Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay.
Hi Lindsay, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Flashback to the summer after college: Christopher and myself first met while working together at horse show competitions held at Ledges Sporting Horses—just over an hour outside of Chicago, IL.
Christopher landed a job in show management as a secretary, working alongside his older brother, Michael Lenard. At the time, Michael was managing horse shows on weekends while launching his career as a CPA at one of the Big Four accounting firms. During this time, Christopher witnessed firsthand the challenges of using outdated software to manage horse show operations and financials efficiently.
We both viewed this “gap year” of working at horse shows as a stepping stone into the tech world. The technological shortcomings in the horse show space sparked Christopher’s interest in pursuing a degree in Software Engineering at DePaul University. I followed a different but complementary path—leaving the horse show world behind to attend The Chicago Portfolio School and build a career in digital design.
Fast forward 10 years: after building careers in tech, getting married, and reaching major life milestones, Christopher and myself returned to competitively horse showing—only to find that horse show tech hadn’t evolved much. The timing felt right to launch Horse Spot.
The three of us collectively have spent over a decade gaining professional experience in the corporate world. We felt ready to bring our combined expertise back into the horse industry. At the time we launched Horse Spot, there still were not many modern, cloud-based solutions available. Most shows were still run on legacy server-based systems that had been in place for decades (meaning the software could only be installed on one computer). While software existed, there had been nothing yet built by us. As a team, we felt confident that we could build something unique and powerful for our community of shows—something no one else could offer.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road!
In fact, at the very first show run on Horse Spot, I was still on crutches from a riding accident that left me with a broken ankle. The thing about broken bones—and bumpy roads—is that they build resilience. Both physically and metaphorically, we all had to individually “get back in the saddle” at some point while building Horse Spot.
When we first launched, all of us were still working our corporate jobs and building Horse Spot on the side. We bootstrapped from day one and kept things lean. In the beginning, we thought it was going to be an achievable task to raise money to help us get started. We talked with VC firms, friends in the horse industry, angel investors, applied to startup incubators and accelerators—only to be rejected.
There were plenty of reasons for those rejections: we were too small, too niche, too this, too that. But we used those setbacks to refocus. We poured our energy back into building the product. We stayed focused, kept going, and eventually found the foundation we needed to succeed—on our own terms. We had some help along the way too. All of this would not have been possible without our amazing clients that instilled trust in us. We also ended up receiving two investments from Topping Capital that helped us keep the momentum we had built.
It took a lot of hard work and time before Christopher and Michael became the first to leave their full-time jobs. Lindsay followed shortly after. Today, you can find Horse Spot in 30 states and 3 countries.
It still feels almost unbelievable that we built an award-winning company in just two short years—all while juggling full-time corporate jobs. Maybe we are crazy? Or maybe it’s just because we love horse shows too much? Sacrifices were made, and code releases sometimes meant 4 a.m. wake-up calls for Chris.
But through it all, we’re finally seeing the payoff. Our hard work is turning into something real—and we’re just getting started.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a creative at heart. I earned my BFA in Illustration from the American Academy of Art and later attended Chicago Portfolio School to study advertising and digital design.
You could say I’m a “multipotentialite”—someone with many interests and creative pursuits—a term popularized by Emilie Wapnick in her TED Talk. I’ve always been passionate about pursuing multiple styles and working with a variety of mediums. Early in my career, working at global advertising agencies, I found my niche jumping into projects that needed an extra creative hand, required specialized skills like illustration, or demanded fresh ideas to help win over clients during pitches. I became obsessed with the versatility this work offered—both in my craft and in my life—which naturally led me to start freelancing for startups.
I discovered how much I love building brand identities from the ground up and helping founders bring their stories and visions to life through design.
What sets me apart as a creative is my broad knowledge across design tools. One day, you might find me creating motion graphics in After Effects; the next, I’m building scalable design systems in Figma. I thrive at the intersection of creativity and entrepreneurship. With experience launching my own companies and working with startups, I bring a strategic, business-minded approach to design that many creatives don’t. I’m a self-starter, unafraid to take risks. I believe the best creative work happens when you push boundaries you didn’t know existed—or weren’t sure were possible.
That mindset has helped me become a 2× Webby Honoree. While it’s an honor to be recognized, what’s most rewarding is seeing how my design work improves people’s everyday lives.
Despite my experience, I remain endlessly curious. In the ever-evolving world of digital design, there’s always something new to learn. I love challenging myself—experimenting with color palettes, discovering new typefaces, and learning new techniques. Design is my passion, and putting in extra hours to explore it never feels like work. It feels like play.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I think taking risks is just part of who I am as a creative. I never play it safe with my designs—so why would I play it safe in life? Horseback riding has always been my passion, but it comes at a price. I knew early on that if I wanted to build a life that financially supported that passion, I needed to create my own success. There’s no such thing as a “safe” corporate job—especially in advertising, where losing a client can mean losing your position.
One of the biggest risks I took early in my career was leaving full-time employment to freelance. That leap taught me a lot about myself and what it really takes to run a business. Another risk was moving to a city where I didn’t know a single person. I knew I needed a change from Chicago, and that decision led me to an entirely new network of people I wouldn’t have met otherwise. It’s comforting knowing I can always go home, but for now, Chris and I are calling Charleston home.
I’ve come to believe it’s always worth trying something new. The worst-case scenario? You go back to a corporate job, or you move back home, or you pivot again. But when I take a risk, I try not to focus on what could go wrong—instead, I ask myself: “What’s the best thing that could happen?”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://about.horsespot.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/horsespotshows
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/horsespotshows
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayfuhs/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/lindsay.lenard/?hl=en
