Growing Up Oldest of 13, Leaving at 17, and Building a Life Nobody Showed You How to Live

Rachel Blogg sits down with Alicia Michelle, founder of The Koi Collective, for a conversation that took a completely unexpected turn. What starts as a business chat quickly becomes one of the most raw and honest conversations about surviving a childhood defined by poverty, abuse, and chaos, leaving home at 17 with nothing, and slowly, painstakingly building something different.

Alicia opens up about growing up the oldest of 13 siblings in Section 8 housing, discovering in her mid-twenties that her siblings shared a different father, navigating a physically abusive marriage with no financial safety net, and walking away from it all with zero support and zero dollars. She talks about what it actually takes to rebuild not just a business, but a sense of self, over 13 years of showing up imperfectly and refusing to stay stuck.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like the odds were stacked against them before they even started. Alicia's story is not about one big breakthrough moment. It is about consistency, boundaries, and deciding that your past does not get to write the rest of your story.

Connect with Alicia:

LinkedIn, Instagram

Stay connected with Rachel:

LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok

ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(81)

From the NFL to Real Estate to a TikTok That Went Viral: A Conversation About Kindness, Purpose, and What We Owe Each Other

Rachel Blogg sits down with Malcolm, founder and CEO of Langdon Park Capital, whose paths crossed in the most unexpected way — through a TikTok video Rachel posted after helping his college-aged son g...

26 Touko 53min

How Garrison Carter Built Mental Toughness Beyond Basketball

In this episode of Imperfectly Human, Rachel sits down with Garrison Carter for a powerful conversation about identity, discipline, leadership, and resilience. As a senior student-athlete at Illinois ...

19 Touko 46min

From Rock Bottom to 15 Years Sober: What Finally Made It Stick

Rachel Blogg sits down with Meghan Brooks, a recovery advocate and treatment professional with 15 years of sobriety, who shares the honest, unglamorous truth about what it actually took to get sober a...

12 Touko 46min

Why Kindness Starts With Saying No

Rachel Blogg sits down with Dido Balla, CEO of Kindness Matters, for an honest conversation about what kindness actually means and why it has nothing to do with always saying yes. Together they explor...

5 Touko 39min

From Perfectly Imperfect Me 365 to Imperfectly Human: A New Conversation on Strength

In this episode, the podcast enters a new chapter as Perfectly Imperfect Me 365 transitions into Imperfectly Human—a name that reflects the deeper conversations that have naturally unfolded over time....

28 Huhti 5min

When You Die, You Look Like Your Decisions

What if your life isn’t defined by your past—but by your decisions? In this solo episode, I challenge the idea that your childhood gets a lifetime vote over your future. This isn’t about blame—it’s ab...

21 Huhti 6min

Why So Many Successful People Still Feel Unfulfilled

In this episode This is one of those conversations that really stays with you. In this episode, we explore what it truly means to create a life and career that feel aligned—not driven by pressure, bu...

14 Huhti 58min