Today we are going to be talking to a mom who is an entrepreneur, who is a realtor.

She is one busy lady.

Veronica RU Vlakova I became an entrepreneur.

When I was pregnant with baby number two.

And I founded Art Strollers Corporation, which offered gallery tours and museum tours for moms and babies.

At the time, I was still fully employed as well.

But then during my maternity leave, I decided, you know, entrepreneurship is a better way for, for me, number one, just the way I work.

I have spurts of work and then I like enjoying my days.

So it was a better fit and also had a lot of ideas that I just wanted to execute and then spend time with the little ones, of course.

What was that transition like?

Because obviously you had so much going on when you're saying you had a child, then you had a newborn, now you're transitioning into running your own business.

There's a lot going on there.

There definitely is a lot going on.

It's an interesting period because when they're young, you naturally, you have a lot of energy.

Like, there's a lot of energy, there's a lot of changes.

And somehow I'm a very adaptable person.

So I kind of just rolled with the flow.

I was very excited.

And because my business dealt with babies like I did tours for other parents, it was just beautiful to have my children with me.

And then talking to other moms fueled more ideas.

So it was kind of a natural growth because of the business was aligned with my family life.

How would you describe your role in your own words as a parent?

My role definitely changed at the time I started the company.

I was much more like, when the children are young, you're just very energetic, very hands on.

You want to do everything.

Now I'm a bit more laid back.

We still do a lot as a family I have, but now my children are teenagers, so they kind of have their own activities.

So my role has come from having fun with them to organizing their fun.

That happens, isn't it?

You now have four children, including a baby.

First of all, how old are they?

My eldest now is 14.

I have 14, 12, 10 and now a 1 year old.

So.

Well, it's a beautiful.

The age gap is quite beautiful because the older ones, they get to enjoy the little one and she gets a lot of attention and it's just nice to have.

I love having a lot of children around me.

So it's a beautiful atmosphere.

Was it a challenge or what kind of a challenge was it when you had the break before the fourth one and the Older ones were much older.

It was.

The challenge was thinking, reinventing that whole diaper phase, the non sleeping phase.

But in the end, the reality is it became.

You just realize how simple it can be.

It's not as complex as we think and redoing it.

Having thrown everything, everything baby had left her house and having thrown everything out, you kind of realize, you know, what this is actually.

It can be a simple and beautiful process.

So I can say I'm actually really enjoying the baby now, which is something I maybe didn't do with the first ones because I was.

Things were moving much faster.

Now I'm much older too.

So.

Less things in certain ways as we get older for sure.

But let me ask you, how did your business and the balance of all of that evolve adding two more children to your family?

That's interesting because at first when I started the art strollers, when Martin, my second one was born, the business went like this.

And then my third was born and the business continued going like this.

But then there was a period that the business stopped and plateaued.

And the reason being because I became too busy, I just, I had.

The children overtook my time.

And I think that's something that's very important to realize is when you start your business with a child that's anything under maybe four or five, it's easy.

But it gets actually harder when they start school because your schedule is harder, they're more demanding.

Like their demands actually increase as they age.

And now I'm gearing into teenagers and I mean you've been to it, so you know better than I.

But the demands are actually even higher.

So my business plateaued for a bit and sometimes.

But somehow people kept finding me, the mailing list kept growing.

And then I decided I love classical music and I had the idea of starting classical music concerts and then the business started again and then it exploded online.

So I would say it went like this, plateau decrease.

And now it's what it is today, which is a beautiful place.

You know, it's so interesting to hear you tell that story because it's not like it doesn't sound like you lost any momentum as an entrepreneur.

Like you roll.

It sounds like you rolled with it absolutely patiently went through that whole, you know, part of your, of your life and phase of raising children while having this business.

Absolutely.

But there's just a reality there.

There's a point where, and I see this actually a lot of mothers that started businesses when, when the babies are like six months, you're by your body's back Your.

And you realize you have time, but the time you have then is not always the case as they get older.

So I think.

And that's something.

I was able to adapt my business to it.

But if you take on a very big business and grow very quickly, it might become very stressful periods later on.

And again, I'm an adaptable person.

So when I realized this happened, I said, okay, I need to stop this, and I'll focus on the.

I have now five people to feed daily.

I need to.

There's a whole part of managing the household that needs to be taken care of as opposed to now, the business.

So I shelved it without losing interest in it.

It still continued, but at a different rhythm.

And then now when I have more time to give back to the business because the household's more in control now, you know, so just a question of shifting the balance.

Well, it seems like you've really accepted the flow, and that's not easy for a lot of entrepreneurs to do, because when you're trying to run a business, generate revenue, all the things that you know about.

Patience is not always something that people have in big supply.

