Make Money at Home Passively While You Homestead

Kody: Hi, and welcome to this week’s episode of The Homestead Education. Just a reminder that the introduction to Homestead Science is now available. It is a full year science curriculum for middle and high school students. It’s approximately 400 pages of science text, 200 page workbook, and a tested answer book. It has 18 units that cover many aspects of homesteading, including land engines, animals, gardening crops, food sciences, hunting, foraging, and homestead management. This beautiful full color text is a one of a kind new take on teaching homesteading agriculture and home sciences. It’s available in both print and digital versions. See the link in the show notes. 

Kody: We have been canning up a storm trying to clean out last year’s fruit from the freezer, and preparing for our trip to the Homesteaders of America Conference in Front Royal, Virginia in October. I will be a vendor there this year with my curriculum and have the opportunity to chat with everyone. So I really hope to see you there. I plan on going a little more into the logistics of our trip with you guys later because I’m gonna be trying a really fun homeschool project now as promised for this season I am having on my first guest today. All right, so our guest today is Lindsay Sutherland, the host of the Passive Income Examiner podcast, online business coach, and one of my dearest friends, Lindsay has an amazing story to share with us and some great information on how to continue homeschooling and homesteading financially as we come out of the pandemic and head into a recession.

Lindsay: Yay. Thank you so much for having me, Kody. This is so fun.

Kody: You’re welcome. I’m excited to finally have you on.

Lindsay: I know we’ve been talking about it for too long.

Kody: We’ve been talking about it since before I had a podcast.

Lindsay: That’s true. Yes.

Kody: So glad we finally got that to happen. So I am so excited for you to share your story with my listeners cuz I feel like it’s a story that so many want to be able to accomplish.

Lindsay: Yeah. And it’s one, like you and I had so much in common because of our stories being so similar. You know, having a city life and moving to the woods.

Kody: Well, I dunno if mine was very city, but it was definitely corporate

Lindsay: Yes, that’s true. Mine was city. I was, you know, a full-fledged career mama, four kids in my career and you know, I, you know this about me, so I’ll just share it for your listeners and all those awesome homesteaders out there. 

Both of my parents passed away before they ever made it to retirement. My dad was almost there when he passed. You know, growing up, I watched that and realized that there’s no guarantee of someday. That was a very poignant lesson for me and watching my four kids grow. It was, I can’t explain it, other than to say it was torturous because I wanted to be home with them. I wanted freedom to be with them. And even though I had a really good paying job, I had good balance. You know, I had a good time investment at my job. I still felt like I was missing so much of their lives and understanding how important memories are. Like if I died, what would be left for them? Are they gonna just remember me as the mom that was always working?

Kody: I feel like that’s such a driving force for you.

Lindsay: It is for me for sure. And it was a burning desire and I remember in 2000, I wanna say it was around 2013, I had just had my third son and I was, I don’t know if I was suffering from postpartum depression or what, but life got pretty dark right there. And I later was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, which was probably part of the equation there

Kody: Probably. Yeah. 

Lindsay: There was a lot of other stuff combined.

Kody: Hey, you know what? I think postpartum is what kicked me into gear with my business too. So yeah, let’s roll with that one.

Lindsay: It’s real, you know. It is. But I was a hot mess and we started talking about living remotely. We started looking at the idea of getting land and building a homestead, living off the land, living off grid, all of those things. My husband would watch some YouTubers and this is, I think before it was such a thing. It was just a little bit before that. The problem at the time was that cycle that we get into as people, when life gets comfortable, it’s easy to do the same thing every day. It’s easy because I had a decent paying job, questions like, well how would we pay the bills if we moved? We don’t have any family where we’re going or we don’t know where we wanna go and we don’t have the means to just go travel the United States to go find a place we wanna live, you know? 

Kody: Right. 

Lindsay: All those questions. Yeah. So, and I was an Arizona native, I’d never lived anywhere else, so I had no clue about other states and anything. So everything we were doing was online.

Kody: I feel like when my husband and I decided that we were ready to move, it was like taking a map and throwing a dart at it.

Lindsay: Yeah. 

Kody: I mean, we ended up being a little more specific, but it was definitely that feeling.

Lindsay: Okay. This is a funny and true story. One time we were at, I think it was like a Texas roadhouse and they had a coloring page for the kids that had the United States and who could color the states. And I remember sitting there with my husband and being like, let’s color red on the state we’d consider moving to and yellow on the one we don’t want to.

Kody: How fun.

