What happens when you follow curiosity instead of a traditional path?

In this episode of InTheSpotlight, Meagan Fettes sits down with Lisa Graham, founder of YYC Wax, to explore her journey from engineering into the world of beeswax, creativity, and conscious business building.

This conversation dives into what success really feels like, how to protect your time and energy as an entrepreneur, and why slowing down might be the most powerful move you can make.

From “hell yes or no” decision-making to the surprising science of bees and honey, this episode blends business, mindset, and creativity in a way that will leave you thinking differently about how you build your life and work.

Call to Action:

If this episode resonated with you, make sure to:

• Like and subscribe for more conversations like this
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• Drop a comment: What’s a “hell yes” in your life right now?

#PodcastGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #SmallBusinessCanada #OkotoksBusiness #CreativeEntrepreneur #Beekeeping #WomenInBusiness #LocalBusinessSupport#BusinessJourney #YYC

Thank you to Main Street Market for sponsoring this episode and supporting local businesses in our community! home to over 250 local makers across Okotoks, Mahogany, and Strathmore.

📍 Visit: www.mainstreetmarket.ca

Host: Meagan Fettes : @meaganfettes

watch full episode Youtube: @puremediapodcast Guest: Lisa Graham Website: https://yycwax.com/

Instagram: @yycwax

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

When I find myself focused on the to-do list and all the shoulds and all of the things, as we can get caught up in as business owners, everything feels really heavy and we lose sight of why we started it in the first place.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Yeah. I've had that feeling multiple times, especially as a product-based business. We get orders in, you fill your orders, but then there's this feeling in the back of my mind that with all I do, I don't necessarily have a ton of time to focus on the business. And I have all these ideas of new things I want to create. But then the orders come in, you have to get them done, and you have to keep the social media posts going and the newsletters going out. And then it takes away from that space where you can just find that joy again.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Welcome to In the Spotlight, everyone. I'm Megan Fettis, your host for this podcast. And we have an amazing guest. I'm so excited to dive into all the things that she's gonna share with us. But before we get into that, I wanna do a quick shout out to our sponsor. If you haven't noticed already, Main Street Market is filled with some of the most amazing businesses. I am falling in love myself more and more with what they have here. Main Street has three different locations, one here in Okatokes, in Strathmore, and in Mahogany. And you definitely need to check these out. Shop local. These are great quality products. And the stories behind them and the entrepreneurs behind them are even better. So welcome, Lisa. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited that you're here as well. Like we've had some kind of like back and forth chat get before we're getting the show going. And man, we're we're on the same page in a lot of ways. Oh, yeah. We're gonna have a great conversation today. Oh, I know. It's gonna be hard. Like I always say, we're gonna need a part two. So we might have to do that. I keep nudging.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Awesome. So before we get into all the amazing stuff, well, this is amazing as well. We're gonna do some like light, fun questions. Sure. And just let yourself be playful with it. Okay. What is something that people would be surprised to learn about you?

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Ooh, uh, well, lately people have been surprised to know I have two engineering degrees a few years ago. Uh, I think I it's kind of disappeared from the vernacular, my personal vernacular. So that's interesting. People are surprising, surprised to know. Yeah, you have two.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

So, what are the two engineering degrees that you have?

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Um, I have an undergraduate degree in software engineering and a master's in biomedical engineering. Amazing. That is fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah. And I like I'd love to hear more about that because I know like we were chatting and you were saying how like now you're starting to see how everything's kind of coming together, all the things that you've been doing. Yes. So we'll dive into that a little bit more in your story about how that engineering side is coming into this. For sure. What lights you up most right now?

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Oh, goodness. Uh, so many things are lighting me up. Um it's probably a toss-up between the sound healing vibration work and uh learning more about plants. So start I just started the Practical Herbalist Program at Wild Rose College, and I'm so excited about that because I see a lot of the things I have been doing in my life, it's bringing it all together in a very beautiful way. So very excited about both. And I want to bring them both together. Plant uh vibrations as well. I have a really cool musical project. I am in that's in the works. It's in the back of my brain right now. I'm very excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Oh man. I've got so many questions. Like, I'm so excited for what you're about to share with everybody. Um and I love plants. So we're gonna be talking about a lot of different things. Yes. Okay. What's the one thing you say no to lately?

