January 21, 2024 • 18 mins
In this episode, we break the barriers of shame and open the discussion for women in leadership who may be suffering in silence. Join us as we delve into Randi Grunberg's transformative journey from battling fertility challenges to founding The Modern Miracle Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to helping Canadians build families by providing essential grants for IVF fertility treatments.
Discover how Randi, her sister, and their husbands turned their personal challenges into a mission-driven foundation. Together, they've not only established The Modern Miracle Foundation, but Randi and her sister also launched Mini Mod Co., a kids' clothing brand that merges style with social impact, extending their vision of empowerment and change.
Beyond Randi's personal story, a universal message of empowerment unfolds, challenging women leaders and visionaries to ignite change, one small step at a time. Embark on this journey with us, embrace the mission, and learn how every step forward is a stride towards transformative change.
Support or donate to this mission
- Modern Miracle Foundation: https://www.modernmiraclefoundation.com/
- Shop Mini Mod: https://shopminimod.com/
For us for actionable tools & tips for your leadership journey
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the Grit and Grace podcast.
We shine the spotlight on thestories behind the leader.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
So we did a big sign that said infertility sucks.
Supporter of Modern MiracleFoundation.
And so people come up to us.
And what's this all about?
We donate proceeds from MiniModto the foundation and they
literally look beside them likeshe's an IVF baby, or he's an
IVF baby, or I struggle withfertility.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Wow, I mean to support you.
In this episode, we break downthe barriers of shame and open
up the discussion for women whoare suffering in silence.
Join me as I speak with RandyGrundberg, who shares her
fertility struggles.
Alongside her sister and theirhusbands, she co-founded the
Modern Miracle Foundation, acharity that has successfully
raised hundreds of thousands ofdollars to assist Canadian
(00:44):
families in affording IVFtreatment.
This episode reminds us allthat we have the power to ignite
change and follow our passionsone step at a time.
Let's dive in, randy.
I'm actually really excited tospeak with you today.
I am excited to start thisjourney on the topic of how we
(01:06):
can take some personal strugglesand really transform them into
social change, and I would loveto just lay the foundation and
give everyone a bit of contextfor kind of what brought all
this on, share a little bit ofyour backstory and kind of how
that sparked change for you asit relates to your foundation
and your business.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
So I was pretty young and I was diagnosed with a
medical condition where I knew Iwouldn't be able to get
pregnant.
I think when I was diagnosedwith my medical condition, my
family is very, very close.
I'm very close with my sister.
I think she always had in hermind that she would be my
surrogate in the future and thatwas just something she said.
Okay, well, this is somethingyou're struggling with.
There's no way I'm going tostruggle with it.
(01:46):
You have your issue.
There's no way that it's goingto be a problem for me.
It's not talked about doctors,don't really.
You don't have thoseconversations with your doctors.
But when she was ready to starthaving her family and start
trying, she also struggled anddealt with many years of
fertility challenges as well.
After a really long journey,they were so beyond grateful
(02:09):
that they were able to gothrough what they needed to be
able to welcome their daughter.
And we were starting ourjourney and felt so grateful
that we could pursue surrogacy.
It is extremely expensive.
We were like how do we bringthis feeling to other people?
How do we give this absolutelyincredible gift to others who
want a child and don't have thefinancial means to do so?
And so we kind of just had thisidea to start a charity.
(02:29):
How do we raise some money?
Can we help just one family ayear be able to achieve their
dreams?
And that's kind of where itstarted.
Fast forward to today.
We opened our grant applicationexactly a year ago.
We've now helped over 10families so far.
We have a few more that are nowgetting grants in the process
(02:50):
right now, which is absolutelyincredible.
Way more than we envisioned,we've raised a significant
amount of money with the help ofsome amazing donors, and we
have some really big plans forthis year too.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Why do you think there's such shame and stigma
around this conversation?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I think in society you kind of grow up or you have
this vision of what life issupposed to be.
You grow up, you get a job, youget married, you have kids and
that's kind of just the waysociety has brought us up to be
in this way of life.
And you kind of grow upthinking, okay, how do I just
prevent myself from?
(03:27):
getting pregnant You're neverreally told like, oh, when
you're ready to have kids, itmay not actually happen.
So you just automaticallyassume oh, this is just how the
woman's body works and it shouldjust work.
So there's a lot of shame inthat and, I think, guilt that.