Lindsay: I know, we would just dream about it for so long we just dreamt. Mm-hmm. Every time I was having a bad day, we would pull this like dream off the shelf and dust it off and I would go back to work feeling hopeful that soon we would have this lifestyle that I could like. have peace. Well it wasn’t until after my daughter was born, which she was born in 2015. It was a year after that. So now we’re talking three years later. Basically, we’re sitting in our rocking chairs again cuz you know, that’s what we do. And again, I was miserable. The last year my nanny had raised my newborn daughter. See, I don’t know about you Kody, but like, every time I had a baby I would do this. Like, I call it the mommy promise. I had this mommy promise. By the time he’s one I’ll be a stay at home mom. Oh, that didn’t work out. Okay. By the time he’s two. You know, and it was constant

Kody: Uh Huh. That was, when I had the twins. I didn’t get to be there with them when they were little. They started daycare at three months old.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Kody: But it was, I’m gonna be done with school by the time they start kindergarten so that I can have a job and a life with them. Which I was able to accomplish that, but luckily when we had our two youngers, my husband and I were financially stable enough that I was able to be home with them. And that was really special. Yeah I’m still home with them, so.

Lindsay: Right. Yeah, I know you’re very, and but you have a good balance too because you still get to work your business, which I know is important for your creative brain. I mean, we have to Oh yeah. Accept, that’s part of who we are. But I know I’m that way too. Like I finally got to be Susie Homemaker and I was like, oh no, this is not for me.

Kody: I still don’t dig sticky babies. I keep wet wipes by my chairs so when they run to me, I can clean them up before they touch me. 

Lindsay: I hear ya. I know what you mean. I think it was so 2016 is when we finally just decided. Lee and I were talking and life was crazy. I was having a cry moment and I’m like, when are we gonna stop talking about this and just do it? Cuz I’m really tired of talking about it. And now by

Kody: I like that do it moment.

Lindsay: Yes. It was the shift, you know, and I think that’s why I like to share my story because, you know, people listening, when you’re stuck in that rut, here’s what I say. There’s three steps to get what you want. Number one, you have to know what you want, obviously. Number two, you have to take action. I was one of those people back then that used to believe in the whole, if it’s meant to be, it’ll find its way. And all those years that we were dusting it off the shelf, I was waiting for the meant to be to like, I don’t know, magically just, uh, appear in my life like, I don’t know, like Santa in the living room or something. You know,

Kody: I kind of feel that way too except for I’ve found that you have to try to accomplish that meant to be. And if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.

Lindsay: Yes. That’s was my big lesson because that didn’t happen until we made that do it moment. And then we started taking the baby steps. We didn’t put the house up for sale right away, but we started doing the things you need to do to get the house for sale. That’s like the hardest part anyway, you know?

Kody: Yes.

Lindsay: Stacking all the boxes, getting rid of truckloads of things. Well my dad had died at that house and all his stuff was there. Plus, 

Kody: Oh goodness.

Lindsay: Stuff of my mom’s plus my, you know, and it’s like we had so much stuff it took forever to get through. But that’s another story. Um, the point is we kept plotting along and it was not a straight path. It was the, like, the least straightest path you could imagine. But through that we decided where we were gonna go. And lucky for us, it was Idaho. Right. Cause it’s awesome.

Kody: Everything. I look out my window every day and I’m like, wow.

Lindsay: I know, I know what you mean.

Kody: How did I get so lucky?

Lindsay: Yeah. It’s one of those views that can just like make you feel close to God cuz it’s just so awesome. I understand. I feel that way too. Especially when I drive home because of the, the mountains in the background. Oh yeah. And the way the sky looks. I’m always just like, I love it here every day. I’ve been here for four years and I’m not tired of it.

Kody: I was actually driving by your place the other day and I was singing Purple Mountains Majesty to my children. I do too.

Lindsay: Yes. Cause they do look purple at this. I was like, wow. That’s where that came from. I never knew. You know what else I didn’t know until moving here. This is a funny thing. So I’m from Arizona and so we don’t have a whole lot of pine trees and where we do, there isn’t a lot of snow. Well, in the cartoons when you watch winter in cartoons, they have like the pretty pine trees with like puffy white blobs on the tree. And I always thought that was just a cartoon thing. But that’s actually what snow looks like on trees in the forest when you get a heavy snow. I was like, oh my gosh, that’s a real thing. That’s funny. But anyhow, so we did, my

Kody: My favorite one actually is the snow on the barbed wire fences.

Lindsay: Oh. Why?

Kody: Just the way it gently falls and piles up on the barbed wire fences so delicately. It’s just so pretty.

Lindsay: Yeah. I don’t have any barbed wire yet, so

Kody: I have a little bit of a personal, like the west was won on barbed wire, tamed by barbed wire and it’s just kinda that special place in my heart.

Lindsay: Yes. That’s cool. That’s good to know. Made me think of a cute gift idea for you. So we’ll have to see what comes out of me at Christmas time. I can get kind of crafty every now and again. 

Kody: You should see my pile of old barb wire I found in the woods and have piled up in my yard. 

