We were lucky to catch up with Traci Lyn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Traci, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Welcome to Ellicorn! She is the mascot representing this mission to empower kids of all ages, by providing tools to help them form healthy habits of taking care of their body and mind, while growing unshakable confidence! Through yoga and positive affirmations, kids can build a strong foundation of physical and emotional well-being, and then take this foundation into their adult years!
Ellicorn’s aim is to encourage kids of all ages to become more physically and emotionally active, to foster an appreciation for yoga, positive affirmations, and the benefits they offer, all while developing lifelong healthy habits of taking care of their body and mindset.

MY STORY!

Hi! I am Traci Lyn, I am the creator of beautiful Eli, the Ellicorn. I would love to share with you my story on how this all came to be!

Kids are so very precious. They are precious, innocent souls. I love kids! I have two of my own. Growing up as a young girl, I had a lot of insecurities. Tools to help were not really a thing when I was growing up. I just had to deal with my emotions myself. I grew up with a single mom in the middle of two sisters. I always felt the pressure was on me for some reason. Thank goodness there wasn’t social media and the pressures of social media at the time, but there were definitely pressures!

I’ve had to work on myself a lot through the years, and I still do. I run, I strength train, and I practice yoga. This makes me feel empowered, and as always, and still is, my turn to when I’m feeling down or stressed. I also expose myself to as much positivity & mindset information I can find. I’m a YouTube junkie for this stuff…and animals being rescued! :))

My goal with Ellicorn is to create what was not available to my generation when I was a kid. I am creating an exciting and fun way for kids of all ages, teens included, to form a foundation of healthy habits, while they are young, to help them, feel physically and mentally more confident. It’s much easier to build habits when you’re younger. This foundation of healthy habits will be carried into their adult years, allowing for a more enjoyable life feeling better about themselves. Our world is so different nowadays. Kids really need something like this.

As a certified fitness trainer for over 20 years, and someone who has been practicing yoga for over 15 years, I knew yoga would be the best form of exercise to help kids build a foundation of self-confidence and strength in who they are physically and mentally.

Not only is yoga, safer for building strength physically, but it also strengthens the mind. I believe starting yoga at home is the best place for kids to learn, and consistently keep it up. I believe learning the basic beginner yoga poses is the easiest and safest type of exercise for kids to do while they’re young, and the easiest to keep up for life!

There needed to be more though! When doing yoga, along with the deep breathing, the mind is calm and open. That’s when I came up with adding daily positive affirmations. One is read immediately after doing yoga poses. It is in written down, and placed somewhere to be read throughout the day. There’s science behind doing this. The human brain takes it in. The human brain loves repetition. A kid’s brain is far more impressionable than an adults brain, meaning it’s more open to learning and being shaped by what is put into it. That’s when I created all of the flashcards, with help from a Pakistani artist. My flashcards feature 100 very detailed and educational cards, including beginner yoga poses and positive affirmations.

Now I needed an icon/mascot to make this even more intriguing and fun for kids. This is where Elli the Ellicorn comes in!

When my oldest son, Trevor, was a baby, a family friend gave him a cute stuffed elephant. We named her Elli. He had other stuffed animals, but he didn’t want anything to do with the others once Elli came into his baby life. There was just something special about this elephant. Trevor had to have Elli in his arms at all times. She was his comfort. Everywhere Trevor went, Elli went. As Trevor got a little older, his little brother Joshua started getting intrigued with Elli, so we got Joshua his own. That’s when Blu became a new family member. Trevor and Josh were so intrigued with their elephants. They really were friends to my little boys. They still are! Trev and Josh are teenagers now!

Throughout the years, my boys always told me that I should write a story about Elli and Blue being friends to kids all around the world. I did write the story, but I never did anything with it. I decided this was time to do something with the story that my boys always wanted me to create. I had to do a deep dive into my heart of how I could incorporate the elephants into my mission of helping kids through yoga and positive affirmations. I wanted to create a character that was very unique.

I have always loved elephants since I was a little girl. Guess what? I also loved and collected unicorn figurines. I think most young girls love unicorns! Elephants, too!

I got creative, and I did some research on how I could tie everything together.

In yoga, elephants are powerful symbols. They are associated with strength, honor, stability, and patience. They represent wisdom, long, life, memory, and vitality.

Unicorns or mythical creatures associated with purity, innocence, and grace. They are symbols of magic, beauty, and enchantment, and are depicted as gentle and peaceful.

Elli, the ELLICORN’s aim is to help kids feel the way she does, and be the way she is. She wants to be friends to kids all over the world. An unconditional friend will who will be there by your side no matter what.

