How Cyan Ta'eed went from tech titan to chocolate entrepreneur

Lying in a darkened room for a month was the first time in years Cyan Ta'eed had slowed down.

Ta'eed co-founded technology marketplace Envato in 2006 and grew the company to 348 staff and a turnover of $US72 million ($92 million).

"I'd been at Envato for about 12 years and it had been really incredible, always really challenging, but I'd been running very fast," Ta'eed says.

That fast-paced life came to an abrupt halt after Ta'eed contracted a "really aggressive" bacterial ulcer in her eye from wearing contact lenses.

She went from speaking on a panel at an event for the Telstra Business Awards in late 2016 to being rushed to hospital by her husband the next day.

Doctors warned Ta'eed could lose an eye if she didn't lie in complete darkness for a month with no screens or books.

"I was immediately disconnected; work stopped, everything stopped, I was just out," Ta'eed says.

"I just had a huge amount of time to think it was really, really good, there are not many times in life you have this massive break and detox and just stop. At that time I thought it was time to do something different." Read more

Cara Waters - Brisbane Times - 16 Apr 2018