144 | Building a Business and Life By Design, Not by Default with Elaine Tan Comeau

Elaine as a keynote speaker for the full day “Dream Big Conference” hosted by Vancity Business Babes, March 2023 📸 @hannershannah with @allinpnw

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:

We are so excited for you to meet our amazing guest, Elaine Tan Comeau! Elaine is a sought-after keynote speaker, author, podcaster, CEO and founder of Easy Daysies Ltd plus a Mom of 3! Elaine has been featured in Forbes, Macleans, CBC, FOX, CTV, Canadian Business Magazine, Parents Magazine, and the Financial Post, to name a few. She and her company have won multiple awards and you will also see her as a regular guest and Educational Expert on CTV Morning Live, Global and 1130 News.

Elaine shares her story of moving from an occupation as a school teacher to accidentally inventing a children’s product (launched off her kitchen table just days after her third baby was born), to CEO and Founder of one of Dragons’ Den's favourite pitches, Easy Daysies, which incited a bidding war among all five Dragons.

We also talk about some of the big mistakes she made and the challenges she went through including having a stroke and having to go through recovery. Elaine shares her intentional single-tasking instead of multi-tasking and how it helps her to truly create a business and life by design instead of by default.

Connect with Elaine:

www.elaineskitchentable.com

www.EasyDaysies.com use promo code: VANCITY10 will get you 10% off any order!

Instagram:

@elainetancomeau

@easydaysies

Key Takeaways

  1. Passion Fuels Success

    Elaine emphasizes the importance of passion as a driving force behind entrepreneurship. Your passion for your idea or product can be your greatest source of motivation, especially during challenging times.

  2. Purpose & Impact

    For Elaine, her purpose is to help parents nurture happy, independent, and cooperative children. By aligning her business goals with this purpose, she finds fulfillment in making a positive impact on families.

  3. Choosing Your Inner Circle

    Surround yourself with people who lift you up, help you launch your ideas, and facilitate your learning. Building a supportive network can be instrumental in your entrepreneurial journey.

  4. Pause and Reflect

    Take time to pause, reflect, and practice gratitude. It's essential to give yourself moments of stillness to recharge and grow. Don't wait for external forces to force you to pause.

  5. Making Choices Matter

    Prioritize your time and energy based on your heart's desires. Remember that you can't do everything at once, so make choices that count and bring joy.

  6. Single Tasking

    Multitasking may be glorified, but mastering the art of single tasking can lead to more profound and meaningful connections, both in business and personal life.



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transcript

[00:00:00] Danielle: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited for today, and I'm super excited to have you meet my amazing guest, Elaine Tan. Como Elaine is a sought after keynote speaker. She's an author, a podcaster, a C E O, and founder of Easy Daisies Plus, she's a mom. Three. She has been featured in Forbes, McClain, cbc, Fox, ctv, Canadian Business Magazine, parents Magazine, financial Post.

[00:00:32] Danielle: Oh my gosh, the list goes on and on. , she has won multiple awards for her business, and also in this episode we actually talk about the fact that she. Was a school teacher and she accidentally invented a children's product, which she launched off her kitchen table just days after her baby was born. You guys, her story is incredible.

[00:00:57] Danielle: She was also featured on [00:01:00] Dragons Den, and it was one of the dragon's favorite pitches. She actually had a bidding war among all five dragons. By the way, for those of you who are in the States, dragons Den is your equivalent to Shark Tank, so we talk about that. We talk about some of the big mistakes that she made while building her business, including the challenge.

[00:01:23] Danielle: and we also talk about a personal struggle she had with actually having a stroke and having to go through recovery. We talk about singletasking in your business instead of multitasking and truly creating a business and a life by design instead of by. Default, you guys, there is so much gold in this episode.

[00:01:44] Danielle: I cannot wait for you to hear it. And the exciting thing is that you can actually join Elaine and myself and about 200 other entrepreneurs at our Dream Big conference happening on March 10th. I [00:02:00] am so excited for this. This event is gonna be hosted near Vancouver at Sky Hanger in Pit Meadows. So if you wanna learn more about attending this event, you can go to business babes collective.com/vancouver.

[00:02:14] Danielle: And this is a full day in-person conference. Curated for women entrepreneurs who are ready to dream big, learn, connect, and grow. And this day is going to include inspiring speakers, panel talks, interactive workshops, networking, music. Photo booth, food, refreshments, vendors, brand activations and prizes, and honestly, so much more.

