How to Handle Controversy, Difficult Conversations, & More with Dara Tomasson

In this powerful episode of Quilting on the Side, Tori and Andi welcome back their favorite coach for quilters, Dara Tomasson, for a timely conversation about mindset, controversy, and emotional resilience in business. Together, they explore how to navigate emotionally charged situations, set healthy boundaries, and separate self-worth from business outcomes - especially in today’s divided social and economic climate (in the US at least!). 

Dara shares why reaching a neutral emotional state leads to clearer decision-making, and how curiosity and inspiration in everyday life can fuel both personal and professional growth. This episode is especially relevant for quilt pattern designers, teachers, and longarm quilters navigating challenges like tariffs, scarcity mindset, and conflicting beliefs while growing a sustainable business.   

Chapters
00:00 The Importance of Mindset in Business
04:09 Reaching a Neutral State for Better Decisions
06:35 Separating Self-Worth from Business Outcomes
11:47 Navigating Emotional Challenges in Business
18:14 Establishing Boundaries in a Divided Society
26:56 Having Difficult Conversations
31:42 Understanding Mental Health in Business
34:44 Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life

Connect with Dara Tomasson:

• On Instagram 
• On her website: https://daratomasson.com/
• Sign up for her free Webinar: How To Work With Your Hormones Instead of Against Them September 17th @ 12pm Pacific Time CLICK HERE

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Podcast Details:

Co-Hosts:

Tori McElwain @heytori.tech

Andi Stanfield @truebluequilts

Transcript

Andi (01:04)
Welcome to another episode of Quilting on the Side. And we are so delighted to have our resident life coach, cheerleader, supporter, favorite guest, Dara Thomason is here with us. She has been on the podcast several times and we just want to make this a recurring feature because we know that mindset is so important in business and it's always good to have these tools. ⁓

Dara, you were talking just before we came on about the importance of reaching a neutral state. So can you just describe that in general before we get to any specific topics?

Dara Tomasson (01:46)
So one of the things that we can see, especially when you watch the news or you know, I think even maybe sometimes when you go to the grocery store, you can ⁓ get some heated conversations, even watching different people's Facebook with a post. So I have this expression that says when emotions are high, intelligence is low.

So when you see people like with road rage, I mean, those people are like moms or dads. Like they actually, for the most part, are pretty like level headed humans. But when they're put in a situation.

you know, we don't know what's really going on. They have this pressure. Maybe they, you know, they've had something really bad at work happen to them or they're really stressed. They're going to miss their kids soccer game three times in a row and the traffic is, is, you know, stalled so that their emotion is so high that they can get out of control. And so when you think about making decisions, whether it's in your business or your family, whatever that is,

If you're always operating on this really high like stress, like not able to cope, then you don't make your best decisions. And so one of the best things we can do before we make any decision is to be able to take a pause and like make sure that our heartbeat is at, my daughter is obsessed with her phone heartbeat. Actually, I don't, she's just like, mom, my heartbeat was at, you know, and it's so good that she's in tune with that.

But so that's one of the things that I recommend to my clients is to say, ⁓ before we make this kind of decision or before we say these words or before we do this, let's get ourselves in a place of neutral so that now we can actually look at the different perspectives and say, is this who I want to be? Is this the person, this is reflect my purpose? And the more that we can take that pause,

The more that we can actually feel again, like we are the conductor of our lives and we're not also, the other big thing that happens here is that we go into victim mentality. That life is happening to us instead of we are creating our life.

Andi (04:09)
Yeah, yeah, I find that I have always been a quick decision maker and I just jump in and talk and so taking that pause is a ⁓ difficult practice, but I know it's so important.

Tori (04:27)
I feel like that's a really great practice when we're addressing customer service and we get those emails of complaints or I don't know how to print it or whatever it is, bringing yourself back to neutral before answering those emails can be, I think that could be really helpful because like you said, when emotions are high, ⁓ logic is low. You can't think.

Dara Tomasson (04:27)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah. Also, even when you're like going on Instagram or having a review, ⁓ those things are, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. And you can always learn from those things. But if we're really attached to the result, then we are not going to be able to use that feedback in a way that's gonna help us to move forward.

