Christine Wolfl | HONEY Events, Daisy Baby Foundation, GLAM AS YOU ARE

In this episode of At Home in Waterloo Region, Cher sits down with Christine Wolfl, a marketing strategist, storyteller, and co-founder of Honey Events and Design and The Daisy Baby Foundation. Christine shares her journey of multi-passionate entrepreneurship, from event planning to fertility advocacy. Listen as she discusses how personal experiences fuel her professional success and her vision for the future of LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and accessibility in family-building. 

In this episode you will hear:

• [02:03] From wedding planning to creating meaningful experiences with Honey Events and Design, Christine shares how she and her partner fill the gap for intentional event planning
• [03:10] Christine discusses how Honey Events designs events that focus on how the event feels, not just how it looks
• [05:56] The story behind Christine's own wedding, showcasing how personal details and guest experience make a lasting impact
• [08:35] Christine shares how the lessons from wedding planning can apply to corporate and nonprofit events
• [10:01] Challenges Christine faced as she transitioned into the event planning world and how her background in marketing and storytelling has helped her navigate the industry
• [13:05] Learn about the annual fundraiser Glam As You Are, an inclusive event created to support the LGBTQIA+ community and raise funds for Grand River Pride and the Daisy Baby Foundation
• [18:25] Christine emphasizes that Glam As You Are is for both the LGBTQIA+ community and allies, creating a space where everyone feels seen and valued
• [23:37] Christine discusses her fertility journey and how it led to the creation of the Daisy Baby Foundation, which aims to make parenthood more accessible for LGBTQIA+ families
• [31:13] Christine highlights the cost of IVF and other fertility treatments and how Daisy Baby Foundation is working to alleviate some of those financial burdens for LGBTQIA+ families
• [40:48] The goal of the Daisy Baby Foundation's grant program to support LGBTQIA+ families with fertility costs, focusing on dignity and accessibility
• [43:45] Christine shares her hopes for growing Honey Events and Design, including expanding to more types of events beyond weddings, such as celebrations of life and charity events
• [47:09] Christine talks about the future of Glam As You Are, including growing the event to more cities and expanding visibility for LGBTQIA+ families
• [48:35] Christine outlines the long-term goals of the Daisy Baby Foundation, from raising awareness to providing financial grants to families in need

Special Offer: Listeners can use the code ATHOME to receive a 25% discount when you purchase two tickets for Glam As You Are.

Connect with Christine:

Instagram: @honeyeventsanddesign @daisybabyfoundation @glamasyouare

Let's Connect:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/at.home.co
Website: www.athomecompany.ca
Email Community: https://athomeco.myflodesk.com/podcast
Contact: hello@athomecompany.ca

Thank you to our Sponsors:

• Amanda Walczyk, Mortgage Agent | Level 2 license at Dominion Lending Centres National Ltd, FSRA #12360
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltboxmortgage_agent
Contact: Amanda@saltboxmortgages.com
519.497.9256

• Den1880
Website: https://www.den1880.co
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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to the At Home in Wirley Region podcast. I'm your host, Cheryl Getz. The purpose of this podcast is to shine a light on what makes this region special: the people. We will hear from inspiring locals and business owners, their stories and their goals. Whether you are born and raised here, are new to the area, or something in between, join us as we get to know who is part of making our home in Waterloo Region so wonderful. Today on the podcast, we have Christine Wilfel, a marketing strategist, storyteller, experienced designer, and co-founder of Honey Events and Design and the Daisy Baby Foundation. After rising to the top 1% of the global freelance marketplace upwork, as an expert vetted strategist with a 97 plus percent success rating and 500 plus clients served, Christine built a career helping brands turn complexity into clear, meaningful strategy. Her work now lives at the intersection of brand, story, and lived experience from building high converting marketing strategies to designing immersive events that feel personal, intentional, and deeply human. Through honey events and design, she creates narrative forward weddings, events, and experiences that move beyond pretty and into feeling memory and connection. Alongside her own fertility journey, Christine co-founded Glam As You Are and the Daisy Baby Foundation to create identity, community, and self-expression while helping create more accessible paths to parenthood for the LGBTQIA plus families. Welcome, Christine.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

So much to unpack. As I'm sure the listener is like, wow. But we love a multi-passionate girly around here because I myself am one as well. And it can like build some insecurities in you because everybody else tells you to like do one thing, right? Yeah. So we love that here. Let's start with honey events and design. So layman's terms, an event planner, right? Yeah, absolutely. And then let's dive into what you feel makes that different and why you started it.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Yeah, absolutely. So my partner Lily and I started honey events and design after our wedding. Uh while we were wedding planning, we realized that there weren't many accessible, like mid-tier, um, cost range, price range planners that offered um really intentional services around design and making your wedding feel like you. It's either like wedding planners or event planners we feel like that um focus on logistics or or really high-end wedding planners that do everything. So we really wanted to offer like this middle-of-the-range um service for people wanting to plan their wedding, wanting to plan events, and also corporate corporations and bl brands wanting to plan events as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Mm-hmm. And you talk a lot about what it what an event feels like rather than just what an event is or what an event looks like. Can you explain how you can evoke feelings from events and how you've done that?

