I am Alona Venum, a Ukrainian influencer and entrepreneur. My audience on YouTube numbers around 6 million subscribers, and over the years I have built not just a blog, but a fully fledged media asset that influences how people think and behave.
My content has always gone beyond entertainment. I work consistently with topics such as personal development, emotional maturity, and self-discovery. Through YouTube and Instagram, I share my own experience, tools, and approaches that help women become more confident, understand themselves better, and build harmonious lives.
Over time, this focus evolved into a business. I founded AWAKE, an educational project and development ecosystem for women that brings together content, learning, community, and live events. For me, it is not a conventional online school, but a space for profound change.
At the heart of AWAKE is the idea of “awakening.” It is about being able to look at yourself honestly, understand your emotions, boundaries, and values, take responsibility for your own life, and build healthy relationships without extremes or dependencies.
I built the product line to offer not just knowledge, but transformation. It includes free content that lays the groundwork and in-depth educational programs lasting several months, in which participants progress from assessing their current state to making real changes in their behavior. The key focus is not on theory, but on putting learning into practice through reflection and support.
In my work, I prioritize consistency and the quality of interaction. Participants receive feedback, work within a community, and go through a process that helps them not only understand themselves, but also change the way they think and act.
Alongside this, I develop partnerships with brands and use my media platform as a business tool. My partnerships include working with international brands, including taking part in projects with Bourjois.
My strength lies in combining media, entrepreneurship, and meaningful work with people. I know how to turn personal experience into structured products that deliver results for others. For me, it is important not merely to create content or a business, but to improve people's quality of life through awareness, honesty with oneself, and inner resilience.
How did you come up with the business idea?
The idea of earning money through media did not come from a business plan, but from the need to stabilize my mental health. During a deep crisis involving depression and panic attacks, I noticed that making videos helped stop my intrusive thoughts. I began creating content consistently, the channel grew quickly, and the first advertising inquiries came in.
After the war began and I lost my main market, this work evolved into an information business: my own products, launches, training in content creation and marketing, as well as the development of a school of women's happiness.
What key skills helped you launch your business?
My foundation is the ability to work consistently over a long period, even without motivation. This is crucial both in media and in product launches.
The second skill is continuous adaptation through learning and analysis. The rules in the content field change quickly, so it is important to know how to adapt while holding on to the fundamentals of marketing.
The third is a feel for the market, developed through experience: understanding what works, what is losing relevance, and what is worth testing.
I would also highlight empathy and the ability to connect with different people; these strengthen results in coaching, product creation, and partnerships.
What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the early years?
The first was moving from employment to self-employment while I was still studying. I did not have comfortable conditions; I had to find students quickly, organize the process, and handle an intense workload in order to be profitable from the outset.
The second was starting on YouTube during a mental health crisis. I experienced panic attacks, depersonalization, and a fear of being on camera, but I kept working because it was my only means of stabilizing myself.
The third was losing my main market entirely after the war began. I had to create a new income model virtually from scratch, despite feeling that my skills were limited.
What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?
I have gone through several crises of different kinds, both personal and business-related.
The deepest was a personal crisis in Sweden. One wrong decision led to a prolonged period of depression, panic attacks, and depersonalization. I did not look for a way out through motivation; I chose action. I began making videos consistently to shift my attention and keep myself from sinking into intrusive thoughts. It was through regular action that I gradually regained a sense of control.
The second crisis was the war and the sharp collapse of my business as a result of an ethical choice. I consciously gave up the market that had generated the most income. Financial preparation proved decisive: investments, real estate, and a built-up safety net. This gave me time to avoid panicking and calmly rebuild my business model.
The third crisis came later, in the information business: an unsuccessful partnership launch. It lasted several months, completely threw my life off balance, depleted my resources, and ultimately resulted in a loss. This experience made me reconsider my work patterns, especially my tendency to take excessive responsibility and my belief that achieving results requires working to the point of exhaustion.
What decisions proved most effective for growing the company?
The decisions that brought me the greatest growth changed not so much the tactics as the business model itself.
First, I began running my YouTube channel consistently and treating content creation as a process. At first, it was a tool for stabilizing myself, but over time it became a fully fledged monetized media asset.
Second, after the war began, I moved into the information business and diversified my income: not just brand integrations, but also my own products, launches, investments, and rental income.
Third, a financial strategy. I consciously avoided spending everything on a lifestyle; instead, I built reserves, invested, and accumulated assets that give me time to make strategic decisions.
Fourth, I began saying “yes” more often to opportunities I might previously have dismissed, while also investing in learning so I could develop new solutions more quickly.
Fifth, I shifted to working in cycles: an intensive launch phase is followed by full recovery. This helps me maintain a state of well-being, which is a key value for me.
What mistake do you now consider your most valuable experience?
My most valuable mistake was a launch where I put money ahead of myself. It involved months of overwork, constant stress, health problems, and a loss of balance in my personal life. In the end, the project also turned out to be unprofitable.
This experience gave me a clear rule: if I am feeling unwell, I have the right to stop. No financial result is worth complete exhaustion.
I still watch for old patterns of overwork returning. For example, once, after working too much, I lost concentration and damaged my car; it was a clear sign to me that I had lost my balance.