Lindsay: There you go. That’s cool. Yeah. So I don’t know, the point being is, you know, we made a plan, we stuck to the plan and we put offers in on properties that fell through and I would say, oh well it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe this whole thing isn’t meant to be. And I’d go back to work in the end. It took us two years from the time we made that decision in 2016 all the way to 2018 to actually move in. But you know what? It’s so crazy. I don’t even know if I told you this. I might have. Recently, I was going through a thumb drive and I found a file that was labeled with a heart emoji. And I was like, that’s weird. What is that? Did I tell you that?

Kody: I think you actually did it on your podcast, but I’m not sure.

Lindsay: Oh yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. Ok. And it was a heart emoji and I opened it up. I was curious like, what is this? And at the top it said Lee and Lindsay’s plan to live in a log cabin in the woods by December of 2018. And I had written out my whole idea of how that was gonna happen. And of course, you know, God was like, haha, you’re funny. We’re doing it my way, but you want what you want. And sure enough, we moved in like a week before Christmas in 2018. I was sitting there, in the log cabin, in front of the fire. It was just like the best feeling in the whole wide world. And I just looked at Lee, I was like, we did it. It felt so good.

Kody: That reminds me of my story of the barn on my screenshot of my phone that just, out on a family vacation, go find this barn. And it was like, I feel like we made it.

Lindsay: I love that story. I shared that with my kids too cuz I was like, that is so powerful. Like, you know, when you visualize something and you put a motion to it, you’re creating, you know, and then you just have to stay consistent with the actions you’re gonna take. That’s the third piece. You know, you take the action and stay consistent. Don’t give up and you just keep moving forward. And it’s like when God finally says, okay, she’s willing to do it for herself or he’s willing to do it for himself. All right, let’s put some energy behind this and boom. Because even though the guy who closed our loan was like, I’ve never seen a loan close this fast. This was crazy. We could, you know, you know what it’s like up here getting inspectors out on time and all that stuff. Everything happened like a dream. It was crazy. It was totally a God thing. Oh, did I ever tell you this story about the butterflies?

Kody: I don’t think so.

Lindsay: Okay. So in 2016, I think it was, or 17, somewhere in there we went on a road trip cuz we had finally decided that Idaho was probably gonna be the place. So we decided to road trip it. We took like a 10 or 11 day road trip with the kids. Our goal was to drive through Idaho and just decide where we would wanna be. Can you hear my dog?

Kody: Yea

Lindsay: That’s my new livestock guardian dog. He’s so loud. 

Kody: I can’t wait to meet him. 

Lindsay: His voice is so deep. Anyway, so we were driving through Idaho and we were up in Bonners Ferry. We stopped in at one of the realtor places and got a brochure and we were looking at land and the lady was like, “Hey, go down this highway. You’re gonna feel like you’re driving forever, but you’ll see this entrance, you pull in, you can go check out this piece of property.” And so on the way there, I said to God, we already were in love with Bonners Ferry. And I was like, God, if this is.

Kody: I think everybody feels that way.

Lindsay: I know. How could you not? Like I was like, if this is the one, please show me a sign of butterflies. Now I didn’t know that butterflies were so prevalent here anyway in the summer. I had no idea. But that was neither here nor there because we pulled into the property, we parked the car, of course it was summer. So we had the windows cracked a little bit, but they weren’t all the way down. We were walking around the property and Lee has this beautiful ability to visualize what’s not there when it comes to real estate. And he’s like, oh yeah, we clear out these trees, we’re gonna see that. And I’m like, I don’t know, it just looked like a bunch of dirt and trees, you know, like it wasn’t speaking to me. But we go back to the car and there was six butterflies on the dash of my van and immediately, I got chills. I was like, oh my stars, this is it. And we live now like within two miles of that property. We didn’t, we ended up buying a home already built instead of building, which is what he wanted to do. I was like, let’s get real honey. We’re not gonna be building a house with a two year old. Okay, you’re right. At least I’m not

Kody: Well I love your house. It’s beautiful. So

Lindsay: It is, it was perfect for us. So it was a perfect story. It was like, it just couldn’t have been better. It was one of those that make you feel like, man, if I could do that, what else can I do in life? You know?

Kody: That’s awesome. So how, once you were able to find this dream property where you had your off grid and your peace and your quiet, how were you able to be home with your kids and have that part of the life that you wanted?

Lindsay: So luckily for us, when we sold the house, we had some equity that we could live on. Plus we had real estate investments. So we were able to go about a year before I had to do anything. Like, financially speaking. I don’t know if this is relevant to anybody, but I think it’s important for people who are living that city life to know and to expect that you’re gonna probably have what I call like PTSD of the workplace. Like, I can’t otherwise explain it because

Kody: Oh, it’s real. 