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Definitely. So I would say a lot of clients come and speak with us and they show us their Pinterest board. You know, that's the easiest way to say this is what I want. They see the trend of burgundy and green this year, and they're like, oh, I love that. This is what I want for my day. And great, like I'm happy, we're happy to bring those trends to life for you. But how do you want your day to feel like you? I feel like if your wedding can be anyone's wedding, then is it really worth planning? You know, you want your guests to come and be like, that was so unmistakably them. That's really important to us. So right now we're planning a wedding with a client that is getting married in June, and they're getting married in their backyard. Before their wedding, they're having, they're gonna be serving their guests their first drinks. So when the guests come into the backyard, they're gonna be handing them their drinks. Everyone's gonna be surprised that they're together and they're like fully dressed, ready for the wedding. And then they're after, so the cocktail hour is gonna be first, and then after the cocktail hour is gonna be the ceremony. So that is so them. They didn't want it to be super formal. They didn't want it to go by the rules. They didn't want a first dance, you know, they don't really want the grand entrance. And we feel like couples that choose to work with us really want something that represents them. Um, we've also devised a vibe and vision process. So this process really takes into account everything about their relationship, who they are as individuals, what they want the day to feel like for guests, um, how they want that conveyed through all elements of the day, moving forward from uh ceremony to cocktail hour to the reception to maybe the after party. And so, like, so that's very important to us, and that's kind of how we bring their story into their day.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

I think there is that gap. Like when I think about um my wedding, of course, there's elements that we were thinking like, how can we make this us? Yeah. But I think in order to really make a wedding feel like us, it does take so much mental load and so much brain power. And like you really just want it to be figured out and done. Yeah. Right? Because every time we sway towards like what actually was us, it looked like a ton of work. And then when it's a ton of work, I think we need help. And that comes with a huge price tag on top of a wedding that already is a pretty huge price tag. So I love that you're filling this gap of, you know, not just any wedding planner that can, you know, bring your Pinterest board to life, but also takes a huge mental load off, but it's also not, you know, an inaccessible price.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Yeah, fun fact, it is a lot of work. When we were planning our wedding, um, my partner got laid off from her job. My mom was in the hospital. She broke her hip and she was in the hospital for six months now. Um, so that was, and and you know, like I wanted my mom at the dress appointment. She couldn't come to the dress appointment because she was in the hospital. Like, so, and I was the only person working while we're trying a wedding plan and like make all these little personal details. So, with that emotional load and like everything that people have to do on a day-to-day basis, it was a lot to like think about how to make uh our wedding personal. But that was really a priority to us. Like, we wanted people to really feel the love between us and like see who we are as people when they came to our our day. You know, like weddings are really unique because it might be the only time that all of your favorite people from both sides of like your families and friends are in this in the room at the same time. So that's such a unique experience where like you can really focus on self-expression. And uh, and for us, we focused on self-expression through um, we had a modern take on the 70s meets disco cowgirl um wedding. So when we walked into um the reception part of after dinner, we didn't do a grand entrance before then, but afterwards we did a grand entrance in our new outfit. I had a very sparkly dress on with stars on it and a cowgirl hat, and like we walked into Chappelle Rowan and like Pink Pony Club, you know, like that was really it at the time, like in October 2024. And we we had dog our dogs on sticks, and like everyone was waving them around, you know. Then they were in cowgirl outfits too. So that was just one way that we made it personal, but also like in throughout all of our food choices for cocktail hour, we had like uh food that represented every place that we had traveled so far. So we had like many lobster rolls for our time in California, and we had tacos for our mini tacos for our time in Mexico, and also um pad thai little boxes for because we went to Thailand and got engaged there. So those are just little ways that you can kind of weave your personality into your day, and it makes such a big impact. Like people remember those things. It doesn't need to actually cost a lot to make a difference. Like it could be in the signage, it can be in the little dog head things, you know? Like there's so many ways to make it yours.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah. And for the people who know you, like they're probably picking up on all of those things, like as they're eating the lobster roll or as they see the pad tie and stuff like that. And that's creating it memorable, and that's creating them walking away, like you said, saying this is so them. And you can probably translate that to things that are other than weddings, like corporate events, right? And making a corporate event where people are walking away and be like, This is so this company. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

And we haven't done too many corporate events yet, but that is definitely something that we want to focus on as the company grows. Corporate events, nonprofit events. And we hope that through, you know, glam as you are our annual fundraiser, we raised money last year for Grand River Pride. We're gonna raise money this year for the Daisy Baby Foundation. And we hope that like other nonprofits will see, oh, wow, they did such a good job with their fundraiser. We want them to help us too, because that's something that's so like aligned with our values. And I think that that would be something really rewarding for us to do moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

It's funny, my girlfriend, she uh started an interior design business, and everyone came to her and said, Who made your website? Who made your website? And she goes, I did. And so now she runs like a huge website creation. So it just reminded me um of what you were saying, where like you are doing the events, and all of a sudden you might get people saying, Who does your events? Like who does play them as you are? And you'd be like, we do, and we're also for hire. So I think that's great. Absolutely. Okay, so coming into the event world from the marketing world, what uh what challenges have we had? What uh learning experiences have we had?