You know why isn't my bodyworking?
Why is everyone else seem to bebeing able to do this very
easily, like what's wrong withme and with that you don't
(03:49):
really want to share becauseyou're embarrassed.
Things seem to come really easyfor other people and you don't
really want to share thatexperience.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
People who are going through this like what advice do
you have for them with how todeal with such a personal
struggle?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Everyone deals with it very different.
You're gonna have some peoplewho I really like talking things
out.
That's just my personality.
I really like to talk about myfeelings.
And then you have someone, forexample, like my sister and she
doesn't like to share.
She's way more private andthere's a lot of people like
that.
So I think it's about knowingyourself and knowing what you
(04:25):
need, and I think a lot of itcomes down to, at least
personally, and what I see for alot of other people is Is the
support network, whether or notit's your friends, your family
is your partner.
You have to have a very ifyou're doing this with a partner
, a very strong partner.
We have a very openRelationship and open
conversation.
Yeah, which is where you knowpeople have started online
communities or in-personcommunities, because people need
(04:45):
to go and speak to people andget their feelings out, and you
also don't feel alone when youstart talking about it.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you feel like this is the conversation that's
gonna start hitting themainstream very shortly, for
sure on the rise?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I think it's already happening.
Yeah, we're seeing it more andmore the last couple years.
You're seeing more peoplecoming out publicly sharing
their story.
Yeah, and I think a lot of ustalk about this is going to be
the next big topic that's sharedand talked about.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
For sure you're balancing financial pressures,
family planning and thenprofessional ambitions, and this
is like a tricky nuance Forthose who aren't so close to it.
What challenges aren't soobvious that are important to
vocalize here?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
There's a lot of things that happen behind the
scenes for those who arestruggling with fertility.
So, for example, you know youmight be working with a
colleague who maybe they're lateto meetings in the morning or
maybe they're not responsive inthe morning, or, you know, maybe
there you can tell that they'restruggling with something.
I think what people don'trealize for those going through
fertility struggles is you knowyou're at the clinic Three, four
(05:46):
, five days a week, multipletimes per week You're going
before work, so you're trying toget there from the clinic opens
because you're trying to getback to your office or back home
for meetings.
Yeah, physically you'reprobably you can be on a lot of
hormones, things like that butmentally it also impacts you as
well with the different hormonesthat you're on, so you may be
more emotional.
You're feeling.
You're not feeling great, yourbody's not feeling great, so
(06:08):
that all has such a huge impact.
Yeah, you have no idea whatsomeone is struggling with in
their personal life Could beanxiety, could be mental health
issues, could be relationshipissues, and Infertility is just
one of those things.
I think that's where it justbecomes so important to be
empathetic, and when it comes tobeing a leader or a colleague
or a friend.
You know, sometimes, you know,friends don't want to come and
(06:30):
hang out at different events,say, there's baby showers,
there's things like that, andit's not that they don't want to
be there for you, it's thatthey're actually really
struggling themselves, and thenthere's a lot of guilt that
comes with that.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Well, let's just start with where businesses are
making changes, because I amseeing some policy changes.
But what are you noticingwithin the professional
landscape of providing familiesmore support?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I think the main thing is around benefits.
Yeah, you're starting to see alot more companies introducing
fertility benefits.
Yeah, whether it's egg freezing, basically an amount to use
towards IVF or fertilitytreatments, things like that.
And I would say the financialburden out of all of this is
probably one of the biggestthings, because so much of the
fertility is out of your control.
(07:13):
But now you're struggling withthe physical and mental side of
fertility struggles on top ofthis massive financial burden.
So you're running to the clinic, you're late for meetings,
you're paying thousands ofdollars out of pocket.
It adds up to beef.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
So how much does it cost, though, randy?
Like I have no idea, and I'mlearning through your journey
here, how much are we actuallytalking about?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
So for an IVF cycle it could be upwards of $20,000.
For one cycle.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yes, and what's the probability that one cycle
actually works?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
There's so many factors that go into it, so I
think it really depends on thesituation, but very, very
expensive.
I think now when you're comingto surrogacy they say like to
budget somewhere of upwards, tosay $80,000.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's a ton of money and you can't just come up with
that money out of nowhere, right?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So if there's anything people could kind of
implement in their life whomight be feeling all of the kind
of, you know, the emotionalroller coaster related to this
like, what advice can we impart?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I think a big thing comes back to your support
network.
