Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Howerton.
Hi Lindsay, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is about resilience and learning from adversity. I grew up on a farm, where hard work wasn’t optional. My alarm clock would go off at 3:30 am and I would work until it was time to go to school. As soon as I got home, we worked for hours or until it got dark. From a young age, I learned the value of discipline and responsibility. Excuses were not accepted and your value was based on how fast you got the job done.
Life was challenging. My brother had severe mental and physical disabilities, barely able to communicate and eventually put into a group home. The best way to describe my father was short-tempered and extremely tough on me, and when I was 16, my mother nearly died, staying in a coma for three weeks. When she woke up, it was determined she had sudden cardiac death syndrome and later battled stage four breast cancer. Add onto that a high profile missing person’s case involving a family member where we were on the Kansas City news for years. My grandmother pleading for tips or any information on every channel, which never came.
Academically, I wasn’t a natural success story either. I flunked first grade, often getting picked on for being slower than the other kids. But along the way, I was fortunate to find stubbornness inside myself to be something. There were some great teachers and mentors that noticed how hard I tried and changed the trajectory of my life by helping me succeed in college and beyond.
As I got older, I realized that grit and hard work alone weren’t enough. While those experiences had made me resilient, they had also shaped how I viewed myself. I had a lot of unhealed trauma. I spent time in therapy and personal development, learning how to build a healthier relationship with myself. That journey became a turning point in my life because it helped me develop the self-awareness, confidence, and emotional intelligence needed to become the leader I wanted to be. I learned to be kind to myself so that I could become a serving leader to others.
Looking back, I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences. The challenges taught me grit, resilience, empathy, and a strong work ethic. My failures taught me so much and helped me see what was possible, and the work I did on myself helped me grow into a stronger leader. Those qualities became the foundation of my career, particularly in the construction and manufacturing industries, where persistence, problem-solving, and the ability to overcome obstacles are critical. It’s also a place where I find the highest population of people with unhealed trauma, which felt familiar to me and I had to get better so I could help more people like the old version of myself.
Today, I view my journey as proof that success isn’t always about having the easiest path. I lost a mentor to suicide several years ago and decided to take on the purpose of changing one million lives. I could not spend a lifetime looking back at the people I had lost, it felt like a waste. I decided to focus on the positive, with one million lives as my goal through my work both personally and professionally.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing has really ever felt smooth.
I’ve found most of my success through failure, repeatedly making mistakes, learning lessons the hard way, and getting back up when things didn’t go as planned. For years, I was trying to prove myself. I chased achievement, recognition, and validation from other people because I thought those things would finally make me feel whole.
The challenge was that it was hard to find a sense of security when traumatic events kept happening over and over again. Between my brother’s disabilities, my mom’s health battles, my relationship with my dad, and a lot of other traumatic experiences along the way, life often felt unpredictable and out of control. I became very good at surviving, but not always very good at slowing down and taking care of myself. That is one of the reasons I worked in manufacturing; I could be broken but hide successfully in plain sight.
Eventually, I realized that success wasn’t going to heal the things I hadn’t dealt with. No promotion, accomplishment, or achievement was going to create the peace I was looking for. I had to do the work. Therapy, personal development, and a lot of self-reflection helped me understand that my value wasn’t tied to my performance. I learned how to have a healthier relationship with myself and, in turn, become a better wife, mother and leader.
I’ve certainly had professional struggles too, but the biggest battles were internal. Learning to stop proving and start growing. Learning that vulnerability isn’t weakness. Learning that serving others starts with taking responsibility and accountability for your own actions first.
We’ve been impressed with How Consulting LLC and Howerton Rental Properties, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In 2016, I took a bet on myself. After building my career in manufacturing and operations, I left my leadership role at Original Juan Specialty Foods without a clear plan for what was next. I just knew it was time for a change. What happened afterward surprised me. Former colleagues, business owners, and leaders started reaching out, asking for help with challenges they were facing inside their organizations. One project led to another, and before I knew it, HOW Consulting was born.
What started as a leap of faith has turned into a decade of learning. Over the last ten years, I’ve worked inside more than 80 organizations across 35+ industries, from small family-owned businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Every company has its own personality, challenges, and goals, but I’ve been fascinated by how often the same themes show up. Leadership matters. Trust matters. Communication matters. The organizations that thrive are rarely the ones with perfect strategies. They’re the ones that get people rowing in the same direction.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that unhealthy leaders create unhealthy organizations. Most business problems don’t start as business problems. They start with people. I’ve seen talented leaders held back by blind spots, fear, poor communication, unresolved conflict, or simply a lack of self-awareness. That’s why I spend as much time focusing on people as I do process. Clients often joke that I’m a human X-ray machine because I have a unique ability to read people and understand how they’re wired. I can usually identify strengths, motivations, challenges, and opportunities for growth very quickly. When leaders become healthier, more self-aware, and more intentional, everything else tends to improve. Teams perform better, communication improves, and organizations become stronger.
My background in manufacturing, sales, operations, and leadership development allows me to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, but it’s the human side of business that I’m most passionate about. Lasting results happen when people grow, trust increases, and teams become aligned around a common purpose.
My husband and I bring that same philosophy to Howerton Rental Properties. We purchase some of the most neglected properties in our hometown of Brookfield, Missouri, and bring them back to life. We rehabilitate at least eight properties each year, creating much-needed housing in a community where housing is limited. Many of the properties we renovate are ones others would walk away from or tear down. We see potential instead.
If there’s a common thread between both businesses, it’s this: I’ve always been drawn to potential. Maybe that’s because of my own story. I’ve spent much of my life watching people overcome obstacles, reinvent themselves, and become more than anyone expected, including me. Whether it’s a struggling business, a leader who has lost confidence, a team that’s stuck, or a property that others have given up on, I enjoy helping uncover what is possible and turning it into reality. I’m a big believer that people, organizations, communities, and even old houses are capable of far more than they initially appear. My work is simply helping them see it.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memories were the holidays spent at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother had a way of making every holiday feel special. She decorated everything, making each one feel like a big event, with the meals being the main attraction. There were multiple courses, real dishes, foods I had never tried before, and a level of elegance that felt very different from everyday life.
What I remember most wasn’t the food, though. It was the feeling. The house was full of family, laughter, conversation, and connection. Growing up on a farm, life was often centered around work and responsibility, but at my grandparents’ house the focus was on being together. Everyone gathered around the table, shared stories, and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company.
Looking back, those holidays gave me a sense of joy, belonging, and community that has stayed with me throughout my life. Even today, some of my favorite moments are cooking for my family and friends just like my grandmother did. Those holiday gatherings showed me the value of connection and the importance of making people feel welcome. It’s likely one of the reasons I ended up working a lot of my career in the food industry.
Contact Info:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howertonlindsay/
- Other: Lindsay@howkc.com