SPEAKER_02 10:02

I've I've been interested in events since the beginning of time. I feel, you know, even like when I was a kid, like my mom was planning me these awesome parties, and I wanted to have a hand in it. And then as soon as I hit university, I was in a sorority here at Laurier. Um, I was part of Alpha Phi and I was the director of philanthropy. So I started our first 5K walk-a-thon for women's cardiac care. We raised $10,000 within our first walk-a-thon. So I think it's always something that's come naturally to me. I would say that events is very similar to marketing, like the way that I approach events, at least. Like I'm really passionate about like bringing that for like for brands, for marketing, it's brand storytelling brought to life. Uh, for for events, it's bringing your story to life. So I follow a lot of the same like strategic processes when building an event. Um, not to say that there hasn't been any challenges. I would say breaking into a new industry is anxiety-inducing, you know? We've met a lot of amazing connections and people have been so welcoming. Um, we actually moved up, my partner and I just moved up here from Toronto um last January, and we were part of Cambridge Wedding Week. And um, we walked in, I was so nervous. I was like, should we go to this networking thing? I don't know if I want to be part of this. Like, I don't know anyone. And we're standing at this table, and everyone was like, Who are you? Like, like, like, where are you from? Like, you're like we all know what you're doing. You do yeah, exactly. But but people were so nice, but still, like that doesn't come without being like without it still being daunting, you know, like trying to establish yourself in a community that is so tight-knit. Um, I think definitely comes with its challenges. Like people who live up here, I I went to school up here and then I went back to Toronto. But people who live up here, I feel like have like lived up here and like have grown up up here. Like there's been vendors that are like now business owners and like they've known each other since they've been 15. So it's really that can be a challenge for sure. But we've been fortunate to really grow a community quickly and have that support because I think we are very different than other planning businesses out there because we're so design and story-led.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

It is definitely a tight-knit community in general. And then when you get industry specific, it gets even tighter, right? And um, I would say unsolicited advice is um you know the saying like if you want a village, become be a villager. Yeah. It's that. Yeah. It's that. Like if you want to uh I mean, I I feel like as as a whole, like we are very welcoming. Yeah. As you said. Yeah. Um, but the way to um it like make that explode is to be a villager. Yeah. And then all of a sudden your village is is rock solid. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Okay. So you mentioned um Glam As You Are. Yeah. This is an annual fundraiser.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah. I'm yeah, I'm glad that this turned into Glam As You Are because I was actually gonna say that's all about building community for us, you know. And we really met so many amazing vendors through reaching out to other vendors and and telling them about Glam As You Are and and bringing this idea up to them. And they were so in. So that helped us build community, definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

And so the one that's coming up uh in June 2026. Yes, June 11th. June 11th, 2026.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

Uh is it your first it's not your first, right? Last year we did our first glam as you are. This is gonna be our second.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Okay, so tell me uh what is Glam as you are?

SPEAKER_02 13:47

Yeah, so initially when we moved up here, we were part of Cambridge Wedding Week, and then we did this event for the two SLGBTQIA weddings, and we met Eric and Brian from Grand River Pride. I knew very early on that I wanted to be um involved in the queer community here and see what I could do to help. So we we approached them and we asked, okay, how can we be part of supporting Grand River Pride and helping it grow? Um initially, like I was gonna help with them with PR, but ultimately it turned into us creating an event of our own. Um we had met Nikki from under the Whispering Pines at this same networking event that I was telling you about that we were very scared at. So I was very scared at. So clearly it was like a good opportunity for connection. So met Nikki, she offered us her backyard. Um, I said, she loves the queer community. We're part of the queer community. We said, what can we do together to represent the community? And we held an event at her uh Airbnb venue. Um Glam is you are is different from typical Pride events because we notice that there's a lot of folks that are unre underrepresented, underrepresented in the queer community. For instance, there are people that love what pride stands for, but they don't really feel comfortable maybe at the bar. Like they're maybe they don't drink or they don't love crowds. And so like pride maybe isn't for them. So then they sit out, sit out, but then they support pride online, you know, by sharing and liking and just like doing all the things. But we wanted to create a space where folks felt seen that don't feel typically seen in in in today's Pride events. So this ended up being a little bit more intimate. Uh the capacity was only about 35 people at at the space that we had it in. So we had different time slots where people could come in. Each time slot, well, that's how we kind of like alleviated the issue for capacity as well. But it worked out for people like who who are very crowd anxious and maybe neurodivergent or don't like drinking, want to be in a more intimate space. So it ended up being very successful because it was a different type of pride event. And and I and we marketed it as such. We had a raffle going. We had so many businesses in the community donate to the raffle, which was so exciting. Um, we met lots of other business owners that way. Um, we raised $2,000 for Grand River Pride. Um we had five media hits. CTV Kitchener ended up coming to the event. So as a PR person, that's pretty cool, you know. Like I love that. I I'm obvious I'm very nervous in front of the camera. So, like for me, like I prefer being in back of the camera. And I was like, oh, this is exciting. But wait, now I need to actually talk. But it ended up being awesome. I mean, for our first year, it was such a good case study. So now we've used that and and to leverage like that growth. We've grown since then, and we've leveraged all that success from the first year, and we're building glam as you are this year again.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Okay, so we're doing it at a different venue this year, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:57

Yeah. So because capacity was such a challenge last year, we are doing it at the IV loft at Four Fathers. We've developed a really great relationship with the events team at Four Fathers, and they are giving us their space graciously for free. So that was really amazing. And but, you know, having a larger space does come with its challenges, I would say. We really don't want to lose the essence of what Glamo's UR is. Um, you know, an intimate, like comfortable setting for people who don't traditionally like love pride. So we have thought about ways to really continue making it accessible for folks like that. Um, it's gonna be more of a lively event, but we're gonna have they have a side room off of the main room there where they have weddings, and it's we're gonna make it a sensory lounge so people can pop in there and kind of just like relax, take a beat, and like you know, take a breather. And also we're gonna have sessions going throughout the time in the sensory lounge. So we're gonna have somebody who's doing like a meditation or like a sound healing session, and so that's gonna really help ensure that those people still feel seen as well.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

So paint the picture of like someone, what can someone expect going to glam as you are? Like the name to me sounds like I'm showing up in a ball gun. Like, what's what's the vibe of the event?

