Truly Co. Founder talks responsibilities, hardships and transformation
Lindsey May, founder of Truly Co., shares how she carves out a career path after difficult transitions she has made in her life.
By Ariel Dunleavy
Lindsey May was on her knees in prayer when starting her business, begging God daily to tell or show her that she was heading in the right path.
After graduating from Bethel University with a degree in business marketing, May has had jobs in an array of different fields. As she moved through life experiencing a fair share of hardships and bad luck when it came to jobs, May was finally able to live out her dream.
Now May is the founder of Truly Co. and the publisher of a bi-annual magazine called Truly Magazine. With original art, design, photography and a central message for every issue, the magazine aims to bring a unique, powerful experience to readers.
Q: What are your responsibilities as an editor?
A: Well, to keep things moving forward. As the founder and publisher, I lead the whole organization. I probably have more responsibilities than maybe just a typical editor would because we are a small, independent business.
We are a newer publication. We launched in February 2020, so that is probably reflected in the type of role that I am having and that my team has as well. From a magazine publication standpoint, it’s really thinking ahead and thinking strategically about the content — making sure that it’s always aligned to our mission. There is a lot of stuff that you can print, and there is a lot of stuff that you want to print, but when you own a brand, you want to make sure that you’re focused and honed in.
We have a scripture verse that helps us do that: Philippians 4:8. Everything that we publish, every submission that comes in for consideration, every theme that we emphasize and the content that we create, we look at it through this lens [of Philippians 4:8]. That is really helpful for us, especially because there are a lot of topics that become hot button topics and things that people might want to write about because they are front and center. So for an uplifting and encouraging publication, we have to watch to make sure that our tone doesn’t become condescending or negative, always pointing at messages that point back to Jesus.
Networking and meeting writers is a big part of what I do as well. I love to network with people! Running social media is a big, big, big part of what I do for that.
Q: What does your typical day look like as an editor/publisher?
A: It might be easier for me to describe it in a work week. It varies day to day.
I’m not the person who sits there and edits everybody’s submissions. I have people who help do that and work directly with the writers. As the publisher, I have the overarching role and my hand is in everything. I see it all and I help set tone and possible article direction. I do check-ins with my team. We keep track of all of our submissions and make sure that things are in order. If anybody is running into any issues, I help make the final call.
A lot of my day is social media networking, reaching out, engaging with our audience because you want to build commitment. People want to feel connected to what they are consuming and reading. When they feel like they can have that insider perspective or that you are seeing them back, they are going to be that much more connected. That personal connection is huge.
Today was kind of a unique day with more meetings than I typically have. I started my morning reading scripture to help focus my mind in the right place and the right direction. I am also trying to finish up our publisher’s letter for the spring issue, and I’m facing a little bit of writer’s block. I also recorded a podcast with one of the advertisers for our intentionality issue in the spring to continue to promote our partnership with the advertiser.
Strategizing for other campaigns coming down the road like putting together Thanksgiving free downloadable devotionals and things like that will benefit our readers.
Every day is a little different, but mostly it involves some graphic design, social media, content creation, team strategy planning and studying. Writing is unfortunately one of the smallest parts of what I do, right now anyways given the lean team that we are.
Q: What are the good and bad things about being an editor/publisher?
A: It’s kind of the same thing. As the leader and founder of this, I get to control the direction according to God’s leading, and it’s fun to be able to have limitless bounds of whatever you want to try.
The downside of being the leader is that you carry a lot of weight on your shoulders. There are days when it feels heavy. Because something goes wrong, the website or whatever, it’s all on my shoulders to fix, even in the areas that aren’t my strength.
A hard part is also having personal boundaries about work and family because my office is in my home. That’s the beauty of technology these days. You don’t have to have a centralized office anywhere; all of our team is remote actually. It’s cool, but it’s also really hard for me to mentally compartmentalize, so I’m trying really hard to figure out what those boundaries look like.
Q: What are some memorable anecdotes from your time as an editor/publisher?
A: Truly Co. has brought me to my knees in prayer, like I have never experienced before. I can probably say that without a doubt this is my biggest leap of faith that I’ve ever taken in a tangible, public way. There’s risk with that, and there’s a lot of vulnerability with that.
People don’t always understand what God has put on your heart, but you do. So sometimes when people don’t rally around you or they question it or they criticize it, that does not feel good. In that you have to decide where you’re putting your trust and whose approval you’re really seeking.
Of course our team has lots of fun, too. We always do boat day in the summer. This year the boat almost sank. Our weight was not balanced on the boat and I was driving. It was super windy and we were starting to nose dive.
Q: What has the career path been for you?
A: Four years ago I would have never envisioned that this is what I would be doing.
I went to Bethel for business marketing and I wanted to work in an ad agency. We went on a tour one day for one of my marketing classes and I was like ‘oh that’s not cool, I don’t want that.’ I got an internship my senior year working at a software engineering company, so I did that. I didn’t love it, but it paid really great for a first job out of college.
I got laid off in 2008, when I was getting married as well. So I took a part-time receptionist job for an eye surgeon. It was a great time to reassess, pause and that is when I began to realize, ‘I think I wanna go to grad school.’ I took a job working full-time at Lifetime Fitness; I did corporate communications out of their corporate office for a few years. At the same time I was in grad school, I launched my photography business, so I was doing a lot. Then I had a baby and my life slowed down a little bit. I actually quit my corporate job just because the lifestyle wasn’t what I wanted it to be for myself and for a family. I wanted to control my own schedule a little more.
I did photography for a little while, and that’s when I began to feel a stir more for leadership stuff. I shifted my photography stuff to do more headshots, more lifestyle shoots to help promote brands and people. It was at that time that I actually lost my photography studio because the building got bought out. Everything that I was trying to shift my business towards totally got wiped out from under my feet.
That’s when God began to plant the seeds for the magazine in my heart; That’s when I just took a step forward with creating Truly, which was birthed out of that loss and that transition.
Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring editor/publisher?
A: Work hard. Find people that you can learn from, go alongside them and have a servant’s heart.
We are a new organization and the people that I love, the people that I think will go really far are the ones that don’t feel too above any task. They’re willing to go in and do the hard work. And they’re OK with revisions, OK with you pointing out the things that might need to change. To be adaptable and flexible is super important in a role like this.
Learn from people, surround yourself with people who help complement your strengths and abilities. We all have areas that we lack, and we all have areas that we excel in. Learn. Do a lot of research. Just put one foot in front of the other. Be an encourager. There are a lot of publications and writers out there, and you can quickly take the view of raw competition with one another. But we are in God’s kingdom, everybody has a unique voice and a unique story, and you can’t compare yours with anybody else’s.
Pray, I could not do what I am doing without a lot of prayer and being very humble about everything.
You gotta put action behind your dreams if you’re going to see them go anywhere.
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Despite the twists and turns that May has encountered throughout her life, she has created something that she is proud of.
