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In Focus | Alison Ruks and Kari Wright of The Sleeping Child

In Focus is our gift to the community. A way for us to help show our recognition for the people, businesses and organizations that help make our city great. The team at KelownaNow.com is passionate about this community and the people that make it amazing. We want to show our friends, neighbours, family and colleagues that we notice them and the fabulous things that they do.

What are your names?
Alison Ruks and Kari Wright

What do you always find yourself saying?
Alison: I’m always saying ‘thank you, I appreciate you so much.’ Kari is probably sick of my gratitude… and my family probably is, too. As I get older, I just appreciate the presence and efforts of other people in my life that I just can’t tell them enough.
Kari: “I wish I had more time.” Not because I want to work all the time, but because I want to be present as life passes me by. I feel like The Sleeping Child is an extension of myself, so it definitely does not feel like work, which helps.

If you could spend one whole day with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select and why?
Alison: I would have to say Ellen DeGeneres. Not only is she absolutely hilarious, but she is so generous and full of gratitude. Generosity and gratitude is right up my alley and I would love to talk with her about her passions and motivations for living the life she lives.
Kari: Honestly - my husband, Sandy. Even though I see him every day, he is my best friend and I love spending time with him. I would like for both of us to turn off our constantly churning brains and simple enjoy the moment.

If you could spend a day with any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
Alison: For this one, I’d have to say my paternal grandmother, Emma Ruks. She passed away when I was in my early 20’s and I look back and wholeheartedly wish I would have spent so much more time with her. She had the most amazing stories and was one of the wisest women that I have ever met. I miss her so very much and would do absolutely anything to have one more day with her.
Kari: I love medieval literature and took as many courses on this subject as possible when in university. Hanging out with King Arthur and his court would be fun, especially if it were as depicted in Mark Twain’s hilarious “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” I’m such an old literature geek that I have visited, like, a gazillion castles in England so I can visualize the stories.

Who inspires you?
Alison: Dr. Terry Wahls. She was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and was confined to a wheelchair. She studied her buns off to find a way to reverse her disease… and she did. Within mere months after designing her nutrition based treatment regime, she was up and walking. She has continued to improve and returned to full health less than a year after starting this journey. Her story is so amazing and so inspiring. It really motivates people to dig deeper to understand your own body and why it might not be acting the way you want it to act.
Kari: Instead of being inspired by any one particular person, I feel inspired for all types of reasons by all types of people. I am especially blown away by single parents since becoming a parent myself. Ladies and gentlemen of the single-parent realm: hands down, you inspire me.

What are three things on your bucket list?
Alison: Meditate on a white sand beach somewhere in the Caribbean, take my daughter to a third world country and provide humanitarian aid together, make a massive donation to my favourite university to help fund a specific study on autoimmune disorders.
Kari: Warm water surfing. I’ve only been surfing in the cold, cold waters of South-West England and Vancouver Island, sailing the gentle seas with my family, live in Norway to experience their social system and the long days and nights of the seasons.

If you had an enormous yacht, what would you name it?
Alison: "We Be Chillin” Ahhh… I can see it now.
Kari: “Go 4 It” When I was young, my Aunt Nancy bought our family’s first motor boat and named it “Go 4 It.” I would love to carry on the name since that boat brought us kid’s endless summer fun.

If you could foresee a single day of your future in its entirety, what date would you select?
Alison: What Kari said…
Kari: I would not want to see one single day. I believe that every itty bitty choice we make creates a new path and I would not want to influence life in any way other than simply living it.

What are you passionate about?
Alison: Healthy family life! Why? Because I experienced postpartum depression that just throttled my physical, mental and emotional health. My family life really suffered while I was going through this. When I started sleeping well again, my house started filling with love and laughter once again. I decided to go into the family sleep industry because sleep is what really catapulted me out of the depression that I was in. I want to be there for new mothers who are going through the same thing so that they don’t have to suffer like I did.
Kari: My relationships. One day I decided that I could no longer live in the thoughts of what I “didn’t do” and I had to focus on this day forward. It’s never too late to be appreciative, kind, and loving. Never.

