Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  01:16
Welcome to the startup women podcast, a show where we connect Canada’s powerful cohort of women identifying founders to real stories and case studies of women building businesses supported by true tactical advice from thought leaders and industry experts. I’m your host, Kayla Isabelle, CEO of Startup Canada. Each month, I’ll be sharing the mic with one founder and one expert. Together we will dive into real stories and scenarios and uncover actionable advice for women entrepreneurs across Canada from funding and hiring to sales and scaling strategies. On this show, we cover the most important topics so you can deconstruct the challenges of starting and running a business with the knowledge that goes beyond the surface level. Let’s get started. Awesome. Entrepreneurship is a world of opportunity, of brilliance and of hard work. It’s also a world of loneliness, sacrifice, and of deep challenge. And we must include these experiences in our conversations around entrepreneurship. Elaisha Jade is the founder of your mindful, an advocate for mental health and certified mindfulness and meditation coach, supporting healthier mindsets for entrepreneurs and professionals in the tech space.

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  02:34
A lot of times many people do not associate meditation and mindfulness with celebration, because we think of celebration as hype and exciting and fun. But meditation can be dance. Meditation can be journaling, it can be yoga, it can be walking, it can be doing so many things. And as long as it’s done mindfully.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  02:54
Komal Minhas is the Founder of Karseva, a company focused on building individual and societal resilience through training programs, media productions, and investing in entrepreneurship. Resilience is a muscle that we can flex to accomplish hard things, and remind ourselves of what we’re capable of when we feel lost and low.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  03:16
The one aspect of resiliency building that we name is called self-efficacy. So our belief in ourselves is that we can do hard and difficult things. And there are five key ways that we can build this self-efficacy and one of my favorites is through vicarious experiences. So what does that mean? It means listening to podcasts, it means watching movies watching documentaries. The reason humans love hero’s journeys is because we get to watch this underdog go through this journey that we relate to and succeed.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  03:45
In this conversation. Elaisha and Komal share the hard moments that built their resilience. And we talk about why entrepreneurs must invite support into their journeys, and celebrate what they accomplish in order to continue achieving their biggest dreams. Welcome to the show, Elaisha and Komal!

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  04:05
So happy to be here!

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  04:06
Same. I’m honestly so excited for today’s chat.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  04:09
I am so excited. And as I mentioned before, I don’t play favorites with the Startup Women podcast but this one is going to be very, very special, in part because Komal is my predecessor on this podcast as the former host of what we called the Thrive podcast. So it is super special to have you Komal and Elaisha, we’re so excited to have you here as well.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  04:29
So happy to be here and on this side of the chair this time, this is going to be a blast. 

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  04:35
Agreed! Elaisha, we’re gonna start with you first. You spent six years in the Toronto startup tech scene before you found it. You’re mindful. Can you describe what those six years were like? And what really caused you to step into the world of entrepreneurship and bring us through that entire journey?

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  04:51
Yes, absolutely. Well, I ended up in tech by accident is the first thing that I will say I had an awesome post-secondary university teacher, I was doing a course at U of T. And I was studying social media marketing. I’d been working in marketing for many years at that point specifically focused on film and media. And I ended up at a pretty big company at the time. And I had no idea what I was doing. But it was so much fun. It was honestly just an emerging area, especially in Toronto at the time. But after working in it for many years, I found that my mental health actually took a big hit, I found that working in tech actually exacerbated secret symptoms that I hadn’t really noticed before for myself. And when I did try to get help, and specifically sitting at the intersection, as a black woman, involved a lot of not being believed, a lot of being talked over during therapy sessions, long wait times as well, misdiagnosis and even being prescribed incorrect medication. So I found that it was really tough for me to really find a way to call my nervous system. And I had actually been a travel blogger before that point full time. And I’d remembered a session that I did like a meditation session did with a group of women that I was with on a press trip. And I had found that meditation was incredible. I remember that column that I had experienced. And I found that I really just needed to apply that to my life at the time because conventional ways just weren’t working for me. And don’t get me wrong, conventional ways are very important. But when you’re not able to really access them, it makes your life a living hell. And so for me, I knew I needed to figure something out for myself. And I really just took that into my own hands and began meditating a lot more frequently, I began taking classes. And eventually, I got certified at U of T. And as well, to the big trip to India for a bit where I really wanted to authentically experience and learn in a way that was also very respectful of the culture around meditation, and mindfulness. And through that, I found that while meditation wasn’t a solution to the problem, it really became a bridge for me. And that was a bridge for me to be able to learn and understand how I could get the help that I’m actually receiving today. So wasn’t a solution. But it really was an awesome way for me to be able to create a road or path or bridge to finding that calm and finding those solutions that I’m accessing at this point. And so that really brought me to the point of saying, Okay, this is super cool. How can I bring this to other people? And how can I share this message? So I founded Your Mindfull and I teach meditation and mindfulness classes for different companies and tech, specifically focused in on those who have great DEIi programs and understand what intersections people set up. So long story short, I was going through a really tough time. And I found that meditation and mindfulness allowed me the chance to figure out a way to build a better life for myself.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  07:47
Unbelievable. And I love that framing of a bridge, because so often when we talk about mental health, it’s about, you know, fixing or getting to this end. And it’s not exploring this iterative journey that is constantly going to evolve your entire life during stressful periods, less stressful periods. So I love that illustration of meditation as kind of a bridge and as a tool. They’re amazing. I’m so excited to dive in further. And Komal you help others realize and utilize their resilience and reach their true potential. What is important to understand about someone’s story or the situation that they find themselves in, before you begin working together with them, and helping them really achieve their true potential.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  08:27
So context is so important when it comes to doing resiliency-based work. And I specifically work at the intersection of women of color founders, resiliency, and business strategy. So when we look at a lot of mindset issues, or hiccups, or things that people get hung up on when it comes to their own growth, and potential scalability, it often comes back to context, specific upbringing, cultural background, intersections, when it comes to lived experiences and different traumas we’ve experienced both at home in the workplace. And so what I love about what I do is that every client that I get to work with every person that I get to work with it through these leadership workshops, through one on one coaching through consulting with larger corporations and companies is a really get-to-know the person. And generally when it comes to the problems that we’re all solving in our businesses. There’s a plethora of solutions. But those solutions are actually much more simple than the back end of what goes into solving those simple problems. Because so much of our own belief systems about how what we’re allowed to do, how we can, like fully live in this world what we’ve been given permission to do up until this point and haven’t really colored the way in which we move through the world. And so I love to understand the context that my clients are coming from their backgrounds or cultural backgrounds. A big part of resiliency research, that we’re talking a lot more about now is the importance of cultural competency and helping folks reconnect to their own roots and their own heritage. And the same is true in how we lead our businesses, bringing more of ourselves to the table in safe ways, knowing who we can trust, who we can lean on, who deserves our story, and who doesn’t. How to protect ourselves well with boundaries in the workplace to prevent gaslighting. All of these things lead into a very sound business strategy as well as healthier workplaces. So I love to know the context of my clients, their individual backgrounds. And that’s one of my favorite things of the work that I do, and also the most important pillar of what I do.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  10:32
Unbelievable. And if I can quickly provide a bit of a personal anecdote here around how that has been seen in so much of the work that you’ve you’ve done. In the pandemic, when you launched your new podcast, Lessons Learned. I viscerally, remember, I think it was the May long weekend of the pandemic, and it was my first time leading an organization, I was the new CEO of Startup Canada, navigating complete chaos in the world. And its impact on the way that we supported entrepreneurs. And I turned on your podcast and was given permission to think of myself as both a human being and look at the business through a completely different lens. Because up until that point, I was so fixated on the organization and not looking at my relationship and my kind of humaneness and that leadership journey. And to this day, I remember sitting on my patio listening to that podcast and having that realization. So I can say, with, with lots of confidence that that sort of framing and the philosophy that you approach resiliency, and that intersection between leadership and that is, you know, has been really transformational for me. So thank you. That’s my quick plug there.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  11:41
I’m so happy to hear that Kayla. And it’s when we allow ourselves to be ourselves that we can lead authentically, but also build businesses authentically. And that’s not always safe in every context. But when we are at the forefront of an organization as you are Kayla, you now lead the culture of the company of your organization. And that gives your team permission to behave a certain way, to live a certain way, to be healthy in a certain way. And so I’m so happy to hear that.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  12:11
And so going and pulling on the string of resilience. This is something that I think so many leaders have been talking about in entrepreneurship, it comes up so often. And I can see for some having the perspective is resilience learned? Are we all resilient or are some people better at honing in that resilience? Komal, of all of these stories of resilience, have been such, you know, a great part of the conversations that you have your own journey and now in the products that you’re working on. Is resilience, something that you can only gain through hardships, through your own personal experience? Are we all resilient? How do you approach that conversation?

