We recently had the chance to connect with Lindsay Stockhecke and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lindsay , thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Perhaps both. I once heard that when the path disappears you know you’re on the right one. I have found entrepreneurship, and business ownership, is a series of conscious, consensual, fearful free falls. Some days the direction is clear, other days not so much, but I have chosen a trajectory that radically considers real-time input. Which looks like a stumble and a wander and a clear path, sometimes all at once.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Lindsay Ann, co-owner and creator of Deliciously Ordinary. Together with my husband, Tim, we run this creative agency providing fresh florals for wedding and events as well as providing digital storytelling through content creation, social media management, etc. Additionally, the tourism arm of our business, DO So/ILL, focuses on support local initiatives and ‘influencer’ marketing . It’s always really tricky describing what we do because of the fluidity and scope of our services. During COVID we realized a superpower that is malleability within business, and have honed that approach for the entirety of our brands existence. We have found that our creative take on problem solving, branding, social media, and really any thing we are doing has provided us the ability to work across industries, keeping the nature of our offerings ever evolving in the most expansive way!
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
A performer. My parents have told me stories of watching me play make believe in the front yard, talking to my imaginary friends, creating worlds beyond this one. Fairly young I started to actually perform, competing and achieving in pretty much any activity I showed a slight proclivity too. This created a challenging relationship with the concept of ‘performing’, one I have reclaimed in adulthood and fallen in love with in the childlike wonder way, once again. Someone told me that we are all performing our identity, a concept that allowed me to re-evaluate what it means to be performative and reacquaint myself with make believe and performing as an act of self-love.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Constantly and rhythmically. As an entrepreneur, a small business owner, you are on a constant journey parallel to Self, the good, the messy and the in between parts that don’t have language. I have a tendency to love novelty, I call it ‘shiny ball syndrome’ and the nitty gritty of building, maintaining, polishing, adjusting, correcting, learning, expanding, reverting (the list goes on and on) is a wild and exhausting way of moving through the world. It demands sitting with the same thing far beyond the novelty stage, the ultimate challenge for me. So, the give up lives in the back seat and sometimes demands to ride shotgun. I am grateful that I am familiar with the feeling of the give up. I know her, I know how she shape shifts and know how to provide her with validation and space to move. I have wanted to give up in big ways and in small ways and sometimes I appease the feeling in little ways for sanity and sustainability of Self and business. So, if there is ever a time I don’t want to give up, I will surely go looking for her because she has become a familiar friend.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely. Every version we ever embody holds a piece of us, whether we like it or not. As I mentioned, we are all performing our identity, and even the act of choosing the performance, however misaligned it may feel, is coming from a real part of you. You either choose to wear the mask or it wears you, either reality is a reflection of the choices you make and the expression that follows.
We think we have a resting state identity, but we are layered and ever-changing. Each moment and experience informs how we show up in the next moment. We can fake that, but if so that is a part of who we are; A person who contrives expression for whatever reason. So I suppose the question should be, are you a conscious and willing participant in the public version of your Self? To this I say, I am now.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
Everything I need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deliciouslyordinary.com
- Instagram: deliciouslyordinary // do.soill
- Facebook: deliciouslyordinary // dosouthernillinois
Image Credits
Nina Wilson Photography
Devin Leigh Photography
Katie + Morgan
Savanna Kathleen Photography