So that was actually the second thing I was going to say was one of the things I feel, ⁓ and this is probably one of the biggest things about building a business is we're doing it because it's fun. And yes, we want to make money, but so many of us build our business to try to prove our worth or try to prove that we're good enough and get that acceptance, that external validation. And that is exhausting.

Andi (05:17)
Yeah.

Dara Tomasson (05:45)
puts us on a really unhealthy pattern because now we're so attached to our results that we aren't able to take a step back and say, I, is this the business that I really want? Or am I truly helping people? Am I, and we get in our own way. So making sure that we understand our worth is already set, it's a non-negotiable, but we just decide, hey, in my life I want to create.

this much, these many patterns, I want to generate this much money for my family, I want to be able to afford this kind of lifestyle, and that's, and you're just like, okay, this is what I've just decided to do with my 24-7. But it doesn't have anything to do with my worth.

Andi (06:35)
Yeah, it can be very tricky to separate yourself, but putting that distance and just looking at it, you know, logically, you know, as non-emotional as you can. Like you said, we have those highs and those lows, but trying to find that middle and lessen the extremes is going to be key.

Tori (06:59)
Yeah, that took me a long time to figure out how to do that, separate myself from my business. It took me years and one thing that helped me and I hope it might help our listeners is that I think of my business more as a machine now and it helps take out the emotion.

It doesn't completely take it out quite yet, but imagining it as a functioning machine and how I need to have input and output. And it helps with everything. It helps with emotion, helps with looking at the numbers. I know something that we've talked about, Dara, is looking at where the money is coming in and taking the emotion out of that, looking at metrics like money, like what is selling, what is bringing the money in, helps me picture it more as a machine. It helps me separate the emotion from

my business, but it is very difficult, especially in the beginning when it's... and I feel like when I started it was designed too, and it was teaching your ideas and your inspiration, and it can feel really difficult to separate from your inspiration and your business.

Andi (08:05)
Yeah, and quilting and the craft industries have become so much of this idea of a personal brand that people put their own name on their business. And so then that really ties it in. So. ⁓

Dara Tomasson (08:13)
you

So.

Andi (08:24)
it may help, you know, I just had the thought that it may help to think of some other name for your business, you know, don't tie it so personally to yourself because that would help separate. So, yeah, it would be great to just say, you know, Andy's Quilt Designs, but if I want to, if I know I struggle in those areas, it might be better to, you know, call it the Sunflower Patch or something.

Dara Tomasson (08:50)
Yeah,

yeah. There's a really great analogy of, you know, when you think about like, our life is just, we're here, our worth is set, and we just get to have fun. We get to experience different things. You know, some people think it's absolutely ridiculous that we take perfectly good fabric, cut it up, and sew it back together, right? But I also think it's ridiculous when I see grown men, and I'm not judging them, but I just think it is kind of strange when I see them like, with little cars, or, you know, like they're

playing with little remote controlled cars. I'm just like, you're a grown man. But just like some people think anyways, so it doesn't matter what we decide to do. We just all are unique. We all have our own way. imagine, so we're just all in the ocean and the ocean, know, we're just like, there's the, know, the tides, there's the waves and everything. And so we can just go with the flow. We can just be in the ocean. I was just surfing two weeks ago. It's so fun. Or we can say, you know what?

I don't really like that I just like find myself over here or I find myself over here. I actually want purposely on purpose go and go and like build a quilting business or, you know, weigh a certain amount or, you know, get married or, you know, have this kind of relationship with my kids, whatever that is. And so you're like, I'm just going to get in this boat and I'm just going to figure out how I can accomplish that thing. And it has nothing to do with

your worth as a person is not like you have to accumulate a certain number of stars and then you can be acceptable to other people. But it's like you literally just being like, I don't really just want to be, you know, in the flow. I actually want to do this. And when I get to that point, and this is the thing I think is really, really key, especially for all of us with our mindset, once we actually get to, let's say we write a pattern design and we make $10,000 off of it.

