Stacy Raske, Founder & CEO of Stacy Raske, LLC
Bestselling Author, Speaker, International Leadership Mentor & Coach
Stacy Raske is a bestselling author, speaker, Iraq War Veteran, badass biker chick, international success coach and leadership mentor, and intuitive business consultant.
She has spent the past five years leaning into and learning from her trauma and addiction recovery journey to deeply understand the role of beliefs, boundaries, and balance in our sabotage and success.
Her mission is to shift the social and cultural narrative surrounding ambitious, visionary Alpha Women by helping them shift from intimidating to influential leaders through unlocking their full authenticity, hiring their inner rebel, and balancing their power with more divine feminine energy.
This allows them to finally shatter the invisible ceiling, leave a bigger impact and legacy, and experience unconditional success in every aspect of their lives, loves, and livelihood.
“The inner work breaks through the limiting stories and beliefs that keep us playing small and builds a strong relationship with ourselves so that we are no longer affected by external conditions, we simply show up as our best to be the leader that our goals, message, and mission needs us to be.”
Stacy Raske
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
In 2015, I founded my current company, Stacy Raske LLC. I'm a bestselling author, speaker, international leadership mentor and soulful success coach.
I love being the brand and leading by example by sharing the life and leadership lessons I've learned throughout my life and an unusual career spanning from military to corporate to entrepreneurship.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
Creating an impact in the world. Knowing that each day I show up and share my story or serve my clients, I'm creating a ripple effect of change outward.
I'm all about leading by example. The better I show up for myself and my business; the more successful my clients are and the greater the impact I make on the world.
Every day I receive success stories from my clients or people in my audience who have been impacted by my message. That is the ultimate motivation to show up and serve at the highest level each day.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I'm an avid motorcyclist, riding my bike all over the country with my husband. It is so much fun and freedom in the motorcycle culture, along with the community and comradery we both loved when we were in the military.
We both love the outdoors and living by the water. It's why we moved to Florida! We can often be found at the beach or kayaking with dolphins and manatees. I also love art! Any time I can paint, color, or draw, I'm in my happy space.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." - Marianne Williamson.
My rock bottom moment was just over five years ago. Overwhelmed by trauma and addiction, I was really hiding from my power and dimming my light. I had spent my whole life ignoring my truth and being who I thought I should be to avoid hurt or rejection.
Rebuilding myself, my life, and my career over the past five years has focused on conquering the fear around fully embodying my power, gifts, and potential. Then, in turn, I get to do the same for my clients. Help them step into their full power and potential to build an empire and legacy of impact.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Overall, I'm most proud of who I am today. When I experienced my rock bottom moment, struggling with PTSD and addiction cycles masking my deeper self-hatred and disconnect from myself.
I had lost my corporate career, my marriage was in shambles, my health was suffering, I was over 100 lbs. overweight, and was absolutely miserable because I built my life entirely on who I should be rather than allowing the real me to shine.
In that short time, I've transformed every aspect of my life, including my health, marriage, mindset, and profession.
Today, I have a powerful connection with myself and a high level of self-love that radiates into who I'm being and everything I do—leading with my real, raw truth, sharing my story, and being very authentic and vulnerable.
Those who follow me and my content, love that I'm no fluff in with what I share. But also very real and vulnerable. They love how deeply they can connect to me.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Success and reaching my goals are only as hard as I make it because nothing can get in the way, but me. Had I known that sooner, I would have invested in the RIGHT support sooner.
My success catapulted when I invested in shifting my mindset and nurturing my relationship with myself. Everything else followed. Early on, I only invested in learning new strategies and business skills, thinking those would help me reach my goals. But you can't strategize yourself out of doubt and sabotage, that requires doing the inner work.
My success was delayed by avoiding the root issues blocking me from what I desired. Once I started to shift the beliefs and build a strong relationship with me, my success not only became inevitable, it happened faster and far beyond what I could have ever imagined when I started my business.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
As someone who has always been very science-focused, I love the work of Brené Brown since it was her scientific research that drove her success, uncovering the power of vulnerability and understanding emotions like guilt and shame.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
'External solutions can't fix an internal problem, but an internal problem means you are 100% in control of the solution.'
When I learned this, I realized that everything I desired was on the other side of leaning in and doing the inner work. I'm in complete control of how I manage my inner game.