So, finding people that youtrust, that you want to talk to,
outlets whether or not it's,you know, going to therapy,
talking to friends, familymember I think that's, that's a
really big part of it.
Work is such a big part of yourlife and so I think if you
don't feel supported at work,you need to have those
conversations, Having a boss ora mentor at the office who can
(08:34):
advocate for you.
You know, do you need to movearound your meetings, you know,
as opposed to causing a lot morestress, I mean and stress is a
huge part of the whole fertilityjourney too, right?
Stress?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
has such an impact on your body.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So if you need to move around meetings, have those
conversations and make surethat they're supportive of it,
and I think that's that's a bigpart of it.
You know you have to movemeetings, you need to take some
days off.
Do you need to reduce someworkload?
Have the conversations of howdoes that impact my career.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, and I really wanted to talk with you and have
this conversation because asmuch as we can talk about
leadership in the professionalsense, like we are whole people
going to work, and these are thethings that are in the back of
our minds every day.
As you kind of thought aboutyour own leadership journey,
starting this foundation, whathave you learned the most about
(09:24):
yourself through this process?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I like to think I'm an empathetic person.
I think this has made me evenmore empathetic, and not just
for those struggling withfertility, I think it's.
You know, you get an email fromsomeone, and maybe it's a cold
email or a mean email, could befrom a customer or a client.
You start to realize, okay, youactually have no idea what that
person is going through.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
What has been some of the more surprising insights or
lessons that you've learned?
Starting a foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We're so grateful that we could afford the means
to be able to go through thetreatments that we needed.
There are so many people whocan't.
Yes, how do we bring thisincredible gift to other people?
How do we help alleviate thatfinancial burden so that they
feel like they can achieve that?
And how do we help other peopleachieve their dreams of having
their own family?
Because really it's crazy tothink about the financial reason
(10:13):
should not be or reason whysomeone can't start a family.
You know you're diagnosed withmedical conditions.
There's things that are out ofyour control and you didn't
choose the path right, so webelieve that that shouldn't
prevent you from having thefamily that you want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So the Modern Miracle Foundation, how does it all
work for those who might becurious to know more about it or
how they can participate in thefoundation?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yes, so we have an amazing board that we lean on
for a lot of advice and supportand we have our medical advisory
team too.
So we have an applicationprocess.
We receive grant applicants,our team internally will review
them.
It goes through to our medicaladvisors who help us look at the
medical information.
We're not medical doctors, sowe need external experts helping
(11:06):
us review it.
Then, once we kind of evaluateall the different applications,
see how many applicants we haveat the time, how much available
funding we have, then we candecide and figure out.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You know how can we allocate as much money as we can
and how does your business playinto this and share with
everyone listening a little bitmore about?
On top of all of this, you'vedecided to launch a business,
which I love.
This is like.
These are the conversationsthat make me very excited.
But how has that process beenfor you kind of being of now a
(11:38):
business owner?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.
So I think we laugh about it Isthat, on top of you know,
children and our full-time jobsand the charity we just wanted
to add to our plate Because whynot?
But I think it all kind ofstarted with when my niece was
born.
My sister was trying to findsome cool kids' clothes that
were you know, not cheesy, kindof fun clothes that she wanted
(12:00):
to wear herself that came inkids' sizes, and so we were kind
of talking about it.
She had this idea.
She loves being creative andhas that kind of spark behind
her and she was on mat leave atthe time.
So she was like, okay, you knowwhat, I'm going to look into
this and see what I can do here.
And so she started looking intomanufacturers, trying to figure
out, coming up with designs,coming up with some kids'
(12:22):
clothes ideas, and then we kindof decided to start in it
together.
We thought you know what?
It's a really fun, fun way touse creativity.
Then we also figured you know,there's so many kids' clothing
brands out there.
Yeah, how do we differentiateours?
Yes, and then we had thecharities.
We're like it's kind of ano-brainer If let's use the
clothing brand which is calledMini-Mod, why don't we use
(12:42):
Mini-Mod in order to then nowbring more money into the
charity?
So now you can, you know, sellcool kids' clothes, help make
babies it kind of like goes alittle bit hand in hand, and so
on.
It also brings a great missionto the clothing brand,
Entrepreneurship and socialchange as a combination.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Has that?