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  12:46
So baseline, we are all resilient. But there are certain genetic factors that do play into an individual’s resiliency. But there are significant learned factors as well. So it isn’t to say that say, you know, I get this question a lot. You look at people in the same household, they experienced the same traumas growing up to they ended up on two very different paths, birth order various ways of how they’ve related to people outside of their family. Often when young folks are growing up. One of the key factors of them building their resiliency is actually having an adult outside of the family that they can trust, who acts as a mentor who acts as someone who can lead them and guide them forward. So there are so many various factors that come into play. But what I want people to remember is that you can build your resiliency, regardless of genetic factors. Regardless of the other pieces. There are key ways that you can improve your resiliency feels stronger in your mind in your body, and trust yourself more. It can come in various ways. So one aspect of resiliency building that we name is called self-efficacy. So our belief in ourselves that we can do hard and difficult things. And there are five key ways that we can build this self-efficacy and one of my favorites is through vicarious experiences. So what does that mean? It means listening to podcasts, it means watching movies watching documentaries. The reason humans love hero’s journeys is because we get to watch this underdog go through this journey that we relate to and succeed. And that gives us the confidence to know that we can do the same when we are going through something difficult. I remember when I was diagnosed with cancer and survived and recovered and went into remission. One of the key ways that early in my journey, I felt strengthened my own experience was by taking in films of people who survived cancer through hearing stories of others who had walked this path before me. And so am I  saying you should just binge Netflix all weekend? Sometimes, certainly! Just be mindful of the type of content you’re consuming because it will directly impact how you relate to yourself and your own belief in your ability to overcome. So yes, it is genetic. It is learned. But one of my favorite ways for folks to think about building their resiliency is through these vicarious experiences asking people about their stories and listening to them. I’m taking them in in mindful ways, and letting that uplift you along the way.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  15:04
Amazing. Elaisha, how can you see how resiliency helped you navigate leaving the tech scene, building your own company and building this space that supports those in this kind of industry? And in this space? How does it show up for you in your life as a meditation coach and as a facilitator today? 

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  15:21
Yes, of course. So I will say for me personally, I’m actually still in the tech scene. But I was able to create a branch for myself through my side hustle to build my own company. And that definitely took resiliency. And I also want to touch on a point that Komal made as well. So I remember one of my mentors, who said, you don’t need a big trauma story to be able to help others. While I have a big trauma story, and many people who are in this space do have big trauma stories, I just want to encourage a lot of people who are listening today to know you don’t need some big story, to push in drive you to help others that experience can inform assisting others with that doesn’t have to be the be all end all. And I definitely do feel that resiliency has helped me when I actually had to cancel my first meditation session, the weekend of the Toronto shutdown, I actually booked my first in-person meditation session, launched my business, I hired a videographer photographer, I invited my friends, my family, and influencers in the space who I had known from my travel and fashion, influencing days to all come into a room and celebrate me launching the company that I had to shut it down. And I was so sad. I was petrified as well because everything had gone online. When I learned how to teach meditation, I learned that in person I learned through facilitating with other participants in the course, I learned through teaching grew I learned through teaching volunteers. And then I also learned through teaching people just in person tactile, you can see people’s reactions, and you can experience that in the moment. And I had to actually take a breath, take a moment for myself grieve what I believe would be the launch of my company, and then push myself to actually launch digitally. And by doing that, I instead push myself off the deep end. Instead, I’m launching a 30-day experience and recording 33 free meditations for people who are going through it right now. Nobody really understood what was happening during the pandemic, how we were going to go digital how we were supposed to take all of this work we were doing in our experiences, and put it into our tiny apartments or houses, and experience all those things. 24/7. So I really had to, as I said before, grieve the idea that I had of what my company would look like and the experience for others, allow that to kind of be shattered by the pipe pandemic, and then run my small business as a service where I still serve people. But where I’m doing it through the camera, like we’re just chatting right now on this podcast. And it actually assisted me in being able to do what I never thought I could before. Right? I’ve had clients who are based in LA, I’ve had clients who are based in New York clients who are in London, England, Toronto, back home, and Vancouver, where I’m currently based. And it was just such an incredible way for me to experience my business in a bigger way than I ever thought possible. And I would absolutely say to that resiliency shows up as a meditation teacher, of course, when I need to push through a session or meeting when of course, remembering that running a small business, especially as a service provider means more than just fulfilling the service. As a small business owner, it means me replying to my own emails, its calls it’s no shows its disappointment. But of course, I think that my resiliency was mainly built through gratitude. And that’s, of course, such a buzzword that people are using today. But I think that that actually does keep me going to know that some months, I only have one client, and some months, I have seven. And to know that I’ve been able to build this thing from the ground up in a way that I never would have thought possible and be grateful for that has really continued and allowed me to still push through the times when I find it very difficult.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  19:05
And I’d love to pull on that string of grief in building businesses in the winds in the losses, Komal you’ve spoken at length at different moments, both within your own personal journey and in the advice that you support with your clients. And you have this fabulous Instagram post that had the line ‘Pursuing my dreams has left me brokenhearted. Repeatedly.’ And this, you know, like this resonates so physically with me. And I think with many of our listeners, how did you find support through these different ebbs and flows? What pieces of advice might you give others who are experiencing this heavy and hard emotional journey of building a business and you know, navigating some of those gut-wrenching moments through transformation and chasing their dreams as business owners?