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Oh, probably adding extra things to my schedule. Nice. I'm trying to be better with that. I get very excited about things, doing things, new things, new projects, working with people. So I've been trying to be better about saying no and guarding those boundaries for time so I can have time to enjoy life a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

I love that because it is a very important thing, right? Like I really do believe that we were both designed to create and be intentional and disciplined, but we're also designed to have joy and fun and playfulness. So do you find, and I just gotta ask this because it's been rolling through my brain in all the things that you do, because you seem like a very creative person. Yeah, I like to think so. So you obviously have a lot of fun creating. Oh, yes. Oh, that's cool. And do you find that your creations are out of a space of joy and just curiosity?

SPEAKER_02 5:12

A lot of the time, yeah. Uh, and that's where a lot of this stems. It's uh I love exploring, I love learning new things. So it's acquiring that knowledge and then running with it, playing with it, having fun with it. Nice. And sometimes it gets me in trouble because I have way too many problem projects on the go. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

I can relate. Yeah. I um again, my brain is like rolling with so many things because I feel like we're like so much on the same page. Um, curious, do you know what your human design is?

unknown 5:44

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Oh man, we might have to figure that out because I feel like there's a lot of similarities. You almost seem very much like a manifesting generator, like one that's got a lot of ideas, a lot of projects, a lot of creativity. And that is one of the things that you're meant to do in this world. Yeah. With that design.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Yeah, that was it seems to fit because I can't turn my brain off. Um, one of the things I I really love doing is it's called a 50-minute focus finder. Have you heard of that before? No. Um, it's I learned about it following the I Love Marketing podcast. And one of the hosts, um, he has this 50-minute focus finder. And when my brain gets too much going on inside, you basically take a timer, you set it for 50 minutes, and you sit down, no internet, no music, nothing. You and your piece of paper and a pen, and you just start writing down everything that comes out. Uh everything in your head comes onto the paper. And I've had times I've had so much in my head, the timer goes at 50 minutes and I'm still writing like crazy. Wow. Uh, and then after that, you go through a process where you organize everything and it it lifts a load. I feel physically I feel lighter after I do it. So I love that. Yeah. Coping mechanism uh for many ideas.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Well, and you know, I there's something to be said about pen to paper, right? Like I know that there is a neurological connection, right? Like when we write and we're actually doing that physical movement of writing, it connects us to a different part of our brain and it actually releases another chemical within our bodies, yeah, which is huge. And I don't think enough people are utilizing that anymore. So I love that you brought that up. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah, it's one of my favorite exercises. Anytime I'm feeling overwhelmed or I have too much on the go, 50-minute focus finder. I do it.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Oh my gosh. I'm gonna have to add that into my my way of doing things. I bring, I always joke that I have a notebook with me. So if you see me at a yoga practice, if you see me on the stage, if you see me anywhere, I will have a notebook because I write down everything so that it gets out of my head and onto the paper. And it's just my way, like once I have movement going, once I have like, once I'm in my zone, right? As we normally do, people will talk about being in the shower or driving. Yeah. We have those thoughts. And so I find as soon as we can write them down, then it doesn't take up that space.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Exactly. Yeah. I have on my bedside table I have a a notepad. So at night, when I'm starting to wind down, I write down anything that comes up. Then I can deal with it in the morning and I can have a good sleep.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Yes. Gotta always empty the the vessel, I guess you would write, and start fresh. Yes. Oh, I love it. Okay. What does success feel like for you or not look like?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Ah, it's uh feelings of freedom to have the space to do the things I love to do, I want to do, and having ever not worrying about how what's what needs to be done at the time. So just having that that feeling of freedom, no worries, just enjoy. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

I dig that. I dig that a lot, actually. And and I I want to dive into that a little bit more because it's funny, like one of the things that I've been processing myself in our own journey, right? Like as we as we grow and we evolve, my journey right now has been how focused am I on the to-do list versus how focused am I on the things that bring me joy, the things that are more expansive. Right. And I don't know about you, but when I find myself focused on the to-do list and all the shoulds and all of the things as we can get caught up in as business owners, yeah. Everything feels really heavy. And we lose sight of why we started it in the first place.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yeah. I've had that feeling multiple times, especially uh as a product-based business. We get orders in, you fill your orders, but then there's this feeling in the back of my mind that with all I do, I don't necessarily have a ton of time to focus on the business. And I have all these ideas of new things I want to create. But then the orders come in, you have to get them done and you have to keep the social media posts going and the newsletters going out. And then it takes away from that space where you can just find that joy again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Cause there is a lot of things to do as business owners, right? Like, I mean, and like you say, and then we start creating because that's the way our brains work. And it becomes a lot sometimes. And so um, the thing that I've been really focusing on in my own practice right now is simplification. So, what is it that I can do and what can I take away so that I'm focusing on less and I can do it with greater intention. I can do it with greater joy. Like, and and what would I love? That's been the question I've been asking myself constantly, every single day, almost multiple times a day, I should say. Yeah. To come back to that space.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