What has been your favourite day of your life, up to this point?
Alison: My favourite day… Hmmm… This would be the birth of my daughter. My labour went very sideways and it resulted in an emergency C-section. When my daughter emerged - there was the most amazing moment between my husband and I where it was like time stood still and all was silent. We finally saw the tiny little human that we created and who lived in my belly for over nine months. She gave a healthy scream so we knew she was alive. It was so surreal seeing a person experience the world for the first time. At that very moment, we connected at a whole new level and formed an even deeper bond than we had before. It was amazing… I may be tearing up right now just thinking of it.
Kari: Am I allowed to be this sappy? Honestly, it was the moment that I met my husband. I don’t know what it is about him, but he brings out the best person that I know I am. My life changed when I met him and everything since has been icing on my (gluten-free) cake!

What has been your proudest accomplishment?
Alison: Wow… What Kari said….
Kari: Letting go and moving forward.

Where is your favourite place to dine in Kelowna? What do you like about it?
Alison: At Kari’s house. Kari, you should cook for me more often.
Kari: If you had asked me when I first moved here three years ago, it would have been such a short list. But, in the past year, so many truly amazing restaurants have opened. I am blown away from our “foodie” explosion! I live downtown and have immediate access to the incredible restaurants here. And, because my little lady sleeps so well, my husband and I get to go and enjoy them!

What is your favourite activity or event in Kelowna? Why?
Alison: I love, love, LOVE the Canada Day Fireworks! I described it in detail later in the list of questions.
Kari: People are going to roll their eyes at me for this, but Center of Gravity. HA! Not because I am an attendee or a reveller, but because I LOVE people watching! Sandy and I turn off the lights, sit on our balcony, and sip some amazing local wine while listening and watching the “young folk” strutting their stuff, laughing, and enjoying themselves. We’ve all been there, and I think it’s great that all these people get to dance the night away outdoors with their friends! If people are going to party, it may as well be in the gorgeous Okanagan outdoors!

What is your name of your business/organization?
The Sleeping Child

What does your business/organization do?
We help families get sleep again by providing successful sleep solutions for babies, infants, toddlers and children. We offer one-on-one consultations, workshops, and webinars. We invite parents to email their sleep-related questions to info@thesleepingchild.com. We will pick one or two questions to answer in our column.

Where can people find your business/organization online?
www.thesleepingchild.com

Where can people find you on Facebook?
The Sleeping Child

What is your mission?
We provide hope and empowerment for families through support and guidance towards positive family experiences. At the heart of The Sleeping Child is the concept that being prepared and having a plan results in freedom and confidence throughout parenthood.

If you could achieve one thing within your field, what would it be?
For new (and well-seasoned) parents to truly embrace the importance of sleep on their physical, mental and emotional health. Sleeplessness is not a ‘right of parenthood’. You should never ‘get used to it’. Sleep is right up there in importance next to air, water, food, and shelter. You need it to survive.

Where do you want your business/organization to be in five years?
We have big plans! We want to be the most credible source for child sleep consulting in North America. We are working towards employing a researcher to compile a mass library of peer reviewed, scientific evidence on child sleep so that we can continually provide our clients with the most trustworthy, relevant, and up-to-date sleep consulting services. It’s exciting stuff.

Who do you consider to be a forerunner within your field?
Us! We are mothers who have faced the challenges of child sleep issues, who have over 30 years of combined family health and education experience, and who are dedicated to helping our clients develop positive family experiences. We have a deep passion to overhaul the sleep consulting industry, and we are well on our way! We want families to confidently reach their sleep goals as quickly and easily as possible, so we developed a consulting platform for our clients so they can ditch the existing, boring, and long-winded sleep resources. With our platform, clients can quickly and easily embrace our straight-forward and empowering sleep education. We want our clients to spend time focusing on what’s important – their family. You should see all of the cool things we are doing. We have an exciting product scheduled to roll-out in November that will have families all over the globe jumping for joy…. and into their beds to get some much needed sleep.