How do you manage that?

Well, I mean, patience is one thing, definitely, but I would say the strength to pull back, the strength to say, okay, I can't do this now, or the strength to say, okay, this is too much for me, and it's okay.

And I think we live in the world where everybody's always out there on social media bragging about, I did this, I did that.

You have.

And first of all, that's maybe not what I care about.

I don't care about these bragging rights.

But if somebody does care and sees everybody doing things we feel compelled to do a lot, when in reality, we don't have to.

Like, we don't have to do everything that everybody else does.

We need to do what's best for us in the moment.

And sometimes, if our attention needs to go maybe four, six months more towards our family.

Meaning that our business doesn't grow as much, but continues.

Right.

Continues at a different pace, maybe realigning, not taking on certain projects.

Like, at that point, I had, at the time, my business scale, we were doing art, music, museum tours, like we were doing photography.

Like we're doing all these things.

And I realized, wait a minute.

So I actually gave all the parts to the artists that were doing them, and I kept only back to the museum tour.

So back to what I wanted, and I had time for.

When you sit down and you feel overstretched and you look at your day and you feel nothing's being done at the end of the day is realizing, well, where did my efforts go and what needs my efforts?

So the day becomes easier.

And if the answer is I need to scale back one part of the business or this expansion is not what's worth today.

Well, having the strength to say no to that because we can't do everything, and we can do a lot, but we can't do everything.

Well, I think that is such an important message for.

Especially for moms who are trying to run businesses and, you know, raising children.

Because you're right, people do put so much pressure on themselves.

And I think what you're really talking about in many ways is having the discipline and the self regulation to say, you know what?

I can't do just what you said.

I can't do everything.

And not the end of the world.

Absolutely.

And sit down with your child.

Like even.

I mean, it comes back like even.

Two days ago, my daughter now started putting cubes together.

And I said, oh, I haven't sat with her in two days and put cubes one on top of each other.

And I sat down with her for 30 minutes and we just put one block.

And to be honest, this is something I never did when the others were young because I felt compelled to always go and continue.

And it just tires you right now.

Speaking of discipline, there are so many interesting parts to your story, and one of them.

Is it true that you do not own a TV with four children?

That's correct.

We have never owned a tv.

My husband and I, when we met, both of us did not own a tv.

We didn't really need one.

And then when the children came, we didn't really own one.

So.

Yes.

So we have been TV less, if.

That'S a word, raising, and have raised four children without a television set and.

Or a gaming console or whatever it's called, like those Xbox or whatever they're called.

Yeah.

Yes.

Who have.

So that's been.

Yeah, no, I should say you.

You've got teenagers now who inevitably have come home and said, mommy, Daddy, Game Boy.

Yeah.

Oh, I get the mom.

I can't win this thing because I don't have the proper mouse.

I'm like, sorry, you're getting the $10 mouse.

And sorry, I'm not getting some.

Whatever you need.

So they do engage.

I mean, for social today, they do have to engage, but the point being, no, we don't need a tv.

We don't need a console.

And so how do you keep Them occupied is a question that people will be asking, listening.

Well, it's different as they grow.

I mean, it's different occupations.

When they were younger, we were out and about a lot.

Like we live in downtown Toronto, we were out and about.

I love going out for walks with them.

Music plays a big part in our life as well.

They each an instrument and we are avid readers.

So I do encourage them to read both in English and in French when they can.

Whatever book they like.

Like as long as they're engaged with sitting down with a physical book, I find that's important.

And we talk, we have dinners, we sit down after dinner, we talk, we sometimes we have like the way our living room is set up, it's like a salon style.

So we just sit around and actually ask how our day was and listen to each other, sometimes argue because children argue and then we just talk and no, it's.

Yeah, you can fill time with a lot of things and conversation is one of them.

You know, I find that really interesting because just the other day again I had this conversation with somebody about the fact that the art of the conversation, that is to say face to face engagement is, is becoming a dying art form with this current generation of children because they're constantly on devices, a lot of them.

And so when you're looking at them face to face, a lot of them don't know how to conduct themselves or conduct a conversation, not only conduct themselves.

But make complete sentences.

Right.

When you ask somebody how are you?

They don't develop their ideas.

But you're right, there is an.

I see it even in my children.

Sometimes there are periods where if you ask them certain questions they don't know how to answer, they're uncomfortable.

And their first reaction is not just not to answer as opposed as to thinking about their thoughts and expressing themselves.

But there's definitely something in the way they communicate via text or that's short that shortens your thought process.

So by conversating and having.

Asking questions and actually waiting for the answer, which is also a big one because sometimes I have one of my sons, he's adorable, but he does a whole marathon because he.

