Meet Angela Mascenik | Certified Stop Over-drinking Coach and Podcaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela Mascenik and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Ohhhh risks! I love evaluating risks in my business and personal life. So, when I think about risk in my career or business, I always let myself go to the absolute worst case scenario in my mind and play that out. I think it’s really helpful for our minds to see what our biggest fear or risk is. Then once I can see that, I ask myself ‘What would I do if that happened?’ And then I answer it, and I always know what I would do if the worst case scenario happens.

This lets my brain settle a bit so I know that 1) I won’t die and my family won’t die and we won’t lose our home, and 2) that I know I can handle the worst case scenario.

Then, I ask myself ‘ok, now what’s the best possible outcome if you take this risk?’ And I let my mind tell me the best case scenario. Then I remind myself that the outcome is likely to be closer to the best case than the worst case, and it’s worth taking the risk. And more often than not, I do it.

I take lots of risks, because I am not scared of failing. I have learned how to fail and I  learn from mistakes. I understand what doesn’t work and I keep going. And doing this has ultimately led to mass amounts of success. But it’s because I have been willing to take risks. If I stayed ‘safe’ and didn’t take chances I wouldn’t be where I am today.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business helps women evaluate and explore their relationship with alcohol. I’ve developed many programs, courses, and classes that help them stop over-drinking and start living.

It’s different from most stop drinking programs, because I don’t focus on just stopping drinking. In fact, I let my clients decide exactly what kind of relationship with alcohol they want to have.

But first, we uncover why they are drinking in the first place. What triggers they have in their lives, why they want to escape negative feelings or seek to amplify the feel-good emotions with alcohol. I help them explore thought patterns around all the big areas in their lives and help them see how this plays into how much they are drinking or not.

I also empower them to be the solution to their problems instead of relying on outside things (like people or events or circumstances) to change in order for them to be successful.

When they finish working with me, they are empowered, they know themselves better, and they have started living their life on their terms, all while drinking a heck of a lot less.

I am most proud of believing in my clients and reaching out to them as their coach, and lifting them up to believe in themselves and their capabilities to make the changes they want in their lives. I know, personally, what it’s like to be a regular over-drinker, and I now know what is possible on the other side of that and I am so proud that I get to help women do this every single day through my coaching programs. Seeing their successes fuels me to keep going even when the business side of it feels hard and even impossible at times. Knowing that there is ONE person out there that needs my support keeps me going.

It wasn’t easy to get to where I am today, but honestly, it really wasn’t this hard painful process either. It’s been a wild adventure; Lots of failures, lots of creativity (which I LOVE), lots of putting myself out there and being rejected or getting no response from my audience, but that’s what I really enjoy too. I love that everyday I am the one who decides what I do in my work, and yes, that comes with risk, but it’s so worth it to me.

I overcome challenges by believing in my mission to help women live the lives they were meant to live. I have first-hand seen the ripple effect of one woman changing their relationship with alcohol and how that impacts everyone around them. Kids get their real mom’s back, relationships improve, women feel more empowered, they make more money and live bigger and fuller lives. I literally can’t not do what I do. I feel called to keep going to help more women feel this freedom and have agency over how they live.

The biggest lessons I have learned is that anything is possible if you just decide you won’t give up. So many people and entrepreneurs (even women who want to stop over-drinking) give up too soon, often right before they would have had a major success or breakthrough. It breaks my heart to see that happen. So, no matter what, I don’t quit. I might give myself a break or re-evaluate how I’m doing things, but I’ll never give up.

Also, another lesson is that feeling good or validated about what you have done is no one’s job to do but your own. With all pursuits in life, we think that once we ‘get there’ we will be happy or be seen or feel accomplished, but that’s sooo not true. If we want to feel that way, it’s our job to figure that out along the way so that no matter what happens, we have that emotional agency over our lives and don’t require a specific level of success to be able to feel that way. As we all know, success does not equal happiness!

What I want the world to know about me and my programs is that changing your life is 100% on you to do. And you are the best person for the job and I am a living example of how to do that, and I can teach you to have agency in your life no matter what happens. It might start with evaluating your relationship with alcohol, but where it ends is anyone’s dream! If I can un-do 20 years of over-drinking and feeling stuck and now live a wildly adventure-filled life, have more fun, and better/deeper relationships, you can too!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ohhh I love this question. So first, I’d start by getting them all cozy in my house, then we’d wake up before the sun and sit outside on my porch and drink coffee, and listen to the birds, and watch the sky change to day. Then we’d get our tennis shoes on and go for a hike in the Bolin Creek Trail system, which is right outside my house. Then we’d head to Breakaway Cafe in downtown Carrboro for more coffee and a delicious homemade quiche with the absolute best flaky, buttery crust. After that, we might go to downtown Chapel Hill and visit Epilogue Books, which is the coolest independent book store in the area. We might walk around downtown and get fresh homemade Boba tea in the afternoon at Cha House on Franklin Street. We might then go explore Carrboro Farmers Market and have dinner at Tandem in Carrboro. But then, I would take them out of the cities and go to Hanging Rock State Park in Danbury, North Carolina, which is just under 2 hours from Chapel Hill. It’s my absolute favorite place to explore nature. We would camp or rent a rustic cabin. We would get up really early and hike in the dark with headlamps on to see the sunrise on top of the lookout tower or Hanging Rock hike. We would explore 3 waterfalls, sleep under the stars, have campfires, and talk about all the things in life that fill us up and cause us the biggest grief. We would also sneak out of the park for really good coffee at Stokes Council Art Museum and Cafe right in downtown Danbury. It would ultimately be a mix of outdoor adventure and city experiences, which is exactly how I spend my time!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many. #1 support has always been my husband, Peter. He encourages me to take the risk and follow my dreams. He is 100% supportive of me living the life I am meant to live and supports all my wild ideas! The Life Coach School, founded by Brooke Castillo, introduced me to life-coaching and began my journey to stop over-drinking, and helped me build my business. I would not be doing the work I am doing now without her and her programs.
Amy Porterfield, who teaches how to create and run online courses and programs, and is loads of help with online marketing, building email lists, email marketing, and how to do online classes, has also been massively instrumental in the technical and systems part of my business.
Susan Hyatt, who is the ultimate life coach, has been a mentor and leader more recently in helping me see my impact and helping me scale my business in a way that aligns with the life that I want to live, along with the members of her community who have helped me navigate difficult situations, has been immensely valuable.
And all my friends have been so supportive and loving, and encourage me to keep going and reflect back to me what my contributions are to the world. I couldn’t keep going without their support.

Website: Www.angelamascenik.com

Instagram: @coachwithAngelaMascenik

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelamascenik

Facebook: CoachwithAngelaMascenik

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCYY05cDcd-QdI-p5W1i_1uQ

Other: Podcast: Stop Over-drinking and Start Living, on iTunes, Spotify or any podcast player or angelamascenik.com

Image Credits
Professional images: Shannon Confair and Corey Williams