Founding a business is not as easy as Lori Harder makes it look. But when the going gets difficult, she knows that she has to just work harder. And it is because of her spirited determination that her venture Lite Pink has been able to accumulate the revenue it has.
Harder’s go-getter mentality has always pushed her to chase her ambitions. From being a three-time fitness world champion, eleven-time fitness cover model, a gym-owner, to entrepreneur, best-selling author, and podcaster (rated by Forbes as one of the Top 18 female-led podcasts), there is pretty much nothing she can’t do when she puts her mind to it. And now, she’s empowering other women to follow their own ambitions!
Harder is setting the standard for entrepreneurs everywhere as she pushes through whatever obstacle has the audacity to come in her way. She continues to thrive in true entrepreneurial eagerness by not letting fear get in the way, cultivating supportive environments and mentorship, and embracing self-forgiveness. Read on to learn more about this powerhouse.
How did you make your first dollar and what did that job teach you that still applies today?
I made my first dollar before I was a teenager cleaning my dad’s workshop. Growing up, he owned a kitchen and bathroom business, and he would make my sister and I sweep the never-ending sawdust on the floor. He had a high standard for cleanliness for his work environment and taught us that the job was not done until it was perfect. We often had to “postpone gratification” aka playdates to put in some hard work on the weekends to help the family. Even though I hated it, I gained a real sense of pride from learning how to work hard and do a job well.
You are so impressive. Your career started in the fitness industry—you’re a former three-time fitness world champion, eleven-time fitness cover model, and also ran and owned your own gym—and you’ve since launched three (!) seven-figure businesses. Take us back to the beginning—what was the lightbulb moment for your pivot to entrepreneurship and what inspired you to pursue this path?
I can’t say there was an inspired moment as much as it was all the rock bottom moments that forced me into action. For a long time, I told myself the story that I wasn’t smart enough because I was homeschooled and that my anxiety and panic attacks were not fixable, and it held me back from doing the things I dreamed of. This was my story, and I fed my fear daily to ensure that it was justified why I wasn’t taking action on my dreams.
It wasn’t until after I was married and working as a barista, doing random retail jobs when my husband—the main breadwinner—lost his job in banking during the recession. We lost our home, our cars, and wound up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. It was in that moment I decided that something like that will never happen to us again. It was the thing that made me face my fears and just start messy. At that point, I had nothing to lose, and the pain was larger than the fear of failing.
You are the host of the Forbes top-rated podcast ”Earn Your Happy,” and your latest ventures—your best selling book, “A Tribe Called Bliss,” and your newest company, Lite Pink, a new spiked seltzer company—are centered around women's empowerment through connection. Why is this work so important to you? What compelled you to launch Lite Pink? Tell us about your mission and what you hope to accomplish.
I was raised in a very religious family, and I was not allowed to hang out with people outside of my religion. We struggled with the money-mindset, and so did everyone around me. I had a limited perspective on the world and what was acceptable or possible for my future. I learned very quickly that your environment is stronger than your willpower, and if I wanted to do or be something outside of these beliefs, I would have to immerse myself in a new environment. I knew I had to leave and find people who thought like me, and it was the hardest thing I had ever done considering they were the family and only friends I ever knew. This life lesson kept showing up for me throughout my twenties and thirties, and I knew that this is what other women were struggling with when trying to go for their dreams.
I knew that my work in the world was to show women that the missing piece in achieving their dreams was learning how to create a supportive environment and finding a friend group that would be there to celebrate the wins and when times got hard. Otherwise, we will just go back to the old way of getting love from the people we know best which is usually betraying a part of ourselves in order to not rock the boat.
We need supportive tribes, mentors, and teachers in order to reach our goals and become the people we are here to be, and that takes hard work. I want to make sure people know exactly how to do this. That is why everything I will ever create has connection as its backbone. You can only grow as far and as much as the people you are around most.
You’ve grown not one, not two, but three seven-figure businesses (which is so impressive — congratulations!). There are a lot of aspiring founders and small business owners out there who are wondering which fundraising path they should take—do they bootstrap and self-fund or do they raise capital and bring on investors? So, tell us—What did you do? Did you self-fund or raise money? Why/Why not? What would you recommend?