Before he gets to his point.

So it's always a very long winded answer.

So we're working on shortening it so people listen to him.

But when he was younger, there's a point you have to say, okay, well we're going to take five minutes and listen to everything he has to say.

And just the ability of sitting and listening and, and just conversating and I think my husband's Parisian, so we spent a bit of time in Paris.

And to be honest, that's what we do a lot with his parents, is sit around the living room and talk.

And it's quite beautiful.

It's not always profound conversation, mind you.

Sometimes it's about the weather, sometimes it's.

But even that, it's just being comfortable without having to rush somewhere and just talk.

It's so refreshing to hear you say that.

And I think that in many ways, you know, North Americans with the rushed lifestyle that we lead, often we don't make time for those kinds of things.

And when you're raising children, it's those conversations, as you alluded to as they get older, that are even more important, crucial.

Because what's interesting, sometimes you realize as you talk to them, they start with one topic, and then suddenly they throw in a curveball question that was clearly on their mind, but had they not talked about something else, didn't maybe think of, you know, some might be more profound question about certain things that life brings us.

And yeah, there's.

There's a beauty in that.

So we talk a lot.

Clearly, one of your sons has a lot to say.

So you have.

Oh, he's lovely.

He's.

Oh, my God.

And he just.

He loves the Tour de France.

And they.

So every day we hear, like, the whole.

Which is beautiful, you know, so talking.

It'S so basic, but it's back to basics.

Back to basics, for sure.

Which comes.

But which, if I may, which comes back to also when you.

When your business grows and scaling back, it's also a part of sitting down with yourself and in a way, having a conversation with yourself, with the people you work with.

So it does come back to talking also.

Absolutely.

Let me ask you, how would you characterize your parenting approach?

So my parenting approach is active.

And I often say, because I was at home for a while with the children, and I really did not appreciate the stay at home label, I found it was a passive.

So actually, my approach is raising.

I say I'm raising my children, and that's actively what I'm doing.

And a lot of care goes into raising them from the way we.

So we.

I would say raising is a very important part of what I do.

Like, in a sense, where you choose.

How can I say?

My approach is always from the active.

What can I do for them and with them in order for them to do what they love and become better people at it.

Right.

They don't all share my activities.

I mean, I love opera Two of my sons don't love opera.

My daughter fortunately starting to, but the boys don't.

But they enjoy it.

They listen to me when I talk about it, but it's a question.

But then by me raising them, I get what they love.

Right.

I get them to, how can I say, I capture what they love, which is maybe not my interest.

And so as we're all in a way raising, because I'm being raised along with them, because I'm being raised as a parent too.

Like, I didn't.

As new things come, I have to adapt to their new ways.

So my approach is very.

We share a lot, we kind of grow together.

And it's an active approach.

That's really interesting.

Is that a conversation that you might have had with your husband before you decided to start having children, or is that something that organically evolves?

Organically.

Evolved organically.

I never.

To be honest, there's.

I.

The only parenting book I read was written in French and it's a frightening title.

It says everything happens before the age of six and was given to me by my mother in law.

So to be honest.

And in it it said, found out your own parenting style.

Don't ask your neighbors, don't ask your family.

Sit down with yourself and realize what are you good at, what are you not good at?

And what could you bring to the children?

So it's the best for them.

And that's kind of what I did.

And my big strength is adaptability and just evolution.

I like when things evolve, when things change, when things grow, grow.

So I implemented that on them.

We tried different things.

If they didn't like it, on to the next.

And yeah, so my parenting style is, I would say it's still evolving.

If we have this conversation two years from now, I'm sure I would have learned so much.

That's really, that's really interesting because I consider myself very similar in terms of my approach as well.

And I think, you know, it's very important what you said, and I think it's very profound that you're learning from each other.

Absolutely.

You know, a lot of people don't realize how much kids teach their parents.

And as they grow, they teach you more and more.

They do.

And it's having the ability to recognize that they have the ability to teach.

You as an adult and tell them.

Yeah, like, tell them, thank you.

You just.

My daughter the other day, she came with us with a little schedule.

She's like, mom, this is our running schedule.

So we're going running every morning at 7.

And she wrote down not only the time but where we're running and everything.

And so I'm like, oh, good organization skills, honey.

But she taught me because it's something like we have been talking about doing activity together.

And so she taught me, why didn't we just do a schedule and get it down on paper?

And I said, thank you honey, but these are and appreciating.

Now we've been running for a week, so we're both exhausted and it's fabulous and communicating a lot as we run.

But the point being is she taught like it's clearly a skill that we've masked together.

I mean I'm very organized, so.

But she took it the step forward to come back and show me, hey, we need to do this now.

