We recently connected with Alicia Krasko and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alicia, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I coach Stepmoms-something that is typically emotionally charged. There are a litany of things that are outside of a Stepmom’s control. It feels overwhelming. Frustrating. Exhausting, and at times hopeless. In coaching sessions, my goal is to get the Stepmom to recognize that the change she wishes to see is inside her.

When I’m delivering hard truths to my clients, I want them to understand that what I’m saying isn’t personal-more chances than not, I’ve felt the same way they have. I’ve done the exact thing they did. I’ve wanted to run, too. More importantly, I want them to know that they aren’t alone and a great way for me to break the ice or soften the hard truth is with sarcasm. I want them to think outside of the box they’ve put themselves in and be able to see what I see in them.

Sometimes a laugh is just what they need to see that.

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?

I’m a wife, Stepmom to 2, and a mom of one. I got into coaching stepmoms for obvious reasons-I am one! I am passionate about helping Stepmoms get to a place where they feel confident in their role, can handle stressors without feeling derailed every single time, and recognizing that their marriage is strong-amongst the BS. It’s important to me, because I’ve walked in those shoes. I struggled enough in the beginning that I was constantly wondering if I had made the biggest mistake-marrying someone with kids.

I offer 1:1 coaching packages and have a private, off social media community: The Stepmom Side. It is for Stepmoms; a place for them to feel heard with no fear of judgement. Being a Stepmom is such a lonely road-it feels extremely isolating-and I want other Stepmoms to know there are others who feel the exact same way they do. In fact, those not so great feelings they feel are quite normal.

I focus on helping Stepmoms set boundaries and then coach them on how to maintain them. That’s the important part! My way of coaching is delivering hard truths with a touch of sarcasm and humor. It’s a great way to break the ice and to help a Stepmom relax a bit. Coaching can be a bit emotional at times and that’s a good thing!

I’m most proud of how my Stepmom journey has turned out. Like I mentioned, in the beginning, I struggled quite a bit. I consistently googled “how to get divorced”-true story-and, now, I’m at a really good place. My relationship with everyone is strong and healthy. So many more smooth seas these days! I’d call that a win.

A huge misconception is that getting to a “good” place in your Stepmom journey is easy. It’s not; it requires you to do the work. It requires you to be completely honest with yourself about where you are mentally. The work opens up wounds you thought you’d healed. It’s asking yourself if you were in the other person’s shoes would YOU like you?

I find coaching extremely rewarding. I love getting to walk side by side with Stepmoms and help them figure out where to tweak things. There’s nothing like having someone come back and say, “you changed my life!”

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time that I had to pivot in life was parenting. I was 26 when I met my stepkids (who were 8 and 11 at the time). I had some “parenting” experience, because I’d helped raise my sisters. My parents were divorced and I was raised by my mom. She was a the type of parent that said, “because I said so” or “when I say, ‘jump’ you say, ‘how high'” type of thing. If I didn’t listen or do as she said, I was given the silent treatment. This was how I thought parenting worked. You can imagine how well this kind of parenting went over as a Stepmom. Like a lead balloon. Turns out, you have to tell kids repeatedly things and in healthy relationships, that’s how it works. It was news to me that there was a different way. I was turned on to the idea of “gentle parenting” by a friend and it completely changed the dynamic with my stepkids. I’d been expecting them to be what I wanted and not allowing them to be what they needed (and wanted to be!): themselves. When I started “gentle parenting”, the wedge I’d driven between us, started to disappear.

Gentle parenting allowed me to connect with the kids on their level. I got to see them for them. It solidified the “connection over correction” parenting advice for me. Having experienced another level of parenting with my stepkids, helped when my daughter came along. I was able to not sweat the small stuff. I was able to relax and enjoy much more of the journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’ll be frank with you: building an audience on social media is hard work. There are so many “tips and tricks” to help you do it, but none of it really matters if you aren’t willing to be yourself. If you aren’t willing to be vulnerable. People aren’t necessarily interested in your brand unless they know you. It’s that old adage: people don’t care how much you know, unless they know how much you care.” Same thing applies to social media for a small business.

When I started out, I had no clue what I was doing. I just posted whatever I felt at that time. Whatever seemed to be on my mind. That’s great and all, but as a business, your objective is to serve your audience. I’ve (luckily) switched to serving my audience more. I post more carousel posts about how to get through things, tips for hard times, things that actually serve my audience.

Big advice when someone is starting out: do not make every post a sales post. I’ll tell your right now, your audience doesn’t know, like, or trust you….yet. Give it time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aliciakrasko.com
• Instagram: www.instgram.com/aliciakrasko
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/aliciakrasko
• Other: email: [email protected]

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