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Yeah, so we chose the name Glam As You Are because we wanted people to feel like even though it's like a cocktail hour soiree, they can show up as they are. Um, you know, like some people might feel the most glam in overalls. Some people want might want to wear head-to-toe sparkles. I wore head-to-toes toe sparkles from Fitzroy last year, and I felt really good in that. But some people might just want to be casual. So that's why we really wanted to focus on the as you are. I love that part. Um, but this year also glam as you are is the name. This year we have a theme to it. So the theme is kind of like inspired by White Lotus, and we want it to be like mystery hotel themes. So that's gonna be woven into various aspects of the night. Um, we can't unveil it all yet, but we're gonna be unveiling it over the next month. And so, like, we really want to like have different stations and like interactive elements where if people are coming alone, that they don't ever feel alone. We're we're aiming to have volunteers there as well who are gonna walk around and facilitate conversations. Um, potentially when people enter the space, we're gonna have like conversation cards like as part of like the White Lotus theme to kind of encourage integration and all this stuff. So glam as you are is like the ethos of everything, but like the white lotus vibe is the theme this year. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

And is this event just for people who are in the LGBTQIA plus community?

SPEAKER_02 19:59

No, no, I would say that this is for everyone. And we did actually just do an expo called Womb to Walking to promote our our nonprofit um Daisy Baby Foundation this past weekend. And there are a lot of um straight presenting folks there, you know. And like we said, you know what? Like, even though it's pride, like pride is for everyone. Like we want you to feel welcome. Like if you're an ally, come. Right. So that's really important for us, like to have a space that's safe for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

I think it's great to have both, yeah. Right? I agree. I think it's great to have rooms that are just for the community, and I think it's great to have rooms that are for the community and for allies. I get a lot of flack because I do women-only events. Okay, and I'm just like, until you know what menopause is like, like, like the men are just like, why are you including us? And I'm like, the conversations are different when we feel like we're in a room of you know, people who have walked the same path, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:59

I think that totally makes sense, and I agree with you completely. I think that there are there's time and place for spaces that are solely for the two SLGBTQIA folks, especially because we face so many unique issues that other groups that are not like minorities don't face. Um, but pride like is is is I mean it started off like as a protest and like very like to the to the two SLGBTQ folks, but I think it's for everyone now. Like if you go to the parade, there's like people with their like straight presenting couples with their families there. Like, so it's like I think like for our our event should be for everyone as well. Yeah. That's awesome. As long as it's as long as people are welcoming, you know, not homophobic. We would hope. We would hope we would hope.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

They got lost in this region as well. Like you're lost. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so we that was like a great segue because you also just talked about um the Let me get the name. The Daisy Baby Foundation that you just spoke about at the Womb to Walking show. Great friend of the podcast, the organizer of that. So, what is the Daisy Baby Foundation and why did you start it? Just a quick break to thank the sponsors that make this podcast possible. Amanda Walchuk, also known as Saltbox Mortgage Agent, with a level two license at Dominion Lending Center's National Limited, FISRA 12360. Amanda is a passionate mortgage professional on a mission to educate clients about mortgages. She ensures her clients benefit from trust, confidence, and the security of knowing that they are getting the best mortgage for their needs. If you've got mortgage questions, Amanda's got the answers. Be sure to check the show notes for her contact information. Welcome to Den 1880, Uptown Waterloo's premiere, boutique, co-working, and event space. Step into a workspace that fuels ambition and sparks connection. Den 1880 offers a variety of memberships with everything from hot desks to private offices. They've got the perfect setup for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and growing teams. Think beautifully designed spaces, curated programming, and all the amenities you need, including unlimited coffee. Need to host? Den 1880 sets the stage for meetings, workshops, and unforgettable events. They even have a fully equipped podcast studio in a vault. Come see the benefits of working in a community. Explore the memberships or book a tour at den1880.co today.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

So actually, we just went, my partner Lily and I just went through our fertility journey in the fall. Yeah, we did IVF, and uh as she likes to say, our embryos are in the freezer right now. No way. Yeah, waiting for us to be ready. Do you mind if I ask you questions about it? No, ask me, ask me. I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Okay, so the embryos. Yeah. Are those are those um like they came out of the eggs come out of you? Yes. And then are they fertilized or are the eggs the embryos and they're sitting in a freezer?

