We had the good fortune of connecting with Lindsey Rainwater and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lindsey, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Personally, that word does not work for me, ha, we need a new placeholder for what we mean when we say balance. Here is how I think about it, I have my big 3 categories that my entire universe is all about, My partner, My Children, My Business, and for me those big three are stood up by my spiritual belief system and support system (friends). So instead of creating an equal relationship to all those things, I look at how can I integrate as many of the people and activities that I love into each day. How do I schedule my time outside of the traditional work day that was invented for men by men, but instead disrupt the system and work when it is best for my family. Could be at night, mid day or early morning. What I know is balance in large part is in service of how other people want my life to be where I live on the spectrum of integrating everything I care about and then creating blocks of time to give my attention to what I love the most.

What should our readers know about your business?
The women in fitness association is the only global not for profit that is holding space for women in fitness to succeed. The fitness industry is incredibly fragmented and difficult to navigate, and we did not have a unified place where women were supporting other women. WIFA launched in 2017 and we have grown to a global membership of 500 women that are making a difference in their careers and the careers of women around them. What really sets WIFA apart is our mentoring and networking opportunities. I know in my life, what I have achieved is in large part because of the nudges I got from mentors that saw what I was capable of before I did, when you have an advocate that you can rely on it makes all the differences in your career growth. What we have seen is expedited growth for our members because they are willing to help each other grow faster than they might have alone. Growing WIFA has never been easy, instead of easy, it has definitely been in a flow state, where circumstances evolve in a way that feels in tune with how “it should be”, and I know that women in fitness must have advocates to succeed, and that is what WIFA is doing for women. The lessons in resilience along the way directly point to my relationship to discomfort and being willing to sit with tough decisions and what the right thing to do is, we can not move forward without the difficulties that come with pioneering. Having a small group of women I rely on for mentorship has been a key for me to being heard, able to safely express myself and keep on the path of growth.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
What a fun question! I am an “almost” Denver native, I grew up in north Denver, my family moved here when I was 6 years old. First we would plan our favorite eats, a handful of musts for me would be Root down, and sweet cow ice cream sundae. I walk in Washington park, a hike at Red Rocks, a day trip to Rocky Mountain national park. Not to mention Platte park and REI for a day, a picnic my the river and dinner near union station.. So much magic in our mile high city!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my Grandmother. She is by far the strongest and most resilient person in my life, the principles I live my life by were in large part ingrained in me based on her demonstration of qualities like generosity and patience. I love you GG.

Website: https://lindsey-rainwater.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsey.rainwater/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyrainwater/

Twitter: Linds_Rainwater

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindseyNRainwater/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJCjhj2TiOdPZexV6Z-nD8g

Other: http://womeninfitness.org/

Image Credits
Shel Francis Creative https://shelfranciscreative.com/

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