IAM2803 – Owner and Founder Delivers Sustainable, Results-Driven Wellness Programs for Both Individuals and Corporate Teams

In this episode, Gresham Harkless welcomes Lynn Maxwell, Founder of XLM Health Life Fitness, LLC. Lynn launched her firm after a career in employee benefits and a personal experience with corporate layoffs led her to bet on herself and fill the gaps she saw in traditional wellness programs.

Lynn shares that her business is guided by a commitment to “be human,” a perspective shaped by her personal journey and her mother's experience with the healthcare system. This belief drives XLM to move beyond “cookie-cutter” challenges and provide customized, sustainable wellness journeys that address physical health, nutrition, and mindset development.

Lynn credits her “secret sauce” to her ability to treat clients as individuals with unique goals rather than just another number. Her key takeaway is to “do it scared” and stop leaving your financial future in the hands of companies that only prioritize their bottom line. She defines a CEO as a leader who does the scary thing fearlessly and has the courage to call their own shots.

Website: https://xlmhealthlifeindy.com/

Instagram:@lmhealthlifeindy

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coach-lynn-maxwell

Full Audio Transcription

Lynn Maxwell 00:00
Being a CEO means to me doing the scary thing, but it also means doing the scary thing fearlessly. It's betting on myself.

Gresham Harkless 00:40
Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast and I have an awesome guest on the show today. I have Coach Lynn Maxwell. Coach Lynn, great to have you on the show.

Lynn Maxwell 00:48
Thank you. Good to be here.

Gresham Harkless 00:49
Yes. Super excited to have you on and talk about all the awesome things that you're doing. But of course before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Coach Lynn so you can hear about some of those awesome things and Lynne Maxwell is the owner and founder of XLM Health Life Fitness LLC is a certified XBE minority, women, veteran or disability owned business through the City of Indianapolis, OMWBD and a proud three star achieve well recipient. She is a certified health, life and Nutrition and fitness coach with a concentration in strength training and is currently expanding her expertise to become a Certified Menopause Coach too. Lynn is dedicated to delivering sustainable and results driven wellness programs for both individuals and corporate teams. She partners with organizations who help lower healthcare premiums, improve workplace culture and equip employees with the tools to make lasting lifestyle changes. Her holistic approach integrates physical health, nutrition, strength training and mindset development as well too, addressing not only the body but also the mental and emotional resilience required in today's workforce. And Coach Lynn and I connected actually on LinkedIn we were talking that's affecting a lot of people with layoffs and all of those things. And I just loved her perspective, but also I loved like her background as well too because not only does she have that fitness and health journey, she also has a background in operations, project management and communications as well too. And I think a lot of times when we're thinking about our health, we don't see it as the journey that it ultimately is. So I love everything that you're doing. Coach Lynn, super excited to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the IMCO community?

Lynn Maxwell 02:22
Yeah, let's do this.

Gresham Harkless 02:23
Let's get it started then. So they kind of kick everything off. What I want to do is rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little Bit more on how you got started, what I call your story.

Lynn Maxwell 02:31
Yeah, so I'm probably one of the hundreds that you've heard from and the entrepreneurial world. I kind of got started during COVID I wanted. I was working for an employee benefits company. Insurance, of course. Right. So working for them and working. We were, of course, sent home for Covid, and during one of the meetings that I was supposed to be paying attention to, I was on YouTube and there was an ad. There was a YouTube ad about health coaching. And I'm like, what's. What's that? You know? And when the meeting was over, I got curious and I started doing research on health coaching. Well, I had already been into my fitness journey since 2017. 2016, 2017. So by that time, I was kind of bootlegging this whole thing. Right. You know, people were asking me, hey, how do you do this? How do you do that? Like, you're busy. Like, how. How do you keep your schedule? How do you eat on time? How do you drink your water? Like, it was. It was a. It was a thing that I didn't know had a name to it. So when I got into my certification classes, I was just like, oh, this is what it is. So, you know, it was. I was in a cushy job. I had my PTO, I had my 401k, and, you know, doing all the matching and everything. And. And it was. It was great. And then I decided to make a boneheaded move and leave that cushy job and went to another job. And that was probably one of the biggest mistakes. It was. It was just such a toxic environment. I stayed there for about. About a year, and then I found another position with another employee benefits organization. And literally 10 months later, myself, my team, and about 13 other people were laid off.

