Meet Lindsay Foley

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lindsay Foley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lindsay, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

Three years ago, I wouldn’t have necessarily considered myself empathetic. I definitely cared about other people and tried to relate to them but I also was very wrapped up in my own life, family, business, etc. Three years ago, we were thrown into a life that I was so unfamiliar with, a life that I only really ever saw on T.V and knew so little about. Our sweet, almost 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Life as we knew it changed in an instant and the fear and uncertainties of the future became a constant part of our lives. In the beginning of Ivys journey, we were so engulfed in our own little cancer world, trying to navigate our new way of life, that it was hard to see others’ struggles and hardships. We were told that from start to finish, Ivy would be in treatment for about 9 months, so I immediately began looking ahead 9 months to when normal life would resume. Oh how little did I know. After finding out that Ivy was misdiagnosed and that her very rare cancer had metastasized, life became a life with no real game plan, to a life with a blank slate. We were not sure what direction to take. And it was and still is, so scary. In year two of our journey, Ivy was accepted to a clinical trial in Memphis, TN at St Jude where we lived for two months (Ivy lived there the entire time and my husband and I switched back and forth). It was extremely hard on our three other children and Ivy missed her family and friends so much. While there, we met some amazing, wonderful people, all going through similar journeys. I started looking at each child with so much love and awe. Every mother and father I would see at St Jude (and maybe I imagined this) but I feel like if we made eye contact, we were able to tell each other without saying, that we understood, that we knew how unbelievably scary all of this is, that we loved and supported each other. She currently is receiving treatment in Sacramento at UC Davis, and flies to Memphis every three months for the dreaded scans and treatment.Watching ivy struggle has been incredibly difficult as a parent. It’s the most helpless feeling watching your child suffer from surgeries, harsh treatments, hair loss, sickness, sadness, fear and not being able to do a single thing about it except to love and support your sick child. I look at the people around me differently now (at least I try really hard to). Everyone has gone through or is going through or will go through something difficult, something they don’t know how to navigate, and struggle. I try to keep that in mind when I interact with others. My sweet Ivy’s cancer and her story, has helped me to learn empathy towards others, to love more and judge less. Am I perfect at that? Absolutely not. Do I still get caught up in my own struggles, worries, realities? Most definitely. But, I feel like I can connect more with people, mourn and cry with others when they hurt, and give them sincere, heartfelt attention. I did not have a choice about Ivy’s cancer diagnosis, and would never hope for this kind of challenge. I do not have a choice on which direction it will go. What I CAN choose, though, is how I can learn from Ivy and how I treat others that have their own worries and struggles. I can choose to help uplift others when they are scared or uncertain about their future. I can choose to have empathy. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I learned all about the Cottage Food world when I was helping my friend with her business. She was licensed to make and sell baked goods that she made from home. As a stay-at -home mom, I was antsy for a way to have an income that didn’t involve working out of the home or childcare. While I was helping her find new markets to sell her goods, I thought that I could do the same thing, but with pies. I learned to bake pies when I was about 12 and was always in charge of making them for Thanksgiving. So, seven years ago, without putting too much though into it, I took the necessary steps to get licensed, then figured out along the way how to run my small business. It has not only proved to be a good source of supplemental income, but it has also become an outlet for me while my daughter has been battling cancer.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. I think one of my qualities that have helped me with my business is I don’t try and figure out all of the details before I decide something. I just jump right in. When I decided that I wanted to run a cottage food operation from my home, I didn’t figure out logistics, social media, or name of my business..I just went for it and figured out as I go along

2. I learn from my mistakes. There have been a lot of things that I have learned along the way with my business. What works, what doesn’t, if I should hire help or do it all myself, leaving a freezer open just a crack and losing all of my fruit, taking an order and the person doesn’t show up to pick their pie. It has definitely been a learning curve

3. I am not afraid of hard work. During the holidays, I am on my feet all day, every day. Sometimes I am up really late only to get up early the next morning to work some more. It doesn’t scare me away. I love the thrill of my business and making my customers happy and repeatable.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

When Ivy was first diagnosed, I stopped taking care of myself. I would have a thought that when she is “cured” I will start exercising again and cooking for my family, eating better, etc. I started to realize that things were not going to be on my time table that it was going to have to be me to make that decision to start taking care of me better. I am definitely not perfect at it and most likely will have my ups and downs, but when I am more mindful about taking care of me, whether it be exercising, or eating better, I feel better and stronger to take on some of these difficult challenges.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://saypies.com
• Instagram: saypies