[00:02:39] Danielle: I am just over the moon excited to host this full day conference for you. This is the very first full day conference we've done in the Vancouver area. So if you are in the area, or you wanna travel and you wanna hop on a, hop on a plane or hop on a boat , or hop on a train, And come join [00:03:00] us for the conference.

[00:03:01] Danielle: It is going to be absolutely incredible and there's just nothing like being in a room of incredibly inspiring people. So shift your plans around, make it happen. You are not gonna wanna miss this, and I am so excited to connect with you and give you a big hug, . So if you want to join us again, go to Business Babes Collective slash Vancouver.

[00:03:25] Danielle: And you can get all the details there, as well as join our list in order to grab your tickets. So now let's go ahead and dive into my conversation with Elaine. Welcome to the Business Babes Collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Weeb. In this podcast, you'll learn tangible business tips and strateg.

[00:03:46] Danielle: On how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs so you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in as [00:04:00] we discuss the wild, exciting, crazy challenging, rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.

[00:04:07] Danielle: Hi, Elaine. Welcome to the Business Babes Collective podcast. I'm so excited to have you here on the podcast. We have been somewhat connected in like similar circles for a long time, and so I'm so excited to finally actually get to chat with you and hear a little bit more about your story and your entrepreneurial

[00:04:26] Elaine: journey.

[00:04:27] Elaine: I. So excited to be here. Danielle, I just am like, I can't wait. I just wanna hug you, , but it's kinda hard over this, uh, a Zoom meeting, , so.

[00:04:39] Danielle: Well, thank you so much for joining me and actually we will get to hug in person soon, , because Elaine is gonna be one of our speakers for our Dream Big conference that's happening on March 10th. March Everyone? Yeah. I'm so excited. And it's gonna be just outside of Vancouver, so if you are either in the area.

[00:04:59] Danielle: Or you [00:05:00] wanna, Hey, if you wanna fly

[00:05:01] Elaine: in , come. Come. I'll hug you too. Yeah,

[00:05:04] Danielle: I love it. Well, can you tell us a little bit about your journey? So I would love to hear, first of all, how did you think about starting a business? Did you al always know that you wanted to be a business owner, or how did this journey kind of begin for.

[00:05:21] Elaine: I know. Absolutely crazy, right? We don't like wake up and say, I'm gonna be a doctor. Like, I don't think so. . I dunno. Yeah. I'm gonna be a teacher. And, and, and if we do, they say that your career path changes about seven times in your journey. Wow. Oh my goodness. I may have hit seven, but actually, um, when I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a children's doctor cuz I love working with kids and I just wanted.

[00:05:48] Elaine: Kids. And then that path changed because biochemistry really hated me. Biochemistry was like I was punching in the face when I was in university. I'm like, okay, I can't take this abuse anymore. [00:06:00] And I really didn't like Bioche either, so, so I had a different pathway. and it opened up to education. And I love working with kids and I fall in love with my class every year.

[00:06:13] Elaine: And so much. So my grade two class sang at my wedding and now they're old and they find me on Twitter. It's really weird, . But I, I, I, I loved teaching and while I was teaching, I knew a lot was working against our children. When one and three come in with anxiety issues, one in four with mental health, one in five with learning disabilities, and.

[00:06:34] Elaine: one and two from Broken Families, and so many things are working against our children, but children are primary visual learners. And so the only way I could move 22 6 year olds from my class to the gym, to the library without a meltdown or a tantrum on the kids' part, or the teacher , was having a visual schedule in front of my classroom and parents started asking me for help, and they said, you know, Ms.

[00:06:58] Elaine: Tan, I started with [00:07:00] Ms. Tan and then Mrs. Como, can you, can you like create a visual schedule like that for my child at home, just to help us get out the door faster just to help them become more independent? And of course I did. So I would draw these, uh, illustrations specifically for that child so that they could just get ready in the morning or after school, going to soccer, and then starting homework, whatever it was, I would be drawing these.

[00:07:25] Elaine: And I drew, these were free for so many years that I thought. , maybe there's a product here. And so I did the research and there wasn't a product that was a daily visual schedule for kids at home, but I did save up by tutoring and selling crafts and raised that first $1,400. And then I launched Easy Daisy right after about two days after my third baby was born because that is a great time to start a business.

[00:07:52] Elaine: And it was Kevin o' who said, you know, if you want something done, give it to a busy mom. And so totally it'll get done. I'll say that [00:08:00] my third born is my most independent child as well. Cause I would place her on the floor with a big puzzles and toys and then she would just be entertained, entertaining herself and these incredible kids I have.