Gresham Harkless 04:29
Oh, no.

Lynn Maxwell 04:30
And it was just like, oh, my gosh. Like, I. I literally just started this. This job, and I'm just like, what am I going to do? And one of my friends, she's also an entrepreneur, and she goes, well, good things. You. Good thing you have a business plan already. She didn't allow me to cry. She didn't do anything. She was like, good thing you have your business plan. And I said, you know what? I said, you're right. And I was like, I was going to do this anyway. I was just like, but, you know, the God has a way of just kind of pushing you out of the saying, you know what? You know, this is what you're supposed to be doing. So In September of 2020, 4xLM Health Life Fitness was born, and we've been getting to it ever since.

Gresham Harkless 05:14
Perfect. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about your business, how you're impacting and making that imprint in the clients that you work with.

Lynn Maxwell 05:21
Yeah. So I am a wellness coach and advisor. I hold a certification, like you said, in health life, diet and nutrition. I am a certified personal trainer, and I'm working towards a menopause coaching certification. And that is xlm. And what we do is we know that one size does not fit all. And in a lot of our companies, with the programs, with the wellness programs that our. Our companies have, it's one size fit all. It's the water challenges, it's the step challenges. And, you know, and in that space of being in employee benefits, I was just like, okay, so there's a gap. There are people who really want to get off blood pressure medicine. There are people who really want to lose weight. There are real people who really want to make real changes. And these challenges are great. Don't get me wrong. Like, if you're. If you want to drink more water, that's awesome. Like, you're supposed to drink more water. However, what is that going to do for the people who have actual goals? And so what XLM does. XLM is an arm of your company's insurance plan, where we customize those plans for you, we customize your wellness journey for you.

Gresham Harkless 06:41
I wonder, is that part of what you would call like your secret sauce or I would call your secret sauce for yourself, the business or combination of both. But is it that ability to understand that human part, understand that we're not all cookie cutter, we're not all one size fits all, and be able to understand how to create that. Win, win, win, win, win. Do you feel like being able to kind of bring that together is what's part of your secret sauce?

Lynn Maxwell 07:01
Absolutely. I mean, if you really think so, I'm going to get a little personal here. My mom, she passed pancreatic cancer in 2013. And the way that the doctors kind of treated the family, it was a very much brush off. Okay, this is what it is. This is what's going on. Good luck. And it was kind of like a. It was. It was so dismissive, and it just, it. It was cold. I've never forgotten that from, from a lot of the doctors that were treating her. Right. So that was one of the things that I brought into my practice, is be human. Be human to these people. They are going through something. Whether Whether it's a heart problem, where it doesn't matter what it is, be, be a good person, you know, And I understand you can't get attached because if people want to accomplish something, they definitely have to be locked in 100%. I'm the cheerleader, I'm the coach. I'm Rah Rah. I'm on the sidelines. You are the one that's going to have to put your foot, one foot in front of the other, to start this journey. I'm here to give you steps, I'm here to hold your hand, but I cannot do it for you. And so I think one of the things I, I, yes, that's part of my secret sauce is making sure that everybody knows that they're human. I'm human. And I understand life will. Life. It will absolutely life. You will get off track. I understand you will have birthday after birthday after celebration, after celebration, and you're going to drink and you're going to eat and you're going to do all these things. I get that. But ultimately it is your responsibility, and that's part of being human.

Gresham Harkless 08:44
So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but what's something you lean on that makes you more effective and efficient?

Lynn Maxwell 08:56
So I have a couple hacks. I think one of the hacks that I. One of my CEO hacks is I always put myself first during the day. I'm one of those people who are, who's up and will hit the gym for about an hour and a half, hour, 45 minutes, and then I can take care of everyone else. So that, that's my CEO hack. I always have to take time for myself before I get started and after I get started because there is a cutoff. I mean, as a CEO, you will find yourself waking up at 4am with your mind just going. And before you even step foot in the shower, you know, you're sending an email or you're, you're, you're sending a text or, or something, you know. So one of, one of my CEO hacks is I take care of myself before and after. And I do have a cutoff time because it's just, you don't want to burn yourself out before you get started. Another thing is, is I love AI. I know a lot of people, I'll be like, oh, my God. Oh my God. No, I absolutely love AI because sometimes there is just things that I Don't know that I'm not sure where to go. And there's so much noise out there and there's so many resources out there that it's good to just put it in a couple of search engines like AI and it'll spit back to you what it is and then it'll ask you questions at the end and you're just like, never thought of that, never thought of that. But also with AI, I do a lot of fact checking. I have to do a lot of fact checking because AI is, you know, it's going to do what it's going to do, but you have to be smart about it. So AI is also one of my favorite hacks. I think another favorite hack is networking. Actually getting out there, just kind of seeing who's out there making those connections. People see your face, they're like, oh, that's, I remember her, I can't remember her name, but she's, she's the wellness lady. She's, she's that wellness coach. So networking is also one of those huge hacks that, you know, being an introvertist and it's like, but, but it's a necessary evil, right? So it is absolutely one of those CEO hacks that is going to lead most of CEOs to their first, second, third and repeating clients.

