We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia Sukalic a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alicia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I believe every moment of my life prepared me and led me to this business.

2004 was the year of extreme change. I just had my first daughter, I was managing three Subway Shops in New York City, which had numerous financial issues, and was I leaving a toxic relationship of seven years. Everything I worked endlessly for was falling apart. I hit rock bottom; yet it became the solid foundation in which God rebuilt my life.

While I was at rock bottom, I coped in ways that only added to the pain. My days were filled with drugs, depression, work, and unhealthy habits. I cried for help, but no one was around. When I finally was in treatment, shame, the silent killer, consumed my hope, and so it only lasted a short amount of time. The treatment didn’t help and my soul longed for a deeper- kind- of- healing. It was at that moment, alone, where I cried out to God. And He answered.

Ten Years Later…
I received a new degree in human services and was motivated to help people like me. I was a product of transformation, so how could I hold back what I have received? My soul connected to people of various backgrounds, and I thank God for the trials I experienced, because they made me empathetic towards people who desired change, but did not have the right resources. I was ecstatic to be hired as a case manager, working with individuals one-by-one. Success followed my authenticity, giving me the well- respected title, Regional Director of Business Development for the non- profit Mental Health Agency.

However, getting them treatment was no problem; remaining in treatment was the issue. People were not getting healed. The mental health system was hard for people to access. Either staff did not have the capacity, or the members did not connect with them in a way that they felt heard and understood. Seeing the result of individuals leave treatment as quickly as they arrived, grieved me. They went through the process, with no transformation. What happened?

When I asked the patients what they needed, they spoke about their deep pain that “only God can heal.” Their stories were all similar: “I used to go to church,” “My family member was a pastor,” “I used to serve God…” BUT “something bad happened to me, trauma hit, and it wounded my soul.” They freely expressed how they were in a toxic relationship, attempted suicide, were engulfed by drugs, and endorsed unhealthy habits which consumed their whole life. They sought to rekindle a relationship with God. No medications nor talk therapy healed these deep wounds. Even more, when they attempted to express their faith in God or desire for more of God, they were silenced.

I cried and grieved after conversations like these. Prayer was the only action I could take at this point. I would pray, “Lord, I want to help people heal, but nothing is working. I feel like a fraud and a liar. I have given them false hope about where to go for help, but very few are getting helped. What should I do?” Once again, He answered.
I was left with the questions,
“What helped you?”
“Where did you go for help when no one was around?”

Nine Years Later…

I am a certified Spiritual Life Coach, ICF, certified Spiritual Recovery Coach in CCAR, ASAP-NYC, and a business owner who no longer is limited by a system that neglects faith as a means of treatment. I am the Co-Founder of Spiritual Foundation Coaching, LLC- an evidence- based ministry that focuses on the healing of the soul. Each and every soul that received this coaching service thus far, has received breakthroughs and deep healing. The results excite me each time, and I celebrate with each person because true, long-lasting freedom was found through a rekindled relationship with their God. It is transformational!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Alicia Sukalic. I was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in the heart of Brownsville. I’ve witnessed the challenges of living in an urban community that came with poverty and abuse. In grass-rooted, heartfelt environments, I experienced suffering in all aspects of life. Just to name a few: homelessness, family conflicts, domestic violence from unhealthy relationships, poverty, financial debts, the growing pains of climbing the career ladder, and systematic religious beliefs. I endured all types of illnesses, having physical, mental, and emotional wounds.

Of all my challenges, I never gave up on my dream of a better life. I always believed there was more out there than what I experienced, and even more I believed it was attainable. When I discovered that emotional wounds influenced my choices, I started my healing journey through the transformational power of spirituality. Nothing was going to stop me from living a better life!

Now, I am married with two wonderful children. My daughter supports my ministry and is part of the leadership team. I live in an environment with easy, safe access to a field where I can hear birds chirping and feel the peaceful wind rush pass me during stressful times.