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Okay, I'm not like a scientist, so hopefully I'm saying this properly. Like people who are gonna watch this are gonna be like, you're wrong. Only one person, everyone else is gonna be like, we're learning too. Right. Okay. So I think they take the eggs out, yeah, and then I think they fertilize them in some embryo scope system. At least that's what they do at our our clinic Create West. Um, and then they grow, and then they continue to grow. And then usually, like if they don't grow by day seven, they're not viable. So ultimately, the like most successful embryos grow by day five, and then day six and day five have a similar success rate. Day seven is slightly lower, but they're gonna keep them because they are still viable. It's just like that's not something that would be transferred first. Um, yeah, does that answer? Hanging out in the freezer.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Yeah. And then is there like a a date or timeline in mind that like is just it's just open where like we'll call you when when we want them?

SPEAKER_02 25:10

So we have to pay an annual fee, you know, to freeze uh to have them in the freezer, but you can have them frozen indefinitely. Wow. You know? For us, um, we're trying to just enjoy. We just got married at the end of 2024. So we're trying to enjoy our time together a little bit. We have a lot of travel plans for this year, but definitely something that we'd like to do in the near future. Um, I also found out I have Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism when I was going through the fertility journey. So that is a lot to get under control. I mean, before we actually did the egg retrieval, I did so much acupuncture. I took so many supplements. I had to go to a nurse practitioner to get prescribed medication that the doctor wouldn't prescribe me because they it was experimental. But it is known to like there's enough evidence that to show that it is successful for people who have the conditions that I do. So why not take it? Um yeah. So I mean, keeping that in mind, like that there's a lot to like regulate as well before we have our time, but it's coming, it's coming. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

It's it's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Very exciting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah. And will will each of you carry a baby or will one person want to carry a baby?

SPEAKER_02 26:29

So we've talked about this. I'm five years my my partner says that I'm five years her senior.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

You're just fine or wine.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Yeah. So, you know, like I'm gonna probably do the process first. Yeah. But if we do have embryos left over, we have talked about the fact that she will probably potentially use mine as well. So I guess one, like it, yeah, one it's typically called like reciprocal IBF, I think. But I mean, I don't know if it's called that because she might just carry mine, but whatever that's called, that's what we're gonna do potentially.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And then how do they help you figure out the sperm end of things? What are the options?

SPEAKER_02 27:16

So the sperm is actually that's what makes the embryo. Like it's fertilized with the sperm. But it that's a really stressful process on its own.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

You have to literally look through a catalog of like I almost want to look through the catalog just to see what's what's in there.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Of hundreds of like of men. Oh my gosh. I was actually just dreaming about our sperm donor last night. So this is so funny that we're talking about them.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Do you see photos of them?

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yes, you see photos of them from like being a baby to a toddler to an adult. Baby photos. Yeah, so then you can imagine like with their baby photo and your baby photo.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

If I saw my husband's baby photo before letting him fertilize, I would have thought twice. He had a huge head. Why don't you say that?

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Yeah, but I mean, and you can even see like grandparents' um grandparents' health or like how many siblings they have, what their GPA was in school. Like, yeah. And so we chose our sperm donor just based on an instinct. Like we were like going through like so many people, and then we like made spreadsheets kind of very type A, you know? And so, but then ultimately we were like, this is too complicated. Like, we just have to go with our gut. And so we went with our gut, and fun fact, I actually found him on Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

No, we did. Like, are there rules around like what you're allowed to reach out?

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Like, yeah, so we have like an open sperm donor. So when he's when our kid is 18, we he the he or she can reach out to the sperm donor. But like, I was like kind of worried after after we did this whole fertilization and the embryos were created. I'm like, well, what if this guy's a creep? You know, like I should have had the foresight maybe to think about this before, but I just decided yeah, but I decided to stalk him online afterwards. And so it turns out he's very normal. Like he has like but he has like five kids now. So obviously five kids in his home or five kids in the world. Well, five kids in his home. I don't even know how many kids in the world, hopefully, not like too many, you know, but he he looks like a nice family man. He's from the South.

unknown 29:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Oh, he's from he's in America. Yeah, he's in America. So I mean, like, yeah, we're not gonna be bumping into siblings by accident, I hope, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:31

You that the problem with like obviously, like, we would have chosen a Canadian donor first if it was a fit, but based on the criteria we were looking at, there were only like about like 15 donors within that criteria. And we were like, that seems risky. Yeah. Yeah, I would do out of country for sure.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yeah, so yeah, yeah. So they how what okay, so many questions. Um, you found him on Facebook. That means you know his name? Yeah, I know his name. So it's just not anonymous.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Well, it blows my mind, it blows my mind. I did a reverse image search. Nothing is secret today. Oh, that's so true. But I'm not gonna, you know, and there's also like um groups. So, like the sperm clinic, uh, the the clinic is called Zytex, I think, the like one that holds a sperm. And so like you can join that Facebook group, and then people are like, Do you know donor 3571?

SPEAKER_01 30:27

And then, yeah, I've got half of him in my house.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

Like, don't do it. He's crazy. He's two years old and he's driving me crazy. You know, exactly. So, I mean, it's not as anonymous, nothing is as anonymous on the internet as you think anymore. Um, but yeah, so but it's also good to have that community on um on on Facebook of the Facebook group because you can be like, okay, well, you I don't know, share insights about that donor and all that kind of stuff. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Okay, so you went through this process and it inspired you to start the Daisy Baby Foundation.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

What's the Daisy Baby Daisy Baby Foundation helping people with?