Elli The Ellicorn came to be. I had her all drawn out; how I wanted her to look. I reached out to a designer located in the Ukraine, who drew her out and made her exactly what I wanted her to be. I then reached out to a Manufacturer in Asia, who was able to bring her to reality as a stuffed animal. I currently have 1000 Ellicorns being manufactured!

Now, I needed to create a yoga mat to help tie this all together. Ellicorn would be on the yoga mat with her slogan. “Always Be Yourself. You’re Great At It!“. After much research about yoga mats, I knew exactly what non-toxic, environmentally friendly materials I wanted to use, and I what I wanted my yoga mat to look like. I worked with a designer in India to help it all come together, I then found a perfect manufacture in Asia to product these mats. I currently have 1000 Ellicorn yoga mats being manufactured.

Here’s something really special! The yoga mat is not just a yoga mat! It’s a personal place to escape to. A private getaway! No one else can come to the space unless they re invited. Even when not doing yoga, kids can just hang out on their mat with Ellicorn. They can read their positive affirmations, do homework, take a nap, or whatever. They can roll up their mat and take it anywhere they want.
My products are geared more toward girls, but all of this is for all kids. Even adults full of these products. All three products will be bundles together in my custom designed packaging.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all these amazing people in other countries. They are hard workers and have done such a great job.
I believe Ellicorn is going to become an icon. A best friend to kids all around the world. She will help them find how amazing they really are! I want to share these tools with kids all around the world. My dream is to travel to countries where kids don’t have the means to get these tools, and bring these tools to them!
That is Ellicorn’s mission and that is my story. I hope you enjoyed! Now I’ve got to get this mission recognized!

Here’s an other thing…I created a fictional story about Ellicorn, and how she came to be. It will soon be available with a stuffed Ellicorn.

Traci, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m an entrepreneur. I have used my imagination to create many things throughout my life. Maybe that’s the left-handed side of me! I’ve been selling on Amazon for five years. Less than a year ago, I decided I wanted to create a brand based on something I’m passionate about. I am very passionate about many things in life. I love God! He is very important in my life. I’m so blessed to have been given the chance to be a Mom. I love being a Mom. My boys are Trevor (17) and Josh (15). I love my family. I love nature and the outdoors, and I love to take care of my physical and mental health. I have been a certified fitness trainer for well over 25 years. I’ve had three personal training businesses. I have a YouTube channel built around helping women form habits of adding strength training into their lives. I have not focused on that because I decided to turn my focus onto helping “kids” form healthy habits of taking care of their body and mind. I believe it’s more important to help our younger generation, so they can grow up with these healthy habits and a strong foundation of self-confidence in who they are physically and emotionally. This will affectively help our world also. That’s why I created Ellicorn and Ellicorn‘s mission. I guess her mission can be called a “movement!” I’m going to do what I can, and hopefully find all the help I can, to get my Brand noticed, because I truly believe in the depths of my heart and soul, that this is very very important for kids and our world.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There are many many many moving parts to what I am creating. I’ve had to work with so many different individuals that are from different countries. All the communication is done through messaging, not talking over the phone. These individuals are all so talented and on top of that, speak English, so that has helped quite a bit. From creating the ideas, to the getting the designs made, and then actually finding the right fit for manufacturers, along with negotiating costs…and then getting products actually manufactured… is very mind-boggling and disheartening. So many challenges along the way. I’m not there yet. I have thousands of products currently being manufactured overseas. Three different manufacturers. Three factories that are going to work together to help me bring this all together. There are days that it would be easier for me to quit but I would never, ever consider it. I have put so much time, mental and physical energy into this, money, and on top of all of this, and most importantly, my passion is behind this!! ’m not stopping.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. I had a personal training fitness business that was doing well, and had a ton of potential. I had a new job opportunity that came my way. That job was in Newport Beach, California. The job was to become a loan officer working for a very prestigious loan broker. That meant I had to get out of my personal fitness training business that I created. I was at a point where I was feeling burnt out, and was thinking about a change a change. I wanted to dress up again in in business clothes, instead of always being in fitness clothes. . Although that’s what I wear now all the time and I love it! I sold my training business, which included everything I put my heart into. I worked hard on it. I sold it to an individual I thought I could trust. I sold her everything I created, including my clientele. All I wanted was for her to pay me a small percentage every month for 6 months. It was such a great deal and opportunity for her. I was very passionate about what I did, I just needed a break from it. I had wonderful clients. majority of them I trained in their homes. This individual I sold my business to decided not to put the passion and effort into it. I had regular calls from clients in Arizona asking me to come back. I did not do that. I still reside in Southern California. I do always wonder where that business would’ve gone if I stayed, but that wasn’t the path I was meant to take…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ellicorn.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/heyellicorn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracilynrountree/

Image Credits
These are all of my photos.