Well, that's awesome, but that didn't change your worth. And even if you just like stayed in the ocean and just went back and forth, it's fine. But what we have to realize is that we just get to have our own kind of fun. And some people just want to go with the flow. But a lot of us, and especially with our brains are working, so this is another thing that's really key. Otherwise, if we just go with the flow, our brains will, because our brains always want to solve problems.

So then our brains will have made up problems. And guess what that looks like? Control enthusiasts. You start getting in other people's way. We're like, they would do much better if they had a better garden or they should do that with their yard or why don't they take care of their flowers better or whatever. If my daughter-in-law would just do this with her kids, homeschooling is ridiculous, right?

Andi (11:27)
Ha

Dara Tomasson (11:47)
So we have these made up problems because we aren't fulfilling ourselves. It's not from a place of trying to prove ourselves. It's actually a place of contribution. It's a place of fulfillment, creativity, curiosity, because those are the things that truly fuel us.

Andi (12:06)
Yeah, yeah. I see so many examples of what you're saying of, you know, your mind is working to solve problems. And so if, like you said, if you're going with the flow and your life is... ⁓

good, whatever that means to different people, then you look for problems in other areas to solve. So you're getting, like you said, ⁓ if they would just do that, you find yourself very much in judgment. So ⁓ interesting perspective.

Tori (12:41)
Yeah, I feel like I do that at the end of every launch. Especially my big launches. Like I do big launches probably four times a year. I do two for the book club and two for the DMMC. And at the end, good or bad, I stop.

Like I'm almost in like a freeze and you're right, my brain starts making up all these problems that I need to solve but they're not really there. Maybe that's why I keep getting stuck. I don't know. That's where I went. Like after launches that seems to what I do.

Andi (13:08)
Yeah.

Dara Tomasson (13:14)
Well, and even something like that where you're doing a lunch, what I recommend is that you say, I just decided to throw a party. And I decided I was gonna write these emails and I was gonna do this Instagram and I was gonna reach out to these collaborators and I was gonna publish these podcasts. So my brain was like super active and excited to solve the problem of how do I serve and help people more.

And so at the end of a launch, what would work in a way is saying, OK, what went really well about that launch? And then you and then you write it all down. What didn't go so well? So you write that all down and they're like, what am going to try next time? Then you write that all down. So now your brain is saying we learned a lot of good stuff and there are some things that we kind of dropped the ball. We didn't realize we dropped the ball, but we didn't know. But we don't know until you try. Right. And so ⁓

And now your brain is saying, but guess what? We can learn from this. That's so cool. So now your brain is because you know, when you're like in the middle of the night or in the shower and all of a sudden you're like, ⁓ that's that person's name. Or that's that's the thing, because your brain is so excited, it always wants to be solving problems. So if you do that after a launch, ⁓ then now your brain is saying.

This is some good stuff. I can actually work with this. This is really cool.

And so now, because this is not about you. It's not about your worth. It's about you just fulfilling what feels good for you. And I do think that we have to look at this idea of contribution. We are meant to belong to the tribe. We're all unique and different. We all have a lot to give. And so listening to our desire is really important. But if we're attached,

to the results, then that's when the perfectionist girl comes in. And perfectionism is when you try something and it doesn't work and you take it personally versus a non-perfectionist like, ⁓ I thought that was gonna work. I got some of it, right? But I kind of messed up over here. Okay, let's try it. And I remember I heard that description and I was like, people don't take their mistakes personally? That's real? I was like, what?

I thought for sure that was the rule of you being a human. And when I realized that, I was like, ⁓ that's a perfectionist. That's my survival strategy and I can change it. And that has been a game changer. So I think that's kind of what you're talking about too, Tori, of not allowing yourself to learn, learn from all of those, like that's gold. Every time you finish a lunch and you don't reach gold, it's like,

Let's dig in. Let's see what what could I do? Like where did I and I did that all the time.

Andi (16:18)
Yeah, approaching everything with curiosity. think Dara is one of the valuable things that you teach in your coaching program ⁓ that, you know, it's a data point and we can analyze, we can put that good brain juice to work and figure out the good, the bad, and the areas for improvement.

