Karine Gagner, the woman behind fdmt. Passionate and inspiring entrepreneur dedicated full-time mom, it’s a wonder how she manages to do it all in only 24 hours. She juggles many roles while maintaining a noteworthy lifestyle. We had the chance to speak with her to learn more about her different facets. Enter the frantic daily life of this ambitious and endearing woman!

What is your morning routine?

The first thing I do when I wake up at 5:30am is look at my phone to answer questions and line up our supplier teams in China before the end of their workday. Then, coffee, a must! Afterwards, I go for a walk, about 30 minutes, to get some fresh air to wake up my brain. When I come back, I do my workout, stretching and then I do my meditation. I mainly practice mindfulness, deep breathing and awareness of body and mind. I really like morning meditation; it allows me to refocus and visualize the day ahead. I complete my routine with a healthy breakfast before joining the team at the office or at home.

Are you able to forget about work?

For me, if I take a complete break, it generates anxiety. I prefer to know rapidly what happened, to delegate or to give a quick answer to the people in my team. This allows me to calm down and then I can enjoy! I’m not always at work, even though I work a lot.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced while leading fdmt all by yourself?

There are many, I would say learning to trust myself as a woman and as an entrepreneur. I was able to surround myself with consultants and a team of people who have skills and expertise that I don’t have. 

What do you consider to be your greatest strength as an entrepreneur?

I think one of my greatest strengths is to share my emotions and what I feel. When I was younger, I thought it was a weakness. However, I’ve realized over the years that when you’re natural, you dare to say what scares you or when you make a mistake. It makes everything more human. Otherwise, creative and visionary could also be part of my strengths.

What feeds you the most from the evolution of fdmt?

It’s client satisfaction. The first conference I did was in 2004 in Toronto, a three-day conference on autism. I’ll always remember this mom who had twins of about 5 or 6 years old, who had a lot of trouble sleeping. She used the manimo and the weighted blankets that I had suggested to her that evening, back home. Then the next day, she came back to see me, she was smiling and had tears in her eyes. She told me “My sons slept last night”. That has stayed with me all these years. That’s why I get up in the morning to make people happy and well.

What is your biggest challenge as a mother?

I always thought my challenge as a mother was to get my daughter to be independent. I’m very proud of where she’s at with the many diagnoses she has received in her young life. My role is to help her overcome the challenges that life brings. Because in my opinion, life is a series of challenges, and in between, there is a lot of happiness, but it’s often the happiness of having overcome the challenges.

How do you juggle your role as a mother and entrepreneur?

The funny thing is that I decided to go into business thinking that I would have more flexibility and a lot of time for my child. I got the flexibility! My daughter has special needs, she has several meetings with different specialists every week and I was always able to be there for her. I also had a lot of support from my daughter’s father and my mother; she was always extremely present, especially when I was away on business trips. I think it’s really a question of balance and accepting that there are living conditions that are not 9 to 5. Today, I finish at 7pm ok, but it’s possible that tomorrow I’ll take the afternoon off because I need to take my daughter to an event. I’ve always tried to balance it that way.

What inspires you?

I think it’s fun to see people who succeed despite everything, who make it, who are beautiful inside, who are happy and who manage to see the positive side of life, even if it hasn’t always been easy.

Where do you see fdmt in 5 years?

In 5 years, fdmt will be 25 years old. We have always been an innovative company, both in terms of our products, the training we provide to our clients and our internal methods. It has always been at the heart of fdmt, not only to offer products, but to explain how they are used. Why do we do this? With whom? I see us doing even more to promote this side of things, to really take a leadership position in the field of sensory products for children. What I see is our manimo and other products travelling all over the world.

That’s what ends our interview with Karine Gagner. An inspiring woman, isn’t she? Her words give us hope that anything is possible if we put in the necessary effort. For privileged access to her daily life listen to the video below entitled: 24 hours in Karine Gagner’s life, creator of manimo and president of fdmt.

fdmt team

Website : www.fdmt.ca

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