Chloë Angus Episode 7

Krista: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Half Betty Podcast. I'm Krista, the producer and co-host, and today, as always, I'm joined by my friend, founder, and host, Andrea Rathborne. Half Betty is a bold and vibrant community where midlife women come together to feel supported, inspired, informed, and deeply valued.

It's a space where the stories of their next chapter take shape and the extraordinary potential of their second scene unfolds. I literally just got goosebumps. Our guest today is a Vancouver based fashion designer who has been creating timeless inclusive designs for over 20 years. I feel so honored to own a bunch of her pieces, and not only do they look beautiful on the red carpet.

they feel incredible. Beyond her career in fashion, she has spent the last six years as the director of Lived experience at Human in Motion Robotics, where she [00:01:00] helps design cutting edge exoskeletons, wearable robotics suits to enhance mobility and transform lives, including her own, you see in 2015, she sustained a spinal cord injury due to an inoperable benign tumor resulting in permanent loss of mobility in her legs. And since then, she's become a shining example of resilience and determination, proving that challenges can lead to extraordinary innovation and strength, known for her kindness, creativity, hard work, and bold tenacity. Chloe continues to inspire those around her. I can't wait for us to dive into her story, insights on midlife and the incredible work she's doing to redefine what's possible. Chloe Angus, welcome to the Half Betty Podcast.

Chloë: Wow. That's such a nice introduction. Thank you Krista and Andrea for inviting me into this really cool space where you're having great [00:02:00] conversations with ladies with such valuable lived experience at this point in time. And, I'm honored just to be here. Thank you.

Andrea: Thrilled.

Krista: here. Yeah.

Andrea: And Krista and I obviously chatting in advance of these conversations and talking, uh, with one another around, the folks that were so. Honored to have as guests on this show in this early starting of, what we're building together, which is a community.

Right. And as Krista was sharing, the stories of, um, her, relationship with you and all the things that you've, navigated and accomplished and dug into and,taken on and what you've built and what you've, designed,

I sat there as I was listening to Krista sharing your story and I had full body shivers, that weren't going away. it was like, oh, these have just been turned on an on [00:03:00] button for goosebumps and it's actually not turning off. And Krista and I have recognized that goosebumps.

Or the feeling of a full body sense of awe, um, however that shows up is one of the markers of these conversations that we're having. And to us, it feels like those are our kind of guide. They're telling us that we are having extraordinary conversations and that we are learning from the most amazing women.

And we can't wait to jump into this conversation and hear from you and hear your story. and one of the things that we like to start with, is digging into the simplicity of five words or less or more. So I, I, I love the tenacity. I relate. So I'm just gonna say, you know, no holds bar.

If you have nine, you go for it. But would you share with us perhaps some words that you feel really capture who Chloe is for us?[00:04:00]

Chloë: Well, um, to start with Andrea, I'm as a middle aged woman. I'm really happy to turn anyone on and if that's you, I'm excited to give you goosebumps.

Andrea: Well, it's happened. It's there.

Chloë: But you know, I, all joking aside, I know what you mean by those goosebump conversations that really make you feel something, um, obviously a skin shiver to just really drive that point home.

And, um, that's what makes this so interesting. And as you say, really about, you know, building a community around these interesting conversations, um, is. building communities is what women are so good at,

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: is coming together to, build communities, whether that's with each other, to support them, or whether that's,as a whole, we are gonna build a whole town and make it work or globally.

I'm still waiting for female takeover, but I believe that this is part of our superpower [00:05:00] is to create communities and spaces where people feel supported and heard and cared for. So, thank you ladies for leading this incredible conversation, community of ladies moving forward and, um, wow.

Describe myself. Uh, I often just. Keep it to the first letter of the alphabet. A I'm an Angus. I am truly an Angus. And if you go back and Angus is all the way since we've been here building, um, BC in Vancouver for a long time. The Angus family is large and we're all pretty out there, I guess. So I will own it. Um, I am an Angus. Um, I'm also an advocate of something that I find, um, incredibly important in life. If you, uh, are lucky enough to be outspoken I suppose, or, um, have language as your, skill or superpower. Um, it is something that comes along with being an [00:06:00] Angus, being outspoken. And um, I find that using that voice to be an advocate is really important to me in my life.

There's a lot of people without the voice, um, that I have. So not to speak for people, but to speak up. Um, and the other part that has always just kept me barreling through my life with excitement, um, is an adventurer. I I'm truly about the adventure of life, whatever that is. Travel, career, people, you meet, friends, family, all of it.

It, it's all of one pretty big adventure. And I think that that's, uh, how I take on most things. Um, yeah. And all of those things, I, I would've, um, used those words to also describe my dad, who was, uh, a great man and, um, I'm very like him in my family. So I,

Andrea: Lovely.

Chloë: those three words forward. [00:07:00] Yeah.

Andrea: I love that. we can see the power of language when you can boil it down to, in this case, three words that captures so much as you said, of who you are and where you've come from.

that's so beautiful and, and thank you for, thank you for sharing. Do you want to maybe take us on a little bit of a journey? Um, one of the things that we love is, um, we refer to it as anchors, in our story. And the anchors that we see for women in particular, in midlife are those times that feel as though they are a catalyst moment where something happens to the person, because it could be a conversation, it could be something that is seen, it could be an experience, but there's something that occurs that becomes a moment of transformation or the beginning of transformation. and perhaps, women in midlife [00:08:00] have a number of those anchor points or catalysts as we're calling them.

but would you maybe take us to one of what you believe would be those transformation moments or catalysts, and then tell us a little bit of the story around that and take us through that, experience ?

Chloë: Well I've had quite an adventurous life, so I have to, quickly flip through the Rolodex in my mind of, What comes, first? you know, I, I had a different childhood growing up. Um, very remotely on the Sunshine Coast, on an organic seafood farm where my parents raised us, five kids homeschooled.

And,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: life started out as a big adventure, uh, for me. And I learned how to sew when I was quite young. My mom taught me how to sew, my grandmother sewed. And um, she gave me a [00:09:00] very small a hand crank baby singer sewing machine.

And, that was one of my first transformations I pulled off Barbie's clothes and recreated what I wanted her to wear.

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: elegant. Um, and that was a transformational moment for me because it started a passion, in a little girl who lived far away, very remotely on a farm, and kind of decided at that point that fashion would be my passion in life, that it would be something that I would do. Um,

Andrea: love that.

Chloë: it didn't transform right away. Obviously. There was,

life that happened in between that, but certainly led me to, getting to a point in my, mid to later twenties where I started to go, what am I doing in my life and what do I really want to do?

uh. Was [00:10:00] running a landscaping company.