I am the Co- founder of Spiritual Foundation Coaching (SFC, LLC). Here, I help individuals go through their own healing journey through the transformational power of spirituality.
Spiritual Foundation Coaching’s mission is to refine the spiritual and emotional health of individuals through inner healing and spiritual development, enabling them to live in their true identity and purpose.
Our goal is to experience successful and fearless transformational, healing breakthroughs, making dreams come true!
Our services include individual coaching as well as group- coaching, in the form of spiritual retreats.
Spiritual Foundation Coaching represents freedom and living by who we are, not what we do. We build a coaching experience through our core values such as human authenticity, creativity, and more. SFC looks at circumstances through a lens of positivity, while empowering bold steps leading to change. We focus on purposeful living, driven by honesty and truth. Our energy is contagious, as we are constantly achieving goals and providing opportunities for healing.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I consider my journey an adventure. At first, I thought I was a curse; and that I was not meant to do anything good in life. I believe this mindset started when I was a child, passionately planning for my perfect birthday party. I invited all my friends. I told all my sisters about it. I decorated and waited in anticipation for people to come. But no one would show up. Perhaps the least expected and desired person would make an appearance, but my dreams were crushed by then. I didn’t have counsel from my family as they reminded me that my birthday was on April Fool’s Day and it always rains. My mom used to say that my birthday is “bad luck,” and I started to believe her.

As I grew older, I continued to plan. I remember excitedly looking for job interviews, ready to work. I would plan the day perfectly with transportation, attire, and speech. The travel time for these job interviews was long, but I didn’t mind. It reminded me I was on an adventure. It also gave me enough time to rehearse the interview in my head and smile proudly with the hope of being hired. For my first interview, I was aiming to be a cashier at a supermarket. I arrived at the place, ready for everything and anything. The manager never came to see me. I waited outside for an hour only to be told, they hired someone else and were no longer candidates. I felt foolish. But, I didn’t lose hope. I rushed to another interview an hour away. I had to take both the train and bus in New York City. When I arrived, I could not find the place and I started to panic. My heart started racing. My clothes were damp from the sweat of nerves and heat. I finally found the place, McDonalds, the manager claimed that I was not scheduled and they were no longer hiring.

All the effort I put into these interviews, the energy in dreaming, and the planning with a focus were all for nothing. Talk about disappointment. As circumstances like these continued, I started to feel hopeless. These strong emotions took a toll on my mental mindset. When I planned, when I dreamed, when I hoped, it didn’t seem to go in my favor. But, I soon learned that God had His own plans.

Living with a Spiritual Foundation, allowed me to revisit these life experiences of disappointment and push through so I can try again. And again. And again. This was my resilience. In my leadership roles, my core values incorporate giving people, like myself, opportunities to grow, work, and respect people’s time. God had refined me in those fiery moments so I can come out a leader that His people need. Taking on this leadership role, could have only been done by healing from these negative circumstances. My mindset has changed from “why me?” to “why not me?” So, I no longer believe I’m a curse and although it may still rain every year for my birthday, I’ve learned and accepted that April Showers brings May Flowers!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was that I can do everything at once. I used to believe that I could be effective in three places at once and that was a productive way of living. At the age of 23, I opened up a Subway sandwich shop with my partner at the time. I should have stood with one store and given that one time to grow, but my partner suggested we open more. His strategy convinced me and we opened a total of three in just three years. We lost two of them in one. Eventually we had to close all three shops.

When I started my human service career and worked for the business development departments, I traveled to many different accounts and rushed through the days. I would park at meters and forget to pay for them, leading to tickets. I would rush home and leave the car door opened and unlocked, with no gas. From the time I woke up to the time I placed my head on my pillow, I was running an endless race, working harder and faster, every moment, of every day.

My business development mentor, who managed three companies, lived in Israel, traveled monthly, raised four children, ate well, and attended yoga classes two times a week, and who was two times my age took me out to eat at a kosher restaurant one day. She told me, “Alicia, you are my star employee and capable of so much, but how long will you last in doing it?” I was confused by her question. I interpreted it as her prompting me to work faster and harder.

Then, the three subway stories in three years came to mind. I saw where I went wrong all those years ago and why I was burnt out today. We are always capable of doing more. But, how far can we go if we’re going too fast? If we’re walking at two times the speed we can, we’ll spend the rest of our lives catching up to ourselves. I had to unlearn that harder, fasting, and bigger is better. I had to learn that slow and steady wins the race.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spiritualfoundationcoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritualfoundationcoach/
• Facebook: facebook.com/SpiritualFoundationCoach
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-sukalic-86a620202
• Youtube: @spiritualfoundationcoach1337