Soulful Sunday | Speaker, Kyla Kazeil Tells All

Kyla Kazeil tells all: from entrepreneur life as a new mom to the steps she takes to upkeep her mental health.

Written by: Jamie Bay, The Wellness Warrior, @JMEBAY

I always love getting the chance to sit down (and indulge in wine) with Kyla Kazeil. She is a true rockstar and always chooses to courageously speak her truth. Kyla co-owns 4 local Edmonton businesses, yes, 5, The Bamboo Ballroom, The Common, 99ten, and Grandin Fish & Chips. Oh, and did I mention she also has a 3 month old baby named Stevie? Girl, you're killin' it.

I hope you enjoy Kyla’s genuine answers about her hustle and mental health as much as I did! I'm so excited to have her speak at our upcoming #SoulfulSundayYEG event in just a couple weeks.

Tell us about your hustle.

The hustle has definitely changed for me. It's now more focused on working to empower the people and employees who surround me. So I’d say it’s shifted from focusing on my products and services to community building and creating a better work environment for our employees.

Have you always been an entrepreneur?

When I was 15, my friend and I stole her dad’s truck. My mom punished me by making me count plastic spoons. So my whole summer was spent counting spoons…. for 5 cents a bag. Yes, 5 cents. At first I was like ok, this really sucks, but by the end I was trying to find ways to count these spoons in the most efficient way possible. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it well and find ways to enjoy the pleasure of lining them up perfectly when I slip them into the bag. I learned how to streamline the process to make the most amount of money doing a job that I hated. I feel that was the beginning of my entrepreneurial spirit: finding creative ways to do things, making it fun, and challenging yourself, even when it sucks.

As a new mom and entrepreneur, how do you make it all work?

Right now, I’m relying heavily on my team and putting a lot of trust into them. I’ve spent 14 years building up the people around me, and now I’m able to reap the benefits of that.  I’ve really taken a step back so I can enjoy the small things and time with my baby that I’m never going to get back. I don’t want to live with any regrets. Being able to let go of that control has really helped me and is so good for my mental health.  I do still help with wedding planning and things I really enjoy with the businesses. I'm so happy that I've established this trust with the people around me so I can just spend time doing the things I love.

Have you ever struggled with your own mental health?

Anxiety for sure. I had full blown panic disorders in my early 20’s: 6 to 8 a day, which were triggered essentially by the fear of having another attack. I didn’t want to take medication, so I started trying to change my patterns and habits to avoid triggering them. I learned more about myself and how to change situations that I knew would set me off. I would also make sure I was keeping busy at night (nights were the hardest), and had lots of people around me. All those things really helped.

I feel my anxiety started to decrease the more busy I became and the less I could hyper focus on certain things. Maybe I wouldn’t even have four businesses if I didn’t have anxiety. It was definitely a coping mechanism at one point. I would keep busy until I was so tired I'd have to go to sleep, and not focus on my mind. I’m still always on the go (in different ways). But it’s just who I am so I embrace it.

Then as I got older it sort of just started resolving itself. I found as I started to tailor my life to suit the needs of my mental health that my anxiety decreased because there’s less unknowns and I have more control. With anxiety, dealing with uncertainties in life was something I struggled with for a long time. I still struggle now, but I’m much better at controlling the situation.

What do you keep your mental wellness in check?

I just started going back to the gym, post baby. We go 5 days a week. We bring our daughter and she just hangs out and we get to spend that time together, doing something that’s good for our bodies, and good for our relationship. When your body is more strong, your mind is more strong, and you sleep better.

AND time with friends. Constant, solid connections with the real people who love you.

We're so excited to have you at our very first #SoulfulSundayYEG event. What's favorite thing to do on Sundays?

Sleeping in, going for brunch and having fun with friends. It hasn’t changed since having a baby. I think I had that fear about motherhood. That it was going to tie me down and I wouldn’t like it.  For me, I want to be able to go where we want to go! So we do. If we want to go for brunch, we take Stevie, and if I want to go for girls night, Stevie comes along; I want her to be around the people that are important to me and be well socialized. That's all that really matters and what's truly important in life: the relationships we have with each other. I want her to make real connections with real people, despite living in a social media focused world.

