For founders with a team who'd like to sell someday
Turn your business into one that doesn't depend on you.
Stay as involved as you'd like. Get your time back now, and when you're ready to sell, a business that doesn't depend on you can bring a higher price, better terms, and a shorter transition.
A free 5 to 7 minute check that scores how ready your business is to run without you.
Is This You?
You built a business you're proud of, and a lot of it still works through you.
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- 1The client question waits for your answer.
- 2The big decisions wait for your sign-off.
- 3The most important sales calls wait for you to take them.
That costs you time with the people and passions you'd love more of. And if a sale is on your mind, whether in 12 months or in 5 years, buyers look closely at how much a business depends on its owner.
The answer to both is a business that depends on you less.
If you're tired and stretched thin, this can feel out of reach. It's possible, and I've done it myself.
If this is you, you're in the right place.
Who I am & what I do
Hi, I'm Lindsay Smith.
I'm a licensed therapist of 20+ years, a step back coach, a systems architect, and the founder of Zestia, my personal growth app.
I built two counseling centers over 15 years. I clearly documented how everything ran, built a team who used those systems, then handed the day-to-day to someone else. For 5 years I stayed the owner and worked about 5 hours a month. When I sold both centers in early 2025, the buyer's team went through the business, everything was in place, and I didn't have to stay on for a transition.
That's how I know this is possible, even if it feels out of reach right now.
Today I help founders do the same, so they get their time back now and have a business a buyer finds more attractive later. My therapy training helps with the human side of stepping back: trusting your team with the work you've always done yourself, and deciding what you want your days to look like instead.
I trust her fully and have seen a huge impact on the growth of my business as a direct result of our work together.
Molly Rose Speed, CEO and Founder of Virtual Assistant Management
The step back path
Let me show you the path
Every founder's business depends on them in a different mix of ways, so the work is built around yours. It moves through four stages.
Right now
- Burned out.
- Overwhelmed.
- Can't see the way out.
An in-depth audit
The Step Back Audit shows everything that still depends on you, large and small.
Your customized strategy
A plan built around your business, your team, your goals, and your timeline: what changes first, who takes it on, and by when.
Role map, documentation, and weekly numbers
Every system within the business written down so a new person can run it. The right people in the right roles. Core numbers you check each week, like new leads or projects delivered on time, that show you early if something begins to slip.
You get your life back
You get to step back to the extent you desire. Your team makes the everyday calls, and your days fill with what you love.
You get to love your business and your life at the same time.
Ways to work together
Choose Your Starting Point
If you're not sure where to begin, start with the free scorecard.
Free · Start here
Free Step Back Scorecard
A 5 to 7 minute check that scores how ready your business is to run without you and points you to your next step.
One-to-one coaching
Step Back Coaching
A guide through all of it. We find what depends on you, build the plan, and put the documentation, people, and weekly numbers in place.
Do it yourself
Step Back Foundations
Do it yourself, with the help of AI. Step Back Foundations helps you map every system in your business and turn each one into an SOP a new person can follow.
Done for you
Done-for-You Documentation
I document your systems for you. We map every system your business runs on and who owns it, then I interview you and your team and write the SOPs. It starts with a free call where I document one system.
Want to see a finished example? Explore the sample portal
The math
Joy is a business metric. Here's the math.
What that looks like when your business depends on you less
- A business buyers see as less risky and ready to transfer
- Clients consistently served
- Time away while the business keeps growing
- Confidence to step back, because your core numbers tell you early if something needs you
- Dinner with your phone in another room
Questions
Questions founders ask
How much of my time will this take?
You set the pace. The scorecard takes 5 to 7 minutes. Step Back Foundations works on one part of the business at a time. Done-for-you documentation starts with a free call of about 45 minutes, and I do the writing. In coaching, your time goes to decisions and reviews, on a rhythm we set together.
What if I don't want to sell now, but know I'll want to eventually?
Starting now means you get your time back today, and the work is already in place when you're ready to sell. The scorecard is a good first step.
Can you work with my broker or exit planner?
Yes. I work alongside them. They lead the financial side of the sale, including your financials, valuation, tax planning, and deal terms. My focus is reducing how much the business depends on you, through documented systems, the right roles, and weekly numbers.
What does it cost?