Yeah. Yeah. And I've um had um another way I go through making decisions. It's either a hell yes or it's a no.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Man, you should know your human design there, girl. Yeah. I I I laugh about this because this is another part of human design, is talking about what authority you have. And so whether it's a sacral authority, is it a hell yes? Yeah. And if it's not a hell yes, it's a hell no. And so that's wild.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

Yeah, we do that uh for everything. Um, my partner helps me go shopping for clothes. Um so that's always our benchmark. We said if it, if it's a hell yes, it goes, it comes home. If it's not, it stays at the store. Um, and I do the same thing in the business too. Opportunities come up. And if it is a great opportunity, I'm super excited about it. It's a yes. And that's part of kind of restricting and protecting um my space as well, is to have that criteria. You don't have all these little things that you regret saying yes to.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

And I feel like that kind of really goes back into that question of like what does success feel like for you, right? Like leaning into those hell yeses. Because I feel like that would create the freedom for you.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Yeah. And it just makes it so much more fun. It's lighter, it's more fun. Uh, and it's it just feels better. And why shouldn't we feel good? That's why we start businesses in the first place to do what we love.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Well, yeah, absolutely. And I know with your background, you will totally understand this. I I love talking about like the joy vibration versus the obligation vibration. And we don't really realize it, what we are putting out there. But when we are doing something because we have to do it, and there's that obligation behind it, the energy that's infused in it is actually going against what it is that we're trying to do.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

So, not to say that we can't do the hard things, right? But how can we do the hard things with joy? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Okay. I'm like so excited about this conversation. Um, one more into our questions where we're gonna dive in a little bit more and then we're gonna get into the speed round. Okay. All right. If someone listening is feel discon is feeling disconnected or overwhelmed, what's one simple ritual they can start today?

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Oh boy, that's a 50-minute focus fighter. Definitely coming back to that one. Uh, yeah, it's I find that one a lot of times there's just too much happening. And you start to feel that disconnectedness because you're too much in your head. And that's one thing for me, I know I'm in my head a lot. Uh I live in my brain, a very intellectual, uh, very cerebral. So um, in order to get things moving again, uh, I might do a yoga practice that sometimes helps too, but um I find sometimes I can't get the brain to turn off. So the 50-minute focus finder, it clears it out. And then maybe I can go to a sound bath or do a yoga practice, and then the body feels good too. So getting into the body, emptying the minds of things, and then just getting a whole reset. Ooh. I also have a tea ritual. I use it for focus a lot. Um, so if I have a lot of work to do and I'm not, I'm struggling to get into the task, I will do a tea ritual. So I turn the kettle on, I prepare my tea cup, um, put my loose leaf tea in the press, pour the tea or pour the hot water in, and then I sit down, I pour my first cup of tea, and I enjoy a very mindful sip of tea. And that is my trigger that this is the time to come back, focus in on what needs to be done right now. So yeah. I have a whole bunch of tools.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah. Well, and it's it's amazing. Like, even just listening to you share that, I'm like, you could feel that groundedness. Yeah. Cause it does. Like it's something that you've obviously embodied so well, and you have trained yourself to know, okay, this is what we're gonna do and this is how we're gonna do it. And even you talking about it is like, I can feel it.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

Yeah. And I I know that was huge when I was writing my master's thesis and also when I was writing my book. Um it's really hard. Anyone who's written a book, if anybody finds it easy, uh, kudos to them because I did not find it easy at all. Writing the thesis, I thought was hard. And I did start the my B book right after. Oh, wow. Um, and I thought that would be easy since I had already written essentially a book. I thought it would be very easy, but it wasn't, it was not any easier. Uh so coming back to that tea ritual that got me through writing a thesis and a book. Wow. That is really cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