Dara Tomasson (16:47)
There's a tool called math versus drama. And that's such a helpful one of like, what is true? And so we actually, from all of the, you can say yourself, what actually is true? Like, what are actual facts? And then when you have those compared to like what you think are true, like, I'm such a failure, what's wrong with?

smart enough it's like okay what is true you had this many emails you had this many responses you had this kind of feedback from your Instagram posts ⁓ and then you know yeah okay you didn't get the results you wanted okay you just didn't it's like making a cake it's like my goodness I forgot the baking powder no wonder like ⁓ you're just like I gotta tweak that recipe like then I mean it's just yeah

Andi (17:39)
Yeah, yeah, interesting. So one of the...

reasons I wanted to have you back on, Dara, was to talk to us as business owners a little bit about navigating some of these emotionally charged events that come from outside the quilting world and yet they impact our day-to-day business. And I am talking about that kind of the thing you're never supposed to bring up, which is political differences because we live in

such a divided society right now, especially in the United States with our current political climate, and I say current, it's been going on for what 15, 16 years now, just you know, and it seems like the level of crazy just hasn't found the peak yet. So what's your advice there?

Dara Tomasson (18:34)
Okay, I love that. So imagine if you went to a lawyer's office and you said, I would like to get a will. And could you imagine if the lawyer was like, well, how much money do you make? How many kids do you have? What kind of house do you live in? Like, oh, okay, I'll charge you $100. And then the next person comes in and they're like, I'm gonna charge you $700.

Like, no, that doesn't happen. You go to the lawyer and you say, hey, I want a will. He's like, no, he or she was like, no problem. It's gonna be $575. This is what I want you to do. You have to fill in these forms. I need to have them back in seven days. And then I meet with you. do da da da da. Okay? It's like, doop, doop, doop. This is how you get a will. So what would it be like, this is such a crazy concept, of saying to yourself, okay, what kind of...

Protocol because that's called the protocol right what kind of protocol do I want to have as the? You know as my business Do I have a zero tolerance for? political talk Do I take a stand and say I am this kind of? this is my these are my political views and If you don't like it, then maybe we're not a good fit I don't know like you could filter out who is a part of it

Or you could decide you're more like Canada, where I'm from, of like, we're just more nice, we're just more neutral, and we could just say, like, imagine if someone came into your kitchen and started, you know, going off about politics. Would you let them stay at your kitchen table? Or would you say, I'm sorry, that's not appropriate. This is my home, this is my sanctuary. And when you bring this up, it's not comfortable. So that's what I would say is you have to do some of that.

backward back work of saying like what is my political stand? What is my protocol when it comes to politics? So then if someone starts coming in and they start saying that you're like, ⁓ I understand that you're totally allowed to have your own opinion. You are completely allowed but this is a this is a non-political place. I've just made that decision. It's my protocol.

And then if they don't, if they keep going, you're like, I'm sorry, I have to ask you to leave. I have a kindness clause in my membership. So if someone is going to be ⁓ disruptive or, you know, all these things to other members, they're actually, they leave. They're not allowed in my membership because that's really important to me. I also, like I have certain guidelines. I don't have men in my membership because weight loss is very sensitive.

Andi (20:50)
Yeah.

Dara Tomasson (21:20)
So it's like, I love men and people are allowed to be unkind, but not in my membership.

So, I mean, I don't drink alcohol. I don't let people drink alcohol in my home. So it's like, that's just a boundary. And so that's, it's not always easy, but I think the other part of that too is saying, okay, what are the results if they cross my boundary? So if someone brought alcohol, I'm hosting my son's wedding reception here. And if someone brought alcohol, I would just say, I'm sorry, you.

you can either leave the alcohol outside, back in your car, or you can leave. I don't host events with alcohol. And then if they become disruptive or belligerent, I say, it's okay, I just called the police, that's fine. It's your choice, right? So that's what's gonna be the hard work for you as a business owner of making that, like this is the line in the sand, and making it very, very clear.

You can even give some examples if you want. And then you also have the boundary of if you continue to use those kinds of words or bring up those conversations, you are actually asked to leave. If they don't leave, then you can leave, you kick them out. And you can even, like I even got a lawyer that was specific to my clauses so that I was very clear on it. And so now I know I'm...