Lindsay: Yeah. It is real. Yeah. And I don’t think people recognize that. And it’s definitely something that if you don’t know that could happen, it might blindside you. So I like to mention it, just in case, because I did. I got here, I spent that first year quiet. It was so quiet. It was so calm, but I like didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt really depressed in a way because I was like, I don’t feel like I have a purpose. I’m used to having people that count on me and my job. Like I went through a massive growth thing. You don’t just pick up out of the city and go to the country and you’re all like country all of a sudden,

Kody: Well, when I started homeschooling, I wasn’t working and my kids couldn’t stand it. I was like the micromanagement queen. 

Lindsay: Yeah. I spent my days playing with Paisley. You know, we just had fun outside and the boys were in school. I got them in school that year because it was too much for me to unpack and try to learn to homeschool and all that. So I played the Suzy homemaker, my dishes were all clean, my laundry was done, everything was done by like noon and I had nothing left to do with myself. And finally I was like, you know what, I’m just going stir crazy. Like I’ve got to do more with myself. And this is where it kind of led me, this is the shift that led me to where I am today because I looked at where I had come from, trading time for money and giving away my time. 

Kody: Right. 

Lindsay: And I looked at what I wanted and I decided that I wanted balance and how valuable to balance time.

Lindsay: Yes but it, it’s important too, to have balance. Like you have to be like, my husband was like, “well if you start working again, you know, you’re just gonna get work like a crazy person cuz you love it.” And I’m like, first of all, that is not completely true. I don’t love the idea of like having to work. 

Kody: Right. 

Lindsay: I don’t like that. So there I was, I was like deciding I have to get, you know, back in action. But I was looking strategically ahead, thinking I know what my past was like, I don’t want be like that. And I know what I wanted is, not that much time. Like where is my in-between? And my husband was like, “come on, you know you, the minute you start working, you’re not gonna be able to give it up.” I’m like, I’m not that much into working, let me assure you. Right. I’m like, there is a happy balance where I like, this is what I decided. I bet this resonates with you too. I love the creation of entrepreneurism. Like I love creating ideas and creating diet, the business and watching it grow. It’s like, it’s like a piece of art, you know?

Kody: I get excited.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Kody: Like I don’t feel stressed with timelines. I’m excited over my timelines and stuff.

Lindsay: Mm-hmm. And so I was like, okay, that’s kind of what I wanna do. But it turns out because I, I don’t know if I mentioned this, I was the primary income earner. And so the plan was that when we moved up here, he was gonna start working and it just didn’t quite work out the way we expected. It was a little harder to get a job and at that time it wasn’t like it is now where everybody’s hiring <laugh>.

Kody: No. Yeah.

Lindsay: It wasn’t going like that. And

Kody: Bonard is tiny.

Lindsay: It is tiny. And it wasn’t like any of the jobs were super high paying to support the family kind of thing either. So I was like, well I found a job, funny story while I was looking for a job for him. I find a job for me. And I ended up working, um, here locally for a while. And I loved it. I loved working at that particular place or local log company. They built log homes. Uh, it was like the best of both worlds. Like the time I got to work there and the balance I could leave and go to have lunch with my kids. And I actually thought for a moment like I could do this for the rest of my life. And then Covid happened.

Kody: and then Covid happened. Yeah.

Lindsay: Then I was like working through the day and trying to homeschool at night and yeah. That was not gonna work for me. So I just told him, I’m like, I can’t do this. This is too much. I’m gonna homeschool my kids and I have to start a business. Like get real serious about it. And that really was my catalyst to like all the dabbling I had done cuz I’d already started my podcast before that and I was more curious at that stage. I was more like educating myself. That’s kind of why I started the podcast. The Passive Income Examiner. Cuz I wanted to know how to build passive income. And my plan was to just do that in my spare time while I was working and then, you know, live, eventually live on that or not. Cuz I was happy, I was really content, but covid accelerated everything for me. And in August 2021, which a year ago I left and I haven’t looked back. Um, and then last year we ended up also homeschooling while building my business. And so that was a huge undertaking and thanks to you for your guidance. Like I don’t think I could have done it without meeting you. I don’t think I would’ve done it without meeting you. 

Kody: I really appreciate that. Cause I was actually gonna say at one point that between your podcast and our friendship, it’s driven me to take my business so much further. So you help

Lindsay: It’s definitely been a God relationship here For sure. That’s good. I know. I remember the day like we met at that one group and listening to you, I was like, oh my gosh, somebody who’s as driven as me if not more so. Like, I didn’t know that could exist. I was so

Kody: Driven. Crazy .

Lindsay: I did hear you homeschool. My first thought was, I have to hear how she does this. I was so “my sister homeschooled, but her husband makes enough money that she can just be a mom. Like she doesn’t have to do anything. And so she can spend her days dreaming up curriculums and working with her daughter all day long.” It doesn’t have to be all in a time limit. And I needed to hear from somebody who could juggle the dance like that I was facing and made it work. And you were that person.