I'm gonna have to try that. I love that. All right. Now we're getting into the speed round. Okay. All right. What's one word your friends would use to describe you? Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Um, can I pick two? Yeah. Uh let's say Renaissance woman.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Ooh. Oh my god. Oh man. Okay, I got like so many questions going on in my brain. One word you'd use to describe this season of your life.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Creative chaos. Let's do again. I'm on a roll with you. What's something you're really proud of that's not business related? These are kind of hard questions.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

It doesn't feel very speedy. Um What am I really proud of? The diversity. People say diversity is the diversity in my life.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Cool. All right. What drains your energy the fastest? Oh, being in big crowds of people. Fair.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

What do you do when you feel most overwhelmed? Hide at home with a book and a nice cup of tea.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

That tea ritual.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

What's your go-to procrastination move? Ooh. Uh, probably finding something new to learn. Learning a new skill. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

And what is your I deserve this guilty pleasure?

SPEAKER_02 17:16

I would say maybe Vietnamese. Or or popcorn. That's also a good one. Popcorn is delicious. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

And I know you'll understand this as well. If I don't if I can share this with you, I learned something with Ayurvedic medicine that um Vietnamese soup, like faux, is one of the best foods because it hits all of the six different tastes. Oh. And it actually helps to satisfy the body more than most foods do.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Oh, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

And it's rich in nutrients. So I love it. Yeah. So there you go. It's a great guilty pleasure. Yes. Oh, man. This is so much fun already. So before we get into like your products and everything like that, I want to know more about like your story, your journey. You went from engineering and now you're into like all things bees and holistic by the sounds of it. Yes. So tell me a little bit more about what that journey looked like for you.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Well, uh, I grew up in rural southern Alberta. So I am a native to this province. And uh, we were in a farming community. So I was exposed to various farming activities throughout my childhood. And as a summer job, I worked with bees for a few summers. Cool. That's how I got introduced to bees. Um, when I finished high school, I came to Calgary to do university. And that's where my two engineering degrees came into play. And I've always been very creative. Uh, we have a lot of creativity in our family, um, doing those traditional handicrafts, the crocheting, um, yeah, canning. My grandma did a lot of canning. Uh learning cross stitches and any kind of crafty thing, that was always what I loved to do. But I also had the science mind as well. So I love the math and the science and the learning and I can kind of see now a little bit more of that Renaissance woman that you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Okay. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Yeah. And uh that's always stayed with me. And music has been a huge part. Uh my mom played by ear. She didn't know how to read music. My grandpa also played by ear. So we had music in the house. There's always music playing, singing in the house. So I gravitated toward that. I started on piano uh and eventually picked up the flute. Uh, and that's my primary instrument now. So uh neat. When I came to university, I wanted to, I was so excited to be in the city where we had opportunity, arts opportunities, um, opportunity to advance my knowledge in science, engineering, all that. So I started taking formal flute lessons in parallel with my engineering studies. So it was always part and parcel of what I did. And I always say crafting, that was kind of my uh when I need a break from studying, do something creative, something with your hands, it it helped. And software engineering, uh, any kind of programming is a very creative thing anyway. So we're getting bits and pieces of that through through what we did. Um, so I was very involved on on campus with our uh we had an engineering music group and engineering studies. Um I uh would do, I had was taking private music lessons as well. And when I finished my undergraduate degree, um, I was in a specialization program that I had to drop because I wanted to learn too many things. Uh and I said when I finished my undergraduate degree, if I'm still interested in the medical side, I will do a master's in biomedical engineering. So I was doing the biomedical specialization in the software program, but I wanted to do more software electives. So I had to drop it. And that's why I went into a master's program. Um, and during that program, we did a lot of exploration into uh the human experience. So I was dealing with people, we were looking at community health programs, and it got me really excited. Um, I used to play sports and I have an ACL injury. So, and being in the middle of nowhere, we didn't have access to physio, so we had to do it at home. It was very self directed. Uh my mom was very helpful with that, making sure I did my exercises. Nice. So I'm very grateful for that. Um, so I've always been interested in how do we improve our medical system to be more inclusive to people in rural and remote communities who don't. Have easy access to physio programs or support programs. Totally. So part of what I was working with is a community health program working with breast cancer patients. And we were seeing, we were testing out could we create some kind of online environment that could replicate at least some of the community feel of this program for people in rural and remote areas. So that's what my thesis was on. And it was a lot of working with people. They were collecting data. So when during that period, I can't remember if it was in my undergraduate or graduate studies, the Women's Resource Center was putting together an awareness campaign for the shooting at Ecole Polytechnic in Quebec. And that someone decided women should not be in engineering. So we went and shot a bunch of female engineering students. And the Women's Resource Center was bringing some awareness around that. And how they were doing that, they I don't know if they were selling them or giving them away, but they were creating beeswax candles. And I said, this is perfect. I'm a female engineering student. I used to work with bees and I love crafting. So I will come to your volunteer session and make candles. I loved it so much that I sourced the materials when I went home, brought those in, and all of a sudden I had way too many candles because I made them all into candles. Yeah, from there I started uh Kijiji ads and I said, okay, who wants to buy candles? And people were requesting the sheets. So I started bringing sheets in, and it was this very casual thing. Uh when my master's research was in the data collection stage, I would send emails out on Monday and wait until the next Monday to email them out again. They said, I don't have enough on my plates. I teach music, I play music, I'm studying. I there's not enough here. So I think I should start a business.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Right? Like, what else would you do? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