I'd started a landscaping company a couple years, back and needed a job. And, I worked one day for a lady who ran a landscaping company and she was so bad at it, but I thought, oh, well I could do this on my own. I,

Krista: Well done. Yes. love that.

Chloë: so at 23, I started my first business, um, uh, a landscaping company that I worked and operated,for a number of years successfully. And it grew to a point where I was looking at either expanding it and having it become more of what it was, or really looking at is this what I wanted to

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: portion of my working years?

This is what I wanted. And when I really thought about it, I'd always wanted to pursue fashion and

to fashion design school was something I had no idea what exactly I would do with it or how successful it would be. I only wanted to check it [00:11:00] off my life list. Like, you gotta do that. You've had it in your mind since you were six years old.

You've been making things and, at the very least I thought I would at least be able to make better clothes for myself, you know?

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: I, moved on from fashion design, uh, from the landscaping company, and I went to fashion design school at 30. And I, um, graduated from the Helen Lofo School of Fashion

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: a small, independently operated school run by a very strict Eastern European woman who had incredible, tailoring and kaori skills, which was what I

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: interested in.

So I went to that school and when I got out, I. had a few pieces in at the time it was, Vancouver Fashion Week, uh, just starting out and as a new newly graduated student, I could enter for free. So I put a few pieces in the show and, didn't think [00:12:00] much of it. And I got a call from the buyer at the Canadian by Design Department of the Bay,

Andrea: Oh wow.

Chloë: she was asking where I was at in my career, and I'm to a fault type of person, and I said, oh, I just graduated and yeah, I'd like to maybe intern with somebody. And she said, oh, so you don't have a line out? And I said, well, no, not yet, but,

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: but I could. And she said, well, no, you're at not a stage where I would be buying from you, so thanks very much.

And, and I caught her before she could hang up on me. And I said. You know, can I still take a few minutes of your time to come and see you and see why you called me? Like what did you see on those few pieces on a runway in a show that was late and in a dark bar, and you still called me today? So

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: a stern lady, and she said to me, I've got 15 minutes on Thursday. Come and see me and don't expect anything.

meeting my first buyer, big [00:13:00] fashion buyer, I went to see her and I took what things I had and my passion and my vision for what I wanted to create in fashion, which was something that I didn't see myself out there.

and this was in 2004.

sustainability was real conversation in fashion, that's for sure. So I wanted to see what I thought was missing, which was, women diversity in women's looks and in particular in age, that I really didn't see a lot of, know, fashion models that were something we could all aspire to aging gracefully as. Um, so with this idea and, I was sitting across from a middle aged lady who was a fashion buyer, and you can bet she wanted to see more of that in, in a career where, she's always grasping to, to find things that, you know, truly fit and work for [00:14:00] a mature lady

me it was about. Creating that, that visual concept of, of seeing what you wanna become. So I had this idea and she said, well, Chloe, if you can come back and see me all by, um, for fall in, in six months, and I'd be happy to look at your collection. And

Krista: In six months

Chloë: I launched my career.

Krista: oh my

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: yeah.

Krista: What? What was the first thing you did when you left there? like that is a pivotal moment. What happened?

Chloë: Well, I remember walking out there thinking, this is it. I got an opportunity, you know, in Vancouver. I was thinking about looking for an intern job and now I'm looking at creating a line and just diving into it. So I did you just dive in And probably great that, I had that ignorant bliss ofbeing 30 and having no idea. What the fashion industry really is and what it would take to be successful. Um,

Andrea: mm.

Chloë: done it. So glad I didn't [00:15:00] know then what I do know now, because it has been such an incredible adventure, this one

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: taken me all around the world and runways and red carpets I never imagined being on with celebrities and politicians and princesses,

so, what was, ignorant bliss certainly led to, diving in with both feet and just going, I'm gonna do fashion and that's

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: going to do and I'm gonna do it with diverse models and I'm gonna do it with. My eye on our environment as well on sustainability, which was really something that was not happening in 2004 when I was starting out.

But I had come from this organic farming background where, you know, it matters. Everything you do, every decision you make in your business affects the environment and affects the product you're [00:16:00] gonna produce

To go from that upbringing into, uh, the most polluting career I could choose, definitely had some conflict there because

Andrea: Yeah, of course. Yeah.

Chloë: how could I change it?

I still wanted to make clothes, but what could we do differently? So, recognizing right away that there are better choices we can make, in fashion even, in 2004 when that wasn't being looked at. and that's where some of the fundamental, basis for my company, was founded, which is, um, make the best choices we can, fashion for this sustainability and for the environment.

And we can't do it a hundred percent right and still build a successful business in the world today, but we can make every attempt to make the best choices that we can and continue to innovate and use new textiles and resort to old textiles that really truly work, um,[00:17:00]

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: and, and you know, um, beautiful wools and, and silks and things that are now being able to be farmed sustainably.

So that idea of just going, I'm gonna make clothes that are good for people, um, as comfortable as they are. Beautiful, that will highlight. Things about women that they feel really confident and great about I'll do that for you. No problem. so yeah, some of those fundamental things in starting out, that was really important to me, um, was on that inclusive,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: of fashion and what that looked like throughout your age as a lady. ladies of all different colors and cultures, really important. And then of course, living in what we refer to as Canada, um, something that was really, really important to me to represent and advocate with and for is the indigenous people

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: [00:18:00] Canada was a really important part of also growing that foundation of business and what was important.

So, in the small town that I had grown up in. predominantly indigenous community. Incredible opportunity for, for me to know so much more about the culture and the community, than other people around me. Um, so when I moved to Vancouver and finding out that there was a separation of people between indigenous and non-indigenous, people in communities, they just were really separate.

Whereas I came from a community where everybody was together 'cause it was so small that, we all came together in the community center to celebrate and to, support or whatever it was. So when I moved to Vancouver, I really realized that there was a separation there of people and

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: to be together and to have these good community conversations.

And I could see that wasn't really [00:19:00] happening. So, a way that I could, bring it into my fold with the medium that I work in is fashion. So how through that can I also, highlight this opportunity to get to know each other and creating a space where indigenous and non-indigenous people can come together and really appreciate, each other.

And that can often be done through art. And as I said, my art form is fashion. So

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: when I really set out to work in a collaboration with First Nations indigenous artists from across Canada, that. Would be a collective work together

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: they were bringing the artwork portion and their cultural portion of what they wanted to see represented in fashion. And I could bring my expertise in making really good clothing, good quality clothing and clothing that was good for the environment as it was for the person. So that really rounds up, that transformational moment of

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: and having [00:20:00] that

Andrea: So much.