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  19:53
I think something that we often do as an injustice to new founders and folks who are early in their startup journey is not being honest about how hard this is. When we look at rates of depression and suicide in the founder community, it is disproportionately higher than in the general public. When we look at the isolation and loneliness that founders experience and those in the startup state space experience, it is immense. And when we don’t talk about it, it makes this journey seem very different than what it actually is. And when we are making hard decisions about cash flow, when I had to let two team members go during the pandemic, when you have to shift the goals and dreams that are not just your own, but are of your community of your employees of your staff, these are people’s livelihoods that depend on the capitalist based outcomes of your business. And so it is a very complicated and complex thing to choose to go into business. And I think as middle millennials, especially with the insecurity in the job market, it is something that was so glamorized for so long, and was mainly to, for folks to believe that it’s such an easy way. But when we look at the main reason that a lot of women pursue entrepreneurship, it’s because the traditional workforce doesn’t work for us, when it comes to paid time off when it comes to maternity leave. In Canada, we are very lucky with our paid parental leave options, but in the US, this is not the case. So when women differ into entrepreneurship, they’re putting themselves more at risk, they are more vulnerable, and they have fewer benefits. So the list goes on. The dark underbelly of entrepreneurship is not something that we talk about enough. And so what’s the upside of that, if we choose this path, and if we choose that this is what’s best for us and right for us, then we need to be able to stomach the highs and the lows, we need to be able to find that through line for ourselves, that is going to make this journey worthwhile, impactful, profitable, because at the end of the day, we have folks who are turning hobbies into businesses, but it is not supporting their livelihood. And if we’re looking at baseline needs that we have as human beings, especially in inflationary times, especially in difficult economic times, our baselines need to be covered. And often whereas founders were we take care of ourselves as the last, you know, folks in the business, we aren’t paying ourselves enough. There are a number of different factors that go into this. But if we choose it, and those of us who love it, and find it as the path for us, we have to find our ways to persevere. And so yes, entrepreneurship can be heartbreaking just like any other endeavor. It’s filled with failure. It’s filled with difficulty filled with all these hurdles. But with the right support systems with communities like startup Canada, with government supports through grants and funding through finding product market fit through all of these ups and downs that come and leaning on the people in our lives and not isolating ourselves, it can also be a wildly rewarding journey. My first profitable month is a month I’ll never forget. It’s something that stuck with me since in this whole entrepreneurship journey. And it’s one that I’m sure many entrepreneurs remember for themselves. And also the months where cash flow I had to go into my own personal savings. And so being honest about this journey is so critical. Supporting people in knowing their own resiliency. That’s why I do what I do in terms of training folks in knowing how resilient they are what they need when they are about to hit that burnout side of things, and continuing to keep going so I know this look this my answer really looks at like the underbelly the hard parts of this journey, but if we choose it, and if we are okay with that trade-off. This also is one of the most life-affirming incredible choices A person can make to stay in be in entrepreneurship. So that posts got significant engagement. And I think it’s because it resonates so much when we are low. We need those reminders of why we’re doing what we’re doing. We call this a superordinate goal in goal-setting psychology. It’s like what’s your bigger, why when it comes to your business, your life, whatever it is in front of you so that when times are hard, you still have that throughline of what motivates you to keep going keep persevering and keep building your business and keep taking care of yourself along the way. So heartbreak is part of the job, but it’s also what makes it worth it in a really masochistic kind of way.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  24:27
Yeah, that’s so beautifully said Komal, I think it’s, it’s very pragmatic as well in a way that we need to approach entrepreneurship with eyes wide open and see the potential and be inspired by that, but really recognize what it’s going to take. And that can be too much in so many different scenarios. We see women, in particular, navigating so many additional barriers to starting a business scaling a business getting funding for their businesses. And while we need to continue to advocate around that scaffolding of each business owner For people entering into entrepreneurship, so essential to realize what you’re getting into and what the sort of costs are going to be, and how to make sure that you’re, you’re balancing things. And we’ll definitely chat about that throughout the rest of our chat today. Alicia, do you have more to say on that? I see you nodding beautifully throughout Komal’s moments, anything to add there,

