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We had the good fortune of connecting with Abbey Fickley and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Abbey, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
Not letting the opinions/ recommendations of people I want to be nothing like, effect my decision making or my ability to move forward with my goals & dreams. Similar to the statement you hear, “don’t tell too many people what you’re up to” it’s not that your dreams and projects need to be some big secret, it’s that it becomes dangerous when you begin receiving too many different opinions from so many different outsiders.. Allowing too many people with too many opinions in your ear can make you begin to question yourself. The most important thing I did was keep my tunnel vision, and a few close people I look up to for questions, help, and resources. This was a necessary, part within achieving the success of working for myself as a single/coparenting mom.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think I am most proud for the time, effort and heart that I have put into building ancient every one of my platforms. None of them happened overnight, in fact, they have required nothing but hard work and patience. Not receiving any instant gratification, a.k.a. virality, was Something that I believe is added to my character and Who I am. I’m not afraid to work hard. There are a few aspects of my life that make who I am a bit untraditional, and I enjoy getting to share who I am, and how that inspires other women, especially in today’s world. I’m not married. I don’t live the typical suburban wife life. I do raise my daughter in a safe, semi quiet suburban town, I’m also a single mom, sharing her largest struggles and greatest victories, as well as every daily routine In between, along the way. I coparent with my daughters’s dad & his mom, and I talk a lot about the struggles of coparenting. I frequently discuss my sobriety. So from whichever lens you are viewing me from, I am not necessarily typical. And I take pride in that. I’ve never wanted to fit in in a crowd.. So I guess you could say I’ve stayed true too, who I am throughout this crazy process, lol.
I said, previously mentioned, it was never easy doing content, creation, full-time, seeing zero and come from it, while also bartending full-time to pay the bills. I often missed out on so many parts of my daughter’s life being a bartender. In my earlier years of coaching, Cheer, I would have to leave every game at half time to rush to the bar so that I could make that Saturday night money. I’ve cried in the bathroom at work while missing out on chorus concerts & Christmas plays, I wasn’t able to volunteer at my daughter’s school for the first year because of my past. I shared about this online years ago. I worked so hard to clean that up, and have since been volunteering academically and extracurricular wise- for 4 years now. It’s all a part of my journey as a content creator, and as I post many things, my personal journey and life story is The largest piece of my brand. Building my life and business has been the hardest and scariest thing I have ever done- but like many hard things, it has been so worth it.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in Pittsburgh, I’d take them to a Beautiful museum or city landmark, like Phipps Conservatory, or the Carnegie museum. The mattress factory, the Frick museum. I would be sure to take them to good old Eat n Park for the buffet & a smiley cookie.. I would take them to Shadyside to walk Walnut Street & do some shopping. On a Sunday afternoon, I would take them to the strip district, for a bite to eat at Eleven. For any special celebration, I would take them to either Altius or Monterey Bay on Mount Washington for the breathtaking view of the entire city.
I would want them to experience a football Sunday, pregaming (With Red Bull, for me, of course) on the north shore, followed by the craziness of a Steelers game. There’s just nothing quite like it. And though you would assume I would take them for a Primantis sandwich, I’d actually prefer to take them to a pizza shop called Fiori’s. Pittsburgh natives know exactly what I’m talking about 🙂
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?
If you have ever seen my story publicly, then you probably already know what I’m about to say- my family. Specifically, my mom and dad. Even after the hell I put them through before getting sober, leading them to press felony charges against me in a last and final attempt to save me- it worked. After years of struggling with addiction, I finally got sober after this terrifying situation. But to take it a step further, when I began my dreams of content creation/ Becoming a business owner and working for myself, they did not understand it.. let alone how I’d get there.
My parents are older, and they don’t fully understand social media. Even then, they supported me. My parents deserve so much credit for blindly supporting my dreams and telling me to “ Keep going” Through it all. I don’t think I saw any money come in for the first two years as a content creator. My parents never had a bad thing to say about it. They watched me work as a full-time bartender which supported my daughter & I for a long time, as I worked on my dreams of content creation/sharing hope, in every other little gap of time I possibly could. On top of that, they watched as I shared my very vulnerable and intense struggles with addiction and the triggers in which I’m sure came along with watching/reliving those stories. My mom and dad understand the people I could be helping, and they seeing it outweigh any of the negative. I am so grateful for them each, and they both deserve the world because of their constant support and love for me. And above all else, their standards . I’m forever grateful that my parents have standards for me.
Website: Currently in the making!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbeyfickley/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbey.fickley?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-cNqQJQTqgua06yNFyUCHQ
Other: Tiktok: https://tiktok.com/@abbeyfickley
BEACONS (link tree): https://beacons.ai/abbeyfickley?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYUvTP2CHKlXS7Qmc0DriWo4_zcZZ4v65No3yYBvszeH_wJN7wl6O5JEI8_aem_Uile7j9c2mGWS0O-f-ByCA
Image Credits
All of these photos were taken by me
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