Yeah. So I started uh Why Way C beeswax with rolled candles. I made family lip balms for Christmas, and I went to UFC was having a market. I went there. That was my very first market. And I had rolled candles, beeswax sheets, and lip balms to sell. And that was the beginning. I finished my master's degree. Um, I had a job waiting for me in industry and I decided I wanted to give the business a try. So I said, I'll give it five years. We'll see what happens. Five years came and went, and I was still really excited about what I was doing. So I said, okay, we'll do another five. Nice. And yeah, we had our 10th last year was our 10th year celebration. And we turned 11 years old this year. Wow. And it things have just grown and evolved. Um, I got back into the beekeeping, I think the second year of the business. Uh, we were testing out the flow hive. It was, I think it still is the biggest Kickstarter campaign on ever. Really? Um, yeah, and we were one of the founding supporters, which was which is kind of cool. That is very cool. So we we've been through different seasons. Our product line has grown. Um I've added new things in life to complement what I'm doing. Uh, I have a track as well talking about cross-pollinating. Uh bees. Talk about bees too. Um I have a track that uh I recorded my bees in the fields and I recorded my flute over top. So it's like an hour, I think it's an hour, two-minute long meditation type track where we have bees and flute and yeah, all kinds of fun stuff.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Very cool. Well, and I love this um a lot and on a personal level, because we have been talking a lot about bringing bees onto our acreage. Like we've got a large acreage that we we share with my parents, and um, we've been wanting bees mostly because one, they are becoming less and less, right? And so why not do whatever we can to help increase the population? But also because like honey is one of the best foods that we can have. There's so many properties to it. Yeah. And we're still learning more and more about it.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

And so, like on a science side, I'm kind of curious, is that kind of what brought you back into like more of the honey side of things over the beeswax? Because you'd still do a lot of beeswax stuff, but you also diversified your product line into more honey as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Yeah. Um, it's a different perspective uh with the bees. So when I was working as a summer job, we were dealing with hundreds of hives. Oh, wow. And um, we were, it was very impersonal. And I found when I started my own hives, I started with two. And you get to know your bees so much better. Oh, I love that. They have personality. You can pick up on the nuances, you know, when you walk into the yard how the bees are doing that day. Is it going to be a challenging beekeeping day? Are they gonna be easy to work with? You can tell. And you don't get that when you are working with so many hives. So I found I really enjoyed that. Just the connection. I could sit, um, the hives that I have with the flow hive specifically when we do our extraction. Uh, I bring a book and I'll sit out there waiting for the honey to flow out of the hive and read a book or do what do whatever, just sit there and enjoy the bees. Um, so that whole process just to it, it kind of brings you in to that space and you're present with what's happening in the moment. We our society rushes so much and it's so busy to have that pocket of peace is is very special.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

It is, and it's important, right? Like I really I love that you brought that up too, because we do rush through so many things. And I believe as a society, one of the biggest things that we need to learn is how to come back, to slow down and to really tune in to what is actually happening. Um, because then that's where all the magic lives. Yeah. Right. Is in that present moment.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Yeah. And I find the bees, they it they will tell you if if you're not being present or something, they they know. So they they will um you have to be present when you're working. Any kind of livestock you're working with, you have to be present, you have to be aware of what's going on for safety. Also, it enriches the experience. And you just you learn so much. I I don't think it will matter how many years I have worked with the bees. Every year they teach me something new or they reiterate something that I maybe forgot or let slide.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Yeah, they're they're very good teachers.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

