We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia Elatassi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alicia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?
When I first started in business, I was very reluctant to ask for help. I didn’t think I needed it. If there was anything that needed to be done for the business, I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it all. So I wasted precious time figuring things out when I could have hired help. The sooner I could have realized how I needed someone with the skills that I lacked, the faster I would have grown. Hire people to help!
Alicia , 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?
At the core, I’ve always been a teacher or a mentor in some capacity. I’m the oldest of four, so I’ve always been the leader of the pack. Giving directions and instructions made me so happy. I became a public school teacher and then a professor. Today I fulfill my need to teach and mentor with my podcast Vibes by Alicia. I truly love to share stories of grit and personal growth. My audience become my students and they learn about crafting the life they wish to live. My passion is teaching and mentoring, it’s what I do best and what my listeners enjoy when they listen to one of my episodes.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Managing a team can be one of the hardest parts of building a business. It is very difficult to find help that fulfills your vision. That’s why it is important that you outline and explain the vision to the team, what are our goals, and what results do we want to achieve. I always try to get my team to take a stake in everything that we do, so that they see that their work is acknowledged and valued. I keep team meetings short and make sure to listen more than speak. My team is young, vivacious, and smart so I let them do their thing!
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
My podcast has been a link to the outside world. I’ve always been a fan of radio and radio personalities that made me laugh and think. I started my podcast as a creative outlet but today it’s become my business. I invite sponsors to help with our growth, and I’ve created a community of supporters, as well as giving air time to those who have something to teach.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tbbyalicia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibesbyalicia/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaelatassi/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4WnIQlSve2js2wfRq6Z55A
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/the_aliciae/
Image Credits
Photography by Jamaal Jones and Vonvis Photography