Kody: You know, luckily I was able to start homeschooling while my husband was supporting us and now and put all these programs in place before I started my business. But then it’s made it where I can turn around and teach how to integrate that and schedule those two things together and make ’em work.

Lindsay: Yeah. Well your biggest tip to me was like how you had consolidated things down into three days. That’s when I was like, oh, well then if I work my business on Monday and Friday and I homeschool three days a week and then I could work in the afternoon a little bit, then it might work out, you know? And I mean that’s, that’s when it really happened. And I, I told the employer, I said, I have to do this. I can’t, actually didn’t work out that way. I just remembered when I first started that year homeschooling, I did sign them up for an online school.

Kody: Oh, I remember that. Yeah.

Lindsay: Yeah. I forgot for a moment that 

Kody: and you were so burnt out with it.

Lindsay: Oh, that was awful.

Kody: See you blocked it from your memory.

Lindsay: Yeah. I did. Another friend of mine, she teaches homeschooling moms how to like, organize their homeschool and stuff. And she was like, you know, a lot of people, she helped me let go cuz I’m a, I’m like one of those people that when I commit to something, I’m in it till the end, whether come heck or high water. And so when I took that journey and it was miserable, I felt like I had to force myself and my family to finish it because we’d started it.

Kody: That was my biggest problem, was giving up when it wasn’t working and it’s not giving up. It’s redirecting, it’s finding a new way to make it work.

Lindsay: It was powerful. It was smart. And letting go was, honestly Kody, like that’s actually something I’ve learned in the last, you know, five to six years as we’ve made this transition and watching my journey as I’ve been focusing more on passive income and less on trading time for money. Like giving myself permission to be okay with not working so hard to make money. I don’t have to work hard. My worth isn’t tied to my time. I think the message is there. And that’s really hard for, especially for people who are indoctrinated and working. I’ve been working since I graduated high school. Like it was a really big mindset shift for me.

Kody: That’s great. I love your story every time because it’s that one that so many people want right now. And to hear from somebody who’s done it and they didn’t, not that you didn’t do anything special, but it wasn’t like you won the lottery to be able to do it. You just made it work for yourself and I love that.

Lindsay: Yeah, that’s true. It’s funny too cuz it’s just like the homeschool, like you forget how good at it you were. Like even when I tell my story and then people are like, wow, that’s so inspirational. I’m like, yeah it is. I should be inspired. I forget what I already did then. Cause I’m always looking ahead. Like that’s my mindset.

Lindsay: I do the same thing.

Kody: Yeah. Like I was actually sitting here thinking like my biggest struggle when starting the bus, a business was always like, I felt like everything outside that door stopped when I came in here. And there were times that it was like that. And with working with the family, it’s not that way anymore. In fact, my husband’s out there putting together some projects for the curriculum that is releasing in a couple of weeks and my daughter is canning jelly.

Lindsay: That’s awesome.

Kody: Like, my life doesn’t shut down just because I come through these doors and work on my business.

Lindsay: And it helps when your kids are getting a little bigger. You know that

Kody: That’s true. Yes. The twins are 13 now and they’re a big help. Wade is very big on, he’s five now, so he has to have his chores as well.

Lindsay: Yeah.

Kody: So he’s 

Lindsay: That’s cute.  

Kody: He’s doing a lot of chores now. He informs me every night that I’m five and that’s a lot of responsibility and I need to get on it. And then he does his chores, which is really just cleaning up the playroom. 

Lindsay: Yeah. So what though? That’s huge. And like he has that sense of responsibility. I love that. I know like now that he’s

Kody: My little old soul.

Lindsay: Yes he is. He’s adorable. So like we’re looking into next year taking that transition back into school, public school, you know, I had to go through that. Let go again. Like surrender to what maybe isn’t, what am I trying to say? It’s like in a perfect world, I would still consider homeschooling, but I would like to be more involved in co-ops and get my kids more involved in stuff. But realistically I don’t, I know that I won’t like. Well, for one I’m a homebody. I just like to be home. So I don’t like the idea of going out and doing co-ops. Which is funny cuz I’m such a social person. Like I get on here with podcasters and I’m like, oh, chatterbox. And I love it, but I don’t wanna leave my house to do it. 

Kody: I feel you. I mean we’re doing co-op this year. I mean my listeners know how much I do in 4-H and baseball and those things. And every time I get home I’m like, I am so mentally drained that like nothing else can happen right now.

Lindsay: Yeah. I’m coaching Paisley’s soccer this year and I’m like, why did I sign up for this? I don’t even know how to play soccer. I’m like, it was, they accepted so many kids, they needed people.

Kody: Right. At least, at least with me, 4-H is like agriculture. So it’s my life’s passion you know, I’m just adding children to it, you know?

Lindsay: Yes, yes. It’s so true. Um, yeah. So I don’t know, that’s been a journey and another letting go journey. But yeah.

Kody: I’m proud of you for making the choice to send them back too.