The scorecard and the first done-for-you call are free. Step Back Foundations lists its price on its page. Coaching and done-for-you documentation are custom to your business. I share the investment once we've talked and I understand more about where your business is today and where you'd like it to go.
Let's Make Your Whole Life Extraordinary
You've built the business. Now let's build the life that matches it, the one with space for joy, for the ones you love, and for you.
Picture your first week away without checking your phone or your inbox, while the business keeps running well.
Want a lighter place to begin? What's Stealing Your Joy? Take the Free Quiz.
Kind words
What People Are Saying
Lindsay Smith is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to operating a successful business and doing it while living a life you love. I trust her fully and have seen a huge impact on the growth of my business as a direct result of our work together. Lindsay speaks the truth, has your best interests in mind, and will do whatever she can to ensure you succeed.
I knew Lindsay for 10 years before I hired her as my coach. I have always been impressed with her tenacity and drive, her innovation and her passion, but also her zest for life and positive spirit as she has grown her businesses and developed her own amazing life! I hired her to coach me as I FINALLY took the plunge and started my own practice, and her guidance was exactly what I needed to have the confidence to get started and thrive. She was supportive yet direct and helped me stay focused so that I had time for everything else in my life that was important to me. Lindsay was also receptive to feedback and flexed with me when I needed her to. I can’t say enough thank you’s to Lindsay, because were it not for her guidance and support, starting my practice would have been MUCH more difficult and I’m sure I wouldn’t have made the strides I have in such a short amount of time. I can confidently say that my business is thriving, more than I could have ever imagined, in just under two years of practice. I recommend her with the highest regard!
I have been so fortunate to be the recipient of Lindsay’s entrepreneurial coaching. Her skillful listening, engagement and direction has been invaluable for supporting our company’s vision and helping me to further develop as a leader.
Lindsay is an extraordinary coach, leader and human. She is a powerhouse of knowledge and wisdom and has a beautiful heart for serving others. She has created an amazing life and business for herself and is a wizard at helping other women do the same. Anyone that works with Lindsay will be blessed beyond measure.
Did you know you CAN have it all; that you don’t have to choose? Lindsay is passionate about people, and truly cares about your success. Her warmth, kindness and compassionate stems from her own deep capacity for self-love and will support you in becoming your best self, knowing that life happens for you, not to you. There will be no judgement only empowerment. My hope for you is that you too connect with Lindsay, and discover for yourself her wonderful spirit, sprinkled with happy.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Lindsay for nearly 20 years. From the moment I met her, she has been helping others become their best self. She is, without a doubt, an expert in her field. Those who have an opportunity to work with Lindsay will most certainly reap the rewards.
Lindsay is very passionate about her work and helping others. She has always been an extremely hard-worker who sets goals and goes above and beyond, every time. When Lindsay comes up with an idea or has a vision, she is driven to make it into a reality. She loves working with others to build success and is able to really bring information and knowledge to life. Being given the opportunity to work with Lindsay is a joy and a pleasure.
Lindsay is a truly extraordinary individual. I have met very few people in my professional or personal life that have demonstrated the superlative levels of both intellect and emotional intelligence I see in Lindsay. Every endeavor I have seen her pursue has brought great success, not just for her but for all parties involved. I can think of nobody better suited to help bring out the best in anyone.
I have had the privilege to work with and know Lindsay Smith personally for over 10 years now. Lindsay is such an inspiration to me! She is the true definition of a SUPERWOMAN! Lindsay is a visionary, perceptive and has incredible energy! She has a work ethic like no one I have ever met. She has somehow figured out how to find the balance between work and living her best life in a meaningful way.
Lindsay is truly an incredible human with one of the biggest, warmest hearts I’ve ever had the pleasure to come in contact with. She is one of those people who when you’re around them, you know you can do anything. She has mastered the heart-centered business model and everything she approaches she does with love and wisdom. She sees strengths in people and knows how to bring them out. I cherish and value Lindsay’s ability to communicate with honesty, clarity, and a birds-eye understanding of any situation. I feel so blessed to know Lindsay and anyone who has the opportunity to work with her will be lucky and blessed, as well. I only wish that there were more people in the world like her. She’s an inspiration for what I believe we should all strive for. She truly has learned how to have it all in life and I am so thankful she wants to share these secrets with us! Thank you, Lindsay. You are truly one in eight billion and I am a better person for knowing you.
