The Dear FoundHer... Forum · For women business owners over 40
Your network is your net worth.
The Dear FoundHer... Forum is the community where women over 40 put the relationships they've already built to work, alongside women who've built them too and are willing to share. Introductions, referrals, collaborations, clients and honest feedback, from people who actually read your post.
Always open. No application, no cohort to wait for. Join today and introduce yourself this week.
Who's in the room
Brand strategistRealtorPodcast producerProfessional organizerPR consultantFunctional health coachAuthorE-commerce founderGhostwriterMenopause and perimenopause expertEvent plannerIllustratorFitness instructorFunctional coachHealthcare consultantMediumPodcaster
You're not starting from zero. It just feels that way.
Here's what nobody tells you about building a business after 40. You already have the asset most founders spend years trying to build. You have a network.
Former colleagues. Clients from two jobs ago. The women you served on boards and committees with. The friend who now runs marketing at the exact company you'd love to work with. You've spent decades meeting people.
And if you're like most of the women I know, you've spent those decades being the connector for everyone else. You made the introduction. You passed along the résumé. You recommended the contractor, the caterer, the pediatrician. You've opened a lot of doors for a lot of people.
So why does building this business feel like starting over?
- Because most of those people don't actually know what you do now.
- Because standing at a networking event where you're the oldest person by fifteen years, explaining your business to someone who's mostly there for the free wine, is not how you want to spend a Thursday night.
- Because between the business, the kids, the parents and everything else, your time is the most protected thing you own. You are not giving it to another group where everyone drops a link and disappears.
You don't need more contacts. You need the right women to know what you do, and to care enough to say your name when it counts.
The difference shows up in the first hour
Last week I shared a post in the Dear FoundHer... Forum and in another networking group. I wanted feedback on my offer positioning. Within an hour, multiple Forum members responded with credible feedback. The other group didn't even read the post. The two responses tried to sell me on their service. The women in the Forum are always willing to help, support and ultimately want you to win. This is a no-brainer investment in your business.
Samantha FineSam Fine Digital
The value isn't just who's in the room. It's who they know outside of it.
This is the part most networking groups miss. Every woman inside the Forum walks in with her own circle: the clients she's served, the colleagues she's kept in touch with, the podcast hosts, editors, event organizers and executives she's worked alongside for years. People who trust her.
I've watched women in this community open those circles to each other over and over again.
Your next client may not be in the Forum. But the woman who knows her might be.
So might the member who:
- can introduce you to the company you've been trying to reach for a year
- knows a podcast host looking for exactly your expertise
- serves your same customer and is looking for a referral partner
That's a very different kind of network. And it only works because the women in it believe there's enough business to go around. Making an introduction doesn't take anything away from them. Helping another woman into the right room doesn't make their room smaller.
What a regular week inside looks like.
“Does anyone know someone on the buying team at a big-box retailer?”
“I'm looking for podcasts that interview women about career pivots. Who has a lead?”
“Can someone read this pitch email before I hit send?”
“Who serves moms of teenagers? I want a referral partner.”
“I'm hosting a workshop in March and want two co-hosts. Anyone in?”
“Who do you use for bookkeeping? Mine just retired.”
And women answer.
They make the introduction, share the contact, recommend someone they trust, or simply tell you what's unclear. You don't have to explain twenty years of context first, because everyone here has twenty years of their own.
This isn't theoretical
Business happens here.
Members have hired each other, referred each other, booked each other on podcasts, built events together and landed clients, often starting with one sentence:
“I know someone you should meet.”
One event, ten partner businesses.
At Dear FoundHer... on Tour with Sunny + Jenn in Roslyn, I invited Forum members to partner on the event itself. Ten businesses got their logo on the signage, a mention from the stage and a spot in the follow-up email. In exchange, they shared the event with their own audiences.
10partner businesses
20+Forum members in the room
Nobody pitched anybody. It happened because the room already existed.
I didn't think I needed new friends. And then I joined the Dear FoundHer... Forum. It's unbelievable.
Shane ShapsBig Voice Social
Unedited, straight from my phone
And it keeps happening.
Clients from referrals. A TEDx talk. Launches that finally went live. These are the messages I get.
What's included
This isn't a Slack channel with good intentions.
01
The private Forum community
Where the daily connection happens. Ask questions, share what you're working on, ask for introductions and find collaborators. Works on your phone or laptop.
02
90-minute monthly office hours with me
Bring the actual work: the offer, the launch, the email you can't figure out, the partnership you want to pitch, the decision you keep putting off. We work through it together, live.
03
A monthly expert workshop
Practical sessions on marketing, PR, paid ads, podcasting, HR, time management and more. Not a motivational talk. Something you can use that week.
04
Quarterly 21-day accountability challenges
Four a year, each on a different part of your business.
05
Visibility for your brand
Members-only opportunities to be featured on the Dear FoundHer... podcast, our social media, our website and throughout our content.
06
Member offers and invitations
Discounts and first access on every Dear FoundHer... program, plus invitations to events and offers from partners and podcast guests.
07
The digital resource library Annual bonus
All of my blueprints and guides, with step-by-step instructions to build, grow and market your business, so when you need help with something specific, you have somewhere to start. Growing all the time and worth over $1,500.
08
The FoundHer Files Premium Annual bonus
A year of the Premium edition of my Substack, worth $97. My weekly Premium deep dive on building and growing your business.
