"I was very hurt." While running their business together, Lindy Klim split from her husband.

Lindy Rama-Ellis (formerly Lindy Klim) is a Balinese-Australian entrepreneur and influencer. She recently launched her own beauty company, Fig Femme.

Before that, she was running a skincare brand called Milk & Co. A company, that she and her ex-husband ran and operated together for 10 years.

Sitting down with Mia Freedman on the Lady Startup Stories podcast this week, Lindy explained what it was like running a company with a partner, what happens when you split up and what she did next.

Listen to the whole interview between Lindy Rama-Ellis and Mia Freedman here. Post continues below.

10 years ago, Lindy and her husband Michael Klim started Milk & Co. The company sold men's skincare, followed by organic baby skincare and women's skincare.

"It was a wild time," Lindy told Mia. "We've got an ex-model and an ex-athlete who knew nothing about skincare. It was a little bit tricky but we got there in the end."

"It ended up being a super successful company," she said.

As Lindy explained, working and operating a company with a partner isn't easy and in her case, it put a strain on the relationship. 

"We were a startup and in each other's space all the time. It was relentless.

"It was really hard to keep the lid on a lot of our arguments. And bringing things from home into the office and vice-versa, it was quite tough," she said.

After 10 years together, in February 2016, Lindy and Michael announced their separation.

"The divorce was terrible. It was a really hard thing and it was quite public. I was very hurt at the time," Lindy shared.

"Also, I lived in Bali so I had to spend most of my time here with the children. I didn't know what was going on in the office, the ins and outs. I was slowly being pushed aside," she said.

"I also just lost interest. I was too focused on surviving and looking after the kids."

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A post shared by LINDY (@lindyklim) on Mar 21, 2020 at 12:11am PDT

After the split, Lindy left Milk & Co, met her husband Adam Ellis and started thinking about her next career move.

"I'm an ex-model and I make money off my looks and the fashion industry, but if you think about it, I'm ageing. So I really needed to think about my next move," she said.

"I've got a family of four kids and a husband, I'm kind of the breadwinner and I love to work. I've been taking the last three to four years thinking about what my next phase going to look like."

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A post shared by LINDY (@lindyklim) on May 3, 2020 at 1:46am PDT

However, as Lindy explained, when leaving Milk & Co there were clauses in her contract that prevented her from launching another skincare line.

"It's all I know how to do, I've been working in it for 10 years," she said.

"So I then had to pick myself up and go back to modelling. Thankfully, there was some interest in an older woman with three children. But that was definitely a really hard time for me."

Now, a few years later, Lindy has launched Fig Femme, a female, wellness company that has launched with one product: a vulva mask.

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A post shared by LINDY (@lindyklim) on Jul 28, 2020 at 2:29am PDT

And women are loving it.

Read more from Lady Startups:

• "It makes you super laser-focused." How becoming a mother has changed how Laura Byrne works.
• “You need to have equal amounts of rage and desire.” How comedian George McEncroe became an entrepreneur.
• 'It took ages.' How Keira's small business secured a spot in one of Australia's biggest retailers.

  Feature image: Instagram/@lindyklim