Episode 90: Reflections: Addiction to Progress
The Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
Release Date: 01/10/2022
The Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
In this episode, I’m closing out 2025 with a real, honest conversation about what it takes to finish the year strong and set yourself up for an impactful 2026. I spent the entire day deep inside the numbers of my business, reviewing every program, every metric, every lever, and it reminded me how important it is for us as CEOs to pause, assess, and identify the one main constraint that’s actually holding us back. I’m sharing why so many of us get caught trying to fix problems that haven’t even happened yet, and how that tendency keeps us from addressing the simple but powerful issue...
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In this episode, I’m getting real about the emotional rollercoaster that comes with being a CEO, especially as we close out Q4. Between the external chaos, the end-of-year pressure, and the constant push to perform, it’s easy to lose trust in the one thing that built your business in the first place: your own wisdom. I’ll share why so many high-achieving women find themselves second-guessing their decisions and outsourcing their confidence to “experts,” accountants, and Facebook groups — and how to break that cycle for good. We’ll talk about what it really means to lead through...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
In this episode, we’re continuing the conversation from part two of our Female Founder Forum with three incredible founders—Gabrielle Hudson (Onyx Medical Esthetics), Lauren Grandanetti (Sunday Skin), and Morgan Kraut (MK Esthetics). Together, we’re diving deeper into what it really takes to design, price, and scale a membership program that drives loyalty, profitability, and lasting impact. We’re talking about the systems, strategies, and mindset shifts that transform memberships from a discount plan into a true growth engine for your business. You’ll hear how these women built...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
In this special episode of The Fierce Factor Podcast, I’m bringing you Part 1 of our Female Founder Forum, where I sat down with three powerhouse women in aesthetics—Lauren Grandanetti of Sunday Skin, Morgan Kraut of MK Esthetics, and Gabrielle Hudson of Onyx Medical Aesthetics—for a raw, unfiltered conversation about building loyalty programs that actually work. We’re talking about the truth behind memberships, what makes patients stay loyal, and how to design programs that build community, protect your margins, and grow recurring revenue without discounting your value. This...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
As we round the corner to the end of the year, I know how hard it can feel to stay motivated — especially when you’re leading a business, a team, and a vision that never stops evolving. In this episode, I’m opening up about what it really takes to stay consistent and focused when your energy dips and motivation fades. I’m sharing the mindset shift that changed everything for me — the one that helped me evolve from a high-achieving entrepreneur into a disciplined, impact-driven leader. These are the habits that carried me through the highs and lows of building a business and continue...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
In this episode of The Fierce Factor, I’m unpacking the truth about loyalty programs, and why so many in aesthetics are missing the mark. We’ve been sold the idea that memberships and loyalty programs are the secret to patient retention. But here’s the reality: most are designed backwards. They rely on discounts, lock patients in with contracts, and create operational chaos — all while eroding profit and burning out your team. I’ll share what the world’s most trusted brands, think Costco, Starbucks, and Peloton, understand about loyalty that most aesthetic practices overlook....
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
Loyalty programs are everywhere in aesthetics, but most of them are built backwards. In this episode of The Fierce Factor Podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on one of the industry’s most misunderstood business strategies: loyalty and membership programs. While consultants and conferences love to hype memberships as the silver bullet for retention, the truth is, loyalty isn’t built by locking patients in, it’s earned by investing in them. I’ll share how to design loyalty programs that actually drive growth, protect margins, and inspire long-term patient relationships, not...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
Lately, I’ve felt the weight of uncertainty pressing in from every direction. Maybe you have too. The world feels unsettled, people are anxious, and as leaders, we’re left asking: What does this mean for my business? In this episode of The Fierce Factor Podcast, I’m opening up about the “elephant in the room”—the fear and doubt so many of us are facing—and I’m sharing the five strategies I’m leaning into to lead KLC through these times of external friction. From thinking bigger than my current circumstances, to upgrading my inner circle, to reframing obstacles as...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
As we head into the final quarter of 2025, it’s worth the reminder that the decisions you make now will directly shape your results in 2026. With economic headwinds, from tariff-related inflation to tighter financial conditions, leaders in aesthetics and wellness must double down on smart strategy, not distraction. In this episode of The Fierce Factor Podcast, Kaeli shares why retail is one of the most underutilized yet powerful revenue streams for aesthetic practices. You’ll hear: How retail can create predictable, high-margin income—even in uncertain times The three most effective...
info_outlineThe Fierce Factor with Kaeli Lindholm
As a founder who’s been in business for over a decade, with a business degree, a passion for purpose-driven growth, and plenty of lessons from the school of hard knocks, I’ve learned something critical: entrepreneurship is the game of no finish lines. In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it really feels like to scale a service-based business when you are the product. From the constant cycle of solving one challenge only to meet the next, to the energy-draining “owner-as-the-product” dilemma, I want to talk about the part of scaling no one tells you about, and how to...
info_outlineIn this week’s Fierce Factor episode let’s address the elusive ideology that we aren’t always the ones in control and how we as business owners don’t always have the ability to see through the clearest lense.
I routinely use the analogy that you can’t see the bottle from inside the label. Or the picture from inside the frame. It’s a perspective thing. That is why it is extremely valuable to bring someone you can trust in from the outside who understands your industry and your ambitions to help you see the bigger picture.
So often, we have a distorted view of what is actually going on in the business because we are in the eye of the storm. We are the eye of the storm.
Think about a hurricane… The eye of the hurricane feels completely justified and in control, it’s powerful, its magnetic, its commanding, it’s slowly executing its purpose. But what’s happening around it is chaos. A flurry of disruption that is creating a domino impact. Yet it’s all happening so organically that seems almost indestructible, in fact at times it seems purposeful. And so relating that back to your business, think about the central focus of your business. Similar to the experience of this client, it can be eerily deceiving that the things that once brought you value or you believe still are, are in fact the things that are becoming your biggest barrier to growth.
Success is a double edged sword. It’s so interesting that often the tools, strategies, and mindset that brings success will ultimately become the thing that needs to change to stimulate next level growth in the future.
And it makes sense. Because as business owners we are growing as humans. If we aren't really embracing and investing in this journey of personal growth, our business will never grow beyond us.
Too many times, I’ve witnessed strong, commanding, purposeful business owners become victims to their own storm they have created for themselves because they lose focus. They overlook or misvalue the importance of slowing down and really evaluating their business model.
As I’m reflecting on the past 15 weeks, this is a central idea for me. How can I create meaningful impact in the world that allows me to have freedom, influence, and autonomy at scale?
As you are planning for the future leader, I hope I can inspire you to think about your role in your business and the way you have shown up for your business in the past as a beautiful stepping stone to who are capable of becoming in the future.
Tune in to hear a powerful story of success, growth, and opportunity and how your addiction to progress may be both the catalyst AND the achilles heel to your ultimate fulfillment in business and life.
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