Right. Well, and I think that, and I love that you have that awareness and because I think that everything in life is like, especially other living creatures, right? Like everything in this world is a a learning opportunity for us. Yeah. And it's our choice to allow it to be that or to dismiss it. Yeah. Right. And that's where the presence comes in. Yeah. Oh, that's really cool. So when you because you're now diversifying, you're not just doing the product-based stuff, you're doing some service-based stuff too.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Yes. Um, well, since the very beginning, I've always run workshops. Uh, I seem to have this um thing about teaching, I guess. Because I seem to be doing a lot of teaching. Um, so very from the very beginning, I would do rolled candle workshops. And we currently run from September to June weekly workshops. And we have a community event the last Wednesday of the month called Crafts with Company. And that's where we invite people to come into our shop. Um, there's no charge to come in, you just bring whatever project you're working on. We provide the space and we can create, be creative together with whoever shows up. Wow. Um, and yeah, our weekly workshops, they've been really great. Um I've uh diversified in those for sure. We started with just rolled candles, and now we do lip balms and teacups and mason jars. There's a lot of diversity in what we offer. And we do private events, we've done corporate events um downtown. Um, we've done conferences, birthday parties, so many different workshops.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

It's a lot of fun. And that's one of the reasons I put the book together as well to help people. Uh, when I first started, I did not have good resources. I it was very hard to find anything specifically on beeswax. Really? So um, through the workshops and through the book, I'm trying to disseminate this knowledge to help people uh work with beeswax. It's one of the hardest waxes to work with because it has some very unique characteristics. Um when you're working with your soy, your palm, um, coconut wax, they go from plant through a heavy manufacturing process before it can be made into a usable wax. And through that process, we end up creating more consistency in the end product. Beeswax is different because it just goes through filtration. So your region affects your beeswax. Um, the whatever's blooming that year, the weather can affect your beeswax. Really? So there's a lot of variation in the material itself. And I try to bring that into the workshops and the educating we do. Um, so people hopefully get a better understanding of why it's a little more challenging to work with and why you can't just pick a wick and go with it when you're making your candles.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

That's fascinating. I would have never thought about that, but it makes so much sense, right? Because it's such an organic material. Yeah. Right. And they're like the bees would be so affected themselves by all of the environmental factors, what's in bloom, what's more in the air, I guess. Um, my grandmother, I you just made me think about this. My grandmother used to study a lot of like plant medicine and just different things like that. And I know you're talking about Wild Rose College. She did a lot of like work with Terry, who originated it. And one of the things she would always say when we were younger is that like, pay attention to what's in bloom in large amounts each year, because that will go to show what's going on on more of an environmental factor that's contributing to us, that's contributing to nature, because everything we need is all around us.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

And so it's kind of interesting how that correlates to bees. I don't know why I never would have thought, and then what that would do for the wax as well.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Yeah. And then uh my science perspective comes in and I get really nerdy about things. Um I have so many beak facts. You could ask me about bee facts forever. We have a long-standing Instagram tradition on Fridays. We call it Fun Fact Friday. I love it. And I have I'm working toward doing a daily fact, and we are getting very close. I think we're close to 300 unique facts about bees and beekeeping. Cool. Um, and I just I have so much information in my head. Um, most people don't know that Alberta is Canada's biggest honey producing province. Really? Yes. I would have never thought that. Yeah, a lot of people think oil and gas, but we are the biggest honey producer as well.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

That's fascinating. Wow. Okay, I want to know what at least one more fun fact. Oh, what other fun facts can I give you?

SPEAKER_02 34:18

Um honey. Some people know this. I find there's a dichotomy. Some people know it, some people don't. Um, honey, when it is properly ripened, can last indefinitely. So they have uncovered urns of honey from ancient Greece, um, ancient Egypt. It's still edible today. Really? Yes. Yeah, it's got a very high sugar content, so that helps the preservation process. Oh. And they uh they will test those honey, uh, those samples of honey, and figure out based on the pollen that's in there, uh, what plants were around at that time when the the honey dates back to. So it's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 35:04

That is really cool. Oh man, I would totally nerd out on that kind of stuff too. Like this is absolutely fascinating. And I just love what I really love about what you're doing is you're bringing in all of your passions, your interests, everything that you are into your products, your services, everything. It's such a beautiful way that you're doing it. And I just wanted to acknowledge that. Oh, thank you. So before we kind of bring things in, I just wanted to bring an awareness to some of your products that you brought here. Sure. So you've got a raw lilac honey. Does it taste very lilac-y?

