The Quirky Entrepreneur: an Interview with Calgary's Lindsay Harle-Kadatz

When she was young, Lindsay Harle-Kadatz never imagined herself as an entrepreneur. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she knew she wanted to create. “I was always creating in some form or fashion, whether it was art, performing, singing, music… creating. But running a business? Being an entrepreneur? No.”

Lindsay is a long-time client of Sandler Trainer Hamish Knox, in Calgary. I reached out to our franchisees looking for a Canadian entrepreneur to interview and Hamish hastily sent Lindsay my way. I’m delighted he did - after only 8 minutes on our Zoom call, I was already hanging on to her every word.

She doesn’t fit the mold of a buttoned-down business professional - she’s got blunt bangs with blue streaks, a colourful scarf billowing around her neck, and behind her is a pull-up banner promoting her book, “Depression Constipation: How Pooping Saved My Sanity… and Other Stories.” (Available on Amazon.)

She’s a breath of fresh air on our mid-week call and we muse about our shared use of large hand gestures and sing-song story-telling styles. I start to wonder if I will be able to do her justice in my blog - I can already tell she is a force to be reckoned with in the best possible way. We dive into a conversation about entrepreneurship.

“I grew up thinking I’d be in the corporate world,” she tells me. “When I was 13 I had an art teacher tell me I wasn’t talented, and I thought creative and artistic were the same thing. If I was not artistic, why should I nurture any creative aspect? My mom was an Assistant Deputy Minister in the government, my dad was a Partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. That’s what was modeled for me, so I thought, that’s where I’m going to go.”

She soon realized that the corporate route wasn’t the best fit for her quirky, creative personality. Ten years ago Lindsay started her business, The Write Harle, a Calgary-based company offering brand strategies for family businesses in generational transition of ownership that are looking to marry the voices of the generations to continue the legacy forward.

She is also a Neuro-Change Master Certified Practitioner, working with quirky creatives and entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out how to run their businesses in a way that’s true to themselves. She tells me, “They’ve been told that “quirky” is wrong and I’m here to help them understand that their quirky is right.”

Her passion lies in implementing the creativity she longed for since childhood into her business practices.

“Creativity is an action regardless of whether it’s art. We can be creative in business in how we show up and have conversations with clients. It’s a huge piece of what Hamish has taught me as well - business is creating. Entrepreneurs… we’re creative, period. At the end of the day, we’re looking for a solution to a problem and finding a creative way to get there. That’s what entrepreneurship is - creating along the way. Creating the steps forward. Creating the next path. Creating the next customer.”

Safe to say this incredibly inspiring female Canadian entrepreneur is making waves and helping businesses grow, so what I want to know is: who inspires her? When I ask she struggles to name just one.

“Hamish is one of them.” We pause for a moment to laugh at her aggressive pronunciation of Hamish before she continues. “I have been training with him since 2013, entering my 8th year in August. To see him grow, to see all that he's done and how he’s expanded his team and the work that he does with his clients (and the patience he has with me) honestly he is an entrepreneur that I respect through and through. He’s very supportive of women and promoting them in a traditionally male-dominated industry. I highly admire him for that.”

She goes on to tell me about her reverence for Monica Kretschmer of the Universal Women’s Network. “Her story is just phenomenal and she’s using it to make huge changes for women. She is the definition of a visionary entrepreneur. I’m always amazed at how she has these huge ideas and to see how she’s able to achieve them and the resilience she has along the way - I’m just in awe of her.”

Lindsay is also a huge fan of behavioral scientist and researcher Dr. Kevin Sansberry, host of the Toxic Leadership Podcast. “I love the work he’s doing. He’s taking an approach that a lot of business owners don’t typically take. He’s looking at the toxicity of leaders' behaviours and understanding how to reduce or remove those, versus looking at how to change the culture of a company.” She agrees that a company’s culture is built on the attitude of the leader. So if something needs to be fixed, you start at the top of the organization. “I admire his pursuit of growth and movement forward.”

So what advice can Lindsay pass on with 10 years of experience as an entrepreneur following in the path of these greats who have come before her?

“Be prepared to talk about yourself. My first networking event I didn’t know I had to stand up and give a 30-second spiel. I remember sweating. I got up and said something like, ‘I love my red editing pen!’ People still remember me from that event.” She tells me with a self-deprecating laugh. “It was a huge lesson that taught me to know why you’re going to these things and to be prepared to talk about yourself - because I wasn’t. Know who you are and what you stand for.”

As we wind down our lively conversation, we talk about what it takes to create a healthy culture as an entrepreneur, even if you’re working solo.

“Me and the dogs have long team meetings,” she says playfully, “I let them cross a lot of boundaries. No, in all honesty, because I do work with contract writers and with my clients as well, at the end of the day it’s just having open ears. Be honest, have integrity. Have the hard conversations. Pick up the phone if there’s a problem. Culture is built on the willingness to have those conversations, and people will appreciate that.”

Her philosophy is simple: listen, get feedback, and grow. After chatting with her for only 45 minutes, I can tell this isn’t just a sound bite, but something she sincerely lives and breathes in her business - the proof is in the pudding. She is successful because she’s genuine and she cares about her clients, something that is much easier said than done, and Lindsay is a doer.

Her final piece of advice to someone who wants to be an entrepreneur?

“Do the mental work. At the end of the day, you are going to get kicked down, you’re going to fail. You’re going to take things on from clients that aren’t really yours to take on, but that’s the case sometimes. We’re all just working with human beings, so it’s crucial to do the inner work. Remain confident in yourself so that you can continue on those ‘low roll’ days. When your mind is right you’re then able to do those things that make you more productive in your business.”

To find out more about the work that Lindsay Harle-Kadatz does, visit her websites: www.thewriteharle.com and quirkylindsayharle.com or follow her on social: