Meet the Mother of Toki Kids, Eli Yonas

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we sat down with Toki Kids founder, Eli Yonas. As a mother of four, full-time employee at Meta, and the CEO of Toki Kids, Eli is—to put it lightly—a busy person. We asked her all about her experience being both an entrepreneur and a working mother, and here’s what she shared with us:

Has motherhood helped you tackle entrepreneurship in any way? Do you find that there is a crossover in qualities needed to excel in both?

EY: Yes, for sure. I think it comes down to being scrappy and figuring out how to just get stuff done. With both, there’s a motivation that comes from knowing you can’t really give up and that you just have to figure out a way to make things work.

If you had become an entrepreneur before being a mom, do you think it would have been easier or harder?

EY: I’m grateful for the order in which things happened for me because I think if I had become an entrepreneur first, I likely would have found excuses to delay becoming a mom because I would have been so busy all of the time. I also probably wouldn’t have been as resourceful in trying to figure out how to make things work. Since I became a mom first, I knew that I would always be busy no matter what. And, of course, with our products specifically, the inspiration came from the needs I had as a parent and trying to find an interesting and innovative solution. 

As Toki Kids grows, do you find it easier or harder to balance work and family life?

EY: I think I’ve always found it hard to balance everything, and I don’t think it will ever be easier. It’s just always evolving. But, the good thing about both my family and Toki Kids growing is that it’s made me think about creative ways to outsource, get additional support, and grow our team. It would be too much for me to continue doing things as I’ve always done them. Everything continues to be hard, but we continue to be creative to make both work. 

What has been the most rewarding part of the journey with Toki Kids?

EY: Definitely the most rewarding part is seeing how our customers use the products in their daily lives, and hearing how the products have helped their children hit critical milestones. I love every time I hear someone say they got a Toki mat and that day, their baby started rolling. Or how their baby had been having trouble with tummy time, but now, they’re thriving and happily doing tummy time on the play mat. Hearing stories like that makes it all very rewarding.

Most of your employees are moms. Is this just coincidence or is it intentional?

EY: It’s 100% intentional that our team is mostly moms. First, because I think moms just get it with our product and our audience. We don’t have to fake the way we speak to our customers and our community because we can relate to them very authentically. We’re all moms and we literally are our own audience. Second, I love giving moms the opportunity to find flexible work. All the moms in our team are raising their kids and working for Toki with a schedule that works for them, and it brings me joy to be able to provide that. Plus, it makes work fun because we’re all friends!

Maternal bias is a huge challenge for many women in the workplace. What do you say to employers who think that mothers make less capable employees?

EY: Maternal bias is very real, and it’s a challenge that we are all up against unless you find an employer with empathy because they’re also a parent. It’s really hard to understand how much we juggle as working moms, but those who get over that barrier will realize that working moms are actually a huge asset because we bring such a complex POV to the workplace. And, we know how to get things done because we have no other choice.

What do you hope your kids will learn from seeing their mom thrive as a founder and CEO?

EY: It’s been really interesting watching my kids grow up without a bias. They understand implicitly that both moms and dads work. So, I’m excited for my daughters to always know that they’ll have the opportunity to work on whatever they want to, and I’m excited for my boys to grow up having empathy and respect for both men and women in the workplace. They know that I created this product and this company, and they always say that I’m the boss of everyone—it’s a nice little ego boost. All this has also taught them patience and independence because I’m not always available, so they’ve figured out how to do some things on their own. 

What is your biggest piece of advice to other mothers who are considering starting a business?

EY: First, make sure that you have a good support system in place, whether that’s in a partner or child care to help with the kids when you’re not able to. That’s been something that I‘ve leaned on heavily. Second, find a community of mom entrepreneurs. I have my little network of mom entrepreneurs and they act like my board of directors. They’re a good sounding board of advice and source of friendship, and they make me feel like I’m not doing this alone. These friends are one of the best things that have come out of this journey.