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  25:19
I will completely admit that I was close to tears at one point because it is so true. A lot of people do not talk about the nuances and different levels of entrepreneurship. And I also think that there is a lot of awesome excitement and pride when people are able to say yes,, I quit my job, and I’m able to just do my side, hustle full time, etc. And I personally did not put myself in a position to do that. Because I was like, Okay, there’s currently a pandemic, boom, it’s happening. Everybody loves online meditations. Everyone wants to do XYZ. Let me just give this some time, because I could have absolutely done so but I wanted to give it some time. And then there was a dry period. And exactly like you said, coma, we needed to remind ourselves of why we started what we were up to, I needed to give myself pause because I tend to get overwhelmed and overstimulated. So I needed to say to myself, Okay, things are slow, right now, this is to my benefit, this is something that I will use to actually take a break that I would not have mandated for myself. And I think once we kind of is able to reframe those experiences in our minds, then there’s so much that we’re capable of doing. So thank you so much for saying that because it is not easy out here as a founder, a lot of people really paint things as rainbows and butterflies and entrepreneurship and pretend to see that shift in social media at this point where we’re really are turning towards authenticity, true sharing of your journey and vulnerability. And I want a lot of founders to understand and know that if you post that picture or that experience, or that moment of failure to your followers, and to those who are currently experiencing it now, you will actually be able to tap into a deeper emotional part of them that you wouldn’t have been able to the only show the really glossy, fun parts of entrepreneurship.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  27:05
I think that’s been one of the really interesting parts of the pandemic overall, that vulnerability we’ve seen in, you know, online forums and people having various conversations that they might not have historically, and talking about mental health like I’ve definitely seen it in the last three years. BDC, one of our partners on this podcast has done some really interesting research in this as well to see what the impact of the pandemic has been on the mental health of founders and entrepreneurs. And the stats are unbelievably sobering. Like we’re talking about this, we’re recognizing it now, where’s the action? Like? How are we actually helping and changing, you know, behaviors or changing patterns that have not been working for us? In, you know, in our journeys as entrepreneurs or elsewhere? I would love to get both of your perspectives on where we’re at right now that yes, you know if we look at the mental health of entrepreneurs, March 2020, there’s definitely been an evolution of where we’ve landed today. And both of you are so committed in supporting folks in their professional and personal lives. And through the chaos of the last couple of years in particular, what is the one word that you would choose to describe the state of entrepreneurs and professionals today? How are they really doing? It? Alicia, let’s start with you. And then Komal, I’ll pass that question over on your way?

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  28:20
It’s actually a great question. I think the one word that I would use to describe where people are at this point, I’d say maybe a few months ago, especially midway through things beginning to open up again, I would have said optimistically for a lot of different entrepreneurs. But I think at this point, Kayla, I would certainly say that sobering or that you used earlier, would be the word that I would use, you know, a lot of reports at this point are saying we are on the edge of a recession, which once again, as a mid millennial. Being able to experience another once-in-a-lifetime event during our time, including a downward decline in our current economy is very sobering. And I think it’s giving people a big pause and seeing a lot of founders and people return to working nine to five, not because their businesses weren’t successful sometimes because that was the case and they say successful in quotes. So don’t necessarily only think that cash flow is the only thing that makes your business successful. But for some people, they’re at a point where they’re beginning to understand that serving themselves is one of the most important things that they can do as a founder, as you mentioned before Komal that that’s huge, right? People are now seeing, okay, if I have to pull from my savings if I have to pull and dip into my mortgage or if I have to take out certain loans. Will I be able to really stand on this? I think the pandemic really shook things up. And especially now that banks aren’t necessarily as excited about free money for a lot of younger people. Oh, that’s the word that’s being tossed around, right? And a lot of times now people are saying, okay, it is going to be a lot harder for us to get a mortgage, it is a lot harder for us to do XYZ. So I think that a lot of people are reassessing some of their loftier and bigger goals, to say, okay, how can I make this work while still serving myself? Still, Serving my family? So serving my friends in my relationships? So do you feel like the pandemic really did hold up a mirror to a lot of people who were very excited, but also very naive about the entrepreneurial journey?

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  30:32
Great. Komal, what are your thoughts?

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  30:34
I would say complicated. I mean, we see like the funding landscape, and if we’re looking at, you know, those who are pursuing venture capital money, like Andreessen Horowitz a16z, gave the founder of WeWork, their biggest check to date for a model of you know, disrupting the apartment and rental business. But at the same time, we’re looking at that single check almost surpassing the entire amount of funds that have gone to women-led businesses annually. And so when we consider the scale and scope of which like the landscape is on the funding perspective, it is very complicated, but also like, super frustrating. So it’s complicated and frustrating. I’m at a baseline, I’m bad at picking single words. But then on the other edge of that is what I look at, you know, my clients who have been able to coach and work with one close to $10 million round with her co-founder, woman of color founding team, and an all-woman founding team, and then another closed a $250,000. Venture precede round. And I feel hopeful. I feel hopeful that when women are supported women of color are supported in the right ways when they feel like they have the right support system behind them the right infrastructure around them the right confidence, understanding of the legalities and the onboarding, the right legal team, onboarding, the right venture fund or angels that you want in your round when we support women enough to understand the landscape of what it means to take on other folks as money and scale in that way, and trust themselves to do it, which we are highly capable, competent people. That makes me exceptionally hopeful, hopeful, and so complicated, frustrating, but also hopeful. And I’m excited to keep working with so many of these women to help them close more and more money, and to scale their businesses in the ways that they’re destined to and that society needs them to.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  32:40
Love to hear it. And when you look at the lessons that some of those leaders have learned over the last couple of years, or things that they now can be rooted in, you know, I think of some of those lessons for myself being this unshakable confidence that no matter what gets thrown my way, I can make a decision and hope for the best and you know, make as informed of a choice that I can to support my team and the organization. But the pandemic has given me that rooted sense of confidence that I did not have before with some of the leaders that both of you are working with, have there been any really insightful lessons or, you know, confidence pieces or just general lessons that you think our listeners could find interesting. Kamala, let’s start with you.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  33:20
Well, like Elaisha shared so many of us had to pivot our businesses, overnight. And so the pandemic for a lot of folks was really like a marathon of resilience. Day after day for there’s not a single person spared. And so I recall, when I went through my recoveries, my being sick for a couple of years in my 20s, I had to go through that recovery alone, I had my own mini self-quarantine that had to happen for about a year, I was alone in it and during the pandemic to look around and be like we are all going through the same bit the similar baseline experience with very different variables on top of it, but at a baseline we can all relate to one another. And that equalization in terms of that baseline like again, on top of it so many different variables that based on individual lived experiences, backgrounds, however, the pandemic impacted us. But it was a different way to relate to one another. And so when I look at my clients or folks and what they’ve overcome, I’ve coached women through surgeries this year and fundraising I’ve coached women through underbelly like difficult gaslighting situations in the workplace and, you know, finding ways to not have to be the one to leave because that is entirely unfair to so many people in the workplace when it’s poor management or leadership, but instead helping them plan lateral moves, helping them recover from burnout in the midst of not wanting to leave their career. Because that I think is like the biggest thing that I would hope that snares understand about themselves is exiting may be the healthiest thing for you when it comes to wherever you are in your career, I work with a lot of mid-career professionals who are in finance who are in tech. But if we can enable these individuals to persevere through this difficult pocket, find ways to support themselves better to maybe pull back not quite quit, but do your baseline job and PERT and sustain yourself through your career trajectory and growth. We can get these women to the leadership positions, we need them in to create the actual systemic change that we need. And so it’s not an individual story. But it is a wave of perseverance and resiliency that I’ve been able to witness that makes me hopeful again, about the shifts that we can make in these very male-dominated patriarchal industries that require transformation from within. And so, that is what I hope listeners feel inspired by is, lean on your people. Ask for the help you need. So you can persevere to be part of the tide that we all need in terms of change across industries so that women of color can thrive in a more equitable, manageable way.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  36:15
Oh, I love it. I love it. Komal, amazing. The Startup Women Advocacy Network swan is a curated group of 13 women-identifying early stage entrepreneurs who advocate and champion the needs of women entrepreneurs from coast to coast to coast. Marlo is committed to making the uncomfortable comfortable starting with the first-ever lubricant and tampons designed to be used together for smoother insertion. The product consists of 100% organic cotton tampons with a bottle of lubricant engineered to perfectly coat the tampon in one easy mess-free dip. Plus, they’re conveniently delivered straight to your door. Marlowe’s founder Nadia Ladak is passionate about empowering a generation of men Streeters to prioritize their menstrual and sexual health by sparking conversations around these awkward but shouldn’t be awkward topics. We’re thrilled to have her as our Ontario Swan representative visit we are marlowe.com to learn more. Stellar some wine experts are dedicated to taking the pretension and intimidation out of learning about wine through guided tastings and restaurant advice. Stellar Psalm specializes in educational fun events and is working to help build the growing beverage community on Prince Edward Island. Stellar Psalms founder Leslie Quinn is a certified Somalia and award-winning expert. We’re delighted to have her as our Prince Edward Island Swan representative, visit stellar som.com. To learn more. That’s S T  L L A R S O M M dot com. Visit www dot startup can dot ca. and head over to the Explore tab under startup women, you’ll find more information about the Advocacy Network and the incredible work of these amazing founders. Elaisha, with so many of the folks that you’re working within the tech space, that industry, you know, is going through a tremendous amount of change and layoffs and restructuring and lots of disruption after many years of continued disruption. Has this shown up in the experiences of those that you’re working with? What support are they leaning on right now? What advice can you give some of our listeners who might be in that circumstance?

