Tag Archives: fertility

Producing the Fertility Planit Show

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Introducing The Fertility Planit ShowI knew it would happen, but I didn’t anticipate all that I’d learn from it.

Long story short: stay as loose and flexible as possible when putting together a large event for the public, but do be resolute and don’t let anyone shake your vision. You’ll need to be stronger, much stronger, than you think to bring the vision to life.

The Fertility Planit Show has now confirmed about 30 speakers. And not just any speakers — but world class thought leaders like Dr. Mark Surrey, Dr. Richard Marrs, Ken Cook, Dr. Paul Turek, Dr. Daoshing Ni and Dr. Prudence Hall. People whom many of us would travel a great distance to see and hear as individuals, let alone the whole group in one place.

There are a million different ways we could have put our content programs together, and other excellent speakers we could have invited. But we can only do one first year show, and I need to stick to the vision: bringing information, support and inspiration to the widest possible audience who are looking at all options for creating families.

Warmest Wishes,

Karin's Signature

Karin

Founder/CEO Fertility Planit

Thank You, Khloe Kardashian

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@xtralifecoach Tweet

I am so proud of Khloe Kardashian for sharing her quest with us about creating her family. Her recent TV episode sparked an intense volume of dialogue and debate across social media, and we found ourselves in the middle of it.

Khloe Kardashian Odom and Lamar Odom

Khloe Kardashian Odom and Lamar Odom arrive at the Kardashian Kollection Handbag launch on November 2, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. Credit: Don Arnold/WireImage.com via USmagazine.com

The above tweet from @POFAdvocate hit me in the gut. Was I doing something wrong by reaching out to Khloe? Wait a minute — she’s just shared her struggle with infertility with an international audience of millions of viewers — surely she won’t mind if I ask her to join us at our show in LA for a conversation about her struggle, in front of an audience that is entirely sympathetic?

Throughout my struggle to conceive, I felt ashamed, closeted and isolated. At the time, the topic of infertility for me was something that was reserved for hush hush conversations on social networks where I’d use an anonymous username. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears when I saw Khloe give her testimony about dealing with fertility challenges. Is this how far we’ve come in just a few years?

For Khloe to share this with the world is a major milestone. We want her to know what a huge, positive impact she has already had with people everywhere who are trying to conceive — she’s shown us that we can talk about it openly, across mainstream channels, and that we need to get support.

Her decision speaks to the commitment Fertility Planit has made — to open up the conversation around fertility and family building with a global, mainstream audience. To do that, we need role models like Khloe to join us. We hope you will see her at the Fertility Planit Show in January.

Warmest Wishes,

Karin's Signature

Karin

Founder/CEO Fertility Planit

Yes, This Show Is Really Happening

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I think this tweet from @TheWombWarrior is about the biggest confidence booster we’ve experienced so far:

TheWombWarrior Tweet

For starters: thank you @TheWombWarrior! Next reaction: OMG! Yes, this show is really happening.

We can hardly believe it ourselves. My Fertility Planit team and I are as excited as you are, though totally bleary eyed from working around the clock in a way that can only be fueled by passion for a personal mission. What started off as a vision over a cup of herbal tea in San Francisco, a wishful idea of getting some of the world’s most interesting and inspiring experts and thought leaders together for a large consumer fertility experience, is now a reality from which there is no turning back.

As a new single mother, I spend much of my time trying to stop my 17-month old son, Aidan, from turning on the oven and putting his head in it. That’s on top of a demanding, full-time job with a broadcasting corporation. And yet I could not turn away from this vision. Week by week, I found myself turning into the Founder of the new start-up Fertility Planit, and discovering what it means to be fueled by my personal mission, which is to help make the path lighter for others as they explore all options for creating families.

