Inspiring Conversations with Stephanie Krubsack of Purevant Living

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Krubsack. 

Hi Stephanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
After running a magazine as editor-in-chief my senior year at UW-Madison, I immediately jumped into preparations for law school that fall in Michigan. After a year of trying to convince myself it was a good fit, I finally stepped away from pursuing a J.D. during the recession in 2009. Jobs were scarce, especially for a new college graduate. Shortly after I returned to Wisconsin, a friend recommended that I run in a Czech-Slovak pageant. Initially, I was skeptical, but later learned that the pageant format was non-traditional, requiring contestants to research and learn about their heritage, including Czech-Slovak history and familial connections. I was fortunate enough to earn the title in Wisconsin and later received a partial scholarship to join a tour of the Czech Republic as an ambassador of Wisconsin as the Miss Czech-Slovak WI State Queen. At the time I had never been overseas and didn’t even have a passport. The experience was life-changing to say the least, being able to connect with my relatives that still lived in the Czech Republic after 5 generations, making so many amazing Czech friends, and truly learning about the culture and rich history. I was so inspired, that I spent exactly one month after my trip writing and illustrating a children’s book called, A Story of Czech-Slovak Traditions. 

The next big decision came when I was planning to attend graduate school in Prague when I received an unexpected job opportunity in Wisconsin at Oshkosh Corporation in international logistics, training, and government contracts. Again, I slipped back into the legal space and took the job in Wisconsin. I immediately enrolled in another MBA program and was kept extremely busy working full-time and taking classes. Soon however, I felt that I was lacking the creative aspect in my job and started looking for something more. I learned how to build my own website and started a food and recipe blog to help fill that void. 

I did move to another local company in the paper and packaging industry and had the opportunity to be involved in more marketing projects. After 2 years, however, I wanted a greater challenge and started interviewing with an IT & BPI consulting company in Denver. In a matter of months, I sold my house and was several interviews in with the same company. They didn’t offer to fly me out for an in-person interview, so I took matters into my own hands. I planned a trip to visit friends in Colorado and upon telling the company, they of course invited me to come in for an interview. I planned to take a red-eye flight and go directly to the interview in the morning. The afternoon before, my current company held a round of layoffs and I was one of them. Slightly more than 24 hours later, I had a job offer from the company in Denver. The timing was impeccable! Two weeks later I packed up only what could fit in my car and moved to Colorado. Denver was truly a nature lover and entrepreneur paradise. While learning more than I ever thought possible in IT beyond building websites and working with companies across the U.S., I again needed that creative outlet and started freelancing for wellness and cannabis companies on marketing and design projects. After a few years, even escaping to the Rocky Mountains wasn’t quite enough to relieve the burnout experienced from frequently traveling for work, long hours, and managing over 40 client accounts. I took careful preparations for round two of selling everything I owned and trying something new. I planned for a year, first downsizing to an apartment literally the size of a shoe box and cutting my rent in half, not taking any big trips or buying new clothes or things that year. I never had the study abroad experience as an undergraduate due to paying my way through college and sometimes working 3 jobs while taking classes full-time, so I thought that the time was now or never to get that experience. I walked away from an almost 6-figure job to explore the world, living out of a carryon for the greater part of a year. I bought a one-way ticket to Europe, managing and managed to travel to 25 countries that year in Europe, Africa, and Asia, even living as a local in Prague for several months. I was able to dive into these different cultures, staying with locals via Couchsurfing, taking cooking classes, and exploring new flavors and forms of nature that I had never experienced before. I was even fortunate enough to do a bit of freelance work while traveling and plant-based recipe creation and chef work in the Czech Republic. 

Upon returning to the U.S. I felt as if I had reinvented myself as a food and travel connoisseur, and wanted to work as a branding and marketing consultant. I started hosting wellness workshops and healthy food demos for various events and organizations in Wisconsin. I also continued to freelance, and later had the opportunity to work for another national company in Green Bay and Milwaukee in brand management, involved in projects including commercial directing, web redesign, billboards, magazines, and many other forms of media. Although I still longed to be completely on my own, the experience gained was a great bridge between the startup bootstrapping forms of marketing versus Fortune 500 multi-million dollar marketing budgets. 

In 2019 I officially launched on my own, working with clients mainly in wellness and CBD products, later working on more sustainability and business for good projects. I even started two podcast series during that time, began hosting corporate wellness workshops, and made a commitment to give back 2% of every sale. To gain more understanding in the wellness space, I completed my RYT 200-hour yoga training and published a local wellness magazine in Milwaukee with two other women. We learned a lot from this business but closed the magazine a year and a half later. In 2019 I also launched a brand called Women Who Kayak, a community for women to come together and share their favorite kayaking experiences and tips, to develop friendships, and participate in events that help preserve our precious waterways. 

