We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katrina Spagnoletti . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katrina below.

Katrina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to help others heal from childhood trauma. As a child, I was being abused by my uncle at the age of five (5) and then my stepfather in my teenage years. Due to the abuse for so many years, my self-esteem was basically non-existent. For years my life was fueled with depression and chaos, until at the age of forty-eight (48), I decided to start my healing process. Between finding my faith in Buddhism and seeking therapy, I realized that my past would no longer affect my journey to become the women I was meant to be and more. Years later, as I decided to compete in my first pageant, I realized that my journey to heal was not over. At the age of 53, I prepared to take the stage at Mrs. Virginia America by working out and eating healthy. By attributing the process of growth and healing through a healthier mind and body, I was awarded 2nd runner up! This fueled a fire inside of me for pageantry. With my new found mindset and strength, I took the title of Mrs. Florida American 2020 at the age of 56, and then the international beauty queen title of Elite Mrs. Queen of the World 2022. Consequently, I authored my first book entitled “What My Mother Never Knew”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a fifty-eight (58) year old mother, grandmother, wife, former beauty queen, author, empowerment speaker and host of my podcast entitled “The Purposed life with Katrina Spagnoletti.” Being an author was something I’ve always wanted to do, but never thought I could. I thought is was very complicated, but as someone once told me, just write your story and than worry about editing your words. I still can’t believe I actually wrote a book and told my story of healing. It takes a lot of discipline and focus, and because I wrote my book during the Covid-19 quarantine, it was easier to establish discipline and to focus on my goal.

In writing a book on healing, others find it easier to open up and use their voice to start the process of healing. They look at me as I stand with my crown, and realize their past is just that – their past. My therapist once said to me, visiting your past will happen, just make sure you don’t live there.

As an author of a book on healing from childhood trauma, I now realize that others look at you as courageous and brave. I think that is what stands out about me. Being able to be transparent is hard for so many, but I’ve learned that being transparent helps others trust you and relate to you a bit more easily.

Im a very humble person, but in my journey as an author and speaker, I look at the responses I get and im proud of this new woman who is not afraid to take chances in places that so many people my age wouldn’t dare go. I want my followers to understand several things. One, don’t let the past dictate who you are today, and two, fill up the spaces that you normally would not visit. Pageantry was a space that I never imaged; especially in my fifties, but that space was needed, for the person I was becoming. I opened up a world for women over fifty to win self-growth and leadership positions in our community.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building a solid social media audience takes time, but with patience and creativity, you can get a large following on social media. I myself have over 15000 followers and I truly think it’s because people can relate to me. I took my audience with me on my journey as and author, speaker and beauty queen. They saw every step I took to get to the end result. They saw the good and the bad, and most importantly, they wanted me to win. I self published my book, and when I launched it on my social media, I sold 50 copies that first day. I continue to take my followers with me on every adventure. Your followers want to learn about you and see your transition into success. I get so many questions on how I manage to step into arenas that don’t really see fifty as beautiful or winnable in pageantry, especially if you are competing with women thrifty (30) years your junior. My advice to those who are trying to build a successful social media following is to bring your followers with you on your journey.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Building a reputation in my market is all about weather or not you have the knowledge you need in your industry. People know the reason I wrote my book and they see the sacrifices I make in telling my story. Each year there are more than 700,000 people who go through childhood trauma; whereas, people are sympathetic to that issue. When I speak to an audience, I show my soul and my audience feels that. Im very serious about my business and that shows to other business owners and organizations that want me to be at their events. I also show respect to my potential clients; thus, I receive the same respect back. I once spoke to a magazine publisher; he pointed out that I have two factors that will make my business as a speaker and author successful. One, I have two amazing pageant titles and two, I have a story that impacts so many people. I’ll never forget that conversation. And when I have tough days, I revisited it to understand how blessed I truly am.

Contact Info:

• Website: katrinaspagnoletti.com
• Instagram: Katrina_spagnoletti
• Facebook: Katrina Spagnoletti

Image Credits
Carlos Velez Kim VanWalker