Chloë: growing up in that remote community, coming the big city and seeing some lack of communication and, and

Andrea: finding

Chloë: my voice and, and my way of, speaking up, um,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: So that's where I

Andrea: I really appreciate how you wove that story to where you landed with, the founding of your, fashion design life and your chapter a few of the things that really stood out for me as those sweet anchor moments was starting with that story about you as a child.

so much of what we are as we go through life can be pulled back to childhood. we know that there's such deep anchors in childhood and,you describing, that little hand cranked singer,

Um, that image of you getting This beautiful gift as a child that allowed you to actually figure out [00:21:00] very quickly that this was something for you, um, is so powerful because as we were talking about children, gravitate to doing the things that they just love and what lights them up.

And so when we think about what it is that we love as children and we see that perhaps that is what pulls through, um, if we are doing that thing in its form. In our adulthood or in our, you know, our years later, we might even recognize that, oh gosh, this was exactly what I was meant to do because I did this as a child to take on a new form.

So I love how that kind of wove through this whole story and the juxtaposition of living in a small town and, remote nature inspired, community centric um, to, you know, living in Vancouver where there's a much broader population, much more

diversification amongst the folks that all gathered together in Vancouver to make [00:22:00] up the city and the lower mainland. But the fact that you had the other experience allowed you to see, that there was opportunity to pull the community of Vancouver tighter together.

and in the case that you're referring to, it was through that lens of, your experience with the indigenous, folks that lived in the town that you lived in, and how everybody was just part of the same community and how that could be perhaps replicated. and advocated for. In Vancouver.

So really beautiful story.I relate. and I also had very small town childhood, and so much of what you're describing really resonated. Um, I. Want to get us into, this world of design, and your passion for weaving in, the care of the environment and the care of our natural world through the medium that you are bringing to life.

and I know that as you started to get further into your design world, all kinds of new stories and [00:23:00] adventures popped up for you. and will you take us to the time where you reached another catalyst that arrived in those years that we are now considering half Betty years, which are those midyear or midlife years as a woman.

Well, one's pretty easy 'cause it came like a sledgehammer at 40 years old. I got paralyzed. I, that's a, that's a fairly major life shift all the way across the board, and it just, it does, it comes down on you like a hammer one day and your whole life changes in a way

Chloë: you could never imagine.

I didn't even know a person in a wheelchair until I was in one. And what an eyeopening experience. It was then, and it still is

every day for me. it was 2015. I had

40 years old, My career was, in one of the most successful years ever.

I, had [00:24:00] more success than I ever imagined it to be. And we were riding high, I

finished doing a major event. I was a fashion sponsor at that time for the Leo Awards. Pretty sure

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: Um, we dressed in, you know, 12 trophy models and more than a dozen celebrities over the course of a couple of days.

Um, but from the fashion side that I had to lead, no pressure or anything, just make it look like the Oscars. Okay.

check, check, and check. We've done it for a number of years by then.

I, I was a pretty seasoned vet at it.

that was one of the last times. About a week later, I, I was paralyzed and I, I remember saying to my team, oh, wow, man, I must've been working too much. Like, I need a couple of days off. My back's kind of sore, you know, I had a bit of a sore back and I, I've always been a super healthy, really active person.

Um, never been sick at a day in my life and. This back pain [00:25:00] was nagging me a little bit, you

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: um, my husband had gone away for the, the weekend to, to go fishing and I stayed home to rest and I had work to do. So I was a little bit busy, I decided to, you know, go out for a run, um, with my little jogging partner.

His name is Sunny. He's my little miniature horse that I adopted

we will insert Sonny's story really quick, which is where. We, we found this little tiny horse abandoned really needing a

Andrea: Huh?

Chloë: I put him in my backyard in Vancouver and just decided to care for him. And, uh, you know, that was when I

Andrea: Oh my gosh.

Chloë: life. But

Andrea: Oh my gosh.

Chloë: you'll find out, by the time we get to the end of, of this next transformation in, in my life at 40, becoming paralyzed, how Sunny actually ended up saving mine.

So

Andrea: Oh my gosh.

Chloë: another change for us. But, um, yeah, so I, I, I went out for a run that afternoon and I limped home because [00:26:00] my right hip ached really bad.

So it, uh, was later that evening.

I felt some tingling on my right foot, my toes, on my right foot.

Andrea: mm.

Chloë: Felt really numb and they stopped working and my leg was really painful. and I thought, okay, I better get this checked out. Um, I got a really busy Monday morning, so if I go into emergency now, like in the middle of the night, it'll take, you know, four hours on average in

Andrea: Mm mm.

Chloë: I should be ready for my 8:00 AM meeting. So I drove myself to the hospital and, um, things became a blur kind of after that, I guess they progressed fairly quickly and that I was in the hospital and I was watching that tingling and numbness creep up one leg and my right leg stopped working.

Andrea: My gosh.

Chloë: happen on my left leg again.

and I literally watched as my, my legs stopped working and the doctors didn't [00:27:00] know what was wrong or what had caused this. I had to call my sister, who thankfully, is a highly trained, nurse, and she came to see me in the hospital and she took one look at me and she said, Chloe, can you answer two questions?

Can you wiggle your big toe? And can you remember last time you went pee? And I couldn't And she said, well, I don't know what happened to you, but these are signs of a spinal cord injury

And that's when, a neurologist came to see me and I was put into an MRI machine and they discovered that I had a tumor. is a benign tumor, which luckily that's what I found out later, but found a tumor in my spinal cord and it was at waist level. And it's central in my spinal cord. it's a rare condition.

often, these type of tumors or malformations are on the outside of a spinal cord and can be surgically removed. Mine, unfortunately was central, um, inside my spinal cord, so

Andrea: Oh wow.

Chloë: that was [00:28:00] problematic for me. and what was causing the problem is that small tumor, had a bleed that a series of blood vessels in

Andrea: Oh.

Chloë: of those vessels broke and caused, a bleed of about four drops of blood into my very sensitive spinal cord, which caused enough swelling to pinch off all of the nerves below my waist.

So, um,

I lost the use of both of my legs, and the best surgeon in the country came into my room and told me, that I would never walk again, and that I would learn to live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I was pretty shocked, I mean, this is shocking news for anybody who gets it.

But to be running full tilt and to be brought to ground zero, I was just thinking no, no, no, no, no. This does not into

Andrea: No.