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  38:33
Absolutely. This even affected my nine to five in tech as well, too. And I definitely want to say, of course, there’s no perfect way to run a business. It’s not easy for a lot of founders. And I certainly wouldn’t say that support would really look like leaders taking charge with compassion. Do not have sympathy for their workers, not empathy for their workers. Because this is something I teach in my workshops that you know, sympathy is understanding or seeing without action. Empathy is absorbing that trauma, but compassion is actually doing something about it. And I really do think that of course, making hard decisions is of course a part of the job. But projecting accordingly is a big thing that isn’t. I’m really excited to see workers at this point hop on LinkedIn and really describe their experiences with group layoffs and how those things are taking place. And I know that a lot of leaders are in a really difficult spot at this point. But of course, there’s so much responsibility that needs to be taken, especially with seeing of course, as I mentioned before, for myself as a founder, there was a big pandemic boom, there was there were numbers that people would have never seen in their lifetime for their business, let alone projected for 10 years, but a lot of them banked on that for loans, a lot of them banked on that for funding a lot of them mates and big promises that they couldn’t keep that now, kind of some of those lenders are knocking on the door saying what’s going on here. And unfortunately, a lot of workers are bearing the brunt of some of that. And it’s unfortunate to see. But I did notice, as I mentioned before, that LinkedIn has become a bit of a diary for many angry and hurt people out there who bet that their leaders would provide them with a place of purpose. But of course, some of them were quite lucky that they were able to receive, you know, a generous severance or a new job, but there are many people who didn’t have that opportunity. So think of leaders who are able to really sit in a seat of compassion first, and understand those who are working, you know, four or 5678 20 rungs below them have lives just like themselves. I think that that would be an awesome place to start from. And it’s not to say that every leader isn’t doing that. But I think that there becomes so much separation, that a lot of times leaders aren’t able to put themselves in the shoes of those who work for them or work for managers who are 12 steps below them.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  41:04
That’s such an important point. 

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  41:06
I really like that differentiation between empathy and compassion, and compassionate action. The other side of that is to enable employees to protect themselves because to be a realist, we cannot rely on the compassion of so many of these leaders out here. And so what does protecting yourself as an employee look like as a co-founder look like? How are you negotiating your severance? How are you negotiating your exit, even before you start your job? These are things that people might look at past as pessimistically. But I’ve had enough people in my life, be unduly let go of we’ve seen these mass layoffs, negotiate on the way in to protect yourself on the way out. And we have to be, we have to be taking care of ourselves in this way. It may sound selfish, it may sound whatever it is, but it’s for self-protection. I say this to my clients, often some of them who have not used their paid time off who have not used their health days who have not used their vacation time, or on the cusp of burnout, you use that before you exit or before you decide because that is the cost of the health that that company has taken from you. There are so many employees who are burnt out there are so many employees who have put it all on the line and are replaceable at the end of the day because capitalism is a system that makes it so and so we have to protect ourselves. And we get to be a little cynical about it. And we get to be a little pragmatic and strategic about it and go in with eyes wide open. So yes, to encouraging more leaders to be compassionate and 100%, to encouraging more of us to be protecting ourselves to make sure that that exit, it can happen on our own terms, and that the companies don’t take everything from us, including our joy and optimism. Because we’ve been doing that for a long time.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  43:01
Wow, that’s right there. The last five minutes have been really important and often unspoken, I, you know, we don’t often hear those perspectives, to maintain some semblance of security, whether you’re an entrepreneur, whether you’re somebody that is navigating a nine to five, that feedback, I think is so important and how we give ourselves permission to protect ourselves. And, you know, we very easily go above and beyond and compromise our own health or own well-being for a company for an entity. But we have a really hard time sometimes defending, you know, asking for what we actually deserve are coming into those conversations, KomalI love positioning those negotiations upfront before things get emotional, or before you, you know, potentially get burned out and becomes a very different conversation. That preparation, I think is so key when we look at the state of founders are those working in the entrepreneurship community? You know, we come back to balance often to you know, try to not get burned out. And you know, we want to work incredibly hard, but how do we do that and still have families and personal lives? And while I completely recognize this is not a linear answer, that you just meditate every day for 10 minutes, and that becomes, you know, all your problems go away. It is I think really important to still explore how entrepreneurs and founders can seek some type of balance or whatever language works for you and how you position that conversation. How can folks who are either navigating, you know the incredible demands of building a business of scaling a business? How do they truly find balance? What do they anchor themselves into and how do you recommend to both of your clients how to navigate through some of that guilt that they might find themselves navigating through prioritizing themselves over the their businesses24/7? Komal, do you have any key pieces of advice about how you navigate through these conversations with your clients?

