Yohana & Balancing Life with Tech | Yoky Matsuoka

YOKY MATSUOKA [0:00]

Only when you look back, some are like, that was terrible. So, these things happen, but maybe I’m a bit of an optimist. But these failures or things that didn’t seem too right are the reasons that you can do better things.

[MUSIC]

CAMILLE WALKER [0:23]

So, you want to make an impact. You’re thinking about starting a business sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams? We’ll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

[MUSIC]

You are all in for such a big treat today because we have a guest unlike any other that I’ve had on the show before. Her name is Yoky Matsuoka and she has done some incredible things. I’m going to read these to you because it’s just mindboggling to me, all the things that she’s done.

So, she was most recently the Vice President at Google’s healthcare organization, before that as a Chief Technology Officer at Nest. Prior to Nest, she was a co-founder of Google X. She was also a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington.

And her passion more than anything else, and there are more accolades here that go and on, is that she is a mother of 4 and she loves her children and she loves technology and she wanted to bring the gift of technology and how it can simplify and help us balance our lives as busy parents into the world. And so, I can’t wait for you to hear everything that she’s done and her great story. Let’s dive in.

[MUSIC]

Welcome back everyone to another episode of Call Me CEO. And this is Camille Walker, your host. And I am here to talk with you today with someone who is forging the way, building and blending technology and family, helping you live your best lives. This is Yoky Matsuoka.

She is the founder and CEO of Yohana. And I can just tell you right now that reading through her bio, I’m like, whoa, this lady is smart. And so, I’m going to try to explain what this is, but really at the end of the day, Yoky is going to have to tell us exactly what Yohana does.

It’s an independently-led subsidiary of Panasonic, building consumer technology products and services to lead healthier and happier lives. But at the end of the day, her main objective is to help families and homes live a better balanced life. So, thank you so much, Yoky, for being here today. I am so excited to dive into your life and your story. Thank you for being here.

YOKY [2:45]

Yeah, absolutely. Camille, thanks for letting me be here and to talk about this.

CAMILLE [2:38]

Yes. We are talking the week of Christmas, you guys. So, we’re both mothers of 4 children. I’m sure your house is crazy just like mine. Tell our audience about you and your story. I want you to rewind back to the beginning because there’s a lot to cover. I’m excited to hear all that you have to share.

YOKY [3:08]

Yeah, thank you. So, all the way back, I was born in Japan. I was trying to be a professional athlete, so tennis was it. And I moved to the US purely to play tennis. So, that’s when I was 16 years old. And I couldn’t speak English. I couldn’t understand the culture. It was a big adjustment for me, but because I was passionate about tennis, I was willing to jump into very different environment.

But unfortunately, it didn’t work out. So, in college, I thought I was just going to pursue tennis, but many injuries put me on the sideline. So, I had to pick something else in my life to work on or to do. That’s when I thought, I don’t know my life without tennis, so what else can I do? I like math and science. And so, I thought, okay, maybe I can build a robot that can play tennis with me.

CAMILLE [4:06]

Oh my gosh.

YOKY [4:07]

Yeah. So, that was really what my college has become. I’ve jumped into robotics. I’ve worked with graduate students and professors and learned to build a robot. And I was at Berkeley and it took me to MIT to build a robot that could move its arm and then do all kinds of things. And I built it from scratch. I bought metals like machine shop, designed electronic circuits and then sawdered everything on my own to build a robot that at that point could move arms and then manipulate objects and then do all those things. But it could not play tennis. So, that was frustrating to say the least.

And I put all the AIs, and then I was at the world’s most amazing institution, MIT. And I put every technology possible and it still could not play tennis. I decided to jump from learning technology and AI to neuroscience where I learned human intelligence, why humans are so good at playing tennis but not robots.

So, all the way there, by then I was 25 years old, just leading through a passion of just playing tennis to get to the point where I got to. But that’s the first time it dawned on me taking neuroscience class that there are a lot of people out there who’s not a tennis player, who doesn’t even get to live everyday life that they want because of some injuries they’ve had or some disabilities they might have had or they’re born without certain things, maybe an arm.

I thought, oh my God, I’ve been so selfish all my life thinking just for myself of building technology and robot for me to play tennis with, but really transforming that moment that I realized that all the things that I’ve learned so far can already start to help other people. And ever since then, for the last two decades, I have been really dedicating my life to the mission of building technology to help people.

CAMILLE [6:08]

Wow, whoa. I love that you’re like, okay, I’m going to play tennis. Were your parents like, yeah, they just sent you or did they come with you?

YOKY [6:18]

To the US? No, I just came all by myself, yeah.

CAMILLE [6:21]

You just came all by yourself, okay. So, you’re 16. You come to the US by yourself. You try to do the tennis thing, injuries happen. And I love that you have the brains to be like, I can’t play tennis right now. How about I build a robot to play with me? That is incredible. I’m just thinking, man, if my toaster breaks, I’ll go buy a new one. I love that your mind works like that that you create a path of solution. What an incredible mind.

And neuroscience, that’s something actually my teenager is interested in. I think especially right now with his journey of that has been more the mental health side, why is it that my brain works this way and others don’t or how can we work through this?

So, I just love that you’re a doer. You just follow your passion and you go after what it is that you want done. And I don’t see that as selfish. I see that as solution building. That’s very entrepreneurial. So, how cool, okay. So, you went to college. You did the tennis thing. That didn’t work out. You tried to create a robot. And now, you’re into neuroscience. So, what happened from there?

YOKY [7:29]

Yeah. So then, I graduated with a PhD. I also ended up going to Harvard to really retool myself to be able to do world class research in building technology for different people with physical, learning, mental differences. And I became a professor.

CAMILLE [7:54]

Why not?

YOKY [7:55]

Yeah. I started from tennis to becoming a professor. It’s hilarious, but really threaded all through the passion of wanting to build something for people. When I was getting out of school, I looked around and said, who would I work with, a company that builds technology that gives solutions to the kind of people that I wanted to work with? The answer was not really.

There were research level things going on in different companies, but I thought, no, the understanding of how those people’s brain work and what they’re looking for as well as how to build technology for them that’s useful for them in everyday life is missing. And the research is where a lot of effort has to go in.

So, I became a professor. I’ve always also in the back of my mind thought, it’ll be super cool to go in the industry, super cool to build my own company at some point. But as I thought of the order that I do things, I thought, no, right now, research is really needed as well as going to researcher from going and building companies instead of the easier path rather than starting a company for years and then not been in touch with research and trying to go back to be a professor.

CAMILLE [9:07]

Wow, okay. So, at this point, I know that you have a big family. At what point did you start that family? Have we entered that realm of your story yet?

YOKY [9:21]

Oh my gosh, yes. So, I have four kids. My first kids ended up coming instead of two. That started right after I became a professor. I met my husband. And then, we started a family in Pittsburgh. I was a professor at Carnegie Mellon. And yes, so actually, I’ve always wanted to have a lot of kids. I wanted to have seven kids. My husband wanted to have zero.

CAMILLE [9:47]

In the middle.

YOKY [9:47]

Yeah, compromise. So, we started with two. It was so hard. It was harder than anything I’ve ever tried, but kids were super adorable. Work was really fun, had a good marriage, and then I didn’t know what to do because they all couldn’t fit in my life.

Yeah, so I think that really started to realm that era of just balancing through. I didn’t want to give up on obviously having more kids or just having me really dedicate myself as a great mom. I don’t know about the word great actually, and then as well as just really pursuing to change lives for people through my research.

So, that’s around the time that I realized that I have to give up some things. And what I gave up was cleaning my own home. Sometimes, I was all into cooking my own food all the time, but I gave up and then I let my husband cook. I let other people cook, and then that process of shedding some things that it’s okay to let go and to keep fitting things that really matter to me started.

CAMILLE [11:00]

I love it. So, we’re at a point now where you’ve had your kids, you’re working as a professor. And I know that that’s not where your story ends because we have four or five more titles. So, walk us through what happened next.

YOKY [11:13]

Yeah, okay. So, what happened in 2009 was I received a phone call from Google to say, “Hey, come and join us and build this thing called Google X.” Google X, basically what they’re known for is to produce moonshots, things for the future of the world, future to Google to transform people and the society.

I thought that was an incredible opportunity to jump from academia to industry to Silicon Valley to learn about how things are really built. I also felt that around that time that maybe some of the technologies I’ve been building may be ready for people who can use it and I had this itch that I just could not scratch, which is to work with people.

By then, I also had a non-profit that I started to work with people who had different kind of challenges in daily lives and we were building hardware and different technology to solve their problems, but still wasn’t enough. I thought, how do I learn to build massive consumer product or services that would allow me and some of those technology background that I was able to gain to really help people?

So, anyway, I used that to move our entire family over to Silicon Valley. By then, we had the third kid. And so, three kids, husband, myself, we just moved over and started the whole career in the industry. But anyway, that was so amazing that being closer to building consumer products and to be honest, the Google X still is trying to go for moonshots, felt a lot closer to research.

I jumped the ship to join this company called Nest, which ended up building smart thermostats, and then actually got acquired by Google again. But to ride that ship from the beginning and learning how to build a consumer product in a way that incredible iPhone at Apple was built. Leadership of the company was all the people from Apple who were known, even the godfather of the iPhone, to build something super beautiful that people use every day to build a smart thermostat with them and really beating some of the fundamental thoughts and ways that I’ve lived my life, being wrong in how to build consumer products.

But we have to think not technology first but consumer first, really trying to figure out what could become scalable, not something that we’re doing for three people. All of that was an incredible learning and it was worth moving here in Silicon Valley to learn.

CAMILLE [14:02]

I think it’s so interesting because you’re obviously very multi-talented and you have so many gifts. And I love how you were able to weave in and out, okay, I’m going to build upon this and go over here and now I’m needed in this way and now I’m going to go over here. Because so many women that I talk to many times feel like they are stuck in one thing and they can’t move ship or it’ll take away their identity or what they’ve known.

But I’ve already chosen this path to be a teacher, I can’t move to something else, something like that where it can feel like if you’ve picked the one, you’re done, which I love that, gosh, you’ve been everywhere. You’ve done so many things. So, tell me, how are you able to in the midst of all these incredible things that you’re building and doing maintain a healthy balance and mindfulness with your young family? I know that that’s a huge core value that you have.

YOKY [15:03]

Yeah. One of the things that I’ve always felt was that I got this one life to live. I’m given this life and I didn’t want to be “stuck” somewhere because of something I didn’t choose. One of the amazing things and I feel like the US especially allows us to do is to have that choice. There’s many circumstances which makes us stuck and we have to deal with that. But in many ways, we are allowed to and have the license to pivot.

And sometimes, it doesn’t make sense, but when I ask again, I actually often do this. I meditate and then clear my brain from this wherever that I feel stuck or wherever holistic I’m involved in or the friendship, whatever that’s still tangled up. And I say, I get one life to live. Am I okay today? Should I pivot? Should I get unstuck?

So, I reviewed that on a very frequent basis. I feel like I have to wake up in the morning and say, today, I might just die, so is the way that I want to die? And then, I have to say, yup, I put myself in the right path and if I die today, at least I tried the right things and I’ve pivoted and then took control of things I can control and then let things I can’t control let it be and not bother me. So, I think that’s been an important thing.

And then, for my kids’ part, if things I can’t control happen and then if I could pick one thing, of course, I’m going to drop everything and then be with the kids. And that’s the most important thing I do being a mom. So, everything revolves around that.

So, why do I have a job? Of course, I want to change the society and many things I want to do, but it has to be on top of that and then be worth it. So, every morning, I leave and I see these cute kids at home or sometimes annoying teenagers, let’s say, but I have to say, this is worth it. It’s worth leaving them and then kicking butt somewhere else.

And so, it has to be worth it. Whatever that we pick, we can’t be stuck because it has to be worth it to do that. And we are given talents in some capacity, all different type of talents. And I really feel that they’re supposed to be used in some way to change the society for better for the next generations. So, I think that’s another one.

And I feel like also when I leave home, I’m showing an example to the kids saying, hey, kids. This is something that you should do too. You should find your own path. You should get out, leave your kids behind on a daily basis, and then contribute in a bigger thing than just raising your kids.

CAMILLE [18:10]

Yeah. I love that. I think that there are talents and gifts that sometimes are unactualized if we don’t take that risk of jumping. And I’m curious with everything that you’ve done and we’re going to get to Yohana here in a second, but has there ever been anything where you’ve taken a step back and been like, whoa, this is scary? Or has it always just been like, nope. I know what I’m doing next, professor, tennis, robotics? Has there ever been a time that you’ve stopped in your tracks and thought, I don’t know?

YOKI [18:40]

Yeah. Actually, it’s always scary. And then, it’s always uncertain and often it feels like a total mistake all the time. So, all of that is always there. And only when you look back, some are like, that was terrible. So, these things happen, but maybe I’m a bit of an optimist. But these failures or things that didn’t seem right are the reasons that you can do better things.

So, situations that you’re talking about. I took a position as a CEO of a company that was amazing technology, amazing company and then turns out it was a really, really difficult job. The company had to overcome a lot of the obstacles that I felt like I can’t help or they’re difficult. Then I thought, boy, did I just choose wrong. Should I have even done this?

So, yes, I definitely doubted, but I did the best I could for the situation and so many things I did then is who I am now. Now, it’s like so many things are a piece of cake because I struggled then. So, it’s really great. It’s hard to know in the moment. In the moment, I used to go under the blanket and cry. I’m like, oh my God, this is terrible. I can’t do this. This is the end of the world and then I’m all done. But the day after came, I wasn’t completely done. And yeah, I’m super happy that I got to experience all those things.

CAMILLE [20:23]

Wow. So, what was it in this journey that you then decided to leave Google Nest? That’s a big company with I’m sure fantastic pay. What was it that made you think I want to start Yohana? What was the idea? What spurred that creation?

YOKY [20:42]

Yeah. So, it’s funny, but since I was in grad school, again the thought of using technology to help people have not changed at all. But that was not quite fully implemented, executed, satisfied in all the places I’d been so far. I wanted to create a playground, a place where we can fully put that in execution. It could’ve been at Google. It could’ve been at Apple. It could’ve been my own start up.

And then, I’ve looked at different configurations how we could possibly make that happen. And as I started thinking about it and then started approaching some companies and said, “Hey, what I want to do is build solutions.” At that point, it was pre-pandemic and I didn’t say it was for busy families, but it was for families to be healthier and that they feel the connectivity the family in a better way. How could I build this?

And then, they had different versions of the idea based on wherever I may go, whether it’s a VC, there’s a certain pitch. If this was going inside of a large company, then it was another pitch. So, I built different versions of it in a way “shopping” to see where I could do this. So, I already knew that I wanted to jump.

Again, I don’t live for pay or idol or my success. I don’t care for those things. Those come along the way sometimes. So, I wasn’t looking to get paid. Those things didn’t cross my mind, but I wanted to build this thing. And really surprisingly for me at that point and now I understand why, but I ran into Panasonic.

They were knocking on my door and said, “Hey, come and work with us.” And I thought Panasonic in the US is TV and microwave. And I go, no, I’m not parting with them. I’m such a snob. But then, I started to get to know them. I started to learn about the company. I visited their headquarters and I learned their DNA, which is all about helping people in everyday life. You might not feel it looking at their TV and microwave, but man, their leadership team every day is about how can we improve society better? How can we improve those daily lives better?

And I thought, okay, I can work with these people. I resonate with them. I want to transform the company to get to a point where we are all together using this incredible platform of hardware and what they’ve done to make that leap together. So, that’s how I ended up having this partnership with Panasonic.

Actually, if you’ve ever traveled to Japan or other Asian countries, they’re like the Apple of Japan basically that you get out of the door from the airplane and the first ad you see would be Panasonic. And every security system you’d go through would be Panasonic. And then, you’d rent the house and Airbnb. And then, there’ll be 20 items that are Panasonic from toasters to fridge to doorbell to door switches to lighting, everything is Panasonic. It’s really interesting.

So, as I thought about wanting to care for people and especially health and from home and then maybe even elderly care, maybe baby care, when I thought about all those things I wanted to do, it was a perfect fit because they had that platform and then hardware coverage that I wanted to build spending my previous life doing so that I could use it to build solutions.

CAMILLE [24:14]

Right, build solutions. Yeah.

YOKY [24:16]

Yeah. So, I partnered with them. They were super kind and very trusting to let us build our independent company Yohana to build service for busy families. When we started, it was pre-pandemic right before, and then pandemic happened. We rented a building, and then three weeks later, pandemic happened.

So, going through it myself with four kids, school was off. No, the Zoom school, no, the thing doesn’t work, “Mommy, tech service! Mommy, homework. Teacher’s not paying attention to me. What do I do?” I’m like, no, I can’t do this with work and starting company all at the same time.

But what I realized is that maybe we all felt this way, but when we were all canned in our own house, we thought that this problem was so horrible and then it’s just us and then we’re alone. But when I started to speak with other people and say, “This is what I’m going through. I’ve got no mental space. I might go crazy.” And they’re like, “Me too.”

And I thought, God, what I’m going through as a family, raising kids in a pandemic, it’s really this enhancement of the problem that we’ve always had, which is the balance has become this unbearable thing. As we were thinking about exactly what to build, it became super obvious that we have to bring this wellbeing and balance into every family as fast as possible and that’s what Yohana has become.

CAMILLE [25:45]

I love it. So, for someone who’s never heard of Yohana before, in a couple of sentences, what would you say this is what it does?

YOKY [25:52]

Yup. So, Yohana is a modern family concierge service. It is a monthly subscription to enroll and we get a lot of what’s on your to do list done.

CAMILLE [26:08]

So, for example, if you’re looking to have your roof replaced or a plumber to come or day care, those are all things that can be solved and sorted through in your app. Is that correct?

YOKY [26:21]

Yes, absolutely. So, we find people for your home. We find people for your kids. We normally find them, but we take care of it end to end. So, plumber’s great. Getting a phone number is just the first step. You have to call them. We have to wait for them to call back and you have to schedule. We do all of that.

So, based on if you’re a member who’s willing to share free busy calendar view, then we book it all the way for you. We take care all of that. So, I think that’s something that we do also, but it’s not just about mundane house stuff. I should say there’s even more mundane stuff like making appointments, filling out passport forms for renewals. We do a lot of those things as well.

And things like birthday parties. So, I always use Yohana myself to plan my kids’ birthday parties. Actually, it’s gotten to a point where when I do it, apparently it’s worse than when Yohana helps me. So, my kids are starting to ask like, “My birthday’s coming up. Can you ask Yohana ahead of time so that my birthday would be great?”

CAMILLE [27:27]

Walk me through that a little bit. What do you mean? How does it plan a birthday for you? What does that mean?

YOKY [27:31]

Yeah, okay. So, I can walk you through. So, Yohana has an app. Become a member, download it. We have a team of specialists who’s assigned behind to help all the time. So, I say, my son’s birthday is coming up in two weeks and then I should plan sooner, but I usually don’t plan sooner.

So, then I go like, blah, blah’s birthday, 10-year-old birthday coming up and this is the day. Then basically the team jumps in and asks me the right questions and say, how old? What does he like? Approximately what size? A home, some other sites? So, I basically think about all those things a little bit and then say, this is the parameter I want. And they say, got it. And then, a little bit later, they send me proposals of what the birthday could be.

So, I’ll even give you two examples. This is a real story of my kids. So, the most recent birthday party was for my son who is way into cars and he said, “Anything related to cars and I don’t want to invite too many friends. I just want to have 6-8 kids. And that we want to drive cars.” I’m like, “But you’re a 10-year-old. What are you talking about driving cars?” He’s like, “I don’t care. I just want to drive cars.” So, okay, got it. And then, he likes color orange and all those things.

And I just feed that information. And what came back was this awesome place I never knew, which is a fast adult version of go carting place that we could go and that they can race around indoor and their minimum headcount was 8. And I told my son, “If you can find 8 kids to go with and then we’re in.”

So, worked with Yohana to book the place, name those 8 kids, they did everything behind the scene. So, we ended up with that place to go in a birthday and plus Yohana was looking ahead for me and said, how about the cake? How about the lunch? How about the invitation? And I said, yes, yes, yes. Please take care of all of those.

So, they were able to actually source the cake specifically from New York, some tasty chocolate cake that my son wanted. Amazing mind readers. And then, lunch was taken care of with one of the kids who invited was gluten-free. We were able to arrange that, no problem. So, on the day of the birthday, it was easy. It was just I basically knew that lunch was taken care of, the cake was taken care of, the place was taken care, the people that were invited, they RSVPed and I just showed up with my son. All those kids showed up. I got to pretty much enjoy the show as it played out. It was amazing, yeah.

CAMILLE [30:29]

Wow. So, how does that work with service providers for, say, the lunch, the cake, all of those things as far as the cost? I would imagine there’s some kind of a premium that you’re paying for having all of those things lined up or how does that work with the cost of that, all the services?

YOKY [30:44]

So, booking the birthday like renting the place and the cakes are on the member to pay for, but we are the ones, we find the right places. We are building our own Yohana network of amazing partners who make amazing cakes, who hold amazing birthday parties and that those are the places with feedback from all different members for which places are great for certain type of family.

Of course, it depends on who you are. And so, of course, similar families like you may have enjoyed this venue and the another types of families may enjoy different venue. So, we take that in mind and then we make recommendations.

CAMILLE [31:30]

So, if there are people listening right now that have businesses and want to be a part of this and do they sign up on your website? Is that how they become a partner or how does that work for people who are business owners and might want to be a part of this?

YOKY [31:44]

Yes. So, we have a portal that they can go in and sign up to be a partner. And once they sign up, we will match up with the members and then we’ll start to flow some people to your business.

CAMILLE [32:00]

That’s really cool. So, it’s not only connecting people in communities, but it’s giving people opportunity for business too, which I think is fantastic. Small businesses now more than ever need that kind of support. So, yay, that’s amazing. What would you think is one of the biggest or even just a few some moments where you felt like, wow, this is working and it’s like my vision coming to life?

YOKY [32:23]

Yeah. So, there were two different ways that I feel that we’re giving that mental space to people. One is the ability to be present in the moment. So, this birthday example, usually as many parents, during your kid’s birthday party, you’re running around because, gosh, I forgot to buy party favor. I’ll be right back or cake hasn’t arrived. Cake has to be cut. I have to get the plates. So, that’s how it goes during birthday parties, but I didn’t have to do any of that.

I was there watching my sons, taking videos, giving high fives. That space to be present in that moment and be that mom who’s proud that your son is turning one year older. I think that is something that’s priceless that I get from Yohana that we’re giving to people. So, that’s one thing.

The other is time back, actual physical minutes back. One of the members said that we’re giving 8-10 hours every week back to her, which is insane, but that’s time. And then, I feel it too. So, because I’ve delegated a few things that had to be done that day, usually those are the things that haunts me in the evening time and then the kids go to sleep early because I got stuff to do. It’s terrible.

But I remember that one day that I’m like, wait, I don’t have to do those. Actually, those are delegated. Those are taken care of. I’m like, “Hey, do you want to read a book with me?” And my son was so delighted. So, I had that moment. We read maybe a long time, maybe 40 minutes because he also thought it was such a precious moment. So, we read and read and told stories. We changed the stories, and then we talked about what if this ending was different? But that was time I got back because of Yohana. And for me, that day was maybe about 45 minutes, but that’s significant.

CAMILLE [34:29]

Yeah, wow. The gift of time is something that we can’t get back. It’s not like this infinite resource. So, I think that that’s so cool that you’re creating an opportunity for teamwork. A big part of what I help a lot of entrepreneurs with is hiring their first virtual assistant and I feel like this is like hiring assistants in so many different areas of your life, which we all need. So, that’s really exciting. I’m curious for you. I’m going to ask you a couple of questions, just first things that pop up in your head. I’m curious about this. So, do you have a morning routine?

YOKY [35:09]

Yes, I do. What I do usually is that I make time for myself. I usually make sure to not open my phone or my computer because those things stress me out. Oh my God, I’m going to cancel everything because I have to deal with this. So, I make sure to not do that. And then, I work out or meditate and then make time for myself to get that day started.

The steps that I absolutely have to get, the cardiovascular activity that I need to get, the strength, and then again, that centering, that meditation. So, I do that every morning. So many other things that I do, I love drinking green drink every morning. So, it’s blended celery, cucumber, lemon, just apple. That’s how I start my day, just it cleanses my internal feeling and organs as well as then after that I drink double bergamot earl grey tea with milk. And that just sets my morning going.

CAMILLE [36:17]

What is the name of the tea again?

YOKY [36:21]

It’s earl grey. Earl grey actually has that flowery flavor. It’s called bergamot. And then, I like that so much that I have this double bergamot. This is like the really flowery version of earl grey.

CAMILLE [36:33]

I’ll have to look that up. I will get that from you. I’m not great at drinking herbal teas. I know they’re so good for you. So, I’m always asking people what actually tastes good? Because I can do a green drink, but I think tea is a part of not my culture. And so, I’ve never grown up drinking tea and I know it’s so good for your health. So, I appreciate you sharing that. And if you do, I’ll share that link so people can check that out too. Okay. So, what are three of your favorite books that you’ve read in your life?

YOKY [37:02]

Oh my gosh. So, there’s a book called A New World by Ekhart Tolle. He puts it in the preface in the book and said, this book may not be a great book for many of you and this book may be the book that would awake you. And I was one of the people who was awoken by that book.

I read the book and I realized that this is all about being present and being mindful. It was amazing. So, I read it and, of course, I actually also heard part of it in an audio book when I was driving in Sonoma Coast, so it goes with the beautiful picture of Sonoma County that I’m driving through. Oh my God, it was so great.

But I learned to let go of my past and I learned to let go of my future and live in this very moment and then reflect every day there are multiple points of days that I feel like I come back to and say, am I feeling it? Is this it? I’m feeling it. This is the present moment. And then, I’m able to do that thanks to that book. So, I will put that number one.

Two books, I will share. There’s a book called Corporate Explorer. Sorry, this is really business-oriented and boring maybe. So, this book is about how to transform companies or how to transform the world in different ways.

Of course, startups were the ways to change like new concept in the past, but these days, there are people who are doing what I’m doing, which is from the inside of a larger company, almost like starting a startup internally as a way to transform. And I’m enjoying it because it is not a bad way to go to transform. There’s ways to scale faster or better sometimes by doing it this way. So, I really like that.

And I would say I read a third book about parenting. I’m always about learning books in terms of how to run a company or how to run my mom business. Yeah, so there’s a book written, I can’t remember her name right now, but I think it’s Ester. I’ll get to that. Anyway, there’s a book which is about how to parent well and I’ll get you that book a name another time, but it taught me to treat your kids as an adult.

You can’t say, “You’re 10. So, you can’t understand. You can’t do that.” You have to treat them as an adult. And then, if I remember when I was kid, maybe when I was 5 years old, I thought I was an adult and I was allowed to make all these adult-level decisions. So, that’s what I do with my kids. When I talk to them, I think of them as my friends and adults and I treat them that way to have conversations and I think I have much better relationships with my kids because of that book.

CAMILLE [40:13]

Yeah, I love that. There was a teacher that I had when I was a senior high school and she told me the children that you talk to or the children that you have, they’re just little people. They’re smaller. They’re just little people. So, you get down to their level and you talk to them like people. And that always stuck with me.

I’m like, yeah, they’re people. They’re just little people. Just like you’re saying, you talk to them with respect and with reason and that even if they’re having big emotions to allow for that because we’re allowed big emotions too. And we’re much older. So, I love that you said that because it’s true that we all deserve respect. And when you are that age, you’re like, I know everything. No matter what age that is I think, then you get older and you’re like, shoot, there’s so much I don’t know as you get older.

YOKY [41:03]

That’s so true, yeah.

CAMILLE [41:04]

So, this episode is going to be going live in January and I’m curious, are you a new year’s resolution person or how do you treat the new year? Is there something that you do in celebration of that or in making goals?

YOKY [41:19]

Absolutely. So, it was my family tradition with my parents and then now I make it a tradition with my kids is to watch the last sunset of the year.

CAMILLE [41:31]

I like that.

YOKY [41:31]

And with my family, we actually used to watch the first sunrise of the year, which with 4 kids, I’m failing to do.

CAMILLE [41:41]

We’ll stick with sunset.