Chloë: fashionable lifestyle. Like I literally run a fashion design company. Ha. It takes a

Andrea: Yeah, yeah.

Chloë: gotta go full speed,

Andrea: [00:29:00] Yeah.

Chloë: um, so that was shocking. Shocking for everyone around me.

Shocking for my husband, who was unable to speak because he didn't know how to help me or what he was gonna do to change what was happening to me. And

Krista: And he

Chloë: I thought.

Krista: He was away. When you were in the hospital, was your, was your sister there when, when this news came from the doctor? Was she with you?

Chloë: Yeah. So, luckily my sister had come and was the one really helped determine what was going on for me.

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: about to discharge me and send me home And if I had gone home, I, I probably would have died from, a bladder exploding, just because I didn't realize that my nerves had, shut off the use of my bladder, bowel and

Andrea: Oh wow.

Chloë: And because I was unaware, um, I wouldn't have known. Um,

Andrea: No.

Chloë: it, was lucky that, like I said, I had my sister

yeah, but you know, here I [00:30:00] am, I'm in the hospital room. This is the news I'm landed with. I just have to deal with it. Like what am I going to do with this? And growing up in that little tiny community on that

Andrea: Hmm. Hmm.

Chloë: away from anything that could solve, you know, anybody who could solve your problems, you have to solve your own problems with whatever you had.

So that childhood of growing up like that gave me the ability to be that innovative thinker

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: room thinking, what am I gonna do to change my situation? Um, because not only was I, learning about the incredible inaccessibility and the mass amount of barriers. There are in the world if you're in a wheelchair.

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: also learning about the secondary health complications of living seated and being sedentary.

Andrea: Oh,

Chloë: that was worse for me than accepting that, I'd have to figure out how to get around in a chair. the idea that [00:31:00] the secondary health complications really don't have anything to do with my injury and everything to do with being sedentary and being seated, not being upright, and not moving like a walking human being.

pressure source problems with circulation,

Andrea: Right.

bowel

Chloë: and blatter, muscle atrophy, bone density loss. I, I mean, the list just goes on and on. and so the idea that they were just gonna put me into a wheelchair and leave me there. which, is a technology that hasn't changed much in almost 300 years.

Andrea: Right. Right.

Chloë: enough for me at that point. So I got onto Google and I started to look at ways I could help myself and I came across this article, from Popular Science Magazine online, and it was about this new technology, called an exoskeleton that was gonna help paralyzed people walk again. And I remember just being like, oh, light bulb. Okay, uh, motorized pants. Yeah, that's all I need. Hey, Gabe, [00:32:00] like, honey, don't, don't worry about me anymore. just order me one of these wearable suits.

Krista: we get it on Amazon? where do we get one of these?

Chloë: like.

Krista: it

Chloë: I will be back at work next week. I am good.

Krista: Yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: unfortunately it was, at the time it was 2015 and this technology was very new and it wasn't available.

I, I couldn't just order one.

but I'd seen it as an idea and that was enough for me to be like, well, if we had those, we'd be up and moving, I could access the world around me and it would ward off all of those secondary health complications.

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: So I started to, then go into my journey that everybody goes into when you have a spinal cord injury, which is, your acute phase and. Then you get to drop down, you know, step down unit where you're getting a little better in the hospital. And then they book you into the rehabilitation center that's here. And, you know, unfortunately when I got there, it was [00:33:00] really just a place where you were now like, turn and burn three months in and out. Learn your wheelchair skills, learn how to take care of yourself again, learn how to catheterize, learn how to get your pants on, um, you know, learn your world again

So not a lot of time or focus put onto true rehabilitation. And so. I started to ask about exoskeletons and I said, what about getting me in an exoskeleton? Let me try that.

I'm a really hard worker and I've always, approach things that if I work hard enough, I'll be able to do it. Um, this is a big one. I still wanted my best chance at trying. but I was told that I would have to wait, until I got out of the rehab center to maybe go and apply, at a research center to be able to be a candidate for research.

But that was months down the road and what I was reading in early studies of exoskeleton, use is the benefits with rehabilitation after spinal cord injury is immediate, you have to get in

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: have to [00:34:00] start using what you have right away, or your

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: is very efficient and just shuts down the paths you're not using.

So that idea, I really was advocating for myself. So I got back onto Google, searched around, and lo and behold I found an article, And, uh, it was about how a businessman, a local businessman, had donated an exoskeleton to GF Strong where I was at. So I printed off that article and I rolled myself downstairs to the physiotherapy office and I said. What about this one? This article says, you have one of these here, do you?

Krista: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: And they had to admit that they actually keep their exoskeleton in the closet, in the gymnasium. And I'm like, okay, well for starters, we all know that you don't keep your skeletons in the closet.

It's not healthy. And most of all, get it out because I wanna try it. And,

I was already labeled as a complete [00:35:00] injury with no chance of recovery. Therefore, wasting the HR dollars on the three, physiotherapist that it would take to assist me in the device was not worth it. So I continued to advocate for myself

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Chloë: we think we have

Krista: Yep.

Chloë: and it has so much to be fixed. It, it's an ongoing decline, our healthcare system for a long, long time.

And unfortunately when I got injured, it was a really bad [00:36:00] time. And, um, I had to advocate. very strongly for myself. So I did, and I won, eight treatments, eight sessions to use this incredible wearable robotic suit that I had spotted there. And, um, and I remember that day again, another transformational moment, of being in the gymnasium of having three people work with me to help me get into this heavy, cumbersome, wearable robotic device that was available at the time. and they stood me up and I walked across the gymnasium floor. After doctors all across the country told me I would never walk again. I was like, aha. This totally opened my eyes to, what was possible and not necessarily what was possible by my self physically but what was possible with technology. I was up, I was walking. Um,

Andrea: That's wild.

Chloë: you know, by the [00:37:00] end of those eight sessions, I realized that this technology was in its, early stages

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: was pretty rudimentary. It, it's a device that, as I say, it took three people to put onto me.

Um, I couldn't operate it independently. It stood me up, and then I had to use a walker or arm crutches to stay balanced. It only moved me forward in a very robotic way.

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: When I wanted to turn a corner, they literally had to grab me by the shoulders and turn my body, and then I could

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: the other way. But. As I say, it was that opportunity to see what was possible. in my mind I just thought, oh, well now we just need to make them better. Because this one's only in rehab center and I couldn't buy it and walk out of there and go back into my life with it.

But I could see a vision that if we made it better, it could do that. So that was it. I was off on this journey of technology and [00:38:00] exoskeletons and cutting edge stuff that, you know, until then, my whole life is really focused on creativity and, and.