I've got my back.

So you do have to spend some money and you do have to spend some time. Time first and then money. And I would definitely recommend a lawyer so that you can ⁓ be, it's just very clear. And then the other thing about it is just like as a parent, it's like, no, it's bedtime. And they're like, they try to negotiate. You're like, yeah, I know. I know you don't want to go to bed. I know you're thirsty. It's bedtime. And they just keep coming out and I'm like, no, it's fine. It's bedtime, right? And you just.

And so, it's not, you like you don't want to be heated, right? When emotions are high, intelligence is low. But it's like, this is just my, this is my house. This is my business. And this is my beliefs. If you don't like it, that's fine.

But I actually, this is so important to me. This is my culture, my tone, that if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. That's fine. There's other quilt designers or other communities that you can be a part of, but this is not a good fit.

Andi (23:59)
Yeah, yeah. I... Like you said, it is important to take the time to understand yourself and your own beliefs and be able to back them up. And I think that's where some new business owners may feel that they're...

you know, they may hit that crisis point because they're approached about something that they haven't thought about yet. And, you know, we said at the beginning, it's you need to take that pause before you respond and really think about, okay, how do I want to respond? What do I want my business to be known for? And like you said, we all have a choice. There are some people that choose to be an activist for whatever cause they believe in.

Dara Tomasson (24:55)
totally.

Andi (24:56)
And then there are some people that do provide their support behind the scenes and decide that, like you said, my kitchen table isn't the place for this discussion. My quilt group, my YouTube live, whatever it is, is not the place to make that statement. Others may choose to behave differently and that's fine.

Dara Tomasson (25:06)
Thanks.

Yeah, totally. Yeah, you've seen it on Instagram. Some people are, they have like gender is a really big part of their brand and talking about gender and the LGBTQ and that's totally fine. And there's others that are like, I just want to be Switzerland on this. And that's totally fine too. And others are like the extreme, the other side too of like, and that's,

They're allowed to make those decisions, but they're also going to have the consequences of what that is. And the other thing that as you were talking, Andy, I was thinking, ⁓ it's important also to realize as a business owner that you can change. Like you could say, I'm going to do this. And then you after a while, you're like, it doesn't actually feel right. And so you can have that discussion with your people and say, you know, I understand that at beginning when you started working with me,

This is how I felt. But over the years, I've made some changes. So it's like like washing machines. You didn't have washing machines before, but now we have washing machines, which is amazing. We don't have to scrub our clothes. So we will evolve and change in our business. And that's OK.

Tori (26:35)
Do you have any advice for those whose brand messaging overlaps with politics but they're hitting a emotional barrier? So maybe they're scared to share but scared not to share at the same time? Like I've seen that as well, I felt that as well, so I'm wondering if you have any advice for that.

Dara Tomasson (26:56)
Okay,

so one of the things, the first thing that came to my mind is this idea of having a difficult conversation. So when we have a difficult conversation, one of my favorite things to do is say, I'm not exactly sure how to say this. And so what that does is the other person is now saying, ⁓ what's going

Right? We want to be connected, right? We want to have that. And so, when you say, I'm not sure exactly how this is, I don't want to hurt feelings, but this has just been something that's so heavy on my mind and I feel like I really need to say it. Don't know if I'm going to say it properly, you know? And so, what actually, like tell me ladies, when I say that, how do you feel when I approach that, that way?

Andi (27:45)
a lot of compassion when people admit that they are insecure and they're there because you can tell that they're coming from a place of love that they're like I'm really trying to do the right thing I just don't know how and I'm getting all emotional about this because

Dara Tomasson (28:01)
Yeah. Yeah. I know. It's awesome.

Yeah. Yeah. I had a conversation with my husband on Friday. I was, I had a really hard day and I just said, I need to talk to you. I don't know how this is going to go, but I'm having these fears that I have not been able to share with you for the last, you know, this, I didn't even realize how many things were I was holding back. I hope that I can say it in a way that you will feel my love.

