Creative of the Week: Aliona Shares

Image courtesy of Aliona shares

Political science and professional life coaching are two distinctly separate but unique fields. One analyzes government systems, while the other helps people find their fullest potential through expert guidance. Though these fields are different at a glance, they have one thing in common: they deal with human behavior on a deeply profound level. And blogger Aliona is using her background in these two fields to help people see themselves in a new perspective.  

Aliona is the creator of Aliona Shares. A blog that focuses on personal growth and self-care, Aliona uses her political science and professional life coaching background to help readers worldwide expand their inner and outermost selves. As a blogger from Belarus and Saudi Arabia, Aliona gives her opinion on a wide range of intriguing topics. These blog posts, written in Arabic and English, include living one’s life with purpose and developing a personal brand. She even posts delicious tea recipes too!

Though new to the blogging world, Aliona proves Arab women’s voices, concerns, and mental health matters. To learn more about Aliona and her journey to becoming a blogger, read the interview below. 

This interview was lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Your background is in political science and modern applied psychology. How do these fields benefit you as a blogger?
I guess both fields have a lot to do with your own thoughts and kind of building upon previous ideas. So, I live in a community in which people love to share ideas. And we are always discussing different things. So, I believe, especially now that psychology is your inner world and politics is your outer world. And so, I merged that together and started writing about inner and outer development. 

Can you explain what your blog is about?
It started out as a couple of things. And then I narrowed it down to basically inner and outer development, meaning I write about personal growth and self-care. And I sort of take both my backgrounds and help people grow and develop. 

Do these topics help you keep your blog more organized?
Yes, exactly. I separated it into two separate categories. I feel it is a lot easier for readers to pick up on what they want. 

What are your favorite things about blogging?
Since I was very little, I was always been known as the writer in my family. So, I would always create these little short stories. And then, once I grew older, I would start getting into essay [writing] and publishing those [pieces]. And so, I feel like a blog is just a perfect way for me to share my own personal ideas with the world.

What are some of your favorite topics you published so far?
I’ve done a lot of political and economic related essays. But lately, especially after I completed my diploma in psychology, I decided — this is a topic I’ve been interested in my whole life, so I decided it’s the time now to share my own ideas and opinions on personal growth.

What steps did you take to get your blog started?
I had help from an incredible friend who is majoring in computer science. He helped me with web development and I am so grateful for that. Other than that, I’ve been focusing on getting the best possible content out there and still trying to find my voice. And I think it’s going to take me a little bit, but we’re getting there. 

In what ways are you thinking about expanding your voice in the future?
So, right now I’m blogging in English, and I have an option for my Arabic readers to translate the blog. I’m planning maybe [focusing] on solely Arab content, which will relate to the Arabic community as well.

Along with writing content in English and Arabic, what other ways are you hoping to infuse your culture into your brand?
I think it starts with embracing your culture. I come from two backgrounds. I’m from Belarus and Saudi Arabia. So, very diverse cultures. One European and one purely Arab. So, I kind of merged the two. But I focused on keeping the modesty that’s in our Arabian culture and keeping the sort of this open-mindedness to new ideas but also respecting every different viewpoint. 

What challenges and accomplishments have you faced since you started blogging?
That is an interesting question. For challenges, I can name quite a few. Well, sort of getting my parents on board was not very easy. Because we come from a culture where girls are a little bit more quiet. And so, we don’t really speak up as much. So that was a thing. As well as the website itself. It is quite difficult to keep it up and running and everything to work and be in its place. 

As for my achievements — so something that happened yesterday, which made me so happy was I started this Q&A on my [Instagram] Stories, where people can ask me psychological and personal growth questions. And I answer them every week. So, yesterday this girl DM’d me and she sort of came at me with this — let’s say personal issue and I was able to help with. We stayed together for two hours discussing it. And I felt like I made such a difference. To me, this is my achievement. I feel like even if I can help one person with my content,  I’ll be very happy.

And are you hoping to expand your blog into podcasting, newsletters, or anything like that?
Right now, no. I’m definitely planning to start a little bit more with the IGTV series. So, not just writing my blog posts, but also discussing them in video form. As for the future, we don’t know what it holds, but I’m very excited. 

What do you hope for your readers to gain when they visit your blog?
It’s something I wish I had growing up. I know there’s a lot of content out there and online. But I wish there was this one place, of the one person who related to me and teaching me along the way — and talking about there own journey and personal growth. So, I think it’s very important to have that as well. In our Arab community, we don’t have — it’s not a discussed manner than I would like it to be. So, I think this where my role comes in. 

I’m glad you kind of mention that because for black women, we have challenges discussing mental health, self-care, and therapy. In what ways do you hope to get more people in your community to talk about these things?
Our community is mostly Muslim. So, we have this sort of idea that no matter what you’re going through, just go through it alone by God’s by your side. I definitely agree with this. And I love this. But it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to look outside yourself to be guided. 

And when did you realize blogging would be the perfect platform for you to share your ideas?
Throughout the years, I believed I tried many, many, many forms of self-expression. I’ve been a painter for a while during high school. And since then, I’ve taken up drama and speech and debates. And so, I felt like I enjoyed all these things. I enjoy getting my thoughts and ideas out into the world. So, I’ve tried everything up to this point. And it felt like the right time to have my own personal little bubble of ideas combined. 

Are there any blogs, vlogs, or Instagram accounts that you follow or are inspired by that helps you develop ideas for your blog?
I don’t necessarily have [the] names of blogs or vlogs specifically, but I do know that I am very inspired by [motivational speaker] Louise Hay and [relationship counselor and author of the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus] Dr. John Grey. I think they’re amazing. And they have such new ideas, both in separate fields. But when reading them, it inspired me to delve deeper. And that’s where my content will hopefully be.

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