[00:08:13] Elaine: And I just thank God for them. And so I. It was a blessing and it somehow became the number one, uh, back to school must Haveve Parents Magazine right away and, and then showed up in all these other platforms, um, which was a huge blessing. And then stores started to call. And then I also. Started cold calling stores, letting them this like in my local neighborhood.

[00:08:39] Elaine: And I started by selling cons by consignment. So there was no risk to, uh, the store. And then stores started calling from like two stores to 60 stores. And then at one point, We had about 1500 stores across North America. Wow. Our kitchen table. And it was insane cause those moms who were out there listening, I [00:09:00] totally understand how you were working off your kitchen table cuz that's exactly where Easy Daisy was born.

[00:09:06] Elaine: And I also have a podcast called Elaine's Kitchen Table, where we talk about all sorts of fun stuff and having conference calls standing in my pantry. holding the door shut with three little ones, bang on the other side, and then I crack the door open like an inch ancient, throw it some rice, crispy scs just to buy myself four more minutes if I'm lucky, four more minutes.

[00:09:27] Elaine: So I totally get it. And yeah, then we did take it to a trade show because I thought, okay, there's gotta be an easier way then. than just cold calling stores cuz that's, that's hard. And I thought there, there's gotta be a place where they all gather, , come together. Mm-hmm. There was, uh, a toy show in Toronto and then we took it there and then it was, uh, stores that started asking me if we could.

[00:09:54] Elaine: make them 2000 units. And I was making these offer kitchen tables, so they're, I couldn't say no, but I [00:10:00] knew it was gonna take me like a year to make them . Mm-hmm. , I had like six months helping me and so it was then that retailer said, you know, Elaine, you need to get this offer kitchen table and go on a show called Dragons Den.

[00:10:13] Elaine: And I thought, oh gosh. I'm like, have you seen that show? It's not called the Nice People Show, . And it was a long, uh, we were back in season six. Um, but my husband, when I came home, he said he must have been on the computer. And he turned to me and he said, Elaine, his dragons down is here on Saturday and it was Thursday.

[00:10:32] Elaine: And I thought, oh my goodness. It it's gonna be, and now we're never in moment. and we got, uh, someone to take care of. My younger ones. I took our seven year old with us and my husband came and I thought, okay, I could do this. I, I just spent four days at a trade show talking about easy days. He's pitching it every day, like, like 40 times.

[00:10:52] Elaine: I can, I can do this. Okay. And I thought it was gonna be like American Idol where we're gonna line up around the block. No, I think we were like number seven in, [00:11:00] in the room. And, and there was no one there from cbc. People just kept pouring in and the producers showed up. Said, you know, we're at the start of our six weeks nationwide auditions, so only if you are invited to the picture, the show, the live taping in Toronto, will we call you back after six weeks?

[00:11:16] Elaine: Mm-hmm. . And I remember being incredibly nervous and I was like, okay, what is Easy Daisies? I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. I have to know what that is. And you know, it's, it's called Easy Daisies because it was created to help children have easier days, and that's why it's called Easy Daisies. . And so I just remember being incredibly nervous and I've never been that nervous before.

[00:11:34] Elaine: I was pitching in front of two producers and then, uh, we had our moment and I didn't get to, I thought, okay, I could say this in like 30 seconds. I didn't get to finish 30 seconds. and then the producers were interrupting with questions like, aren't you too small? What were your sales last year? And all these questions.

[00:11:52] Elaine: I thought I totally failed. My husband reminded me after he's like, you know, you, you answered every single question. So crazy. And then we did get a call [00:12:00] six weeks later and. , we, uh, did fly out to Toronto and it's a one time taping, and I know that I could go on forever, but I'm not going to because I'm sure you wanna talk about other things.

[00:12:11] Elaine: So, but it was a crazy, incredible experience. We brought, uh, all three kids, uh, they ranged at that point, they were between two and a half to seven and a half years old. Wow. And I remember saying that to the producer when she said, bring the kids. And I'm like, what? And she's like, oh, honey. She goes, it's.

[00:12:31] Elaine: It's a TV show, not a boardroom . And, and so it was crazy, and I could go on about that, how how we prepared for that show is like probably a whole different podcast episode. But, um, we always know when it is audition time, uh, because my email box and voicemails fill up with people asking, how do I pitch?

[00:12:50] Elaine: What do I prepare for? How do I evaluate my business? Um, what do we bring? And so that's actually how my podcast. [00:13:00] came to be cuz my husband's like, you can't keep going out for coffee for three hours with strangers who have three small businesses, three kids. And he's like, just start a podcast. And that's how Elaine's kitchen table came about.