Have the customers respondedwell to it, Like what's been
your experience with thisleading with venture for social
impact?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I would say the social aspect of Mini-Mod is
really what drives, I would say,most of our sales.
So, for example, we started offgoing to a lot of pop-up shops
or markets selling our sellingthe kids' clothes, and so we did
a big sign that saidinfertility sucks.
And it said supporter of ModernMiracle Foundation.
And we figured, you know what,from a marketing side, you need
to bring the customers in.
What's kind of like somethingreally like bold to try and
(13:31):
bring them in.
And so people come up to us andbe like so what's this all
about?
Infertility sucks.
I see your sign, what's thisall about?
And we said, oh, like westarted a charity.
We help those who can't affordfertility treatments.
We donate proceeds fromMini-Mod to the foundation and
they literally look beside themlike she's an IVF baby or he's
an IVF baby or I struggle withfertility.
I need to support you, mary-d.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I'm so inspired Like.
The theme in this whole thingis how do you take personal
struggle and turn it intopassion, and turn it into
purpose?
This is just a remarkable waythat you've done.
You do this for everything,though.
Like you know, this is howyou've structured your life.
When you I think aboutresilience to do that, though,
is there anything that comes tomind about how you think about
(14:16):
resilience and the resolve to dothat?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think people just handle things differently In
terms of being resilient.
I think it's.
I really do try to find thepositive in everything.
I do think everything happensfor a reason and I think that's
just the way I operate.
And I think I do just try tofind the positive in these
(14:40):
situations and say, okay, youknow, this was the card I was
dealt.
Now what can I do in order to,you know, help other people with
it?
I love helping others.
I think I've always been thattype of personality when, you
know, can I find some positivein this and how do I turn this
into a bigger impact?
(15:00):
I think I've always wanted todo something bigger in life,
never really knew what that was,and this was just my way of.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You feel like you're living it now.
Like do you?
Feel like that thing that wasinside of you, Like I feel like
there's something bigger.
Do you feel like you're livingit now?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I feel like I'm living it and I feel like
there's even so much more.
There's so much more to be doneacross I mean for fertility.
It's providing the financialgrants is one thing, it's
advocacy, it's making change,it's actually being a part of
that change so that you know,maybe this, maybe the financial
aspect of it, doesn't become anissue for people in the future.
I think that's like one pieceof it.
(15:38):
Can you even go like above thatand can you try and you know
work with the medical field andtrying to do preemptive testing
for other people's situationswho are diagnosed later could
have been caught earlier?
So I think we just have so manygoals with Modern Miracle.
Right now it's focusing on thefinancial aspect, but how do you
, how do we make this evenbigger?
Yeah, and how do we do more?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And can you tease out anything?
You say you have big goals for2024.
Any specifics?
Like I heard a rumbling of agala, yes, what are kind of some
things people can watch andsupport?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So we have a big partnership that launched with
the new fertility clinic that'sopening in Toronto.
They on top of coming out with,you know, world-class equipment
and an absolute beautifulclinic to really focus on the
patient experience, yeah, and wewill be having a gala in May.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So it will be amazing .
We'll put all of your websitelinks in the show notes too, so
people can see them.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And I think also if you have financial means to make
some donations, they go a verylong way and if anyone wants to
support the kids clothing linewhere do they go?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
So shopminimodcom, Okay, You'll find kids clothing
on there that you can shopgifting for your own kids,
nieces friends, the last topic Iwanted to kind of just talk
about is advice for aspiringwomen leaders, Any advice you
can give folks to just if theyare feeling kind of a passion to
(17:03):
create a business for socialchange.
What are some tips that peoplecould take away?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So lean into your network.
I think that was a big thingfor us.
I struggle asking for help, andthat's a big thing.
I've had to really learn andpeople do love to help, and
especially when they feel thatthe cause resonates with them.
And so lean into your network,I think.
Find something you'repassionate about and you can
even start small.
I think it doesn't.
(17:31):
I mean, our goal was startingwith just helping one family and
I think that's where it's morerelatable.
We're not setting out I mean,hopefully we become this this
amazing, incredible, massivecharity, but really our goal was
just start really small andjust helping that one family
achieve their dreams.
And so I think, don'tunderestimate your dreams.
Even if you have somethingsmall, I think, go for it and
(17:54):
lean into your network and leaninto support people to help you
along the way and give it a shot.
