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

Mary, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

I believe each and every one of us were created to be solution to a problem in this world. It is not just through our skills, talents and experiences, but also through our pain that we find our purpose. This purpose doesn’t always look the same, but will change and grow right along side us.

From the age of 8, I developed a passion for writing. For some reason, expressing my thoughts and feelings just came naturally to me. Through the years I realized that what people need most is to be heard… to feel seen… to know they are not alone. Being in a pit of loneliness, despair, hopelessness and confusion MYSELF helped me to not only uncover my own strength in weakness, but to also find a way to help guide others out of their own pit.

In March of 2022 I lost my husband unexpectedly to an accidental overdose. The worst moment of my life was followed by the second worst, telling our two little boys that daddy is now in heaven. Through this inexplicable pain, I have managed to wake up everyday with enough motivation to make life matter for my boys. When every part of me wants to give up, give in, stay in bed, I remember that there are SO many more people that are still battling not only addiction, but the loss of their loved ones. I knew many of these families because of the non-profit that I started in 2020, “With Love, Anonymous” to find the needs and meet the needs of our community. We are currently at 5,100 members and many of them are single moms, families with addiction, or individuals struggling to make it by day after day. I could NOT give up. I had too many people relying on me.

After the death of my husband, as I began to heal, I realized just how little we know about grief. How to handle it ourselves and how to help someone else walking through grief. I decided to begin working on resources, including a journal that I’m hoping to publish this year, “A Young Widow’s Conversations With God” The first 90 days of unimaginable grief. Through this project, I have also partnered with another amazing widow to launch a podcast called, “Becoming Her: Raw & Real” where we tackle hard things that “good christian girls” normally don’t talk about. We are both leaders in our church, but also widows trying to keep it real. And there are so many things that need to be said that are not said enough in the Christian world!

I know now that my life is not my own. I don’t want it to be. Serving others brings me healing AND gives me purpose. There is no greater feeling of fulfillment than to use your story and make your pain matter. I believe that healing our world doesn’t take much… just a heart courageous enough to use their pain as a platform to change the lives of others!

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

I was born in Bogota, Colombia to a big, loud, Catholic family with no boundaries and no off-button. Authenticity, transparency, and bossiness runs in my bloodline. For over three decades, I have dedicated my life to the study of relationships, communication and conflict resolution. As a seasoned mentor, writer, communicator and women’s group facilitator, I found myself many times in a pit with a lion, facing battles I never thought I’d face.

In the last decade, I have overcome bankruptcy, depression, anxiety, PTSD and an extremely difficult marriage and the loss of my spouse. But being the entrepreneur that I am, I would take my broken pieces and try to make something beautiful. Through the creation of my local nonprofit that meets the needs of our community through a virtual free marketplace, local events and door to door delivery, I have uncovered many others with similar stories as mine, if not much, much worse. It’s in those connections with strangers, sharing our stories, paying it forward, that we can all bring hope, healing, and comfort to others.

The rapid growth of this nonprofit has led to more projects including books, courses and a podcast for women that are all currently in the works. “Becoming Her Ministries” will be launched in the fall of 2022, offering private courses, books, corporate training and one-on-one coaching on the topics of communication, conflict and grief. My goal is to also incorporate free resources like the Becoming Her podcast and blog with our nonprofit community in mind.

My hope is not just to testify of the miracle of FAITH, HOPE and LOVE through widowhood, but to BRING THE MIRACLE of peace, perspective and purpose to others facing impossible battles.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Although I’m still on my journey to develop and grow my business, I can say that everything changed when I stopped caring about what people think. The moment my husband died, all the fear I had inside of me also died. I began writing from my heart, speaking from my soul and pursuing my goals as if I had nothing to lose. I was in an “all or nothing” state of mind. And I’m happy to stay that I have adopted a healthy version of this mindset to permanently fuel my endeavors. Without being reckless, irresponsible or careless with others, I now live with a confidence that I have never had before. A resolve to be fully me with all of my quirks and flaws and weaknesses.

I think EVERYONE wants to live fully alive and completely free to be themselves, so when we see someone else doing it, it gives us permission to do the same. This monumental mindset shift has quadrupled my social media engagement and truly solidified my reputation in my community as someone trustworthy, hire-worthy, follow-worthy.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Well, obstacles will always come. You’ll change your mind, you’ll lose the job, you’ll end a relationship, you’ll encounter pain and loss. For me it was the loss of my husband, who was our sole provider. After being a workaholic in my 20’s and 30’s and LOVING every minute of my crazy traveling schedule, it was a drastic change to stay home and start a family in my 40’s, My husband decided to start an HVAC business in Florida and it thrived! So he was happy to let me stay home and work on my community service projects and raise our boys. When he passed away, our life had to change drastically. I had to dust off my entrepreneur hat, my survival hat and my perseverance hat for the sake of my boys…. I had no other choice but to keep moving forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marynastukov.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dearmissmary
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/dearmissmary
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/dearmissmary
• Other: www.withloveanonymous.com

Image Credits
Madison Ayers Photography Alicia Roberts Thacker Photography