By Mary Aalgaard photos by Joey Halvorson
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Publicist Krista Soukup, owner of Blue Cottage Agency (L to R) with her family; working from her home; with client author Candace Simar.
Starting a new business, especially when your children are young and you’re a single mom, takes a great deal of courage. In order to live an abundant life, you must be willing to do brave things. You need to feel the pain and push through the birth canal of change so that you can be born into something new and wonderful, a life that was meant for you. Krista Rolfzen Soukup knows that ampersand of joy mixed with pain. She is the mother of four children, two boys and twin girls who were born nine weeks premature. Perhaps it was watching little Leah’s and Rebekah’s fight for life from just over two and three pound preemies to feisty five-yearolds. Perhaps it was realizing how fragile life is and that it is up to each of us to fight for what we believe in. Perhaps it was living through those struggles that she discovered her own strength and learned that she has the power to make her life rich and abundant. Krista, who has a marketing and business degree from Southwest State University in Marshall, MN, had a successful career with Herberger’s. When her first son was born, she decided that motherhood was her full-time job and threw herself into it, using her marketing and planning skills to organize school, community and church events. She planned the National Night Out in the Gregory Park neighborhood, started a tennis camp, organized Bible studies and formed the Northside Book Club. That’s where she was first introduced to Candace Simar’s historical novels. Krista said that “Abercrombie Trail” was one of the best books she’d ever read and was excited to learn that the author lived in the area. Candace was invited to talk to their book club, and it was “like meeting a rock star.” While Candace was talking about book signings and speaking engagements and how overwhelmed she was by it, Krista’s creative marketing wheels started turning. She asked 12
Candace what she needed to increase readership of her work. Candace responded, “A publicist.” Krista called her up the next day and told her that she’d like to be her publicist.
That was the birth of Krista’s business, The Blue Cottage Agency, formed to promote literary arts and assist local authors. All of this happened as Krista’s personal life was crumbling like a rotting tree as her marriage
I Can Do Brave Things
SPRING 2013 | her voice
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1/24/13 4:44 PM