The worst that can happen itdoesn't, it doesn't work out, it
doesn't go as planned.
At least you can say you gaveit a try and you're going to
learn so much along the way forit, so don't let it hold you
back.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Thank you for all of the amazing work that you do in
the world, the lives that youare changing.
I think this is a reallyimportant year for elevating
this conversation and I'm sograteful that we were able to
have it together.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Thank you so much and thanks for letting me come and
talk about it and bring someawareness to such an important
topic.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
On the Grit and Grace podcast.
We shine the spotlight on thestories behind the leader.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
So we did a big sign that said infertility sucks.
Supporter of Modern MiracleFoundation.
And so people come up to us.
And what's this all about?
We donate proceeds from MiniModto the foundation and they
literally look beside them likeshe's an IVF baby, or he's an
IVF baby, or I struggle withfertility.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Wow, I mean to support you.
In this episode, we break downthe barriers of shame and open
up the discussion for women whoare suffering in silence.
Join me as I speak with RandyGrundberg, who shares her
fertility struggles.
Alongside her sister and theirhusbands, she co-founded the
Modern Miracle Foundation, acharity that has successfully
raised hundreds of thousands ofdollars to assist Canadian
(00:44):
families in affording IVFtreatment.
This episode reminds us allthat we have the power to ignite
change and follow our passionsone step at a time.
Let's dive in, randy.
I'm actually really excited tospeak with you today.
I am excited to start thisjourney on the topic of how we
(01:06):
can take some personal strugglesand really transform them into
social change, and I would loveto just lay the foundation and
give everyone a bit of contextfor kind of what brought all
this on, share a little bit ofyour backstory and kind of how
that sparked change for you asit relates to your foundation
and your business.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
So I was pretty young and I was diagnosed with a
medical condition where I knew Iwouldn't be able to get
pregnant.
I think when I was diagnosedwith my medical condition, my
family is very, very close.
I'm very close with my sister.
I think she always had in hermind that she would be my
surrogate in the future and thatwas just something she said.
Okay, well, this is somethingyou're struggling with.
There's no way I'm going tostruggle with it.
(01:46):
You have your issue.
There's no way that it's goingto be a problem for me.
It's not talked about doctors,don't really.
You don't have thoseconversations with your doctors.
But when she was ready to starthaving her family and start
trying, she also struggled anddealt with many years of
fertility challenges as well.
After a really long journey,they were so beyond grateful
(02:09):
that they were able to gothrough what they needed to be
able to welcome their daughter.
And we were starting ourjourney and felt so grateful
that we could pursue surrogacy.
It is extremely expensive.
We were like how do we bringthis feeling to other people?
How do we give this absolutelyincredible gift to others who
want a child and don't have thefinancial means to do so?
And so we kind of just had thisidea to start a charity.
(02:29):
How do we raise some money?
Can we help just one family ayear be able to achieve their
dreams?
And that's kind of where itstarted.
Fast forward to today.
We opened our grant applicationexactly a year ago.
We've now helped over 10families so far.
We have a few more that are nowgetting grants in the process
(02:50):
right now, which is absolutelyincredible.
Way more than we envisioned,we've raised a significant
amount of money with the help ofsome amazing donors, and we
have some really big plans forthis year too.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Why do you think there's such shame and stigma
around this conversation?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I think in society you kind of grow up or you have
this vision of what life issupposed to be.
You grow up, you get a job, youget married, you have kids and
that's kind of just the waysociety has brought us up to be
in this way of life.
And you kind of grow upthinking, okay, how do I just
prevent myself from?
(03:27):
getting pregnant You're neverreally told like, oh, when
you're ready to have kids, itmay not actually happen.
So you just automaticallyassume oh, this is just how the
woman's body works and it shouldjust work.
So there's a lot of shame inthat and, I think, guilt that.
You know why isn't my bodyworking?
Why is everyone else seem to bebeing able to do this very
easily, like what's wrong withme and with that you don't
(03:49):
really want to share becauseyou're embarrassed.
Things seem to come really easyfor other people and you don't
really want to share thatexperience.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
People who are going through this like what advice do
you have for them with how todeal with such a personal
struggle?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Everyone deals with it very different.
You're gonna have some peoplewho I really like talking things
out.
That's just my personality.
I really like to talk about myfeelings.