What three qualities do you feel that your business/organization exemplifies?
Hope
Empowerment
Support

What would you like to say to your employees/volunteers?
For us, it is our “back-of-house” website and marketing development teams! We would say (and have said, many times) “thank you for believing in our mission and for helping us live our dreams. You have been an integral part of the process of helping our company take root and grow.”

How does your business/organization impact the community?
Our business positively affects community health and well-being. Sleep deprivation for children can have an effect on their behaviour and development. In parents, it can be a mitigating factor to postpartum depression and can wreak havoc on the family relationship. We work with families to develop a sleep plan, teach them how to implement the strategies, and support them during the process. When families work with us, they will not only solve their current sleep issues, but they will also gain all of the tools they need to manage almost every sleep situation throughout the childhood years.

What is the best part of operating in our city?
Kelowna as a whole encompasses community well-being - and that perfectly aligns with The Sleeping Child’s mission. Those we have worked with have been exceptionally supportive of our mission. We are so happy to be based here, even though we offer our services globally.

What has been your proudest accomplishment?
The testimonials that we get from our clients. They are heart-warming, emotionally moving, and incredibly motivating. “A true life and marriage saver.” “Our daughter is a happier baby and we are better parents with regular sleep.” “Life changing for the whole family.” Knowing that our services are the reason for these statements fires up our passion to empower healthy families through the gift of good sleep. It makes every day so much more meaningful knowing that we are truly making such a difference in people’s lives.

If you were trapped in an elevator with several wealthy investors from any field, which field would you want them to be experts in? What would say to them/talk about?
Family health! When there is a child who does not sleep, it affects the entire family. Mom is primarily the ‘go-to parent’ and is often the one who has to wake up multiple times a night to soothe a child who has not learned to sleep well, and Dad often feels hopeless because child relies so much on Mom. It’s lose-lose-lose for everyone involved. We want to tell these savvy investors that we have the best system for teaching families how to instill healthy sleep skills in children thereby eliminating sleep deprivation in families… and that they really should call us to learn more. Oh yes... we would also tell them to like us on Facebook to read our fun stories!

What other businesses/organizations in our city would you recommend to others?
Third Space and Malachite Midwives! Third Space has the best coffee shop where we go to drink java and foster our most brilliant of ideas. The icing on the cake - or should we say, the foam on the latte - is that they also offer amazing services that include professional development (shout out to Ron Schlitt), life guidance and spiritual exploration. Third Space is right up our alley, we love it and recommend it to everyone. Malachite Midwives is the most supportive group of caring women who guide families through the journey of pregnancy and the dawn of motherhood. They are so much more than someone who delivers your baby. They have a phenomenal support network for pregnant, new, and seasoned mothers. We have so much love for these ladies. They were like our little ‘village’ during our own introduction to pregnancy and motherhood.

What is your favourite event in our city?
The Canada Day fireworks. The air is beautifully warm and is fragrant with local flowers and fruits. Ah, we can smell it now. It is an aroma that is known only to the Okanagan. It feels like the entire city gathers together in the heart of Kelowna to experience the magical lights and a moment of national pride. It’s a great feeling of unity that happens in one of the most gorgeous places in Canada. We love it.

What do you think makes our city great?
The accessibility of four season living! Lakes for swimming in every direction you look, mountains for snow sports in less than an hour’s drive, and golf courses and wineries within a stone’s throw of nearly every household (ohhh the wines, a parent’s best friend). The natural beauty here is bar none.

My nomination for an In Focus feature is:
Ron Schlitt of The Stronger Group. We found Ron through Third Space and he has empowered us to realize and develop our true potential. He is amazing! Whether it’s for business or personal development - do yourself a favour and call him.

We encourage you to leave your comments and words of support below, and submit your own nomination by clicking HERE. You are also welcome to submit a form of your own by clicking HERE. Thank you, Kelowna!



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