For anyone who is considering launching a new start-up business, on top of taking care of existing responsibilities as a parent or aspiring parent, for what it’s worth, here are my Top 5 Tips:

    • Aim High.If you’re going to follow your personal mission then you owe it to yourself to dream big. What is the product, service or brand that you know is missing and is desperately needed, that you know you have it in you to produce? Imagine the end result. What will that feel like for you, and for the people who will benefit? How is your startup going to change the world and make the lives of your loved ones filled with more happiness?

 

    • Forget About Sleep.Everyone says not to expect much sleep when you become a new parent. The same can be said of being a new start-up entrepreneur on top of being a new parent, except take away the word “much” and replace it with “almost no.” Make sure your mission is about something so big and so important to you, that visualizing the end result inspires you to forget about sleep.

 

    • Put It Out There.Once your idea and vision capture you, muster up the courage to put it out there. Let it be known what you want to create, and that you will need help, and probably lots of it. With Fertility Planit, to my amazement, people around me responded immediately and said they wanted to be part of it. Suddenly plans were in motion.

 

    • Surround Yourself With a Like-Minded Team. In my enthusiasm to get going, I joined up with almost the first people who showed up and seemed smart and provided impressive credentials. Turns out that isn’t enough. Through much trial and error, I discovered that the team who can make something great happen together are a group of people who share the same standards, values and personal mission.

 

  • Get Ready To Roll Up Your Shirt Sleeves If You Want It To Be Great. Ask yourself how much you really want your startup to be great. Give yourself an honest answer. Is your passion for creating this business so strong, that you’re willing to prioritize it over all other personal interests except your children? And are you willing to work harder on bringing this idea to fruition than on anything you’ve ever worked on besides optimizing your fertility? If the answer is anything but YES! then relax and enjoy your precious time with family and friends. That’s what I miss the most and am constantly yearning for.

 

For those of you who’ve started a new business or are thinking about it, and are parents or aspiring parents, I’d love to hear about your experiences and get your top tips.

Warmly,

Karin's Signature

Karin
Founder/CEO, Fertility Planit

How Fertility Planit Was Born

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To this day I still can’t quite believe it. I’m a Mom! But I’m also Infertile.

The experience of trying to get pregnant and create a family was so challenging on every level, that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shrug the mind-set of someone aspiring to be a parent. The best thing about it is that it fuels my determination to raise awareness and help make the path to becoming a parent lighter for others.

After years of failed pregnancies with a boyfriend, subsequent rounds of IVF and IUI on my own, 15 trips to Denmark for infertility treatments (I was living in the UK at the time), accompanied by on-going drug injections, financial planning, sleepless nights and emotional spiraling into self-blame and shame, I am indeed a mother.

The moment everything turned around for me, was also the moment in which I was in told in very clear terms by my reproductive endocrinologist that I would NEVER conceive. He also reminded me that adoption for a single woman was nearly impossible, and that surrogacy and egg donation were extremely expensive. He suggested I let go and move on.

It was then that I finally understood what it was all about. What I really wanted was to have a child, to create a family, to become a mother. I realized that if I really wanted to be a parent, that I would be. It just might not happen in the way I had always, until that moment, dreamed of.

Fertility Planit was born during my own journey through infertility, and by my desire to connect with a like-minded community of friends, experts and resources where we could share information, support, and inspiration with one another. I wanted to be able to customize an online experience to suit my individual needs, where I could connect with people who could understand this life changing experience of trying very, very hard to achieve something so intimate.

Fast forward to September 2012, in just a few months my amazing team (all of whom I met through social media) and I will be staging the first annual Fertility Planit Show in my former home, Los Angeles.

This blog is where I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes view and share my experiences with talking with some of the world’s most inspirational experts and thought leaders in fertility medicine and family building — as I persuade them to join our show!

I’ll also share what it’s like to be a start-up Founder and CEO as my team and I try to put together a trade show that will help people feel good about themselves as they explore all options for having children and creating a family. I look forward to sharing this thrilling journey with you and I welcome your input always.

Warmly,

Karin's Signature

Karin

Founder/CEO, Fertility Planit