Meet Elya Lane

 

We were lucky to catch up with Elya Lane recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elya, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I am not sure developing resilience was ever a choice I had. When you are faced with life or death options, your only two choices are to become resilient and overcome your circumstances or give up. My kids also gave me the strength to keep fighting on days I felt the most broken. Over the years, as my condition worsened and my health declined, it took more and more energy to fight back – but I never gave up. I felt called to set an example for my kids, for my students, and for others struggling like me. I believed if I could learn to navigate my struggles then I could give hope to others. Quitting was never an option, the only thing that mattered was surviving another day, being there for my kids, and creating a better future for others. Every day that’s what kept me going.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Since I was a little kid, I’ve been a passionate entrepreneur. From selling candy bars in grade school to support kids going to summer camp to opening my first brick and mortar business (a tutoring and art center) when I was just twenty years old, entrepreneurship has always been a part of who I am. I became extremely grateful for this skill when I ended up needing it for my own survival. I was born with a rare genetic condition that was misdiagnosed for years. As I got older, my health deteriorated and I developed additional comorbidities. One of the conditions I developed was chronic infections. These infections became worse and worse over the years and I lived in constant excruciating pain. Worse than the pain though, was the fear that these infections would one day take my life. I was developing antibiotic resistance and also had to be informed that long term use of antibiotics had the potential for fatal side effects as well. My doctors had no solutions for me and I was getting worse each month. I spent more nights than I can count crying myself to sleep, believing that I wouldn’t live long enough to see my kids grow up. It was from this place of absolute despair that I decided to create my own solution.

I believed that there had to be something in my life that I could adjust that would help give my body a fighting chance. Whether it was my nutrition, medication, sleep, activities, or all of the above, there had to be some correlations between my lifestyle and my symptoms that I could adjust to improve my overall health. That started me on my journey to create Corra. It was slow going at first. I was trying to create a company in an industry I knew nothing about while juggling urgent care trips, doctor appointments, procedures, etc. I did not have the health or energy that a “typical CEO” might have, but I had grit. Slowly Corra took form. My first few health correlations started to come in. I received correlations between my symptoms and certain activities, ground beef, various cold medications, dark chicken meat, particular brands of dairy, specific medications, etc. As I learned more about my body’s unique triggers, I started molding my lifestyle to meet my needs (under medical supervision of course!). My health started to improve. Our team grew and things started to pick up speed. Suddenly, we were accepted into a Techstars Accelerator program, being trained in how to successfully run an international tech company and being taught how to pitch effectively. We graduated from Techstars at the end of April, opened our first pre-seed raise on May 1st, and by May 2nd we had a commitment for our first check of the round.

While it is incredibly exciting to see my company take off in such a dramatic way, that’s not what I am most excited about. What keeps me going day in and day out is the impact Corra is having. I continue to receive stories from Corra users about the positive impact our app has had on their life. One user shared with us that they believed their condition was deteriorating, but because they were using Corra every day – they received a correlation between their worsening symptoms and one of their medications. They took this to their doctor, their doctor changed the medication they were on, and their symptoms decreased back to their normal range. They stated that they would never have known that their worsening symptoms were actually side effects if it weren’t for Corra.

I’ll always have a genetic condition and chronic illness I have to manage, but now I finally have a tool to help make management possible. Corra has given me freedom and hope. On May 16th I celebrated over 2 years without the need for daily antibiotics. Corra saved my life and I believe it can have a life changing impact for others in the chronic illness community as well. I’m on a mission to change the world and make personalized healthcare accessible one person at a time.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think the three most important qualities or skills a person can have are; grit, vulnerability, and the willingness to learn. Most founders fail. The start-up journey is not an easy one. Before you start down the entrepreneurial path, it’s essential to make sure you have the right mindset. I believe this is true no matter what you are pursuing. Whether it is starting a business, battling an illness, or planning for a backpacking trip – mindset is essential. You have to prepare not to fail and you have to be ready for the storm to hit, because it will hit. When that storm hits, you have to have the courage to withstand it and the determination to fight through it.

A support system is also necessary and this is where vulnerability comes in. At first, it was really hard for me to ask for help. I was embarrassed by my disability, embarrassed when I didn’t know something in business, embarrassed when things weren’t going well, etc. My first instinct was to hide. I didn’t want to appear weak or incapable. Overtime I learned that in order to survive the storms, I needed people around me to lift me up when I ran out of strength. Learning to be vulnerable and ask for help is one of the most important things we can do as humans. With my health, I learned to accept my limitations and ask for help and I discovered how willing those around me were to support me. In business I learned to admit when I didn’t know something or when I made a mistake. Again, I was blown away by the amount of mentors who emerged willing to offer their time and knowledge to help me succeed.

Finally this brings me to the willingness to learn. It’s not enough to just ask for help. When help is offered and advice is given, you have to be willing to learn and grow. I am constantly working to grow my skill set, learn from my mistakes, and learn from my mentors. I believe we should never stop evolving. We must continue to work on ourselves every day of our lives.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

There are so many incredible books out there it’s hard to choose one. For my entrepreneurial journey, I’d say “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek was definitely the most impactful book in getting me started. One of my favorite lines from the book is “Innovation is not born from the dream, innovation is born from the struggle.” and I have found that to be very true in my personal journey. In another section of the book he talks about how you can influence people’s lives in one of two ways, either by manipulating them or by inspiring them. I want to be the type of person that has a positive influence on the world around me by inspiring others to achieve their goals the way I have been able to achieve mine.

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