And then you have someone, forexample, like my sister and she
doesn't like to share.
She's way more private andthere's a lot of people like
that.
So I think it's about knowingyourself and knowing what you
(04:25):
need, and I think a lot of itcomes down to, at least
personally, and what I see for alot of other people is Is the
support network, whether or notit's your friends, your family
is your partner.
You have to have a very ifyou're doing this with a partner
, a very strong partner.
We have a very openRelationship and open
conversation.
Yeah, which is where you knowpeople have started online
communities or in-personcommunities, because people need
(04:45):
to go and speak to people andget their feelings out, and you
also don't feel alone when youstart talking about it.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Do you feel like this is the conversation that's
gonna start hitting themainstream very shortly, for
sure on the rise?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
I think it's already happening.
Yeah, we're seeing it more andmore the last couple years.
You're seeing more peoplecoming out publicly sharing
their story.
Yeah, and I think a lot of ustalk about this is going to be
the next big topic that's sharedand talked about.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
For sure you're balancing financial pressures,
family planning and thenprofessional ambitions, and this
is like a tricky nuance Forthose who aren't so close to it.
What challenges aren't soobvious that are important to
vocalize here?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
There's a lot of things that happen behind the
scenes for those who arestruggling with fertility.
So, for example, you know youmight be working with a
colleague who maybe they're lateto meetings in the morning or
maybe they're not responsive inthe morning, or, you know, maybe
there you can tell that they'restruggling with something.
I think what people don'trealize for those going through
fertility struggles is you knowyou're at the clinic Three, four
(05:46):
, five days a week, multipletimes per week You're going
before work, so you're trying toget there from the clinic opens
because you're trying to getback to your office or back home
for meetings.
Yeah, physically you'reprobably you can be on a lot of
hormones, things like that butmentally it also impacts you as
well with the different hormonesthat you're on, so you may be
more emotional.
You're feeling.
You're not feeling great, yourbody's not feeling great, so
(06:08):
that all has such a huge impact.
Yeah, you have no idea whatsomeone is struggling with in
their personal life Could beanxiety, could be mental health
issues, could be relationshipissues, and Infertility is just
one of those things.
I think that's where it justbecomes so important to be
empathetic, and when it comes tobeing a leader or a colleague
or a friend.
You know, sometimes, you know,friends don't want to come and
(06:30):
hang out at different events,say, there's baby showers,
there's things like that, andit's not that they don't want to
be there for you, it's thatthey're actually really
struggling themselves, and thenthere's a lot of guilt that
comes with that.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Well, let's just start with where businesses are
making changes, because I amseeing some policy changes.
But what are you noticingwithin the professional
landscape of providing familiesmore support?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I think the main thing is around benefits.
Yeah, you're starting to see alot more companies introducing
fertility benefits.
Yeah, whether it's egg freezing, basically an amount to use
towards IVF or fertilitytreatments, things like that.
And I would say the financialburden out of all of this is
probably one of the biggestthings, because so much of the
fertility is out of your control.
(07:13):
But now you're struggling withthe physical and mental side of
fertility struggles on top ofthis massive financial burden.
So you're running to the clinic, you're late for meetings,
you're paying thousands ofdollars out of pocket.
It adds up to beef.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
So how much does it cost, though, randy?
Like I have no idea, and I'mlearning through your journey
here, how much are we actuallytalking about?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
So for an IVF cycle it could be upwards of $20,000.
For one cycle.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yes, and what's the probability that one cycle
actually works?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
There's so many factors that go into it, so I
think it really depends on thesituation, but very, very
expensive.
I think now when you're comingto surrogacy they say like to
budget somewhere of upwards, tosay $80,000.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's a ton of money and you can't just come up with
that money out of nowhere, right?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
So if there's anything people could kind of
implement in their life whomight be feeling all of the kind
of, you know, the emotionalroller coaster related to this
like, what advice can we impart?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I think a big thing comes back to your support
network.
So, finding people that youtrust, that you want to talk to,
outlets whether or not it's,you know, going to therapy,
talking to friends, familymember I think that's, that's a
really big part of it.
Work is such a big part of yourlife and so I think if you
don't feel supported at work,you need to have those
conversations, Having a boss ora mentor at the office who can
(08:34):
advocate for you.
You know, do you need to movearound your meetings, you know,
as opposed to causing a lot morestress, I mean and stress is a
huge part of the whole fertilityjourney too, right?