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: working in arts

And it was, it was a different world, than stepping into the world of, science and technology. I,

Andrea: Interesting.

Chloë: all of a sudden I'm, surrounded by engineers and, programmers and this is not a world I thought I would be in, but, know, after getting paralyzed, I could see that I needed to be there.

So after those sessions were finished and, I had this idea about needing to make better exoskeleton, I got back on Google. I emailed the handful of exoskeleton developers At the time around the world, and enthusiastically, volunteered my services to help them make a better exoskeleton.

And they were like,

Krista: Sorry,

Chloë: we. Yeah,

Krista: you?

Chloë: we think we have a pretty good exoskeleton and who are you? So, I ended up [00:39:00] of all of the things, finding two professors,and a group of students at Simon Fraser University in

Andrea: Oh wow.

Chloë: that had an idea, a concept, or were building, an advanced exoskeleton.

And I was blown away. I can't believe that I found this in my own backyard when

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: the world and I was literally

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: to move across the world if that's what it took to

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: find this technology that I was looking for. that I had this idea that if we made it, an exoskeleton that was. be used independently that I would operate it myself, I

it myself. it, I wouldn't have to have attendance or people operating it for

it would be self-balancing so that I wouldn't have to use arm crutches or a walker. I would be hands free.

so I have all these big ideas and now I find this incredible team right in my own backyard.

So I go and meet them [00:40:00] and, met with Dr. Siamak Arzanpour and Dr. Ed Park, who are the professors, the co-founders of this idea the small group of students who had just done a feasibility test And I met them and took a look at it. And at that point they only had this little tiny rotating joint that was a proof of concept that could show that we could build an exoskeleton that had all the degrees of freedom of an, able bodied human

That would allow us to be able to build an advanced exoskeleton that could be used independently

Andrea: So fully articulated

Chloë: fully,

Andrea: Got it.

Chloë: when I saw that, I was like, this is what I'm looking for

Andrea: Wow.

Chloë: to build this. you're gonna build this. Right? And at the time, the professors and the students were in the university, so they were like, yes, we want to, but we're not sure how or what we're going to do with it.

And, and that's when I came in to be the why, why you're doing [00:41:00] this, which is take one, look at me and understand that I want my life back, the

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: injury that allowed me to access the world around me as an independent woman. and that healthy, active person that I'd always been. so. I've been stuck to them like glue ever since we, leap forward these number of years. We've had incredible adventures. I've been to London, I've been to Dubai and met the Prince. I,

have, uh, walked in five different countries now. Um, almost a quarter million steps since somebody told me I'd never walk again.

So.

So together, the team at Human Emotion Robotics, co-founders and the, and the team, we've been able to grow this incredible little company on morals, logic, and it's really built on pennies

Andrea: Mm mm.

Chloë: we just took it on and I did everything that I could to support [00:42:00] that company to be the voice and to be the face and the reason and the push behind, why we were doing this. Because wheelchairs are not our only choice now

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: acceptable that you don't have other choices that keep people healthier and more active and more independent.

So,we've been able to grow this incredible company. We raised $10 million about a year and a half ago, partnered with some amazing, Korean firm in Seoul, Korea, and opened our first human EMO Asia office there. we have doubled our team here in Vancouver over the last year, and we just received Health Canada approval to start selling our devices in Canada to clinics, hospitals, and research centers, which is where our technology will start out in the clinical rehab and, hospital setting.

As our team continues with our ultimate goal of building exoskeletons for personal use, which is every day [00:43:00] by everybody.

Krista: That is unbelievable. It's just so incredible. Yeah. And to know that you have been a part of that journey making that happen, was that ever a specific goal that, that you and the team were working towards? Or was it just a series of events that started to happen and started and then like how long did that take?

Was that five years? Was it

Chloë: Um,

Krista: years? Was

Chloë: let's see. It was, it was always the goal that I said we needed exoskeletons for personal use for every day

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: because like Amy Winehouse said, nobody wants to go to rehab, right? And certainly nobody wants to stay there. So, my experience in the hospital system and in the rehab system was so bad,

Krista: bad.

Chloë: bad that.

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: I couldn't rely on them. It wasn't where I knew we could rely on it to, to have the uptake to, to make the change that we needed. It was, [00:44:00] it's people, it's

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: that make change. It's

Andrea: Of course. Of course.

Chloë: policy follows people as long as people are outspoken enough. So it was really about, I had this vision that I need this in my life and

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: do too, and, then I don't have to go back to the hospital.

I don't have to advocate for, you know, the government to cover the physiotherapy that I need for the

Andrea: Yeah, yeah.

Chloë: I'll have it in my exoskeleton. It's built in because the exoskeletons that we're building for the future will be Your everything, there'll be my total gym. It's my personal assistant, it's my mobility device.

it's all of the things that I need because we can take all this amazing technology that's out there and just implement it into this one fantastic wearable device that will allow people to move through their life independently after injury or later in life. When,

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: know, I tell everybody, you're all gonna age and you're[00:45:00]

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: end up with a mobility issue, and you're not gonna want a wheelchair or walker any more than I do.

So, um, let's do this now. 'cause they know that everybody's gonna love them when they come out.

Andrea: When you say, I'm the why. The why is not, it is me in this moment, but I actually represent all the other millions of "whys'" out there.

That need this. And if you don't start with this, why, then we will never get to a place where all the others that are going to benefit from this are part of that solution. And I just, I really love you being able to,drive home how important it is to one advocate for others, but advocate for ourselves [00:46:00] and then to not, gosh, to not take what we are given as the final word.

We, we listen to so many people around us all the time who are experts and they bring us value, and they offer information and insights and it's all valuable.we don't want to take away from what people are able to offer, but at no time, should we ever take it as being the final word.

And if anything that I've taken,from what you've shared, is just the power in being able to stay curious, ask questions, advocate, and push beyond what we're given as information to ask. What else? Tell me more.

Chloë: we're never, we're never at a place where we can't continue to be better and do better and come up with better[00:47:00]

Andrea: I love that,

Krista: Especially

Chloë: Um,

Krista: technology on our side

Andrea: right?

Krista: behind it, asking questions and

Andrea: Yeah,

Krista: saying, well, what else can it do?

Andrea: yeah,

Chloë: and, and so important that, when we're talking about these technologies and the development of incredible technology and you know, technology as it continues, it does have, this scary potential to do real harm to people.

Andrea: yeah,

Chloë: there's also a flip side that where technology has an incredible opportunity to improve people's lives in a

Andrea: yeah.