[00:13:11] Elaine: But it was a blessing. We did inside war between all five, uh, dragons. And you then became named, uh, one of the most har uh, top five most heartwarming pitches in the history of the den. And then we had three follow. , uh, which is a huge blessing cuz those are commercials I could never afford . And so counting all of that, a blessing for sure.

[00:13:32] Elaine: That is so.

[00:13:34] Danielle: So cool. Like such an inspiring story. And I love, I love that you were able to bring your kids along like yeah, what a cool experience and like what a cool experience for them to see you, you know, going after your dreams and you know, doing something scary and hard. And I think that's,

[00:13:53] Elaine: Continuously scary and hard, right?

[00:13:55] Elaine: Danielle? Yes. Like you're that an entrepreneur, someone who jumps off the cliff and builds the [00:14:00] airplane on the way down. Now you add some babies on your hip and grinding them to soccer and doing homework and taking them to tournaments and, and dance lessons, and making dinner and building the airplane.

[00:14:13] Elaine: crazy.

[00:14:14] Danielle: So crazy. And so I, I just wanna ask you a couple questions about that, because I know that, and how, how, by the way, how long ago was that from idea to now? When, when was that startup idea? 11 years. Okay. So it's been 11 years that you've been an entrepreneur. What are some key things that you have learned along the way?

[00:14:38] Danielle: I know that's a big question, but mm-hmm. , when it comes to, . I think a lot of people, a lot of entrepreneurs that I talk to, especially when they're first getting started, it doesn't matter if they have kids, if they don't have kids, if they're working a full-time job or they're like just jumping in full-time.

[00:14:54] Danielle: Everyone has a question of like, how do I manage my time? Mm-hmm. , like, what do I. , [00:15:00] how do I do the things that I know are actually going to move the needle when it comes to my business? And so I would love to hear from you, like, what have you learned over the past 11 years of being an entrepreneur and a mom and so many other things as well.

[00:15:16] Danielle: Um, and a friend, and a what, like all these, all these things that we have in our lives, and then we add entrepreneurship to that, right? crazy. How, how have you learned how to, I don't know if manage is the right word, but like spend your time in a way that's

[00:15:32] Elaine: productive. Yeah, that's a full question. A great question.

[00:15:37] Elaine: Full question, , and like, how long do we have ? I know, right? ? Um, I, I, can I break this up into two parts? I would love that, yes. Okay. And I, I'm still learning as I go, so I'm gonna put that out there for sure. And, and you know, the lessons I have learned along the way were learn in the hard [00:16:00] way. They were learnt.

[00:16:01] Elaine: extensively through bad mistakes. But, but I, I, I can sum up the first part by saying like, how do you do it? Like how do we survive as a, a mom, an entrepreneur, um, just what do we do? And I'm gonna, I'm gonna sum it up in four Ps if I can. Yes. And say it's like purpose. It is passion, it is people. . And the last word is pause, pausing, and, and so if I could break that up, I wanna say that the first one, you, you gotta have a passion, right?

[00:16:35] Elaine: Because passion is going to be your fuel when there is no money coming in, you've gotta have fuel in some way. So what is that passion that is driving your idea, your product idea, your service idea? What is it? Because you've gotta have a huge passion for it. And remember, Like for me, yes, easy. Daisy is a magnetic daily schedule.

[00:16:57] Elaine: My passion is not magnets. My [00:17:00] passion is to help parents, help their children be happy and become independent and cooperative so that everybody can have easier days because. , the family unit is so important to me, and that is what gives me great joy. And then my purpose then is to help in some way, whether it's providing product solutions, which is what I'm doing, or I get the honor of speaking on stages or, or writing books or articles or, uh, speaking on platforms.

[00:17:26] Elaine: I, I'm happy to do it. . And you know, people are like, oh, why aren't you nervous? Yes, I am nervous. But someone once told me, you're selfish if you don't share. Mm-hmm. . So don't be selfish. Right. And, and I, I, if I know you, Danielle, and your listeners, you all have a kind, caring heart. So you just gotta push through the fear and just remember you're doing something cuz you wanna help.

[00:17:47] Elaine: So what is that? So that is your purpose and p for people. surround yourself with people who do three things, and I call 'em the three Ls, which is lift, launch, and learn. So are you [00:18:00] surrounding yourself with people that lift you up or are they tearing you down and saying, your idea is. Sucky and terrible , but like, oh, like, you know, don't be around those people.

[00:18:12] Elaine: Mm-hmm. , be with people who lift you up. Be with people that you can learn from. I believe that you can learn from everybody. And I used to run O West Coast chapter of MOS Canada, and I would tell women, When they come into a room, you are here to say, who can I help and what can I learn so that no one ever leaves going, oh, I didn't learn a thing today.

