Marnie: Yah! 

[00:51:47] Lindsay: We've covered so much. So I always have people answer this question for themselves. Cause around here, it's the Work Less Play More Podcasts because for me, I want to show people how to not [00:52:00] work so dang much and go have a life.

[00:52:03] Lindsay: I want to hear your answer. Fill in the blank. Work Less [Blank] More. 

[00:52:08] Marnie: Do I have to choose just one. 

[00:52:11] Lindsay: You're not entrepreneur you could do whatever you want, 

[00:52:14] Marnie: I would say, uh, work less walk more like you, I am a walker. I'm not a silent walker though. I like to put on some good like dance tune jams.

[00:52:23] Marnie: And my second answer was going to be related to that, which is dance more. I love dancing. I don't do any dancing in a typical capacity. I mean, I don't, I haven't been to a club in a hundred years, plus it's been the pandemic, but I did try to learn how to cut shapes during the pandemic, which was hilarious.

[00:52:41] Marnie: Like shuffle dancing. It's like a very fast way of moving to the beats and it's called cutting shapes or shuffling. Yeah, I sucked at it, but, I loved the music and trying, and it was like a break. Like it took my brain completely out of everything I had to focus [00:53:00] on really like deliberately the steps, the step counting, all of that.

[00:53:03] Marnie: The beats is what I mean. Right? Like, are you on beat? So, yeah, work less walk and dance more. It would be my answer. 

[00:53:11] Lindsay: I love it. I love it. Dance. I do little solo dance parties when I feel my energy dropping. If anybody here does a lot of recording courses before you record anything, dance party gets your energy up.

[00:53:22] Lindsay: Yup. 

[00:53:22] Marnie: Yeah. And just like shake it off. We don't realize how much energy we're storing. And sometimes, we're not even conscious of the fact that we just need to move a little bit to expend some of that, so yeah, I'm all for that. 

[00:53:32] Lindsay: Oh my gosh. I love it. All right. So, uh, friends, all of the things that we've talked about today are going to be in the show notes. So there's going to be obviously a link to Thigh Society. So you can go and check out the slip shorts. We're gonna, we're gonna leave links.

[00:53:45] Lindsay: I'll leave a link to the podcast. I've mentioned as well as all the book recommendations that we had. Marnie, where the best place for people to connect with you right now. 

[00:53:52] Marnie: I would say on our Instagram at @thighsociety 

[00:53:55] Lindsay: Perfect. 

[00:53:56] Marnie: You check us out. 

[00:53:57] Lindsay: And if you are somebody who has sensitive [00:54:00] thighs with seams or when they rub, please order a pair of your own slip shorts.

[00:54:04] Lindsay: I got just got mine in the mail. I'm taking them to Australia with me, and I'm looking forward to more gentleness with. 

[00:54:11] Marnie: To be able to enjoy your day without thinking about your thighs rubbing together. 

[00:54:17] Lindsay: Oh gosh, Marnie, this has been wonderful. Thank you so much for coming to hanging out with me today.

[00:54:21] Marnie: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. It's a lot of fun. 

[00:54:24] Lindsay: Friends, thank you so much for joining me today. Remember to check out the show notes for all links to the resources that we shared. Did you know that I have a 12 month coaching program with weekly group coaching on all things marketing, sales and business growth for first time, service-based entrepreneurs called Easier Entrepreneurship Club.

[00:54:44] Lindsay: If you've been working your buns off and not seeing the growth that you know is possible, you need to come join my club. It is the only 12 month program out there that teaches you real, actionable business skills that work with a business coach, me and a ridiculously fun community of [00:55:00] entrepreneurs supporting you every step of the way.

[00:55:02] Lindsay: You can find out more at theradicalconnector.com/club Remember the life is not all about work and I want y'all working less and playing more. Friends, I will see you online.