And access to each other.
Still the most valuable part. No resource library can introduce you to someone. No worksheet can refer you. The women can.
Why I built this room
I built the room I wish I'd had.
I started Bump Club and Beyond as a $500 side project in December 2009 while I was still selling ads at Good Housekeeping. I grew it into a seven-figure business for six years straight, with partnerships including Target and Nordstrom, and in 2019 I became one of less than 1% of female founders to sell their company.
I didn't do it with an ad budget. I did it through relationships, partnerships and community. But I built almost all of it without another woman founder in my corner. That isolation is the entire reason Dear FoundHer... exists.
When I walked away from the company I sold, I did the thing I now tell every woman I work with. I emailed everyone I knew. Within a few weeks I had three clients. That's what a network does when people actually know what you do.
I've also learned that a community built on one leader can fall apart the minute that leader leaves. A community built on women showing up for each other doesn't. That's the room I built, for women who have already lived a little, worked a lot, met a lot of people, and are ready to put all of it toward what comes next.
LindsayLindsay Pinchuk, Founder + Host of Dear FoundHer...
Be honest with yourself before you join. We will be.
This is you if:
- You're a woman business owner over 40, whether you're six months in or twenty years in.
- You've built a career and relationships before this business, and you want to be around women who have too.
- You want more of the right people to know what you do.
- You're willing to share your network, not just tap into everyone else's.
- You'd rather ask ten women who've done it than guess alone.
- You show up for other people's wins, not just your own.
- You believe there's enough business to go around.
Not yet, if:
- You plan to drop your link and disappear.
- You're mainly here to sell to the other members.
- You guard every contact you've ever made like a state secret.
- You want someone else to build your network for you.
The women who get the most from the Forum are the ones who participate. They ask, they answer, they make the introduction. And people remember them for it.
Member voices
Told in their own words.
“Don't sleep on this. It's the mentors, the cheerleaders, the friends I didn't know I needed. Not only did I follow through with my rebrand, but I'm now booking myself solid. Opportunities I never imagined are falling into my lap.”
Kim OserGame Plan Organizing
“It's been a week and I'm already seeing the return on investment.”
Shanna GottliebKeep Mahjing On
“Truly one of the BEST decisions I made was joining this group. The advice is golden and the support amazing. This community is a gift.”
Jillian BernsteinThe Wellness Connection
“Don't know where I'd be without this group. Best decision ever, personally and professionally.”
Dr. Lisa KleinTurning Teen
“Lindsay brings together amazing people and fosters an unbelievable experience through her community.”
Lisi MetzgerL Studio Media
“Best decision I ever made.”
Heather RedischAdulting 101 Masterclass
“The best group of incredible women led by the most inspirational, Lindsay Pinchuk.”
Lauren HedvatNoosh Kneads
“You're my 2024 gift.”
Dr. Amy RobbinsForum member
Unedited
Straight from my inbox.
Real texts, DMs and comments from the women in this community. A handful of the hundreds I've gotten.
The Forum is always open.
No cohort dates, no waitlist, no application. Choose how you'd like to pay, and you're in today.
Best value
Annual
$1,197/year
Save $447 compared to paying monthlyPlus two bonuses, only with annual
Bonus 1 · Worth over $1,500
The Dear FoundHer... digital resource library
All of my blueprints and guides, with step-by-step instructions to build, grow and market your business. The library is growing all the time.
Bonus 2 · Worth $97
A year of The FoundHer Files Premium
The Premium edition of my Substack, with a weekly deep dive on building and growing your business.
Over $1,597 in bonuses, included
Join AnnuallyMonthly
$137/month
Billed monthly. Includes the full Forum membership.
No digital resource library (worth over $1,500)
No FoundHer Files Premium (worth $97)
Every membership includes the private community, monthly office hours with Lindsay, the monthly expert workshop, quarterly challenges, member visibility opportunities and member offers.
Before you join.
I hate networking. Is this going to feel like a networking event?
No. Nobody is passing out business cards or delivering an elevator pitch. You ask a real question, you answer someone else's, and relationships build from there, the same way your best ones always have.
I've been in business for years. Is this only for beginners?
The Forum has members at every stage, from six months in to more than twenty years. What matters isn't how far along you are. It's whether you're actively building.
I'm not great with technology. Will I be able to figure out the platform?
If you can use Facebook, you can use the Forum. It works in your browser or in an app on your phone. And if you get stuck, email info@dearfoundher.com and we'll walk you through it.
I don't have time for another community.
You don't need to be in it every day for it to work. Show up for the monthly workshop, post one question when you're stuck, and the value builds from there.
I already listen to the podcast. Isn't that enough?
The podcast is where you hear the thinking. The Forum is where you put it into practice, with real women, in real time, who can actually respond.
What if I join and no one partners with me?
Partnerships aren't assigned. They're built the way any real relationship is: show up, be useful to someone else first, and follow through. The women who do that get remembered.
How does billing work?
Annual is paid once. Monthly is billed each month. Full billing, cancellation and membership terms are on our Terms & Conditions page.
One woman can open a door.
One introduction. One referral. One client.
One podcast invitation. One person saying,
“I know exactly who you should meet.”
Now picture a room full of women over 40 who have spent decades building relationships and are willing to share them. You've been opening doors for other people for years. This is the room where they open for you.
Always open. No application. Join today and introduce yourself this week.