But I'm, you know, I have this, this, and this dress, and I have these things that I've been carrying that actually aren't mine to carry. And it was like a beautiful conversation, even though I was like dying, because it was, I don't know, I didn't know how he was going to react, I know if he was going to be like, that's so stupid, why would you worry about something like that, you know? And, but because you get that buy-in right at the beginning, that person is way more...

able to say, ⁓ she's or he is this way. And if they don't react that way, they are definitely not your people and you do not need to give them any more time. You're like, wow, we aren't a fit. I'm so glad I found that out in this case. Few, I don't have to worry about any further conflict because you actually are not the right fit for me and that actually gives me a lot of peace knowing

I'm not gonna go down that road anymore. These are not my people.

Andi (29:36)
You have the freedom to pursue your path that is different than mine. Yep, yep, good to know.

Well, we have had such a good conversation, Dara. You just open up so many insights and give us so many things to think about as we move forward in our business. ⁓ But we do want to wrap up. We've had you on before, so we don't need to discuss favorite colors and all those kind of things that we usually do. But I would like to know if you are working on any quilt projects and what your craft business looks like these days.

Dara Tomasson (30:02)
I

So I'm working on the funnest projects right now. My niece got married. She did like a sneak attack marriage. It was hilarious. She married, she's a Canadian and married an American soldier. So they had to, for legal reasons, ⁓ they had to get married really fast. So the funniest part about it was I said, but what about your quilt designs within, I'm not even kidding you, five seconds. She had like seven quilts. So like, obviously she was waiting for me to ask that question. So I'm...

I have two hours planned today on my schedule to finish cutting it and start sewing it. And my son is getting married. So exciting. So, um, I, that's also on my list of things to do today. I, there is a quilt top, it's a Dresden plate that's really beautiful. Um, it needs to be quilted. And then I realized I have this absolutely gorgeous custom quilt that I did years ago. Um, so I need to find it, wash it and hang it out.

And then there's another one that could possibly, it's also beautiful, it's from my book. ⁓ So that's what I'm doing. ⁓ But yeah, yeah, but can I just give like one last piece of advice before we say goodbye? Okay, so when you talk about mental health, ⁓ so there's two really big pieces about mental health. All of us have mental health. Because all of us have physical health and all of us have mental health. Because we have a brain.

Andi (31:27)
course.

Dara Tomasson (31:42)
So I think one of the challenges we have in today's world is like, I have mental health issues. No, you have mental health. Everyone has mental health. Like we have physical health and some of us have better physical health than others. And some of us have better mental health than others. So I think that's number one that we have to be, there's a lot of like automatic judgment when we talk about mental health. No, we are humans, we have a brain. So automatically we have mental health. Okay, that's number one.

The second thing I just want all of you to know that in order to have a healthy mental health brain, your life has to have opposition. Okay, so just like my curtains, you have to have the black for the contrast of the white. know, and it's wet, it's dry. In order to know that something's dry, we know that it's not wet, right? So in life to have a healthy human existence,

it's going to be 50 % not so good and 50 % good. Now I have hung out with some of the top quilters in the industry, like been on the stage with them. know, Elizabeth Chappell and Vanessa Christiansen, Amy Smart, Karina Garner, all these people. Their life is also 50-50. So there is not a destination where

When you arrive, everything is like, you know, on The Hobbit, the Elfins, like Lord of the Rings, like they all go on that boat and it's like pure bliss. This is not the human existence. And so one of the problems I see with anyone building a business or trying to reach a goal, they think once I get to this certain level, then everything is going to be okay. But that's not how humans work. And so that's why movie stars who are rich,

and have all sorts of money and everything find themselves in rehab because they are on that treadmill of thinking, okay? So as you run your business, do not attach your worth to it or that destination because you are just always gonna get to the next level and then you're going to have new level problems. That's what my conversation with my husband was. It was new level problems in my business and in my up level of my thinking. And I'm like, wait a minute, I thought when I got to this certain point, everything would be like,

That's not how it works. Okay. So I just wanted that as some people don't know that and some people know it, but they may be not forget. So a healthy human life is 50 % not so good. You're always going to have passwords that you forget. It doesn't mean anything about you. It's just part of being a human in 2025. And then there's going to be all these amazing parts too. And there's always going to be that balance. And that's a beautiful, that means you're healthy.