[00:18:31] Elaine: Or, oh, you know, that was boring. And you know, and I, I'm hoping to transfer that lesson to my own children, right? You wake up and you ask, who can I help and what can I learn today? I love that because when you do that, you understand that everything's a blessing and everything to ha to start with gratitude.

[00:18:49] Elaine: And so what are you gonna learn? and who are you gonna learn from? Because I believe you can learn from everyone. So surround yourself with people you can learn from. And that last one [00:19:00] is people you can launch from. You know, go find people that have done what you are hoping to do or who have paved the way so that they can inspire you and launch you and go in with a giving attitude.

[00:19:12] Elaine: Always saying, you know, bring this person a coffee or, or just huge gratitude, right? And rather than just take, take, take. , the door may close quickly. , if that is the attitude. Yeah, so, so those four p, oh, sorry, the fourth P is pies for me. My faith is important, so, mm-hmm. , I, I like to pies and, and be grateful.

[00:19:34] Elaine: And whether pies means praying, uh, or pies means stopping reflecting so you can go and grow. And so if you don't pause, and I learned the hard way, if you don't pause, External forces, may cause you to pause in a hard way. Mm-hmm. .

[00:19:54] Danielle: Yeah. And I'd love to, if you're willing to go into that a little bit, [00:20:00] um, as far as the challenges that you, you've faced and, and what, what you've gone through in your journey and maybe some pivotal moments that have caused you to maybe look at things differently or change the way that you're doing things.

[00:20:14] Danielle: I would love to hear about that.

[00:20:16] Elaine: Of course, for sure. So many hard lessons along the journey. Uh, especially when I was trained to be an educator. Actually my first degree was in biomedical ethics and, and minor in physiology cuz I thought I was gonna go into medicine and then I became an educator and did my bachelor of education.

[00:20:33] Elaine: Yeah. So, Never did I take a course on manufacturing or distribution. . Yes. Learning the hard way and learning through great people and, and reading. They say that successful entrepreneurs read a hundred books. Yeah. Um, a year. And so thank God for audiobook is what I'm gonna

[00:20:49] Danielle: say. a hundred percent. While you're driving, while you're getting ready, while you're cooking

[00:20:54] Elaine: Right. Oh my goodness. And, and of course, great podcasts like yours, right. Learning. [00:21:00] From stories of others who are doing it. And so I guess before I go into hard, harder ships, I, I can share one story where you must do business, trusting your gut. Mm-hmm. not your heart. And I did have a very expensive, uh, lesson working with a, a distributor in France who, who had con reached out to me to, to distribute easy daisies.

[00:21:24] Elaine: didn't know this person and so I, I didn't do anything for a year, and he kept writing. And then finally after a year and a half, he's like, you know, we've communicated for a year and a half. Let's, let's do business. And so, I did and we were in the works. I had easy DA translated into international French, uh, paid lots of money to get it CE certified, which is what products have to be, uh, with a CE logo to, uh, to sell in Europe and all these great things.

[00:21:49] Elaine: And then long, you make much shorter. When I was on a ship ready to ship out to him, I think he said, oh, I have to cancel this large order , pardon me. And he paid a [00:22:00] very small. and I said, oh, well, it's, it's actually on a, a ship coming to you. He's like, yeah, no, I, I can't do this. He said, I had some, uh, vendors, uh, go bankrupt on me and so this, I can't pay for your order.

[00:22:17] Elaine: However, he said, if you allow me to have it, on net terms, I will pay you back, I feel like net to 90, which means I'll pay you in 90 days after it's re received. And I thought, hmm, now, you know, through this year and a half, he sent me pictures of his four year old son. I send them Dy chocolate , like, and you know, my heart is there and he's like, you know, Elaine, it would help my family and my child if you do this and I'll pay you back.

[00:22:44] Elaine: And, you know, my gut's like, don't, don't do this. Do not send it out there. and my heart's like, okay, okay, it's gonna help. And he's like, oh, I'd have to remortgage my house. And I said, okay. I shipped it. And I have never seen in the payment of [00:23:00] almost 10. To me, it's a large amount of money. It's 10 grand us.

[00:23:03] Elaine: Wow. And I never seen a, a penny of it. Uh, it's been many, many years. And ladies do business trusting your. Yes. And not your heartstrings, but that was one, one big lesson. So a very expensive education there. But when I, I have license Easy Daisies twice, which was a, a, a grateful blessing and and honor to work with these very large companies.