Chloë: big way, and there's no one else that impacts more than the disabled community, and how much technology has helped the disabled community participate in life around them in the fullest way possible, um, independently as possible. So it's really important that when we are developing these technologies and products for specific [00:48:00] needs, that we involve these specific needs in what we're doing at the earliest stage of development.

And this is where I've been so lucky to, be the voice, be the why, and be the lived experience behind the products we're developing at human emotion. So I'm grateful to the team for, inviting me in. I sometimes I would say putting up with me on an ongoing basis because I'm never quiet

Well, it's also interesting to bring, creative, field and mindset

into technology and into tech products, which, I mean, we've got to look at Apple, like, you know, Apple is a tech company that is successful because of the creativity and the color that was put, behind it when that

Andrea: yeah,

Chloë: happening.

You

Andrea: yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: and, and, you know, colored computers like really set things apart. And so having that creative thinking, mixed into that, [00:49:00] technical development and space is also really interesting. And then, of course I see exoskeletons coming in all sorts of different custom colors with, you know, orthotics that fit the body really beautifully.

And, um, come in a Burberry print, you

Andrea: Wow.

Krista: please.

Chloë: Yes, please. And, yeah, I'm so proud to say this is what I live now, is that I have this incredible exoskeleton that I go to at the lab, at, human Emotion Robotics in downtown Vancouver, and I can get into it myself independently. I put on the orthotics that I sewed the first rendition of in the studio downstairs. And, I can stand up in it, operate it myself. I can walk around the room at multiple speeds. I can go up and down slopes and stairs and I can crouch and pick things up

Andrea: It's just mind blowing. It is unbelievable. It's so amazing.

Chloë: [00:50:00] will change everything for how people move in the world. that the future of all human mobility is in wearable robotics.

And it's coming and if you happen to. Live in the technical and fashion that my worlds have come together

Andrea: yeah.

Chloë: an incredible time. And, and to see all of this, rapid innovation in what we can do, I'm working on another project right now with the University of Alberta, bring soft robotics to clothing and fashion

Andrea: Got it. Yeah. Yeah.

Chloë: I have a bit of an overlay of both of those, but just, it's an incredible time for technology, for innovation and having all of these worlds that I've lived in, these adventures that I've taken, coming together and all being in this same space and time now is really interesting. I will be turning 50 and 10 on the same birthday. So I'm 50-year-old lady and I'm a 10-year-old paraplegic.

Krista: Mm.[00:51:00]

Chloë: I often talk about, transformation in life, that shift of before or after

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: injury is that everything happened either before or after.

it's how you, remember the dates and time

Krista: Yeah.

Chloë: this

Krista: Yeah.

Chloë: major mark in, like, in time

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: that changed. Um, so I still struggle, every day with that. This happened to me. It seems so surreal to still not be able to jump out of bed,

Krista: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: on

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: own two legs and, navigate my world.

it's still shocking to me. It feels like yesterday, then again, it feels like a long time. I'm adapted pretty well, I know how to use that wheelchair for when I want to,

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: exoskeleton that I can dance in again,

Andrea: Gosh,

Chloë: and for a 10-year-old that feels pretty good.

Krista: Oh my

Andrea: So the design, the way that things are fabricated, how materials work and how to work them with [00:52:00] your body.

All of that knowledge and innovation, how that then set up to infuse into the after where it's now about, robotics and, technology and engineering and like you said, very, very different world, but also kind of the same

Chloë: as I say, I went from, being a women run business and, and mostly working with women to working with predominantly men.

Andrea: yeah,

Chloë: in engineering, in programming and, technology and math.

And, the flip side of that is, is also finance

Andrea: yeah.

Chloë: right? Because

Andrea: Ah,

Krista: Yep.

Chloë: money to do these big projects. Like, this is like saying I'm, you know, gonna create an electric car or something, right? So, um, kind of the same idea, but it,

Andrea: it is,

Chloë: it has been really challenging. Um, I, I'll be honest, it, it, there's been days that have [00:53:00] been extremely difficult to feel seen, heard and remembered, um,

Andrea: hmm.

Chloë: as a disabled woman in a, a predominantly male dominated, fields.

And it's challenging in all of the ways that women talk about, um.

Krista: Do you find there's a lot of assumptions that happen,

Chloë: Um, yes.

there's a lot of assumptions that come, with being a person in a wheelchair Lots of

Andrea: Yeah.

that you can't do a lot of things that you can do

Yeah.

Chloë: it's just the worst thing we can do to people is assume.

Andrea: Yeah.

It's a good one to live by. And maybe along the line of assumptions, similar to what, we're talking about with this community that we're building with Half Betty,it's a little bit like an existing narrative that has been for formed, over years by society and by all [00:54:00] people.

There's a narrative around what it is that they're not able to do. And we all because maybe we don't ask questions or because we're not curious enough we're not taking that moment to do, as you've described.

And that is, well, that's what the words say, but is that actually accurate? And so, with half Betty, the idea of, there's a narrative around who women are and how we show up and what we're capable of in our mid-lives. And that narrative is largely accepted by the world, that when you're in your midlife as a woman, you are now less beautiful.

You're less strong, you're less capable, you're less visible, all the things and that's the narrative. But with any narrative, there's an opportunity to shift it. There's an opportunity to change that and to, ask the questions, get into the conversations, form the communities, [00:55:00] inform others, educate others, and then have all of us hold up the new narrative.

So I love that you are shifting the narrative of what is possible for people who have disabilities or abilities that are different than those of able bodies, and I think that's an extraordinary undertaking.

Chloë: so much of it is, in all of points that you touched on is, is just really about, being brave and being persistent.

Andrea: It's,

Chloë: just on those days where you just wanna throw in the towel, and wait till tomorrow.

and, find those outlets to shake off that shit, which

Andrea: yeah.

Chloë: conversations with, with incredible women really helped me a lot.

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: and, sort of refuel my gas tank with

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: and be that, challenging, [00:56:00] encouraging, and unrelentless, person, making change.

So I, I think you do need to have that, self care plan and

Andrea: do

Chloë: need to involve community around you. others who are in your space or like-minded people that just,

Andrea: a hundred percent.

Krista: you talk more about the community that's come from this, not only in the technology side, but um, in all, all the other aspects of

Andrea: Hmm.

Krista: this brings to your life? I'm very grateful because Chloe invites me to do hair and makeup when she is doing photo shoots and video shoots

And I get to meet such amazing people and I feel really grateful for that. So thank you Chloe, for always inviting me. I was just wondering if maybe you could share, what that feels like to be a part of this community.