Lindsay: Yeah. Thank you. They’re excited. Like Bradley, next day he’s like, I’ve never said this before, but, he goes, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, I’m actually excited to go to school.

Kody: Oh, you know, my kids are starting co-op this year. They are so excited. Like they’re getting their work together way in advance and I’m always having to force ’em to like get their boxes cleaned out to start school. It’s awesome. Gonna be good doing the co-op situation. I think them learning side by side with other kids their age, there’s gonna be the competition of doing well and not being the one who didn’t turn in their assignment and those types of things that I think are really gonna help them. Cause I think they’ve definitely gotten complacent.

Lindsay: I think Riley mentioned that too. He’s like, I just want the regular grading scale, you know? 

Kody: Oh, I’m the mean mom. They get a regular grading scale. Me too.

Lindsay: Well, I’d make him do it till he gets a hundred percent. Oh. See, I’m like, well you missed three, so let’s redo them

Kody: I do. You have like, I want to see you get, but I require an 80% to be done with the assignment.

Lindsay: Oh, there you go.

Kody: Because like, my thing is you can’t build a house with no foundation.

Lindsay: Yep. 

Kody: So, and you know, sometimes they struggle, like if every single assignment’s an 80, like we’re having a problem, you’re being homeschooled, like get help, you know? Yeah. But if they just have a math concept that’s really hard or something and they can only get an 80 on it. Well, you know what you work through until that point. And I’m good with that.

Lindsay: Right. Yeah. Well, and now, I mean, not to totally switch gears, but I was just thinking like I am really focused on passive income even more so. My current goal is to be completely financially self-sufficient and build multiple businesses through here. Like having multiple streams of income. I think with the economy, the way things are going, even in our community, you know, the prices.

Kody: Diversification

Lindsay: And so we’re looking at growing money in multiple ways, like through the homestead. You know, we’ve got our sheep, we just invested in some sheep. We’re building out some compost. You know, all about our compost plan. 

Kody: Yes. I’m excited for your compost.

Lindsay: I’m very excited about that. Yeah. I just discovered the other day that like 10 lambs can live through the summer on an acre of grass. And we figured out where we could put like five little mini pastures and rotate the flock through.

Kody: That’s great. Like and crop rotation.

Lindsay: Yeah. And get our, so our goal is to get like 10 to 15 sheets

Kody: Rotational grazing. That’s what I meant. I’m doing crop rotation right now. So that was in my head. Rotational grazing everybody.

Lindsay: Yes. Rotational grazing. So then that’ll be our plan for making money from our farm. Like our goal has always been to have a profitable land, you know, and if, if that means it just pays for itself, then that’s good enough in my opinion. That’s a huge thing. Right. So one of the things I teach though, is rather than, I think part of my journey has taught me that trying to replace my full income is very overwhelming and difficult. Especially when you’re talking about passive income. Passive income, you, a hundred percent of time. You know, so I can’t just expect myself to go out and boom, like make it in a week, working five hours a weekend. So what I’m doing is I’m looking at, okay, if I can build an asset that replaces this bill, so if that means my sheep can offset my mortgage every month. Then that’s a win. If my passive income online business is paying for these three bills every month and I’m consistent with it, that’s a win. Like just building the foundation up so that I can know where the money can come from. I’m in control of how to turn it on or speed it up or have whatever I need to do. And understanding that science, so to speak. Like you’re in the science of homesteading and I’m in the science of making income passively.

Kody: I love it.

Lindsay: It’s a science. Because the real trick is the marketing. Like anybody can build a course, you can write a book, you can book you, you could create the product, but if you can’t get it to sell without hustling it, then you’re stuck. And that’s been my biggest question.

Kody:  It’s the trial and error and, the word has totally left me, hypothesizing if something’s going to work and then trying it and making those changes and tweaking It is 100% what makes that a Science.

Lindsay: Yeah. It kind of sounds like my whole journey all over again. Right. Choose what you want, stick to the plan and don’t give up, pretty much what I said at the beginning. Taking my own advice.

Kody: There you go. Sometimes you have to.

Lindsay: It’s funny how that works out. That’s what I mean. It was like, well,

Kody: Especially when you work in these types of businesses, you’re teaching, you’re teaching, you’re teaching and then you go back and you’re like, wait, I think I need to actually do that myself. 

Lindsay: Yeah. Or you get to a point where you’re like, well, like in my case, I’m an expert in online marketing, but I take for granted what I know. So I think, oh, this is, everybody knows this. Nobody wants to know what a CRM is or nobody needs me to explain to them how to write a good email. You know, basic stuff in my mind. But talking to a lady yesterday, she was like, I have all these emails and I don’t know where to put them. I’m like, huh, that’s good to know. Like, people do need what I have to offer. Somebody said something, go ahead.

