Lindsey Maza

Lindsey Maza is a Self-Love and Leadership Coach. 

She tells us that, “After spending 14 years as a leader in the fashion industry, I realized I was burnt out and disconnected from myself. I knew there was a better way to enjoy life, professionally and personally. So, I started practicing Self-Love and never looked back. Now I empower professional women and women in leadership to love their whole selves unconditionally. I live in Los Angeles, CA with my husband, cat, and dog. I love scary movies, funny shows, cooking, exploring, and learning.

What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.

I grew up in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa. I had such an amazing time growing up in Iowa. Always playing outside with my friends, being creative, spending time with family. My favorite activity was dancing. I was on a competition team, and my high school’s dance team. I danced in college as well for 2 years. I loved it. My first job was in retail, and I fell in love with the fashion industry from there. I majored in Apparel Merchandising at Iowa State University with a minor in Journalism, while also working a retail job full time. I got a summer internship in LA, fell in love with the city, and moved here permanently a year later with no friends, family, or job. Just the love for fashion and LA in my heart. Found a job within the first month and then my professional career started.

Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business /initiative? What motivated you within to say YES, go for it!”

The one word answer is trust. But the longer story was I saw a gap in the workplace for Self-Love. I had endured multiple toxic, traumatic workplaces that took me years to heal from. I felt that if I had loved myself and had a stronger sense of self-worth I would have stood up for myself more or removed myself from those workplaces. But because my worth was in my job and my productivity, I stayed. So once I started healing with self-love practices, I realized more people need this sense of worth, trust, and compassion within themselves. Not just so they can leave a toxic workplace, but just in their day-to-day mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. My drive to help professional women love themselves was the #1 reason I started this business.

Tell us something about your initiative or current role. What is it about, and what impact are you trying to make?

My movement is called “Not Your Dad’s Leadership.” The Not Your Dad’s Leadership Movement’s mission is to bring compassion, empathy, and trust back into the workplace one human at a time, starting with ourselves. It’s about promoting human first leadership, creating safe workplaces for people to be human, and treating ourselves as humans too. The impact this movement is making is stopping the cycle of toxic leadership. It takes a courageous leader to stand up and decide that the trauma cycle of the “traditional” way of leadership stops with them. However, the impact ripple it creates will change how people work, how people lead, and how people love themselves and their life for generations to come.

Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?

Although this movement is less than a year old, I’ve already seen it in action with my clients telling me that they didn’t bring their toxic leaders’ energy down to their employees, seeing better work-life balance, and women standing in their way by asking for and getting paid what they deserve. It’s working!

Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?

I would like to see people love themselves unconditionally. It sounds counterintuitive, but loving yourself leads to results you didn’t even dream possible. Self-Love is the foundational practice of everything you do, no matter your journey. Who you are is how you lead. So the relationship with yourself is paramount to your entrepreneurship journey. Love yourself first, and watch what happens.

Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women leadership today?

I believe women are starting to “wake up” and realize that the traditional way of leadership, the traditional way of the workplace doesn’t serve the best version of themselves, or has their best interest at heart. We are realizing that what we’ve been taught only serves patriarchal versions of the workplace. Every single day, we are becoming more powerful, but at this point in history, we still have such a long way to go. With that being said, when women stand together, we can do powerful things. It’s up to us to keep challenging the status quo together. To cheer for each other. To stand up for our colleagues, employees, bosses, family and friends when we see injustice. To keep telling our stories, be loud, be courageous, and let the world see the same power we see in ourselves.

What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?

Your voice matters. Your story matters. YOU matter.