Stress?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
has such an impact on your body.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So if you need to move around meetings, have those
conversations and make surethat they're supportive of it,
and I think that's that's a bigpart of it.
You know you have to movemeetings, you need to take some
days off.
Do you need to reduce someworkload?
Have the conversations of howdoes that impact my career.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, and I really wanted to talk with you and have
this conversation because asmuch as we can talk about
leadership in the professionalsense, like we are whole people
going to work, and these are thethings that are in the back of
our minds every day.
As you kind of thought aboutyour own leadership journey,
starting this foundation, whathave you learned the most about
(09:24):
yourself through this process?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I like to think I'm an empathetic person.
I think this has made me evenmore empathetic, and not just
for those struggling withfertility, I think it's.
You know, you get an email fromsomeone, and maybe it's a cold
email or a mean email, could befrom a customer or a client.
You start to realize, okay, youactually have no idea what that
person is going through.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
What has been some of the more surprising insights or
lessons that you've learned?
Starting a foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We're so grateful that we could afford the means
to be able to go through thetreatments that we needed.
There are so many people whocan't.
Yes, how do we bring thisincredible gift to other people?
How do we help alleviate thatfinancial burden so that they
feel like they can achieve that?
And how do we help other peopleachieve their dreams of having
their own family?
Because really it's crazy tothink about the financial reason
(10:13):
should not be or reason whysomeone can't start a family.
You know you're diagnosed withmedical conditions.
There's things that are out ofyour control and you didn't
choose the path right, so webelieve that that shouldn't
prevent you from having thefamily that you want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
So the Modern Miracle Foundation, how does it all
work for those who might becurious to know more about it or
how they can participate in thefoundation?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yes, so we have an amazing board that we lean on
for a lot of advice and supportand we have our medical advisory
team too.
So we have an applicationprocess.
We receive grant applicants,our team internally will review
them.
It goes through to our medicaladvisors who help us look at the
medical information.
We're not medical doctors, sowe need external experts helping
(11:06):
us review it.
Then, once we kind of evaluateall the different applications,
see how many applicants we haveat the time, how much available
funding we have, then we candecide and figure out.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
You know how can we allocate as much money as we can
and how does your business playinto this and share with
everyone listening a little bitmore about?
On top of all of this, you'vedecided to launch a business,
which I love.
This is like.
These are the conversationsthat make me very excited.
But how has that process beenfor you kind of being of now a
(11:38):
business owner?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.
So I think we laugh about it Isthat, on top of you know,
children and our full-time jobsand the charity we just wanted
to add to our plate Because whynot?
But I think it all kind ofstarted with when my niece was
born.
My sister was trying to findsome cool kids' clothes that
were you know, not cheesy, kindof fun clothes that she wanted
(12:00):
to wear herself that came inkids' sizes, and so we were kind
of talking about it.
She had this idea.
She loves being creative andhas that kind of spark behind
her and she was on mat leave atthe time.
So she was like, okay, you knowwhat, I'm going to look into
this and see what I can do here.
And so she started looking intomanufacturers, trying to figure
out, coming up with designs,coming up with some kids'
(12:22):
clothes ideas, and then we kindof decided to start in it
together.
We thought you know what?
It's a really fun, fun way touse creativity.
Then we also figured you know,there's so many kids' clothing
brands out there.
Yeah, how do we differentiateours?
Yes, and then we had thecharities.
We're like it's kind of ano-brainer If let's use the
clothing brand which is calledMini-Mod, why don't we use
(12:42):
Mini-Mod in order to then nowbring more money into the
charity?
So now you can, you know, sellcool kids' clothes, help make
babies it kind of like goes alittle bit hand in hand, and so
on.
It also brings a great missionto the clothing brand,
Entrepreneurship and socialchange as a combination.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Has that?
Have the customers respondedwell to it, Like what's been
your experience with thisleading with venture for social
impact?
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I would say the social aspect of Mini-Mod is
really what drives, I would say,most of our sales.
So, for example, we started offgoing to a lot of pop-up shops
or markets selling our sellingthe kids' clothes, and so we did
a big sign that saidinfertility sucks.
And it said supporter of ModernMiracle Foundation.
And we figured, you know what,from a marketing side, you need
to bring the customers in.
What's kind of like somethingreally like bold to try and
(13:31):
bring them in.