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  45:00
Absolutely often when we’re in the guilt space or the, you know, I’m not working enough, I’m not doing enough space, it’s because we’re so tired. We, our brains can only go to the thing that we’ve allowed ourselves to do the most of which is work. And so it’s in those moments that the weekend off, or booking the next vacation, or planning the next downtime evening or creating the boundary with work like, honestly, with morning routines and evening routines for those who they suit. That’s great. But it’s not for everyone all the time. And we can’t be prescriptive. It depends on individual needs and individual timelines, what season of work are you in? Are you in a sprint Are you in downtime I often talk about planning you’re Your work here is like an athlete. You’re on the season, your offseason, your preseason, I’m just coming off an offseason, the summer was a blast, I had a great time, there was a lot of joy this summer, a lot of partying, such a good time. And now I’m going into my offseason, which is or my end season, which is the fall September through to December and I’m ready to really get into it. My routines and habits are probably going to come more into play in the next few weeks. But it’s really allowing yourself to flow and adapt because before the pandemic I realized I was a lot more prescriptive with my daily routines and habits personally. But that didn’t serve me during the ebbs and flows of the pandemic and my health when it came to what the pandemic brought up for me. So it’s really like being individualistic with your own needs, not worrying about what everyone else is doing, not worrying about people who wake up at 5 am. If you’re a night owl, just kind of decoupling from all of those external projections onto us, especially in this Tik Tok age, all this it girl content that makes us feel like we need to be doing yoga, every morning, everything needs to be neutral, I need to be a minimalist, shut off the noise. I’m a maximalist, you can see it in my offense, this is my job. And I’m going to live life on my own terms. And that’s what’s going to make me feel connected, resonant, and, like fulfilled and like my cup is full. And I see that with my clients as well. But honestly, when we feel the shame, the guilt, the toxicity of the work, and addiction coming in, we often need the break. And it can always be a huge break. But how do we build in the micro-breaks into our week? How do we get used to taking weekends? How do we get used to taking a half day once a week as a founder retreat for ourselves where we do therapy once a month, or massage once a month are the other pieces, and then allow that space to take up a little bit more time slowly over time. So that we can counter that guilt with a little bit of pragmatism and well being.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  47:40
I love that, Elaisha, how do you find that? You know, the idea of balance of rituals, routines, what roles do they play in your day-to-day and with your clients as well?

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  47:51
Of course, and I’m going to answer this question, of course, understanding intersectionality with the disability racism, like. What I will say, though, is I love asking my clients and in workshops, I kind of love to drop this bomb. And I say, How does working in a tizzy and being busy serve you? How does that feed your ego? How does it feed your ego to be the only person who can do this task at your workplace? How does it feel to your ego that no other direct reports? Or even your manager can answer this set question? How does that actually play into your career and don’t get me wrong being the go to for a lot of things can assist you in many ways and can create stairways to heaven for you. But in understanding and knowing that you can’t be the person to shut your laptop, and you know, you always have to be the one who’s go go going and you know, Insta Stories of you saying I’m still hustling? How does that feed your ego? And once you really ask that question, and once you really kind of say How does being that it girl feed your ego, thank you for bringing that up hold because please, I want people to remember that. A lot of times that’s quite fake because those are the same people who say, Yeah, I need to get back on track, meaning they didn’t actually follow that routine for the past three weeks. Please remember that. But right like that’s, that’s a big thing. But I just want to note and say a lot of ego, a lot of pride goes into busy work and goes into being that busy person, once you kind of break all of that down. And once you’re open to actually opening up with a sense of abundance and sharing with others sharing those teachings bringing that direct report in and saying, Hey, this is a task that I do every day. Here’s a way that we could work on this together. It’s a lot more complex than that. And that’s why I said I really do understand that this sits at many intersections when people are trying to be a lot more open. People will take your ideas, etc. But if there’s any way that you can actually reassign, reframe, and break down why being that busy person in that person who has no balance serves you and serves your ego. There’ll be some answers there that you may not want to face but It will actually assist you in being able to let that need go. Before you can actually do it.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  50:07
Yeah, I definitely got my own chills. Like I love the idea of people coming to me as being this, you know, really quick and and, you know, always on type of person because that serves my ego and this leg self identity that I’ve sort of carved that sounds impressive, that I think often entrepreneurs get to have struggles with as well that, you know, you’re the CEO, and you know, boss, bitch, whatever that is that. Yes, there’s a tremendous amount of power that we should feel, especially as women leaders and organizations, but at what cost? I love that recognition of the ego, though that’s that’s given me some feels right now. I would love to also talk through, you know, we’re talking about ego, yes, we want to recognize that but also celebrating wins. How do we do so in a way that serves our own resilience that gives us maybe proof points that help us navigate through the tough times as well? What advice do you give to your clients and really celebrating the successes and owning accomplishments to make us more resilient. Komal, is there a benefit and is accomplishment a huge part of actually the whole resilience puzzle that you explore?