[00:23:28] Elaine: Licensing meant they now manufac, manufacture and distribute my product. And the hard part about it is now you also don't manufacture and distribute. And in 2018, uh, the, my most recent, uh, licensing partner manufactured horrible. horrible quality product. And they didn't know. And I didn't know until it was out in stores across North America.

[00:23:52] Elaine: And I started getting all these emails and photos and I'm like, oh no, what on Earth? And I went out to stores [00:24:00] and I bought one, and I'm like, oh my gosh, these things are glued. to the board, and then the boards are falling apart and there are magnets. Why are they glued to, it's terrible. And so in that same year that we ended that licensing partnership, I also woke up one day and I fell out of bed and I didn't know what was going on.

[00:24:19] Elaine: And I went to the bathroom, found a way to get to the bathroom, and I tried to brush my teeth and I, I'm left-handed, so I had the toothbrush in my hand. . I tried to brush my teeth and my toothbrush just flew across the room. What? What on earth? And so I tried like three times crawling to go grab my toothbrush and try and gain, and my toothbrush was just flying and I just didn't get it.

[00:24:43] Elaine: So because I love brushing my teeth, I tried with my right hand, which is so weird. If you ever tried with your opposite hand and I staring at the mirror, I'm just watching my left arm just swing like a pan limp and I didn't get it. And. I didn't understand. And, and [00:25:00] then I was, my admin assistant was going to work at my house that day, and I, I got the three kids ready for school.

[00:25:07] Elaine: Um, a long story made so much faster. It wasn't until 14 hours later. , then I finally got to go to emergency and wow. It was there that triage said, oh, can you touch your nose with your left hand? And I looked at my husband who took me there, and I'm like, in my mind I'm like, of course I could do that.

[00:25:26] Elaine: That's like the weirdest question, who can't touch their nose with their left hand? And I tried and I could not do it. And then they, they wheeled me in right away and, and then shook me off to a different hospital. And I spent the next nine days. going through all these tests and through CT scans and MRIs, they told me I had a stroke and then they told me that it was not my first stroke and that I had two previous stroke from, from that, [00:26:00] um, experience.

[00:26:01] Elaine: There's so many lessons. I learned so many not from just seven months of stroke rehab, but I, I had an entire team cuz. as a result, a terrible stutter from it that I've learned to control unless I'm super tired. So yeah, putting it out there, Dale , I would never, I would, would never know. And I, I think only once in, in the last couple years has someone ever asked me why am I.

[00:26:27] Elaine: face is droopy. Mm. But yeah, I would've never noticed . Thank you. And so, yes, I, I'm, I'm grateful and I can touch my nose now with my left point finger. I'm not a hundred percent, but I am so grateful. I'm so blessed. Wow. But I remember being in the hospital, you know, and. . I remember even though my physical body state had changed, my mindset had not, and I thought this stroke is completely inconvenient.

[00:26:54] Elaine: I have a large distribution order going out. I have three travel speaking events. [00:27:00] I am in the midst of just about to launch a book and all these things, and I thought, I can't be here in this hospital and. , this is not the time for a stroke. And so my mindset was not the best still at that point, cuz that mindset takes a while to change.

[00:27:18] Elaine: Mm-hmm. and, um, one pivotal moment in the hospital besides. I guess the only daily compliment I got was listening to nurses talking in the, the hallway during their change of shift when they would say, she's so young. I'm like, oh, thank you. I can hear that. , my amazing roommate was a gentleman who was, uh, I think he was 87 years old and he was my roommate for I think seven days and, and just an awesome man that I learned so much from as well.

[00:27:51] Elaine: But this I. , I was given a three month driving ban, a three month flying ban, and they, they did discover that I had something called a patent form [00:28:00] noal, which is a hole in it between the atria of my heart, which allowed blood clots to bypass the lungs where blood clots normally get filtered, so the blood clots would goes straight to my brain.

[00:28:10] Elaine: Wow. That that one was on my. Right side, which caused the numbness and paralysis on my left side. But it was in that hospital that I kept saying to the, the neurologist and cardiologist, and I said, you know, because they told me I couldn't fly. And I said, okay, I just need to do one flight. And I'm like, it's barely flying.

[00:28:27] Elaine: I just have to go to Edmonton . It's like one hour. I said my daughter, who's 14 has her, her volleyball nationals tournament and I'm supposed to be there for her. I have to be. They're like, no, no, sorry, you can't go. And every day I asked. I said, come on. I'm like, it's not even flying, like it's one hour . And I said, no.