And so people come up to us andbe like so what's this all
about?
Infertility sucks.
I see your sign, what's thisall about?
And we said, oh, like westarted a charity.
We help those who can't affordfertility treatments.
We donate proceeds fromMini-Mod to the foundation and
they literally look beside themlike she's an IVF baby or he's
an IVF baby or I struggle withfertility.
I need to support you, mary-d.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I'm so inspired Like.
The theme in this whole thingis how do you take personal
struggle and turn it intopassion, and turn it into
purpose?
This is just a remarkable waythat you've done.
You do this for everything,though.
Like you know, this is howyou've structured your life.
When you I think aboutresilience to do that, though,
is there anything that comes tomind about how you think about
(14:16):
resilience and the resolve to dothat?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
I think people just handle things differently In
terms of being resilient.
I think it's.
I really do try to find thepositive in everything.
I do think everything happensfor a reason and I think that's
just the way I operate.
And I think I do just try tofind the positive in these
(14:40):
situations and say, okay, youknow, this was the card I was
dealt.
Now what can I do in order to,you know, help other people with
it?
I love helping others.
I think I've always been thattype of personality when, you
know, can I find some positivein this and how do I turn this
into a bigger impact?
(15:00):
I think I've always wanted todo something bigger in life,
never really knew what that was,and this was just my way of.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You feel like you're living it now.
Like do you?
Feel like that thing that wasinside of you, Like I feel like
there's something bigger.
Do you feel like you're livingit now?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I feel like I'm living it and I feel like
there's even so much more.
There's so much more to be doneacross I mean for fertility.
It's providing the financialgrants is one thing, it's
advocacy, it's making change,it's actually being a part of
that change so that you know,maybe this, maybe the financial
aspect of it, doesn't become anissue for people in the future.
I think that's like one pieceof it.
(15:38):
Can you even go like above thatand can you try and you know
work with the medical field andtrying to do preemptive testing
for other people's situationswho are diagnosed later could
have been caught earlier?
So I think we just have so manygoals with Modern Miracle.
Right now it's focusing on thefinancial aspect, but how do you
, how do we make this evenbigger?
Yeah, and how do we do more?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And can you tease out anything?
You say you have big goals for2024.
Any specifics?
Like I heard a rumbling of agala, yes, what are kind of some
things people can watch andsupport?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
So we have a big partnership that launched with
the new fertility clinic that'sopening in Toronto.
They on top of coming out with,you know, world-class equipment
and an absolute beautifulclinic to really focus on the
patient experience, yeah, and wewill be having a gala in May.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So it will be amazing .
We'll put all of your websitelinks in the show notes too, so
people can see them.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And I think also if you have financial means to make
some donations, they go a verylong way and if anyone wants to
support the kids clothing linewhere do they go?
Speaker 1 (16:42):
So shopminimodcom, Okay, You'll find kids clothing
on there that you can shopgifting for your own kids,
nieces friends, the last topic Iwanted to kind of just talk
about is advice for aspiringwomen leaders, Any advice you
can give folks to just if theyare feeling kind of a passion to
(17:03):
create a business for socialchange.
What are some tips that peoplecould take away?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So lean into your network.
I think that was a big thingfor us.
I struggle asking for help, andthat's a big thing.
I've had to really learn andpeople do love to help, and
especially when they feel thatthe cause resonates with them.
And so lean into your network,I think.
Find something you'repassionate about and you can
even start small.
I think it doesn't.
(17:31):
I mean, our goal was startingwith just helping one family and
I think that's where it's morerelatable.
We're not setting out I mean,hopefully we become this this
amazing, incredible, massivecharity, but really our goal was
just start really small andjust helping that one family
achieve their dreams.
And so I think, don'tunderestimate your dreams.
Even if you have somethingsmall, I think, go for it and
(17:54):
lean into your network and leaninto support people to help you
along the way and give it a shot.
The worst that can happen itdoesn't, it doesn't work out, it
doesn't go as planned.
At least you can say you gaveit a try and you're going to
learn so much along the way forit, so don't let it hold you
back.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Thank you for all of the amazing work that you do in
the world, the lives that youare changing.
I think this is a reallyimportant year for elevating
this conversation and I'm sograteful that we were able to
have it together.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Thank you so much and thanks for letting me come and
talk about it and bring someawareness to such an important
topic.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
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