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  51:16
Accomplishment is,  but also recognizing accomplishment. As the child of immigrants, I rarely would let myself actually celebrate the accomplishments I would accomplish because it was the expectation I set on myself. But I would not let myself celebrate because being humble, and being focused, and getting to the next one was the point. And so this acknowledgement is so critical and recognition of the past wins. And the research shows us that this is actually one of the baseline ways to build that self efficacy that I talked about earlier, is looking at your own experiences. And looking back and making that inventory list. So what I’ve actually done for myself is I have in my personal To Do app, a list of everything that I’m really proud of myself for accomplishing in the last like three or four years since I’ve started doing this. So if I ever have a day where I’m just like, Wow, I feel like I’m really disconnected with what I’ve accomplished. And I feel very low, I go back to that list. I also tend to like have physical mementos around me that remind me of these wins and the things that I feel proud of my degrees and diplomas are in front of me in my office, I have photos of really amazing interviews and moments in my career behind me. I like to shower myself in it, because I know that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to it. And so when we enable ourselves to have these constant reminders, it can support our that inner critic from necessarily taking over all the time. So with my clients, and in keynotes that I give or workshops with organizations, one of the first questions that I ask that everybody kind of contributes in if we’re doing it online, on on in the chat box, is what are you most proud of yourself for overcoming during the last three years? There’s like, that’s a that’s a loaded question. But it’s also everybody, like so many folks are saying overcoming my depression, you know, still showing up to work leaving a toxic workplace taking care of my well being starting to run, being closer to my family deciding to get a divorce, like such a plethora of responses. And if we allow ourselves to celebrate those hard things that we’ve done consistently, that is going to enable us to know we can keep doing hard things, but also like keep winning and keep shining and keep going for our dreams and goals. I shared something last week, a friend of mine is in her 30s Going back to do her master’s and an entirely different subject matter. One of my best friends had her first baby a little baby boy, and endless list of just people accomplishing dreams and goals that they’ve had set out for thxemselves for so long. And coming back to this enthusiasm and passion for who we are and what we do after very hard time. And so yeah, we should be celebrating each other left, right and center. Find your hype humans, I say this often too. This is another way that we build self efficacy is being surrounded by people who give us that verbal support. It’s called verbal persuasion. So whether it’s a coach, a best friend, a colleague, a co founder, who like is your hype person, but when you need to remember who the eff you are, they’re the one who reminds you of who you are. So making that list for yourself, surrounding yourself with these hype people and the physical reminders of your own success and accomplishment that you need so that you feel supported and uplifted. These are some really great ways to celebrate those wins and to feel like in that positive state of momentum that I love to help my clients get into and that I need the reminders for myself.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  54:51
I love that, shower yourself and these proof points that that made me emotional Komal that really is it so important and often when we’re busy, that’s the first thing that gets abandoned because we don’t want to, quote waste that time, you know, because we’re so focused on forward looking goals or not giving ourselves those just peaceful moments. Elaisha, does that play a role into mindfulness meditation? Do you often recommend that that gets packaged into those moments or sort of walk us through how we should be approaching mindfulness meditation from that perspective? Or if at all? 

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  55:27
Oh, there are so many points within there. And a lot of times many people do not associate meditation and mindfulness with celebration, because we think of celebration is hype and exciting and fun. But meditation can be dance. Meditation can be journaling, it can be yoga, it can be walking, it can be doing so many things. And as long as it’s done mindfully, and I remember I was actually interviewed recently for a magazine. And the person writing it was like, you know, Have you recently done something to celebrate that and I was like, Oh, I bought myself a cake. Yeah, I just bought myself my favorite grocery store. $5 cake from no frills. It is so good. The vanilla, my absolute favorite cake, I don’t have to go somewhere very expensive for good cake. And I remember just buying it kind of myself a slice of me like, wow, you have done so many great things lately. Have your cake, enjoy yourself. And I think that that is absolutely a big part of meditation and mindfulness. A lot of people are not aware of what is happening around them. And I really love your point Komal about writing that list. That’s something I do. Good friend of mine, Dominique, she actually has a reverse resolutions list that she does. And I’ve been doing it ever since at the end of the year, instead of her saying all of the things that she wants to project into the next year, she looks at everything that she had done already that year, wrote it all out, or at least she did in a blog post I read forever ago. And I said, Oh my God, I need to do that. So every year in December, instead of me kind of saying, Okay, next year, I’m going to do X, Y, Z, I need to do this, I need to do that. I actually write out everything that I’m proud of myself for doing. And sometimes I do at the midway point in the year two. And it’s such a great way to really just celebrate mindfully and really understand and become aware of the things that I’ve actually accomplished. And I’d also say setting up of course, those people around you, like you mentioned, Komal but I also like to have the mechanism to so this is exposing myself a little bit. But my boyfriend deals with me being a type A personality, we have weekly family meetings on Sundays. And during those family meetings, we have a kudos section. It truly is a family meeting. Yeah, so we have a kudos section. And in that section, we give each other a pat on the back. And we celebrate the things that we had actually done that week. So if for instance, somebody did a mundane task the other person did not want to do, we will celebrate that. Or for instance, if somebody cook something the other person really enjoyed. I’m the cook so then then we’ll give each other kudos over. And it’s actually been such a nice way to create that celebratory mechanism each week coming externally to really affirm and validate certain things. But sometimes I can’t think of the thing for myself that week. But I’ll say no, you built this thing I didn’t want to build or you cook this thing that made me feel great the other day, or gave me a cuddle on this day, whatever it or our anniversary gift. This is amazing. And that really does create that external mechanism, while reaffirming what that internal mechanism I do with my list. I love

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  58:36
Unbelievable. I love all of those things. There’s so many posted moments, I’m just going to have all of these new action items for myself leaving today’s conversation. So rest as a part of this conversation as well. Yes, accomplishment Yes, checking ego and you know, things that are serving different parts of you. Rest is often you know, met with resistance that this hustle culture stay up till three o’clock in the morning always on, you know, checking email the first time that you wake up in the morning, etc. How do you both approach rest? Is it actually sleeping? Is it you know, making recommendations on on moments of pause? How do you both talk about rest with your clients and prioritize it for yourselves? Komal, let’s kick off with you.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  59:18
Sleep is my best friend. And you didn’t sleep for most of my 20s. And what I mean by that is like I would go off like four or five hours of sleep. And then after I got sick, I was like I need eight to 10 hours of sleep. And this is the dream and my body’s happy about it and we’re living better. And obviously research shows us that in terms of prevention of a number of health issues down the line from you know, the research isn’t strong around this but people do purport that when it comes to Alzheimer’s, dementia, different health issues from across the board, stress related issues all of these things sleep is the cornerstone of a healthy life. And that is something that I help my clients lean into more myself, I have a beautiful, not even a bedtime routine, but just like a pillow function that really like alongside cuddles with my partner like really helps me have the best sleeps. And so I highly recommend that to everyone. What do you need? And I know for a lot of folks, this is like a very hard topic because for some folks, they experience insomnia, insomnia, they experience sleeplessness, I have something called restless leg syndrome, which is my arms Twitch if I’m overtired, or whatever, so I can’t actually get a deep sleep. So that’s why I value this so much. So I hear for all the infield for all those people who also struggle with sleep. But when you can find your routine and rhythm with it, it is like the literal rest for me. And then fun, like honestly, just concerts this summer and, and good times with people I love and adore and like the things that fill your heart and your soul. That as a creative entrepreneur, I have to be very mindful of like where my creative energy is at. And people are that source for me. And after two years of, you know, on and off quarantine isolation where I allowed my introvert to, you know, run free now the extroverted me is like I’m here to play, like given human beings. And so I’m starting to listen to that more. So people sleep. I am someone who goes in and out of meditating regularly. I’m in my offseason right now, and just kind of letting that be where I’m at. But being kind and gentle to yourself. And therapy is a form of rest for me as well. Finding a therapist, you know, that works well for you and me building that consistent relationship with them. And these are all things that I also offer to my clients, as routines and then weekends, like just really let yourself take weekends if you can. And if your business is in a place where that’s possible. So those are my rest. habits and routines. Sleep is the cornerstone of it all.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  1:02:04
Love it. Elaisha, what about you?