Gresham Harkless 11:09
Absolutely. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. This is a little bit more word of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you might tell your favorite client, your employer or employer that you might be working. Or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your

Lynn Maxwell 11:26
younger business self, yeah, do it. Just do it. Stop leaving your financial future in the hands of companies that only are looking out for their own bottom line. You could be the star employee, you can be employee of the month five months in a row, you can get that raise, you can get that corner office. And then one day at 5pm on a Thursday, you get an 8 o' clock meeting on your, on, on your calendar, on for Friday morning. And the next thing you know, you're walking out with the box. And I would say, do it. Do it scared. Do it with intention. Do it with the intention of filling a gap. I find that, you know, again, companies will gas you up and then only to let you down. I mean, I was at the Last Employer for 10 months gaining traction and boom, you know what I mean? So I would say, is it worth the mental anguish, especially in our climate today, like we are getting laid off left and right. And it's astounding how many people are getting laid off still. And I don't even think we are at the peak pinnacle of layoffs. And so I would say ask yourself, is it worth the mental anguish?

Gresham Harkless 12:49
So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. Our goal is to have different quote, unquote CEOs on the show. So, Coach Lynn, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Lynn Maxwell 12:59
Being a CEO means to me doing the scary thing, but it also means doing the scary thing fearlessly. It's betting on myself. It's the oh, my God, what ifs, and that's good or bad. What if XLM takes off and I. And I have so many clients I don't know what to do with. What if XLM fails? You know, it's all of that. It's, it's, it's calling my own shots. It's. It's correcting what corporate has done to me. It's turning my bitter into a business. You know, it's making sure that the gap that I see is filling is being filled and that I'm helping others. It's knowing that I don't want to do this until I'm 60. It's. It's knowing that I want to scale this to the point where I'm trying to retire at 55. You know what I mean? So it's so many things. It's, it's, it's getting up and knowing that there is a grind that I love and that I know is going

Gresham Harkless 14:09
to work absolutely well. I truly appreciate that definition, Coach Lynn. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get a hold of you find about all the awesome things you are doing.

Lynn Maxwell 14:26
Yeah. So I think the. The last thing that I. I'll leave your audience with is if you, if you know that you can do it, align yourself with people that can help you get there. But you have to believe in it yourself. You have to believe in you yourself. It's. It's not always going to be roses and daffodils. You know, you're. You're going to have to get your hands dirty. You're going to have. There's going to be some nice where you're just like, what am I doing? There's going to be some nights where you're like, I'm just going to, I'm just going to find another job. But in the end, it is so rewarding to know that only you can do what you do authentically. And if you stay within your authentic self, you can, you can reach a lot of heights. You can reach a lot of heights. People can get a hold of me. It's coachlyn maxwell@outlook.com I am on LinkedIn. Coach Lynn Maxwell is also XLM Health Life Fitness on LinkedIn too. So I have a business and a personal page you can join on either one of those. And then I am also on Instagram @XLM healthlifendy. So that's how they can get a hold of me.

Gresham Harkless 15:39
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I appreciate it that so much, Coach Lynn. Of course, to make it even easier, we're going to have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can reach out to you, have those conversations and connect. But I love, love, love that last point. You kind of left us with that. Authenticity is such a huge thing because I always say if you run your own race, you can't lose. But you have to run your own race. You can't look to the left or the right and say, what is that person doing? Let me emulate them. You have to stay true to yourself and be authentic in that way. And I think when you are able to do that, you're able to lock in on that, then some phenomenal things can really happen. But not only do you need it, but I think the world needs a lot of what you are able to provide. So thank you so much for leading that charge and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.