Chloë: So, as I said, I didn't even know a person in a wheelchair until I was in one. what an eyeopener of, um, the incredible strength and spirit that it takes [00:57:00] to live this life. And, how many people out there are living, their best life, regardless of injury or outcome. Um. as I started out saying is that my, experience, my journey through early injury hospital and rehabilitation was, so bad and I

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: didn't see enough, peer involvement in early stages for people. There was so much more. Once I got out of that institutional area of the journey, I, got to start to meet actual people who were living with

Andrea: Um.

spinal

Chloë: cord injuries and living with chairs and living with disability that they were overcoming.

And it was, the tips and the tricks of the experts that really got me like, oh, okay, this is how you can adapt and how things really work. And I was so vocally outspoken about how terrible my journey through the healthcare system was, um, that I ended up, getting in with the bad kid club, [00:58:00] which is awesome. the disruptors, the people who are out there really pushing change, being seen for where they are and who they are, not, what their disability is and

Andrea: Right, right.

Chloë: um, ended up meeting really interesting people, all the way along, this journey of being in spinal cord injury.

And, I kind of felt that, well, one of my, my good friends, John said to me, well, Chloe, are you just gonna bitch about it or do you want to do something about it? Do you know that, Praxis, the Spinal Cord Injury Institute in Vancouver and the Health Standards Organization of Canada is looking to overhaul spinal cord injury care standards in Canada. You want a piece of that?you want to put your voice to that? I thought Well,

Krista: that to my to-do list,

Chloë: yeah. How could I not, So, I spent seven years as the, co-chair, of the project to overhaul spinal cord injury care standards in Canada. so any accredited hospital moving forward will have to adopt, these new [00:59:00] policies and procedures that were actually, curated, written, and put together by people with lived experience such as myself. and it went from a 12 page document to an 82 page document that was

Andrea: Oh, wow.

Chloë: more modern in what we need in the proper care of spinal

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: in Canada. we've just, uh, completed that project and I have moved on to be on the advisory committee with the Rick Hansen Foundation, with a group of other disruptors to overhaul, rehabilitation and to create a gold standard of spinal cord injury care in bc. So with those groups, I'm super involved on overhauling spinal cord injury care standards and knowing that we can do better and do more. I'm also working on a project to highlight the incredible importance of fashion within the disabled community, and particularly after spinal cord injury. helping people [01:00:00] find solutions that, work and look good and feel good.

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: that's been an ongoing project for the last few years. And actually Krista was, Really awesome to come on board and help with a photo shoot that we did recently for the fashion able, we call it

Andrea: I love it.

Chloë: and it's a, a fashion guide for after spinal cord injury that will be coming out,

we did a, a photo shoot and all of the models, um, three men and five women, were all in wheelchairs or had different, uh, with

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: of, of injury.

So we had an incredible, opportunity to really showcase what diversity and adaptability truly looks like. And, and that

Andrea: beautiful.

Chloë: a really exciting day. And, I can't wait to share that guide and

Andrea: It's wonderful.

Chloë: um, you know, how important it is to, to have fashion.

Andrea: Of course.

Chloë: In your life and particularly after injury, when you're really trying to find [01:01:00] yourself again and,

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: trying to make things work with what you got now.

And,

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: just to show that you can still, together a really cool, fashionable outfit that speaks volumes about yourself. And that's what

advocating for and, and,

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah,

Chloë: to have, the healthcare system understand is that, part of our journey through recovery also needs to include, a and, and the discussion of, of

clothes are and,

that you need to now rebuild your wardrobe, which is not an inexpensive feat.

So, you know, there

Andrea: No,

Chloë: support for that for people and, um, yeah, but it, it's such an important part of, of who we are. It's our first presentation to the world. it's our first conversation with somebody. If you come around the corner, you meet someone

Andrea: yeah.

Chloë: they're looking at you first, and they are making. assumptions,

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: is a, you know, it, it's, um, interesting thing for me is how [01:02:00] impactful fashion is. When you think about it, you think it's a surface thing and

Andrea: It's not at all.

Chloë: it, it can be very superficial. Right? I have, you know, as I've mentioned, my, my sister works, uh, as a neonatal nurse.

Um,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: saving babies' lives every day. And, and there was a point in my career where I was thinking to myself, what have I chosen to do this polluting industry? and my sister saves lives every day. Should I do something different with, should my life be more impactful for people? I don't know.

This was a while back when I

Andrea: Hmm.

Chloë: Again, not the confident woman I am at, at, you know, looking at 50 and knowing who I am, but, really wondering what impact I was gonna make in the world for other people

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: I had a lady come into my studio, um, later that week, and she came in with tears in her eyes and she said, Chloe, I, I just had to come and tell you that the outfit that you made me to go to my husband's Christmas party [01:03:00] was everything.

She said, you know, been home with the kids for the last number of years. I finally had a chance to go to his holiday party this year. And I met him there. And when I walked in the room, he saw me for the first time in like 20 years. And she just said, I feel like you saved my life.

Krista: Oh my

Chloë: And that changed things for me that day was, another one of those transformative moments where you go. What I've chosen to do can have an impact in the world in a really positive way and can save somebody's life through fashion

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: a way that makes it so that women in particular, um, ladies in this midlife,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: would be seen, heard, and remembered.

Krista: Oh, it's so beautiful.

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Krista: Yeah,

Andrea: Wow.

Krista: incredible. Chloe. I just, I have, I've just, um, so much [01:04:00] admiration for you and, um, every time I think of you, I am inspired and encouraged. And I'm wondering though, if you ever stop, do you wanna stop for a second and rest is resting in your vocabulary? does your brain ever just turn off?

Is that a possibility for you? Or do you want to, maybe you don't want to.

Chloë: they always say there's lots of time to sleep when you're dead. Um, uh, no, I, I do get a little tired. Um, and,

Andrea: Mm,

Chloë: and, but I have those things in my life that I, I do really try and, and focus on. Um, you know, that the things that refill my gas tank, that little tiny horse that I have

Andrea: sunny.

Chloë: so much joy.

Um, and when I need a little break, we just spend some time together. Or he comes in the kitchen and we make dinner and, and it just, like, my mind goes somewhere else. I have an incredible husband who, has, been my [01:05:00] partner in life. We've been married 24 years. We've been together 30

I have this incredible husband who, is a wonderful support system for me, and he follows me around and assists me to do whatever I can do. He's my man lift. I can go anywhere and do anything with him.

all my, my crazy ideas. He just says, okay. so I have, an incredible, support system,

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Chloë: is, I'm so lucky to have.

and of all the things that, I've done in my life, I, I have to say one of the things I'm most proud of is to have a successful marriage 24 years later. It's no

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: We all know,

Andrea: Absolutely.