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  1:02:07
Oh, wow, this is a big an awesome question. I love it. And as I have for many of my other questions, I first would love to point out that of course, there’s so much guilt associated with rest. And I find that so unfortunate. Especially when I teach meditation sessions, people sometimes will fall asleep, right, when you’re deep in shavasana, you’re laying out you’re in this bliss, and you start snoring, or you’re doing breath work, and then you know pass out you start to drill a little bit. Or you might be going through a guided meditation through a field and then suddenly that field turns into a rock concert because you’re asleep. And a lot of people feel so guilty about that Sunday’s they wake up, oh my god, I’m so sorry. It was I snoring etc. And I said, Oh, you were doing exactly what you need to do. Because your body will tell you when you need rest. And it will definitely happen during meditation session. So I tell people to first find where you need to let go of that guilt around rest is the number one, so much guilt associated with it. So if you can find a way to let go of that guilt first is your number one step understand that rest is necessary. Understand that it comes when you feel safe, as well. So during meditation sessions, often people feel like there’s a lack of inhibitions or lights are off or their cameras are off during a meditation session online. And they have the chance to just rest and let go. And I think that it’s such a beautiful thing when you ask why you don’t want to rest when you find a way to safety for your mind your body your soul if that’s possible. And then you allow yourself to do that. And it’s a my final point around rest is saying no Komal mentioned that, you know, she let her introvert like run free and live its best life. I still am an introvert and it’s terrifying to have people around me say oh my God girl wanted me to do this. I want to do that. I want to pop popcorn, and hop on Disney plus and see what new show is out or watch some terrible cheesy romance by myself right now. I need that space. So rest also means saying no sometimes because a pandemic for me at least was an incredible time in terms of us needing to stay home was an incredible time for me to get to know myself and understand that I need that rest. I need that time I need to say no a lot more often. And now I need to maintain that habit. So me on the opposite end I need to say no. And that’s been working out for me for sure.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  1:04:38
Love it amazing and all of these forms of rest. I love that we’ve covered the spectrum that going out and partying and having a night out could be restful for many people definitely. I definitely I’m more on the extroverted side and I get so much energy from being with with others. And sometimes, you know, you tries to squeeze yourself into what people tell you is restful, like I don’t find a recipe to sit gonna read a book, that sounds stressful, I start thinking about work, I started thinking about learning. And then I’m like, That’s work. Yeah, you know, test things out. But we be honest with yourself of what rest actually feels like to you and what feels good, and kind of lean into that direction. A little bit. Final words of advice we’ve covered so much in today’s episode, wisdom, resources, gentle reminders, calm will kick us off with what you believe can help entrepreneurs take better care of themselves.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  1:05:30
It doesn’t have to look the way anyone else does it. Just like we were saying how rest can look different for you. entrepreneurship looks different for you, just like is yours to make your own. And the routines that you’re seeing other people do all the pressure you’re feeling do I need to get external funding, I actually don’t want external funding, I want to scale a small business. That’s all okay. Like, live your life, build your business on your own terms. Borrow, be inspired by others get some of that intel from the world around you. But when you stop trying to build other people’s businesses and focus on building your own type of business on in your own way, that’s where you’re going to see the best results for yourself. That would be my final end. And with the pandemic, this is something I’ve come back to often around the sunk cost fallacy. And that is that all the time, effort and money that you’ve put in until today is the reason you’re going to keep going. Instead of saying, Actually, this isn’t the right business for me anymore. Actually, I need to shut this down. Now actually, I need to let this team member go. Because if we keep playing into all the investments we’ve made to date, our debt might keep increasing, our stress might keep increasing, all the bad things may keep increasing. If you give yourself permission to just make a sober decision today, that may be actually the freedom that you need to move forward. So those would be my two pieces for you.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  1:07:00
So good! We’re snapping in the background, absolutely. Elaisha,

Elaisha Jade (Your Mindful)  1:07:08
First, I want to say thank you Komal for that point, I had to mute myself because I’m just in the back as if I’m in church, and like, yes, Komal. I have been loving this. It’s so true. But I think on my side of things I wanted to mention and thank you so much for him for bringing up the fact that you are currently in a season of not meditating, because I want to encourage people to understand that meditation is not a destination, it is a journey. And I want people to unlearn the western perspective about meditation that it’s meant to be achieved, right? People really take in a beautiful concept and tradition and for many people religion, and I’ve really taken it and said, Okay, how can I box this in a way that people need a daily streak, or hour spent, or really just trying to accomplish meditation, and that’s not what is actually meant to do. And that really isn’t the heart of meditation and mindfulness. And in fact, it’s counterintuitive. So thank you for bringing that up. And just wanna encourage people that meditation is what you can do, when you can do it, and how you can do it as well considering people who have disabilities as well. And I love encouraging people to understand and know it’s about getting outside. It’s about dancing. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s about writing. It’s about understanding yourself and taking whatever sex steps that mean to get to that point. And I really want to encourage people to see meditation as a way to potentially build a habit that you can cycle in and out of, and not build a highlight reel. That’s my takeaway.

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  1:08:46
I love all of it. All of it. Thank you so much to you both. This has been an inspiring, emotional, and really meaningful conversation. And I’m so grateful to both of you for sharing your experiences, your advice, and your perspectives. This has been fabulous. Thanks so much for being on the startup women podcast.

Komal Minhas (Karseva)  1:09:05
Thank you for having us!

Kayla Isabelle (Startup Canada)  1:09:10
For programs, media and coaching from Komal, head to www dot Komal Minhas dot com. You can learn more about Elaisha and workplace mindfulness by going to www dot your mindful dot com. Thank you so much for joining us on the startup women podcast where we are committed to telling the stories of women entrepreneurs and uncovering actionable advice that goes beyond the surface level. The startup women podcast is produced by Lauren Hicks and Maddie styles and is made pot So but with the support of BDC and Scotiabank, so we can continue to power women-identifying entrepreneurs. Visit startup can.ca. To explore the startup women flagship program and access advisory support and free resources. Be sure to check out the show notes to access important links, resources and information that we mentioned during today’s episode. Thank you for listening, and we look forward to another episode next month.