YOKY [41:42]

Yeah. And then, make that wish for the next year. And I already know what my new year’s resolution is, which is to get help from Yohana enough so that I make time for myself to get back into playing piano.

CAMILLE [41:58]

I like that. That’s very specific. Did you play piano as a child?

YOKY [42:04]

I played piano as a child and I felt that it was forced on me, so I didn’t like it. But I actually enjoy music very much. So, after my parents said it’s okay to not play, I missed it. So, I went right back into it myself and I even entered some piano contests and all those things on my own. And then, I don’t know, something just really the feeling that it vibrates my bones to the core, I go and listen to people who can just put their emotion into the music, and then I love doing that.

So, it’s one way for me to do that expression of myself and also to feel that, I don’t know, connections to the nature, all of that comes through music for me. So, I really want to go back, and then make that time. Little bit, just few minutes every day or once a week is fine. Whatever I can squeeze in, I need to make that time, and then I have learned to let go and I cannot do that. So, that’s my new year’s resolution.

CAMILLE [43:08]

Yay! Because you’re a tech girl, this may be something you’ll love. There’s an app called Simply Piano and you set it in up on your piano and it teaches you how to play the piano and read music, but it can tell through the tone of the notes that you play how many times you’ve gone through it and you can move on to the next level of learning a song.

YOKY [43:29]

Oh my God, that’s hilarious.

CAMILLE [43:29]

It is so cool and it works with keyboards as well. And for me personally, my daughter learns piano this way and it gamifies it in a way, but it’s like trendy, fun songs too or classics. So, I’m like, yeah, gosh, if my parents, same thing, they forced me to practice it. I was like, had I had that it would’ve been way more fun. So, you might like that.

YOKY [43:54]

Yeah, that’s great. I’ll use that with my son too. I think that’ll be great, yeah.

CAMILLE [43:59]

This has been so wonderful. I just look at you and how much you’ve done already and think of everything you’re going to bring to the world, just so many good things and through Yohana and your project of bringing that to the world, I’m so grateful for you for sacrificing your time and bringing us balance in such a busy world.

For real, it takes people like you that care about family to create product that supports family because tech is going to happen no matter what. So, having someone like you at the forefront of that just means the world. So, I’m just so grateful for you for that.

YOKY [44:34]

Oh my gosh. Thanks for saying all that. I did not mean to or ever care to get all these things under my belt. I just really felt passion and then mission and, oh my gosh, I’m here and super excited to help everybody, help you become who you want to be.

So, any way that I can help, feel free to contact me, feel free to enroll in Yohana. I’d love to work with you. This is why I’m here to be as close to those people that I can help as possible. So, thanks for letting me do this today. This has been really fun, yeah.

CAMILLE [45:09]

Of course. You’re so welcome. And please tell our audience where they can find you and find Yohana and the best way to connect with you.

YOKY [45:18]

Absolutely. So, Yohana, the spelling is Y-O-H-A-N-A. So, www.yohana.com. That’s where you can find the company. We’re also on Instagram for @joinyohana. I’m also on Instagram @yokimatsuoka. Again, if you can spell my name, then you’ll find me.

CAMILLE [45:37]

We’ll link it for sure.

YOKY [45:39]

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

CAMILLE [45:40]

You’re welcome. Happy holidays and happy new year and thank you so much for being on the show today.

YOKY [45:46]

Oh my gosh. Thanks, Camille.

[MUSIC]

CAMILLE [45:50]

Hey, everyone. Thank you for listening to this episode. If you are listening to this and inspired of starting something new or freeing up more time, I have solutions for you as I’m offering mom life and business balance coaching. That’s something that I love more than anything else in the world is helping you find a balance that works just for you.

Also, if you’re looking for a virtual assistant, I am lining up graduates from my 60 Days to VA program with entrepreneurs that are busy, busy, buys. If you’re looking to launch a new business as a virtual assistant, that is something I can help you with as well. I hope you’re having a wonderful day and you can check out all of these resources for free at www.camillewalker.co and book a free discovery call with me. I hope to talk to you soon.

Hey, CEOs. Thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment and a 5-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram @callmeceopodcast. And remember, you are the boss!

[MUSIC]

[46:56]