SPEAKER_02 31:12

So for us, the Daisy Baby Foundation, oh, by the way, we named it the Daisy Baby Foundation because um our future daughter's gonna be named Daisy. Oh. And Lily is was convinced that if we had a son, it would be named Baby. Okay. But I said, I'm not really comfortable with that. But if we just name the foundation, the Daisy Baby Foundation, it's like a funny nod to it without it like being like our future child's name and then being bullied in school and all that all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

40-year-old man named Baby. That's something I didn't realize. When you're naming kids, you do have to think to yourself, one day they're gonna be 40. Right. And they could be an accountant.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

Right? So it just like they can change their name at 18, but I'm like, okay, well, what about all the childhood trauma that we're gonna create for them in the meantime? That'll come whether his name is Bob or Baby. Okay, but probably more likely is I'm baby. So I think so.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

So yeah, I mean, we went through the fertility journey and we noticed how much more challenging it is for the two SLGPT QIA families and individuals. I would say the system is very heteronormative. Everything from the questions that they ask you to just the process in general, like feels very like it was built for a man and a woman. And even when you fill out the forms, like on the paperwork, it says like, who's your, you know, who's the male partner, who's a female partner. Interesting. Like for a lot of clinics still. And it it, you know, so we and we started to look into grant programs because we the process is very expensive. Like what pe some people don't know is when you get to the top of the list of the covered IVF through OHIP, there's still so many things that aren't covered. Um, you might have Hashimoto's like me and might need to go through acupuncture to get your inflammation down. That's not covered. Medication isn't covered, and medication is mandatory. So you have to take certain injections like before your IVF. It can be anywhere like from like $5,000 to like $15,000. And so we really wanted to create a program, a grant program that makes um makes IVF a bit more accessible for the two SLGBTQIA families. There are only a couple grant programs right now for queer families, and they aren't built by by from the people for the people. You know, so like it I felt like there isn't enough information from within the community. And the community already oftentimes feels very marginalized. So having like a straight person present a grant to the community or like try to understand their issues doesn't always feel like safe to even apply for those programs. So we really wanted to create grants, but also like awareness around the issues that our community faces. So that's really where this came from. And um, and yeah, we're really excited about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

What changes do you want to see in the process that makes it more welcoming or, you know, less just pigeonholed on hetero?

SPEAKER_02 34:32

Well, I think a lot of changes need to be made throughout the whole process. We just went to uh fertility brunch the other day, and there was a trans couple talking about the fact that um they made them go outside the room and just sit there in the gown, in the chair, like with all the other women or all the women. And you know, like for that person that was very uncomfortable experience, like I feel like there needs to be more personalized care, you know, thinking about every case on a case-by-case basis. If this trans person doesn't feel comfortable sitting in a room with women in the clinic when they're clearly a trans person and that really makes them feel othered already right off the bat, then they shouldn't have to do that. Like, just so like I think fertility clinics need to start thinking more about the patient and not just the treating people like as part of the system. I even noticed that when I came in, you know, like a lot of times they make you rush for your appointment, but then you're waiting there for five hours and it's like, okay, well, what if you have to, you know, go to work? Like it's it doesn't matter to them. So I think a lot of things need to change at the system level, but I don't know if this answers the question, but like building awareness, you know, like well, and like starting those conversations from our end, or like, you know, we'll hopefully inspire other people to have more conversations like this. Because a lot of times people in the queer community struggle to find their voice because systems are oppressive. And I clearly don't have a problem having a voice and speaking out and sometimes like being bold. So I'm if I can do that and like help a little bit, then I am happy to do so.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yeah, I wonder if clinics and you know organizations alike need a like a safe place to ask questions. I think sometimes people are scared to ask questions because they're scared they're gonna be offensive. Yeah. And then they don't know who to ask questions to because, in a way, like it's not everybody's responsibility to educate us. Right. You know? Yeah. And so it's like, even if I have questions, who, who do I ask? Because I can't just go to a community member and ask. Totally. It's not their responsibility. Um, so I think it it could be needed to have a little, a little ask me anything session. No, I know, no, like you don't have to hold back, just this is a safe place, ask me anything. No things can be offensive. You know, if it is, I'll explain why that could be offensive, but not actually take offense, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:09

The system is broken as a whole, just like the overall healthcare system, I would say. You know, like I always came to my appointments with a whole list of questions, but they give you about five minutes. And then if you don't ask all those questions in five minutes, oh, we'll try to call you later after the day's done, you know, and it it doesn't, they don't get to it. So, but I did wanna like, I wanted to like touch on something that like I wrote down because I want to make sure that I get this right. Yeah. Um, I think that there was like a question that we wanted to discuss about, and hopefully, like we're not gonna discuss it. If so, like maybe I jumped the gun, but what do people not realize about the fertility journey, especially for the two S LGBTQIA families? And sometimes I'm a little nervous talking, so I don't remember. So I wanted to say, I think what people don't always realize is the fertility system is still very heteronormative, like I mentioned. A lot of the language, paperwork, clinic processes, and assumptions are built around a traditional idea of family, a woman, husband, and one standard path to pregnancy. So for families like us, there can be a constant feeling of having to explain yourself before you even begin. There are systematic barriers, financial barriers, medical barriers, legal barriers, and emotional barriers. It's not just the cost of treatment, it can be donor sperm, legal agreements, counseling, medication, time, travel, time off work, trying to find providers who actually understand your family structure. And for trans folk, the barriers can be even deeper. A lot of the systems don't properly recognize or support trans people in fertility care, whether that's through intake forms, language, assumptions about bodies and parenthood, or access to affirming providers. So even something as simple as being asked where you're where is your husband can be really painful for lesbians, it reminds you of the that the system was not built with you in mind. So when we talk about Daisy Baby, it's not only about helping with fertility costs, it's about dignity, access, visibility, and making families in waiting feel less alone.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