No longer worrying about things outside my control or just patching symptoms in my life or business, like weight, marriage, sales, or income, I started focusing on who I was BEING in my life and business… something I can control.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
It's definitely evolving very quickly and not what it was a few years ago, especially for business. For those who are building a business or brand online, social media will still play a vital role in reaching large audiences; however, I'm also putting more emphasis on growing my organic reach in other ways that I have full control over, such as launching my own podcast, developing my own application with a social and community component built-in, and adding in more live events and speaking opportunities to support other communities and movements.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I'm less focused on the platform and more focused on the tools within the platform.
I love any platform that has a messaging option, especially where I can share voice messages. There is something so real about genuinely connecting with someone with a private message, starting a conversation to really get to know them, and then hearing their voice.
As far as consumption, I'm a YouTube binger. I LOVE to learn, so I'll watch videos on how to do just about anything on there.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I'm a personal development junkie and LOVE being challenged to grow, so I have anywhere from one to three mentors or coaches at any given time. It's vital as a mentor or coach to continually grow as you can only take your client's as far as you're willing to go yourself.
I'm a professional mentor and coach because it lights me up to empower others to step into the highest version of themselves. They commonly become so much more than they could have ever imagined because they expand far beyond their capacity of understanding at the beginning.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
My favorite method of networking is generating real relationships and connection with like-minded people. Whether it's private messaging on social media to learn more about someone or connecting on video chat, I love to connect and get to know them as people genuinely.
I've really enjoyed virtual networking this year. It allowed me to meet people face-to-face from all over the world and massively expanded my circle to be worldwide. However, I do still prefer one-on-one connection either on a virtual video meeting or a phone call.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Being a coach or mentor really is all about leading by example. That means doing what you're asking your clients to do, invest in support.
Once I had my own coaches and mentors, both my clients and I got better results.
Your success as a guide for someone's personal or professional transformation is determined by the amount of work you do for yourself.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Anytime I felt like giving up in the past, it was because I was focusing on the wrong things. I was focused solely on the results I desired and how to get those results instead of who I was being, aligning myself and my beliefs with the desired outcome.
I wasn't celebrating all the lessons along the way, only seeing more things to try to control to get the results I wanted and putting pressure on myself to make it happen.
The first few years of my business caused me to burnout by working so hard to make my success happen. I didn't have support or guidance, so I was subconsciously running my business from the fear-based programming that kept me in sabotage cycles instead of allowing my success with ease and authenticity.
I was still hiding from success because deep down, I didn't feel worthy or deserving of what I desired. I see these same cycles play out in almost everyone I meet in some form or another.
Success is an inner game, a mindset that shapes who you are being in your life and career. Those who give up haven't focused on building the inner resilience or tenacity to do the hard work necessary for success. Most people are surprised when I tell them that doing the hard work (the inner work) is the easy button for success, rather than working hard in your business or career.
The inner work breaks through the limiting stories and beliefs that keep us playing small and builds a strong relationship with ourselves so that we are no longer affected by external conditions, we simply show up as our best to be the leader that our goals, message, and mission needs us to be.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
My success used to be determined by external factors, like achievement or metrics. But that was part of my old programming in which I gave my power away out of fear that I was never good enough, no matter what or how much I achieved.
Today, my success is based on how I feel and who I'm being day-to-day to fully enjoy the journey. There will also be a next goal or vision to grow toward, so having fun, being present, and enjoying the ride, there is my measure of success. Success is something I celebrate daily because every day is full of successes!
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Self-management skills are vital for success, and the most important one for me has been boundaries. As a recovering people-pleaser and perfectionist, having the ability to set limitations on my availability to clients and leads was vital for my success.
More importantly, setting boundaries with myself on how I manage my time, routines, self-care, and business tasks to maintain focus and productivity without burnout or exhaustion. It's way too easy for me to default to my old habit of the hustle and overgiving or overdoing if I don't keep myself in check with strong boundaries, especially with myself.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
I'm excited to announce the launch of a few things in early 2021.
My podcast, The InFLOWential CEO: Leadership, Legacy & Lifestyle Podcast for Revolutionary Women.
I'll also be launching my very own application that will be available for both Apple and Android devices as a central hub for all my content.