[00:28:47] Elaine: And then on that last day that I poked at this doctor and I said, come on please. I said, it's one flight. And he turned and he said to me, lane, he goes, okay. He goes, here's your choice. You can go to your daughter's tournament or you can go to her [00:29:00] wedding. and I thought, huh, you're mean ? Like dropped the mic.

[00:29:05] Elaine: And I'm like, okay. Wow. And every time my daughter hears me say that to someone or share that story, my daughter says, mom, choose the wedding. Choose the wedding. Aw. And, and so, you know, it took a while to learn these lessons, but that was when I learned the first one and it. to put your time and energy where your heart is.

[00:29:26] Elaine: So when you were making choices, ladies and gentlemen, whoever's listening, make your choices count. Mm-hmm. , make them matter. Make them about what is important to your heart. And right here, right now, in that moment, I knew that the priorities of my heart meant not being there for the next event for my daughter, but being there for the long run.

[00:29:50] Elaine: Yeah. For my daughter. . And so learning to make hard choices every day so that you can live a life by design and not by default, which [00:30:00] means you know, not being push in by mom, guilt, or people pleasing, or those pressures that you put in your own head, that you have to do everything and everything is urgent and important because very little is important and urgent.

[00:30:17] Elaine: so that you can be there. Right. And I know Danielle, you've heard that on the airplane, right? With the air mask on yourself. Yes. So that you can do it for your children. So like, if you're not breathing, you can't put it on your children. So, so making those choices count. Mm-hmm. . And as a second lesson is making choices that create joy.

[00:30:39] Elaine: And what I mean by that is people poisoning does not create. mom. Guilt and guilt of any sort does not create joy. when you're thinking, okay, do I say yes or do I say no? Anytime you say I have to, that is not a, a choice of joy. That is gonna create joy for [00:31:00] you at all. . Yeah. So it's something you wanna be able to say, I choose to do this, and that most likely will be a, a, a choice of creating joy.

[00:31:09] Elaine: And that third one, . Oh, the third one is Master the Art of Singletasking. Mm-hmm. , right? Glorified on social media. Is that multitasking Mama. Right? You see diaper bags flying and laptops flying stuff, and, and it's glorified. But I'm gonna say, ladies, let's pause for a moment and focus on mastering the art of single tasking.

[00:31:31] Elaine: I'm not saying you do it all the time, but just when it matters most. Mm-hmm. , because when you. Single task that only when it matters most. That means you're gonna increase many wonderful things. You're gonna increase the impact in that relationship, whether it's a relationship in business, in family, in friendship, you're gonna increase the impact, the, the quality.

[00:31:52] Elaine: Mm-hmm. , the commitment of that connection. Yes. So, . That means, you know, our, our family, for example, they're not gonna remember our [00:32:00] multitasking moments in life, but they will remember that moment, that time when you focused on them and you single tasked. with them playing a puzzle, going out on a, a lunch date with somebody.

[00:32:11] Elaine: Your child, your spouse, your business colleague. Those are the moments people remember. So mastering the art, a single tasking. So those are three things that I learned from stroke. But fun story to, to end it with the strokes, right, is during my symptom was a stroke rehab at the very end, an occupational therapist who's on the team cuz I had a speech and language pathologist.

[00:32:34] Elaine: The whole, a whole team. She said to me, Elaine, we need a tool to help you remember when to take your medic medication in the course of your day. And she said, have you heard of Easy Daisies? No way . And so I, I didn't say anything cuz I wanted to hear what someone else had to say, but easy daisies. And then like she, she turns her, her screen to me to show me easy daisies.

[00:32:57] Elaine: And then she's looking and then she. [00:33:00] That is

[00:33:01] Danielle: so funny. Oh my goodness.

[00:33:04] Elaine: And so that was full circle and she Wow. She says, okay, . And, and so we do have an adult version. It's a, it's a trial. Um, cause we had so many families Right. To sh sharing that they were using our children's product, um, wow. To help their adult family members with early memory loss issues or special needs or, uh, early Alzheimer.

[00:33:26] Elaine: and so we thought we gotta create dignity for adults. Like you can't be using a children's product. So we created my day for adult adults. And so humbling and full circle that I used my own product for about a year. And uh, visual indicators were just so key, uh, to give confidence to a human, whether they're eight years old.

[00:33:51] Elaine: Four years old or 84 years old, and so very humbling and full circle. Wow. For sure. [00:34:00] Wow. Donated a bunch to that hospital.

[00:34:02] Danielle: So amazing, so amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. I mean, there's so much that I feel like I can take from that even just, and I can resonate so much with the wanting to be able to do it all and do it all at the same time.