I love that. I think what you said that like really struck me is you feel like you need to explain yourself before anything even begins. Right. And I'm just like, never once had I had to explain myself. Right. Right? Like I just show up and like I'm accepted like as I am, and I don't need to say a story, I don't need to explain my situation or my partner. You know what I mean? It's it's like I guess I'm the default, which is a privilege in a way. Like the world was built for me, you know? Yeah. So I think that's huge because these appointments aren't easy for anybody. Yeah. But then you add the extra layer of A, you need to explain yourself. And so then you feel like you're taking time away from an appointment that already feels a little anxious.

SPEAKER_02 39:52

Totally.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

And then on top of that, you don't know how your explanation is being received.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Or judged or not judged.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

So it's adding these two extra heavy layers to a process that's already like not the easiest process for anybody.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Yeah, and for straight or heteronormative couples, like they often go to these clinics because they have infertility, but that might not always be the case for queer families or individuals. It could be an issue with access. Like, we don't have like my partner and I don't have sperm, you know. So it's like we need a a helping hand at the clinic. So like sometimes that's not even acknowledged by them, and that can be frustrating in itself as well.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

Okay, so I assume you are raising funds as part of the Daisy Baby Foundation. What are we gonna use those funds towards?

SPEAKER_02 40:48

So this year, our goal, and this might be a lofty goal for the first year, but like we really want to aim high. And I think if we connect with the right people, we can make it happen. Our goal this year is to donate two $5,000 grants to two SLGBT QIA families in waiting. And the thing about our grant program is we don't have, we're not like um, we're not founded by maybe a doctor. Like a lot of the other foundations are founded by a doctor. There's like a very um medical forward team on the board of directors. So their questionnaires ask a lot of personal questions as well that we know that two SLGBTQIA families or individuals might not be comfortable with. They ask questions about like they're gender assigned at birth, or you know, like what is their medical issue? Why do they need this funding from a medical perspective? We've really devised a grant program so far that the questionnaires are not so invasive because we want people to feel comfortable answering the question. Ultimately, like that's really important to us. And so yeah, we're trying to give two $5,000 grants for families or individuals, single parents, you know, like who want to start a family.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

And so the people who are going to, you know, if there's multiple lots of applications, there's only two, are you going to do it as a lottery, or do are there, you know, certain candidates that you feel like are prime candidates for these grants?

SPEAKER_02 42:18

So we're probably gonna end up giving away these grants at the end of the year. And we're just sorting out all of the details now with our we're with our board of directors. We have a very small board right now, and we're continuing to grow our board. So if anyone is listening to this and wants to potentially join, like please reach out to us. Like we're very interested in having really good representation. Um, so I would say we're that's still kind of in the works. Um, I do know that we're gonna have a questionnaire and then people who make it past the first round, we're gonna have asked them to create some videos. How we go from there is still TBD. Yeah, yeah. We just started this this year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

But your mission is to make it, I guess, like maybe less intimidating or less to do with medical and just more to do with like their desire to have a family. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

And you know, a lot of these other grant programs as well, you have to like use it only towards IVF. You can't use it towards the medication. So for me, that's like, well, the medication is a huge chunk of the cost. So we want to make it like so you can use it towards many different things. And and they and and yeah, so I love that.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

Love it. Let's talk about what you're most excited for over the next one to five years for each venture. Yeah. Okay. So where do you see honey in the next couple of years? What do you want to do with that?

SPEAKER_02 43:45

So we would love to grow beyond weddings. I would say we love doing weddings, but we would love to be more to do more different kinds of events as well. I joked with Lily the other day to sit and said, Well, why don't we just become the life and death specialist? Like, you know, because we just uh actually took on our first celebration of life. Wow. And um this this woman, her dad passed away, and she really wants to make it custom to him. So she found our website. Um I guess I'm we're doing good SEO, so I'm happy with that. You know, she found our website and she said we really resonated with her because she wants to have every touch point kind of like a representation of who he is. It's gonna kind of be Monty Python inspired. So he had like a quirky satirical sense of humor. So she wants to have it like that. And we're so happy to be part of events like that as well. I would say that that's like a huge honor to be able to like do a send-off for somebody. I mean, obviously being part of somebody's wedding day is also an honor, and that's something that I'm really excited about continuing. But I would love to do more celebrations of life as well, more charity initiatives, more brand events, especially working with companies, because I feel like my marketing and PR background is a huge asset to working with businesses as well and helping them create really cool events as we talked about earlier. So I think that that's something that we're really excited about with Honey. Um, but also we've integrated a um with every Honey client that we take on, we're gonna give some money to the Daisy Baby Foundation. So we we've really integrated like a giving back feeling into the business as well. And it really goes along with the intentionality that we hope to bring to everything that we do. So the more clients that we bring on, the more money we can raise for Daisy Baby. And so it kind of goes together.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

I definitely see um a need for this celebration of life in a different way. Absolutely. I think, you know, maybe as the millennials lose their lose their parents, and we really don't want to go to the same funeral home or the same depressing thing. Yeah. Celebration of life, even the language we're using around it is like changing. And so I'm hoping the actual process of it also changes.