Taking a greater interest in the sustainability space, I started learning how I could actually set up a primarily digital business in a sustainable manner, learning how to track my scopes 1, 2, and 3 carbon emissions, and support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through business practices and operations. I dove in a bit further, taking courses on zero waste reporting and certifications, and am now a certified TRUE Advisor. This year I also joined the board for the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council as their small business representative. At the beginning of 2022, I merged both of my podcast series into one called Person & Planet, and also launched an international magazine under the same name, covering all topics on sustainability and wellness. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When something is truly aligned and meant for you, the path there seems to flow a little easier. This of course only happens with proactive and consistent hard work. When something isn’t aligned and you ignore your intuition telling you a firm “no” then you can expect more challenges. I think the biggest challenges for me were doing what I thought I was supposed to do, such as being an attorney and suppressing my creative artistic skills to ensure a career, versus doing what I really love and what comes more easily. I believe that a person’s true talents can only be suppressed for so long before the urge to do something different is all-consuming. 

After becoming a full-time entrepreneur my biggest challenges to overcome were the scarcity mindset and learning to set boundaries with clients. When running your own business, the cash flow is not always consistent which can cause a lot of anxiety in comparison to receiving a consistent paycheck or having external financial support. When you’re 100% on your own, it’s important to always be feeding your pipeline, even when you have too much work to handle, because projects can take months or more to come into fruition. For my second challenge, I had a difficult time setting boundaries with clients. It’s important to learn how to say “no” to a prospective or current client if let’s say they are extremely difficult to work with, very time-consuming, or late on payments. Within reason, it is definitely ok to end a contract with a client that is draining your energy, to allow room for a client that you are better aligned with. Sometimes the timing can be impeccable actually, where I end a contract and fill that spot only days later. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Purevant Living?
I currently provide marketing services specializing in wellness and sustainability messaging, carbon emissions tracking and reporting, writing and research, email marketing, website design, and creative campaigns. 

I continually interview individuals and organizations, sharing wellness and sustainability initiatives on the Person & Planet Podcast and in Person & Planet magazine. I’m also working on publishing a paired children’s book and cookbook called The Pale Pickle, focusing on healthy living, urban gardening and composting, and acceptance of diversity. 

I’d like readers to know that I’d be happy to share their product or service, sustainability or wellness initiative, photography, artwork, or advertising in the magazine and on the podcast. 

I feel like my life experiences enable me to create relevant content for the project at hand, and communicate it to a diverse audience in the appropriate form of media. In the sustainability space as an example, because I’ve run my business through the proper steps to operate in a sustainable manner, I feel confident that I can successfully do the same for others. 

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Look back and think about a project or job that you had that you loved or an experience that you’d do all over again. What you’re meant to do and will be most happy doing relates to that in some form or another. For me, my favorite job was as editor-in-chief of a magazine managing 30 staff members, running everything from grants, submissions, an art exhibit, printing and design, marketing, and more! 

Create the proper contracts to protect yourself and your business, and don’t think that because a friend referred one of their friends to you for a business project, that they are your friend too. They are a client, so it’s important to treat them as such and get that contract signed! 

Specializing in specific areas, I used to get a lot of startups wanting advice that don’t end up hiring me for services later on, so I’d recommend charging prospective clients for consulting fees upfront. When you’re starting out or doing pro bono work of course this is ok from time to time, but it’s important to protect your time and know that your expertise is valuable. 

To maintain a good work-life balance, treat your customers with the same respect that you would like to be treated. Email only during business hours to respect their personal time. Scheduling emails via Gmail is an amazing tool that I use daily, especially when working with clients in different time zones. If a client texts and emails too many times throughout one business day, kindly ask them to place all of their thoughts in only one or two emails a day. Say it with kindness, and maybe you’ll help them restore their own work-life balance too! 

Pricing:

• Person & Planet Magazine digital version $4.99 https://purevantliving.com/product/person-planet-magazine-digital-spring-2022/
• Person & Planet Magazine print version $8.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XZH89Q6?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tpbk_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1650582364&sr=8-1

Contact Info:

• Website: https://purevantliving.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purevantliving/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/purevantliving
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPTJ-3WymGgJGAYVlJOz_w
• Other: https://anchor.fm/personandplanet