SPEAKER_02 35:41

It's very subtle. Um, so the lilac honey, I actually harvest the lilac flowers in the spring when the lilacs are blooming. And we put the fresh blooms in, we fill the jar with fresh blooms, and then we put the honey over top and we let it sit um minimum three to four months. I usually try to make sure I can leave it for six months to a year. Um, so it'll infuse very gently. And also through that process, the flowers crystallize. So the flowers stay in the honey, and you can eat the flowers, they're edible. Really? So you can decorate. They're they kind of go brown, so they're not very appealing visually. Um, but you can put them on cakes and cookies or just eat the little flowers, and then you get your very lightly infused lilac honey as well.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Oh, very cool.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

And then you've got a roasted garlic honey.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Yes. Oh, that would be delicious.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

Yeah. The number one question I get asked about that is why would you ever put that on toast? Why not?

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Would be my question.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

I don't know. Like, my favorite way to use it is to put it on um roasted potatoes. You drizzle it on. It's kind of like the cream barbecue potatoes. Yeah. Um we've used it for oven chicken or salmon on the barbecue, chicken salmon. Ooh. And I will tell a story about my partner. I was testing a batch of it and I left for the weekend and he ate the entire jar when I was gone.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Well, that's a good, like, it's obviously delicious because you couldn't think so. Put it down. And I just like I make buttered, like honey carrots a lot. Oh. And put a lot of garlic. So I'm like, ooh, that would just be so good. Yes. Hmm. I'm gonna have to try that one though. Yeah, right. Well, if you do, let me know. Cause I'm well, and I'm gonna have to pick up some because that sounds amazing. I might have to hide it from my kids though. Um, and you've got this amazing book. We won't go too much into the book because I really want to encourage people to check it out. It's all about the guide to candle crafting, yes, which is amazing. And so if you guys are interested in learning how to like make candles and actually understand the different properties and the different characteristics, definitely check it out. Or um check out your workshops, right? So, how how would people find out about your workshops?

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Uh, well, the workshops we have at um there's a specific place on the website, it's pretty easy to remember. It's yycwax.com slash workshops. Nice. That'll take you directly to the workshops. Um, and we also do private events too. So at any time, people can reach out to us and we have a six-person minimum. So you can bring a few friends together. We can run them at our shop. We also do mobile workshops, uh, lots of options, team building for corporate. Um, we've done quite a few of those. Um, yeah. Very cool.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Man, we got a chat. We're gonna be chatting like for a while after the podcast, I feel like. Um, and then you brought something. Am I some delicious honey? Oh, I'm excited to try it. And we will hope we don't get honey everywhere. I know. I'm gonna put my hair back because I like I was sharing. I get tend to get everything in my hair. We made things sticky already.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

There you go. And this is honey that is from our hives. This is kind of the tail end of what we have before we get our hives started up again this year. Oh my gosh. That is good honey.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

That is so good. I'm biased. I love I love our honey. Well, and I'm a big believer, it's similar to like plants, right? Like I talk to all of my plants, they each have a name, and it's that energetic put in. And I'm gonna guess, just because of a lot of the things that you've shared with me on what you do and who you are, that you probably put a lot of intention into your bees. Yeah.

unknown 39:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Well, I try to create that connection. Yeah, and it shows up in what they produce as well, right? Like love and that care really do make the best ingredients. So that is like this is great honey, you guys.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

So and that honey comes from the northern part of Calgary. Oh, really? Um, I can't remember exactly where this one is, but it's somewhere up there, which hive it came from.

unknown 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

Oh, amazing. Well, Lisa, I have really enjoyed having you on this podcast and having this conversation with you.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

Oh, it was so much fun.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

We could talk for hours. I know. We like I say, we'll have to do a part two. We're gonna have to look at how we do that because there's so much more that I'd love to dive into with you.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

Awesome. Well, definitely check out Lisa's stuff. YYC Bees Wax is the company, and yYcwax.com, right, is the website. So definitely check things out. This is incredible honey. So again, I'm gonna like shout out to Main Street Market. These locations, Oakokes, Strathmore, and Mahogany, are filled with incredible products and businesses. And I will say this right now you have to come in to Main Street Market to get some of this honey. Thanks, everyone.