SPEAKER_02 46:17

It's the same about like going to a wedding, like, you know, sometimes wedding season comes on and uh comes around. And if you have a lot of friends like around the same age, like you might have like five to ten weddings a year, and the people are like, Oh, I don't want to go to this wedding this weekend, you know. Like, we don't want people to feel like that about the weddings because they're very intentional, the ones that we plan and like celebrations of life, like how amazing would it be if like people aren't aren't dreading it as much? Like it's never gonna be a happy instance, but we want people to feel like like I don't know, honored to be there as well, like to be part and like really like feel that person's life and the story and the legacy that they've left, like through the send-off.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

So yeah, it might not be happy, but it can be beautiful. Exactly. I think that's that's a great goal. Okay. Glam as you are over the next few years.

SPEAKER_02 47:08

Yeah. Well, so we've already grown so much, which is amazing. You know, we only started Honey last January, January 2025, and now we're already having glam as you are at a larger venue, and we're already on the radar of potential sponsors and business owners that donate every year. Um, ultimately, I think that we would love to have it be even bigger. Um, if it's gonna be supporting the Daisy Baby Foundation, we would really like to have like queer influencers come and speak about their story of like starting a family because that will help raise visibility towards the event, help raise money for Daisy Baby Foundation. I think that we'd also love to have the event at different cities. Like, I mean, obviously it was created here. This is our home now. Like, I would love for it to continue here, but maybe even bringing it to Toronto. Like, we we need to expand it in a way that's gonna help support the organization and the cause in the best, like in the best way possible where there's gonna be people who are gonna attend it. So we'll continue looking into like different cities as well that we can bring it to. But ultimately, also with Glam is UR, we just want to make sure that our focus is on keeping it a space that is safe and inclusive and accessible for the people that need it. So even as we grow, that is gonna be our focus.

SPEAKER_01 48:28

I love that. And then the focus for Daisy Baby over the next few years and the goals. Grants, grants, grants.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Like we want to give all the money away, but not only that, you know, like I mean, oh, okay, first of all, with that, like how rewarding would it be to see that like we really were like a part in helping them build that family and then them, I don't know, coming back to us and showing us their family afterwards. Like, what could be more rewarding than that, in my opinion? But we really just want to also create awareness of these issues, as we've mentioned. I mean, there are so many barriers facing the queer community. So, you know, that those are our main priorities. Just really like having more conversations with the people that need to hear it, making the community feel supported and feel less alone on the journey and and giving money to people that need it.

SPEAKER_01 49:24

I love it. What a beautiful thing to do. And you're right, like that would bring so much joy and fulfillment, like for the rest of your life. Yeah. You know, you helped a helped a human and helped their parents, you know, make it a little lighter and easier in a challenging time.

SPEAKER_02 49:39

I will say with marketing, you know, for a long time I was working with clients out of alignment. And so the the key element that like brings all these um these companies that we've created together is that they really feel aligned with my values. And I think I also like made myself sick and like had got this autoimmune disorder by like doing all these things out of alignment. Maybe not fully, you know, but I'm sure that was a piece of the pie. So yeah, um, all of these companies are so in alignment with my values now, and it feels exciting to see where it's all going.

SPEAKER_01 50:13

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you have a special for our listeners for uh glam as you are, right? Yes. So they can use code at home at h o M E, and they will get if we buy two tickets, you get 25% off the whole purchase. Yeah, off each ticket. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

Yeah, and I will say just quickly, like glam as you are, there's gonna be so many fun things there. There's gonna be a DJ, there's the sensory room, we're gonna have a makeup bar, we're gonna have a charm station, we're gonna have a glitter artist, like and potentially and photographers as well, where there's a photo backdrop and you can get your photos taken. So there's all kinds of fun things that maybe aren't at necessarily like, well, I mean, that are special to our event at least. So yeah, we're very excited about it, and it's a lot of fun and it goes towards a good cause. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Daisy Baby Foundation. Every vendor who's gonna be at Glam is you are is volunteering, including us. We're not making money off of this, it's fully going towards the cause. It's just a passion project of ours. And so we hope that the community will come and show up and have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 51:26

That's so much fun. We have in we're in our last minutes. I want to like open the mic for you. I want to make sure that you have said everything that you want to say about any of these topics whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 51:40

Oh my gosh, I feel like we summarized it. Like I feel good. Yeah, I feel good. I had such a fun time talking to you. It made me feel very comfortable. I am not a public speaker, and I've done my I've done my best. So I feel like I've left it all on the table.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing ventures and how you're changing people's lives. Thank you. We are lucky to have you in Waterloo Region. Aw, thank you. Thank you for tuning in to the At Home in Waterloo Region podcast. It's been a pleasure sharing another incredible story with you. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. It helps us reach even more people who love this community as much as we do. To stay up to date on new episodes and everything Waterloo Region, from the housing market to community events, follow at HomeCo. on Instagram and join our email newsletter community, both linked in the show notes. Until next time, take care of each other and let's keep celebrating the stories that make this region home.