Kody: Oh, it kind of, it reminds me of that imposter syndrome where one of the other podcasters I listened to, she said something along the lines of, for every one person that knows more than you on something, there’s a hundred people that know less.

Lindsay: Hmm. Interesting.

Kody: And I always rethink that when I’m teaching my stuff. Yeah. There’s, I mean there are some guru homesteaders out there that have amazing businesses and amazing programs and they’ve been doing that for a while. And there’s someone out there that can learn from me, who I’ve been doing the business but not teaching.

Lindsay: Yeah. Well and in my opinion, I think there’s guru homesteaders who could learn from you too because of your background in agriculture science. Like that’s a unique thing that most homesteaders did not go to school for agriculture science. Like that’s not, no, it

Kody: Actually kind of makes me feel like an outcast. Like I’m the black sheep because I actually studied what, it’s kind of a thing that like I’m a homesteader and I have no training in this and I’m not doing it. The commercial agriculture and monoculture way. I’m being a permaculturalist and I’m kind of like, I learned both ways and I think they’re both great.

Lindsay: Yeah. Well, and especially with animals,

Kody: I think they both have a place in our society that we have to be able to feed as many people as we do with commercial agriculture. But the more people we can teach to go into permaculture and small scale farming and help each other in the community that we can pull away from some of that larger farming. I don’t know that as a whole, our world can ever get away from it completely. So if we have to stick with it, figure out ways to make it the most sustainable.

Lindsay: Well and you’re really good at figuring out how to, oh, what is the best word? It’s like all the other people, myself included, we started out not really knowing what we’re doing and we’re learning as we go, right? So chickens, sheep, even like, I’m learning all the time about everything planting. It took us three years to get anything out of our garden. Like really? Oh wow. Yeah, because we like, I mean we got some stuff, don’t get me wrong, but to make it substantial where we could actually consider it a crop. You know, it was like, it was more like a hobby garden. The first couple years cuz we didn’t know what we were doing or the bugs were infested. We don’t even know how to deal with that. And it’s just so much to learn. So to know what you know and be able to learn from somebody like you who actually could say, okay, well hey look at this, look at that option. You could switch this out and do that. Like your, you know, one, a good example of this is your dairy cow, conversation that you had a couple episodes ago. You know, you buy the dairy cow, you breed it, you raise that for beef and then you use the milk from your dairy cow. And the fact that you know about the gene that the cows can have that help lactose intolerant people, that’s amazing.

Kody: It’s well, but you know, it’s also, besides my schooling that’s, this is my hobby too. I study it all the time. Like I’d rather be reading a book about agriculture or home studying or the business relations with all of it than watching tv. 

Lindsay: Yeah. Well you’re very good at it. I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad that we’re friends so I can learn from you.

Kody: Well, like I said, you have definitely pushed my business far beyond where, I was going in these directions,  but didn’t know I could do it at the speed that I did. 

Lindsay: Yeah, you did,  you really you have to thank yourself for that because I know you were like, I’m gonna wait a while for my podcast. I’m like, don’t wait. You need to do it. Like, now’s the time. You’re like, I don’t know. But then you did and you did it, not me. That’s the cool part.

Kody: That’s awesome. Thanks.

Lindsay: Yeah, for sure. Well, I have a gift for everybody if they’re interested. I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve had, like you study homestead, I study passive income ways to make money online and, you know, without having to do a lot of trading time for money. So I put together a free resource if you guys wanna check it out. It’s five ways to earn $5,000 a month with passive income. It’s a free PDF and you can text the word PIE for passive income examiner to 33777 to download your copy. On that we break down how the numbers play out, kind of the pros and cons of each of the options. And then it links to specific special guests that we’ve had on the podcast that go into more detail on those subjects. So if there’s particularly one you wanna know more about, you can dive in right there on the pdf, click the link and get taken right to the episode.

Kody: So I’ve actually seen this PDF guys, it’s great. Take the opportunity to download this and see what she has to offer because it could be your DO IT moment to decide where you need to go from here. Yes. So question I’d like to ask right now is how do you plan to keep growing in life, your business and as a person,

Lindsay: Oh my gosh, my plans are ever changing. Kody, you could. I could go on for another hour about my plans. It’s so exciting and it just lights me up every time. But right now, I’ll tell you what my next steps are. I am working on developing training for people in the wellness space. So for example, energy healers and, Reiki therapists or SRT therapists or counselors. People who are really trading time for money because they have, they work with clients one-on-one in what they do. And I’m helping them to create micro businesses that are essentially miniature courses that solve a specific problem. But they’re all based on keyword research. So it makes it, when you’re talking about online, and I don’t wanna bore everybody cuz this is like where I geek out on stuff, but when you’re talking about online business, if you don’t have a foundation of keyword research, then you kind of are just floating in space because you’re not gonna get very far.