And my boys, I mean every child, I mean I can have 10 hour conversations about what every child teaches you, but they definitely, if you're wanting to see it, they all teach you from a young age.

I would say it's interesting because we've talked about the fact that you became an entrepreneur when you were a parent.

You've got four children, you're also a realtor, correct?

Yes.

Now you've got at least two teenagers, correct?

Yes.

Well, it depends if 12 is your defining teenage year.

I have two of them.

Yes.

That is even more busy than what you described at the beginning of our conversation.

So what kind of tricks have you learned that you could maybe share in terms of advice with other parents on how to manage all of these different things going on in your life?

The trick, well, it's not really a trick.

It's more, I would say adaptation.

Usually when I started seeing, when I had the three children growing up and I couldn't, didn't never found time to do the groceries or I find myself at the grocery store, the fridge was empty.

It's literally sitting down and saying, okay, what parts of the day can I focus on the business and what parts of the day do I need to focus on the family and doing a schedule and blocking times off.

So for me, from the morning from about 7am to 9am, I don't touch my emails.

And the same from 6pm to 9pm if you need me, you call me.

And that's what everybody knows.

I do not look at my emails, I don't touch it.

And then there's other parts in the day where, okay, I can work on this or I can work on that.

That.

And so it took me a few years to realize what is my schedule?

When is it optimal to Go do grocery.

What is it optimal to go for a walk with the children?

When is it optimal to prepare dinner?

And it was just all the skills I had in my business and structuring.

I took them, I put them, and I treated my household as a business, which technically it is because there's income in and out like it is.

It needs a structure.

You're managing people, so it's, it's basically your business.

So it took me, I mean, a few years to optimize things, but things are in a way now where I know what times I look at my phone and I don't.

I know what times I sit at a computer and I don't.

And just that it means that I'm only focused on what I need to be focused.

One thing at a time.

I mean, then there's always emergencies.

It's not a bulletproof plan.

But the point being is I know that today at 6pm I'm not going to go anywhere near anything that's called electronic unless it rings and then at 10pm I'll pick it up.

And to be honest, nobody ever died.

Nobody ever.

There was no emergency.

There was nothing.

Nothing major happened during those periods.

Although when I'm in a real estate deal, that's a different than the schedule goes on to emergency mode, but that's a different story.

But those are rare.

They happen, you know, maybe once or twice a month when I really need to be there during those times.

So I would say it comes down to scheduling.

Scheduling and acknowledging what needs your attention.

Like if your child, one of your children needs your timers, looks like he's having a hard time.

Take the week to deal with that.

Take time, go out for walks with him, spend time with him.

Don't put it under the rug because at one point, the rug, you're gonna see a mountain and you're not gonna know where to start.

It's so true.

So it's true there's a lot happening, but at the same time it's organized in a way where I still can go run with my daughter.

I can do yoga, although we offer yoga classes.

We offer.

So I do yoga on my own platform, which is.

But it's all doable and I would say also minimizing the amount of time I spent with people that, you know, that everything moves in the right direction, that it's all productive.

That is excellent advice, especially for parents who may be new parents, parentpreneurs who may be new to that aspect of doing things as well.

I find it really interesting and in closing, I wanted to ask you, you talked about how your business started, and it had, you know, it was focused on children and music, you know, several years ago when you started it.

Your business continues to have a family theme.

I wanted you just to talk about.

That for a little bit.

Well, I mean, I believe that music is one of the most beautiful things you can share with your family.

So all the programs we do, the platform, the arts shoulders platform, what we offer is various, various classes that range from singing, piano and violin, as well as yoga.

And I believe that as parents who share music with their children, it can become an activity you do together.

And therefore, like coming back to what we were saying about the TVs and activities you can do together, nothing is more beautiful than playing the piano together, listening to music together, and sharing that moment.

One of the powers of today, although a lot of things are online, as a parent, when your child has the class, you can actually hear what's happening.

And in a way that's very powerful because you can then talk to your child about it.

And for example, what I mean, you always create what you believe in.

And everybody I work with as teachers within our structure, they all believe in the same, which is music can be shared within families.

And this is how, when you think of it used to be hundreds of years ago when people had pianos in their living room and they all sang together and shared the beauty of music.

Well, in a weird way, now that we can not really go to a music venue, this can be recreated.

So I do believe in the power of music.

And as music being a beautiful activity for the family to share, regardless if they're musical.

I'm not musical.

I mean, I've only enjoyed music.

I mean, I sing, but to everybody's detriment.

I started playing the violin, the piano, but I, you know, my dog, I.

My daughter even gave up on teaching me.

That's how bad I am.

But the point being, I know enough now that I can conversate with them about it, and that's beautiful.