Okay, you're allowing it all and that's amazing.

Andi (34:44)
Such good reminders, thank you. We also like to ask everyone who's inspiring you right now?

Tori (34:46)
Yeah, thank you, Dan.

Dara Tomasson (34:53)
mmmm ⁓

⁓ That is such a good question. Actually, you know the first thing that came to my mind when my kids that are engaged. They just sent me... Our world can feel really hard and difficult and it can feel really overwhelming. ⁓ They just sent me a picture of them, so my son and his fiance. They're under a full rainbow and they're like hugging and it's like this young love. Like they have no idea.

They have no idea. Like all the hardness that's going to be coming, right? And that's okay. And that's a good thing, right? It's a good thing that they're allowing the love. And so just as they sent me that picture and I looked at it, and of course, you know, the tears. I thought about my husband, I've been married 24 years and we were the same way. And do I regret any of it? No. Was it, has it been hard? Yes. But am I a much better person?

So there is this beautiful innocence, even when we start our businesses, you just put yourself in the world, you're like, I love something that you want, and you have no idea. Like the mean replies or the failed launches and all that. But at the end of the day, it's like your worth is not attached to it. So yeah, just that young love and that ability to like...

work through anything and knowing that you can just like and the best thing is they know that they have me to like me my husband her parents they have God they have you know they have direction and I think for all of us who are just we just get on the boat we're like I was gonna go there and it's like has nothing to do with making me better but it's like it just sounds more fun

And so that's what's inspiring me right now. And it's so, so I've never had a kid be married before. So it's a whole new experience for me.

Tori (37:02)
It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, Dara. So before we go, we would like you to share where everyone can connect with you.

Dara Tomasson (37:10)
Yeah,

so you can find me. ⁓ My name is very unique, so I just keep my name, Mandy. So I'm darathomason.com on my website, and if you want to find me on Instagram, I'm sharing a lot of helpful tools and tips to being mentally and physically healthy, and it's dara underscore thomason. I also have a YouTube channel that has my podcast on it, and I will be, I will be, ⁓

sharing my journey. I have a challenge of how long does it actually take to make a wedding quilt and I'm keeping track. I'm a little nervous about it but I'm doing it. I'm doing it. Pardon? It's called the Quilters Coach Five-Fact.

Tori (37:52)
And what is your podcast? What is your podcast?

Andi (37:52)
And you

Good deal. And I don't want to pass up the opportunity for you to talk about your summit because you've got a big event this fall.

Dara Tomasson (38:12)
Yes, okay, so the summit's gonna be awesome. It's called the Quilters Life

Dara Tomasson (38:19)
yeah, harvest your creativity this fall.

Isn't that so fun? So yeah, we have some excellent instructors ⁓ and they will just blow your mind.

Andi (38:25)
Yeah, really looking forward to it.

Yeah, so people can find that at darathomason.com,

correct?

Dara Tomasson (38:41)
Yeah, and so it will be, yeah, it'll be free for seven days and then all access passes only $39. Last year, or May when we did it, there was almost 5,000 people. We had 39 instructors. Tori, you should sign up.

Tori (38:57)
⁓ Is the summit for quilters in general or are you niching anything in?

Dara Tomasson (39:01)
Yeah, it's

it's an amazing quilter. So we have ⁓ Lisa Kaye is doing she's pretty sure she'll do ruler work. ⁓ I've got Kay Collins, her class on quilt labels was like really, really popular ⁓ quilt coats, free motion quilting, ⁓ lots of different quilt chemistry. that our name? She's going to be showing some of her cool, unique ⁓

Yeah, so we have some return. Hollyann Knight. She's going to be string and story. She's going to be teaching. Not sure exactly what she's going to this time, but ⁓ yeah, we have some new instructors. We have some returning. It was excellent last time. was blown. I actually was blown away for the first summit I've ever hosted. I was like, wow, this that's crazy.

Andi (39:39)
you

Yeah, yeah, we'll have to dive more into that aspect of business in our next chat, but we love having you here, Dara, and thank you so much for sharing your insights today.

Dara Tomasson (40:10)
Thanks so much.