[00:34:19] Danielle: You know, and we, we've talked about this on the podcast quite a bit before about how you can do whatever you want, but you can't do it all. and by yourself and all at the same time is, you know, getting that support and that help with peop from other people as well is so, so key. So thank you so much for sharing your journey that was so impactful and I feel like so many of us just like really needed to hear that

[00:34:42] Danielle: And so I wanna ask you one last question. You have been able to accomplish a lot and you know, your products have been. able to help so many people. And you know, you've been featured in a lot of different places and speaking opportunities and books and podcasts, but what are [00:35:00] you the most proud of of your entrepreneurial journey

[00:35:03] Elaine: so far?

[00:35:04] Elaine: That's a great question, Danielle. I'm gonna say it's my family. My kids, I am so proud of them. They all had to, you know, step up and Yeah. And you know, they've, they've like, I don't hide anything from my kids cuz I want them to see when I. I'm learning and when I'm falling mm-hmm. because the lessons they see from when I have to pick myself, scrape myself up floor , it's, it's lessons that I hope that they are learning with me as well.

[00:35:35] Elaine: Mm-hmm. , and I know they do cuz they'll see the struggle, they'll do their best to help and, and they pray for me too. . And they, and then they'll, sometimes it takes time, sometimes it. So much faster. And they'd say, oh my gosh, mom, that's so exciting. We're just talking about that. Or, or, I prayed for you about that.

[00:35:55] Elaine: Wow. And for them to see the, the, the fruit of the labor, right. The [00:36:00] mm-hmm. that, you know, things take work and. people will say, oh, you're so lucky that this happened. Yeah. Lucky is defined, defined by, you know, eight years, nine years of hard work. , yes, sure. . Yes, totally, totally. But, uh, so my family, my most amazing husband, this, their encouragement, their support.

[00:36:23] Elaine: I am so proud to, to be their mom, their wife. That's what I'm most. So

[00:36:29] Danielle: amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. And where can people connect with you? Where can people find out about your products, find out about you, your podcast, your book? Like tell us all the ways that we can, we can find you and connect with you because I'm sure there's so many people like, I need to learn more from Elaine.

[00:36:47] Danielle: I need, I need her, her wisdom in my life, .

[00:36:51] Elaine: So kind as I say, I'm still learning as I go, but I love Instagram, so you can find me. Yes, at Elaine tan. Como tan as [00:37:00] in like, I wish I had a son. Tan. Tan. So, uh, Como is c o m e A U, so Elaine Tan Como, and also at Easy Daisy. So that's the word, easy. And then D A Y S I E S create to help kids have easier days.

[00:37:13] Elaine: So that's why it's easy Daisies and also my podcast and website for that. At Elaine, oh, sorry. Elaine's Kitchen Table is the podcast, which is on all the platforms. And, and Danielle, I would love to have you on my podcast, so let's connect on that one. Oh, I'd be honored. I would be honored and so I'm excited to come on your stage and yes, and I tried my best to not share

[00:37:36] Danielle: everything here.

[00:37:37] Danielle: I feel like I could talk to you for hours, so I know that we will have a lot to talk about at the conference as well. But I just appreciate you, I appreciate so much like you giving of your time. I know, you know, there's so many things. Places you could be and you're, you've chosen to be here and, and giving, giving us value here.

[00:37:57] Danielle: So I just so appreciate that and I'm so [00:38:00] excited to have you come live in person to our event on March 10th and, and share with the women there. And I feel like this was just such a beautiful, heartfelt conversation. So I'm so grateful for you and for this, for this time together. So thank you for being here.

[00:38:15] Danielle: And yeah, definitely follow Elaine, connect with her and also. , you know, if there was something that resonated with you or if there's something that like touched your heart today, reach out to her. Like, I, I know it can sometimes feel weird or scary, especially if we see, or we hear people on podcasts and we just, something that they might have said would change the traject trajectory sometimes of, of the way we're doing things or our lives.

[00:38:40] Danielle: And often we think, oh, that person wouldn't wanna hear from me. I promise you people do wanna hear from you, so I, I

[00:38:46] Elaine: would love it. I would love it and I'm definitely right back. I love it. Yeah, I love connecting on Instagram, so please do find me

[00:38:53] Danielle: there for sure. Yeah. Oh, so good. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here and I'm so grateful.

[00:38:58] Danielle: And we will see you very soon. [00:39:00] I

[00:39:00] Elaine: cannot wait. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for listening too.

[00:39:08] Danielle: If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post and tag us on Instagram at business Babes co. Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app and while you're there, give us a review. Until next time, keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.

Danielle Wiebe