In the past, I have always bootstrapped. I would set goals in my current position, business, or job that I would have to hit in order to start a new business or quit the other to pursue something full time. When I owned my gym, I started network marketing because I learned very quickly that I was trading time for money and that I had a ceiling to what I was able to make. I was embarrassed to start network marketing, but I knew the products were amazing. I loved them; it was a perfect fit to transition my current clients and audience into; and that the only thing in the way of my dreams was my ego. That’s when I realized: ego is always what is keeping us from our goals, and I went all in. Even then, when I was starting to make great money doing network marketing, I still had to hit a money goal in order to close my gym doors and go full time in network marketing. From there, I made a goal that I had to hit in order to start my next business as well. I was always looking at how I could make sure I could self-fund my next project because, at the time, I didn’t have access to a network for borrowing money. Relying on myself made me work harder, get scrappy, and get really creative. It taught me that there is always a way. I always recommend this if it’s an option.
For Lite Pink, it is capital intensive which means it costs a lot to get off the ground and to operate. I am raising money for this not only to give the business what it needs to start but because collaboration is the North Star of this brand. For me, having all women investors means creating the ownership and collaboration I envision for the women involved. It feels like a big responsibility to have other women’s money involved, and that is what is making me show up even bigger for this brand and mission. I believe we need to create positive pressure for ourselves, and this is definitely doing that for me.
What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make with money early on?
I think the biggest mistake people make is that they think the money they make is money they get to keep. In the beginning, it’s so easy to get excited about making money. Except, the money you make is the money you need to invest back into growing your business. Growth requires outside help from people who have been there before and investing in processes.
What is your number one piece of financial advice for any new entrepreneur and why?
Pay for help. Get a mentor, a coach, or an advisor. Go to business masterminds, and invest your time into business groups, podcasts, books, and courses. Educate yourself, and make sure you check in with your money mindset. We aren’t able to make more money than we believe we can, and this is why it’s vital that the friend and peer groups you’re hanging out with are people who are smarter than you and doing better than you.
2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears towards your new version of success?
We’ve been through times like this in the past, so we knew from the beginning to start looking at all the scenarios. We know in a hard time that those who show up big, over-communicate, and serve will ultimately be ok even if things dip for a bit. We planned extra meetings, met with our mentors, looked at the new needs of people, and immediately created courses, coaching podcasts, and tools to support people. Essentially, we listened and took big action. We had to switch all of our events online and even took a big loss on one of the events in order to do what was right for our customers. This created so much trust that it paid off later as customers wanted to keep doing business with us. With every move you make, you’re establishing trust for your customer and the longevity of your business.
Going after what you deserve in life takes confidence and guts. Does confidence come naturally to you or did you have to learn it? What advice can you share for women on cultivating confidence and going after their dreams?
Confidence is an outcome. Confidence can only be created by taking action despite feeling doubt and fear. Confidence happens when you try new things and widen your scope of possibility. I was not born with confidence. It took me until my late twenties to learn that I could grow my confidence, the person I am, and what I’m capable of by giving myself the grace to try, fail, and just be proud that I am willing to try the thing and be a beginner in front of everyone. Start being more proud of the fact that you are willing to try and fail rather than never trying at all. Put more weight on your choice to be brave rather than how you look or will be perceived. Put value in making you love the fact that you are a person who goes for it no matter how you look. Make loving yourself and being proud of yourself a priority rather than making everyone else proud.
It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?
It’s so important to support yourself around your fears and failures. I have a fail-safe for failure meaning that I call my friends immediately and talk about it. I don’t let my shame or embarrassment fester on my own. I choose quickly to feel it and cry. Get it out, and start focusing on finding a solution. Sometimes, you’ll need more time than others. If you don’t have a support system yet for failure, make creating this group just as high of a priority as your biggest goal. This will be the difference between reaching your dreams and giving up.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now—what advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself to have more grace and forgiveness with myself. I would tell myself nothing is as big of a deal as it seems and that humans can come back from anything. No one person or group of people can take you down forever, and the faster you can come back from failure, the faster you will become the person you know you are here to become.
Fill in the blanks:
The three qualities that got me to where I am today are…
Grit, willingness to look imperfect and taking messy, fast action, and the belief that there is always a way.
My perfect day begins with…
Coffee, reading, prayer, and a walk.
The best career advice I always give is…
Get a mentor or coach, and join a mastermind.
If there were more hours in the day, I would…
Take more classes on learning music and dance.
To be successful, you need to be…
Relentless and unrealistic.