You really have to understand how online works. And that kind of comes down to that fundamentals of keyword research. So we build those micro businesses around that and those create a pipeline. So my background was in automotive, right? With the car business, and I was in sales and marketing, and I kind of developed, I didn’t develop it, I just made a cute name for it. But it’s the buyer cycle, right? We all are shoppers. Sometimes we come in as this, um, I call it the tire kickers. They come on the lot. They’re, they don’t know yet what kind of car they want. They’re just tire, tire kickers. They’re just looking around. They don’t wanna talk to a salesperson. And they just wanna like be left alone and then they funnel down into the next phase. And that’s the people who are kind of like, yes, I think I know I want a Chevy truck.

And so they’re decided now they’re figuring out what options they want and then they’re deciding who they wanna buy it from. And then the last stages are ready. They’ve got the cash in hand, they walk into the dealership and they’re driving home that day. Right? So we kind of have that, um, that funnel and when, and this is something that’s not just for wellness, if you’re in any industry, okay, you could create a micro business that captures these people at the top of the funnel, the DIYers, the look you lose, even in your case there, miss Cody, like, you know, creating, looking up, doing some keyword research and creating micro courses around a lot of the stuff that you already teach, but people are seeking specific information. Let’s talk pigs for a second, right? Like, you know, how to feed your pig for fair. Like that could be a micro course, right? That’s a very specific course. 

Kody: I think we need to know how to do that one cuz we keep always having one not make weight. But you know, that might be an operator error on my children’s part.

Lindsay: I was gonna say, yeah, they need to take your course, but you get the gist, right? So like anybody who’s trying to make money from home, they, you all have skills like listening to this, you know, you have a skill could be crocheting, it could be giving information or just like we talked about, like what you think you don’t know. You take for granted that, oh, everybody knows marketing or everybody knows agriculture mm-hmm. But then you realize, no, there’s so much that people are searching for. And when you make that list and you, you, your eyes light up because you’re like, holy cow, so many people need the information I have. It becomes so clear what direction to go and I help you walk through, create those micro businesses and, and then market them because that’s my specialty is marketing. So that, and in an evergreen way so that you’re not, not hustling to sell your product all the time. Like, we want this stuff done passively. We wanna wake up to money in the bank account. We’re not here to spend our day trying to make a sale. You know. So that’s what I do. That’s kind of my specialty.

Kody: I absolutely love that. I think that’ll, I hope some of my listeners follow you because that’s gonna be something that so many people that wanna homestead and homeschool, they go, do I have to completely learn how to run an entire ag business to be able to do this when no they don’t. They can run a business on whatever they’ve been trained on or whatever their passion is, and then be able to homestead and homeschool on top of that and not having to learn a whole new thing. It can be a hobby. Yeah.

Lindsay: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, and you, you know, guys reach out to Kody because let me tell you what her gift is when it comes to making money on the homestead. This woman is a brainchild. Like she can walk, she can talk to you in one hour and literally write a business plan for you. That is gonna be something you’re, you’re gonna dig, right? Like I downloaded your PDF, the one that’s, uh, what is it? Five ways to make money on your Homestead? I think

Kody: It’s four, but yeah.

Lindsay: Okay. And we were thinking about the Mealworm idea and then I did some research. I’m like, yeah, that’s not really my jam, but the compost idea was my jam. You know, like find your thing and get in with Cody. Cuz you’re, are you still doing your sessions with

Kody: People? Yes, I am. Okay. Um, I do two hour strategy sessions. Mm-hmm, you know, we spend about an hour just chatting about who they are, what they like to do, their land, what they already know, and then spend the next hour strategizing. And then I follow up with basically a full business plan for them

Lindsay: Yep.

Kody: And all the resources they need to get going.

Lindsay: Yeah. And that’s a great way to do it. Like you have that gift. So it’s cool. I love, I love being connected and I love being on your podcast. This has been really fun. Yeah.

Kody: I’m so glad we finally got around to doing this. Well, thank you so much for being here and have a great day.

Lindsay: All right.

Kody: Wow. I always love hearing Lindsay’s story and I’m so excited to see where she goes next with her business. I hope that she gave you guys some great ideas and that you will go check out her podcast, the Passive Income Examiner, as well as following her on Instagram at the Passive Income Examiner. I’ll be putting the text code in the show notes to download her freebie. If you have a topic that you would love covered, email me at hello at the Homestead Education. Or if you would like to be a guest this season or in the future, please reach out to me as well. This episode of The Homestead Education is brought to you by Layman’s Hardware, your one-stop home setting supply store that ships all over the United States. 

Well, thank you for joining me today at the Homestead Education, and I hope that I have given you something to think about this week to help others find me. Please comment and leave a review on your favorite podcast player. You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram at The Homestead Education.

Do you have questions that you’d like answered or just want to say hi? Please email me at hello@thehomesteadeducation.com. Until next time, keep growing.