What does being a wellness warrior mean to you?

Now that I have my mental health pretty well under control, I think it means helping other people to not have to live in a situation that would cause anxiety. That means helping my employees by doing things like creating a stable work environment, and having a place where they know they’re respected.

Being a wellness warrior also means advocating for others and changing the retail industry so that those people don’t have to have an exit. Not being able to talk to your manager, feeling like you aren’t being treated fairly, not being able to schedule time off, or not being rewarded for the same job someone else would do - all those things are anxiety inducing. So I think making those changes to establish a place where people can be themselves and have a fun work environment is so important. Life isn’t always easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard. A lot of the time’s it’s hard because of the situations we’re in, and a lot of times that unfortunately has to do with our employment. So I believe being a warrior means making a difference for my staff where I can.  

Our next Soulful Sunday event will be announced soon! Become a YBB Member and receive 24 hour notice before the public on all events, mixers and workshops!

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MAD LOVE MONDAY | Ashley Prince - More Fun! Gourmet Sweets

I am Ashley Prince the owner and baker behind More Fun! Gourmet Sweets. More Fun! Is all about taking classic sweets and transforming them with healthful and gourmet ingredients. Each baked good is made with a combination of Sprouted Spelt flour and unbleached flour, organic produce, eggs and dairy and natural flavors and colors. Everyone is trying to consume less processed foods and more natural ingredients but everyone still craves sweets like cakes and cupcakes! So I set out to make better sweets, ones that you can feel good about serving yourself and your family.

More Fun! Came to fruition from one comment on my personal Facebook page. My sister had asked me to make her wedding cupcakes and I was practicing my piping skills and posting them to Facebook. Someone commented and asked “how much for an order?” At this time I was practicing with a bran muffin and store bought icing, so the thought that someone was interested in ordering was hilarious. But, I knew I could put together something absolutely delicious for this person, so I began to brain storm. And that folks, is how it all began.

When I created more fun! I had just been laid off, and I ended up being out of work for 8 months. The creation of my business allowed me to focus on something other than being out of work and that was huge for me. Fast forward nearly 2 years and I am embarking on the biggest challenge yet. I am crowdfunding in the month of February 2019 in hopes of gathering the remaining funds to move into a storefront in Leduc!

In this blog post, I wanted to touch on something I feel is relevant to me right now but also for many women going through the entrepreneur journey. I want you to have the confidence to “try”. Whatever that may mean for you- the next step in your business, the realization of an idea you have been mulling over for some time- find the confidence to try it. Because that’s how my journey began, I wanted to give this baking thing a try.

As my journey continued, I began to notice a change in myself that has truly been eye opening. I have realized my tenacity and instincts are more powerful than I have ever allowed them to be in the past. I attribute that evolution to allowing myself to become an entrepreneur. Yes I say “allow” because 3 years ago I would never have had the notion of starting a business from scratch. I allowed myself to run with an idea. To dream and create something without the fear of rejection. At the time, my bakery was just an idea that no one knew about but me. Slowly the idea grew stronger to the point I shared it and started to find ways to bring my products to the people to see what they thought. And do you know what? They loved it! And when I was told “these are the best cupcakes I have ever had”, that’s when I knew I couldn’t stop and I had to work towards bringing my baked goods to the masses. And this happened all because I found the confidence to try.

I decided late in 2018 that I was going to take a BIG step and launch a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the remaining funds to open my storefront. I knew it was time for the next big “try”. To take a calculated risk in hopes of furthering my business. I am preparing myself for the emotional rollercoaster ride that will follow with this crowdfunding campaign. I encourage you to follow me on social media, as I post about the highs and lows of this next chapter of my business. Perhaps my journey will give you the inspiration to try.

If you would like to contribute to my campaign you can visit my Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, website or visit atbboostr.ca. Every contribution receives a reward, so I urge you to check it out! Campaign runs from Feb 1- 28th.