Chloë: it, it's those things, but it's, one of those life things that I, um, check off as being like, right on.

That's, that's a good one. You know, that's a good success story. So I

Andrea: That is a really good success story.

Krista: Yeah.

Chloë: Yet funny, I, always thought in my life I wouldn't be married, that I'd [01:06:00] have kids, because I didn't see the two going together. I didn't see in my life that it was a good idea for ladies to have kids and a husband 'cause they were kind of the same thing. Um, and probably, probably best to do one or the other. Um, and honestly, I thought you had. were more manageable. So I, that's what I thought I would do. But then I met the husband first and I thought, okay, well I'll do the husband thing instead. And, you know, we've always, um, you know, it was never really in our plan to have kids, you know, we always wanted to just, um, be us ourselves.

And I

Andrea: Yeah.

Chloë: you know, maybe I would have children if we lived to be 300 years old, but I don't have the time in this lifetime to do it. But, you know, we either are the, um, the awesome aunt and uncle to 13 nieces and nephews,

Andrea: Oh gosh.

Chloë: and we love them.

So when we want kids, we just order them like pizza, we'll take a boy and girl four and six, we wanna see a Disney movie. Or we'll [01:07:00] take twins because we wanna go and see Justin Bieber. Like,

Andrea: Oh my gosh. That's brilliant. Brilliant.

Krista: brilliant. It really is. It's

Chloë: So this is.

Krista: I.

Chloë: About shaping, the life that, that we wanted. and as I said, having this nice, balance of,

Andrea: Mm.

Chloë: and life and family and the way that works for us,

Andrea: Mm-hmm.

Chloë: in a really great way.

So I have all of those things. and other than that, I just can't resist the next adventure. It comes along my plate and I say, yeah,

Andrea: You say, well, that's, that's.

Chloë: I, I was literally telling myself nothing more. My husband was like, honey, nothing more, nothing more. Like, not nothing. You, you can't, like, you have nothing else you can fit in.

You have to stop doing this. I'm like, okay, okay. Got it. Yep. Got it.

Krista: So you'll

Chloë: comes along.

Krista: our podcast, but

Chloë: I'm like, bye.

Krista: you can come alongside of us and have your own podcast. We'll be here for you if and when. That's a possibility,

Chloë: That's all I

Andrea: There. [01:08:00] There is so much. There is so much.

Chloë: so cool and so incredible and I just, I love it. When I, when I got the email that said what you guys were focusing on and how Half Betty came to, to be baked, I guess

Andrea: I

Chloë: um,

Andrea: love that

Krista: we're having a lot of fun. But, uh, you know, the goal is to shine the light on women in their midlife and all the amazing things that we are

Andrea: Extraordinary things.

Krista: I mean, your story is so beautiful and inspiring and the best part is, you're just one of the coolest people I know.

And, uh, you know, I think Laura Adkin are gonna give a shout out to Laura for introducing me because, um, yeah. I'm just so grateful to call you a friend and to be able to get to work with you every so often I want to , be here for you forever, whatever you need. I'm also the type of person that can't say no, Andhave a husband who is incredibly kind and supportive So I can also relate to that, but I know our audience can too.

I'd love to, [01:09:00] share with our audience, how can they, with our listeners, how can they, keep in touch with you, learn about what you're doing. We can put some information in the show notes and our resources on our website.

So could you share with us a few things? Social media or websites or anything that they can follow along.

Chloë: Chloe Angus is my label. chloe angus.com is the website for my fashion. human in motion.com is the website address for the wearable robotics,

You gotta go on there and check that out. and then of course, Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn. It's all Chloe Angus, or Chloe Angus Design on LinkedIn and Facebook. So go check those out. We can always stay in touch that way. Happy to connect with community and collaborate and, continue to work together to make the change that we wanna see.

Andrea: It's all just the beginning, isn't it? that's the extraordinary part about all of this is that once those connections are made, then they are [01:10:00] continuous. in some ways it's like building that kind of, um, woven thread of connection that fires constant energy between all of those that are part of it, making change, creating new things, innovating, designing, crafting, building.

Um, so it's just, it's such a, it's such an powerful experience and, and I'm so grateful that Krista, um, I'm so grateful for Krista full stop. I'll just put a period after that.

Chloë: full stop there too, like

Andrea: stop. I'm so grateful for Krista because she, because she said, she said, when I said, Hey, so I've won this contest to bring a podcast to life, she was already like, neck high in all of her world, of all the things that she does.

When I said, would you? And she said, she said, yes, I'm in a hundred percent so I'm full. [01:11:00] I'm so grateful for Krista full stop. And I'm so grateful for her introducing you to this conversation and for hearing your story that you so generously and beautifully shared with us.

'cause it is generous to share our stories where you can't get more personal than our own individual stories. Of both the things that we are lit up by and the things that made an attempt to hold us back. So thank you so much for trusting us and trusting our listeners to hear your story.

And I wonder if you would do something for me as we pull this all together. what would that 92-year-old Chloe perhaps advise?

50-year-old Chloe. What do you think that maybe she would say?

Chloë: You should have taken more vacations,

Andrea: Oh.

Chloë: like,

Andrea: [01:12:00] Brilliant.

Krista: Yep.

Chloë: sure.

Krista: Yep.

Andrea: Yes.

Chloë: yeah, and I look forward to being that 92-year-old lady, and I tell Gabe I'll have my exoskeleton by then, and by

Andrea: Yeah, you will.

Chloë: portions too, and I will be carrying him up the stairs.

Andrea: I love it. So more vacations and so much more of everything that you're doing. Thank you so, so much.

Chloë: So awesome to chat with you and I really feel, um, invited into, you know, the Half Betty community and, um,

Andrea: Open arms.

Chloë: great community. You're, you're building and I'm, I'm just so excited to hear more of the conversations ongoing and, and cheering you ladies on for, um, you know, all the hard work and, and the creativity that's going into this.

Krista: Thank

Andrea: Thank you. Likewise.

Krista: to tell our listeners to head over to half betty.com. We're also on Instagram at half Betty, LinkedIn Please follow along. Please subscribe. We [01:13:00] would love to hear from you, reach out, share your stories, and, pass on this podcast for anyone that you think it would really resonate with.

Thanks for joining us today.

Andrea: Thank you.

Chloë: Bye ladies.

Andrea: Bye.