Aliya Levinson didn't set out to build a coaching practice focused on female entrepreneurs. She set out to build something—and what she discovered along the way is that thriving in business wasn't about strategy or visibility or sales. It was about helping clients trust themselves enough to move forward, even when they didn't have all the answers.
After years of 1:1 coaching, she expanded her vision to include FriendFest, an in-person event that blends women's circles, business strategy, personal growth, and community. But what's equally impressive is how she built it: by listening to what her clients actually needed, pricing with intention and confidence, and relying on referrals and genuine community connection rather than heavy social media marketing.
In this interview, Aliya walks us through how she moved from what she thought she should do to what actually lit her up—and the practical business decisions that got her there.
You work specifically with female entrepreneurs. Was this always your vision when you finished iPEC’s coach training program, or did it evolve?
This was not my original vision post graduating iPEC!
I knew I wanted to support people who were moving through self doubt or the uncertainty that comes with starting something new, or being in transition. And as I worked on launching my business, I realized that I was my own best client!
Business ownership required me to embrace a lot of roles that weren’t in my skillset at the time, like sales, marketing, visibility, and networking, and what I ultimately realized is that whether it’s starting a business or putting a new idea out there, it all comes down to how you approach and relate to the discomfort of doing things you haven’t done before.
After years of being in business, the through-line of my work with clients continues to be questions like: How do we build trust in ourselves? How do we move forward before we have all the answers? How do we stay connected to our vision when there are no guarantees?
You run an event a few times per year called FriendFest. Tell us about how you created it—what was the spark? What made you decide that an in-person event was the right vehicle for the work you wanted to do?
I first had the idea to create an in-person event called Reset and Recharge, which I envisioned as a rejuvenating experience where women could have thought-provoking conversations with likeminded people who understood the realities of building a business as a solopreneur.
I was well into planning this event when I mentioned it to a friend, who stopped me because she noticed that I didn’t seem all that excited. And to be honest? She was right. The theme of “reset and recharge” felt like something people would vibe with, instead of what actually lit me up.
My friend went on to ask about what I actually wanted to create, and because she offered such a safe and encouraging space for me to answer honestly, I found myself sharing an idea I didn't even realize I had put on the back burner: something called “FriendFest.”
I had originally dismissed it because I wasn't sure business owners would take the name seriously. But the idea completely lit me up, and felt far more true to the spirit of what I wanted to create than the event I was planning!
I told my friend that I envisioned FriendFest would be part women's circle, part business strategy, part personal growth, and part community. I also knew that I loved introducing people and bringing together like-minded groups. And I knew that I loved pulling together different modalities to support business owners - things that often don’t get placed in the category of ‘business support,’ like meditation, personal development tools, higher-purpose visioning, and connection.
After hearing my enthusiasm for FriendFest, she told me I had to do it. That this was the one, not Reset + Recharge. And I felt it too… deeply!
That moment between my friend and I was an incredible microcosm of the environment I was hoping to create through FriendFest: an experience that was so genuinely supportive and encouraging for women that they felt the freedom to finally get in touch with the ideas they’d been hesitant about, and feel deeply supported in articulating them out loud… and then actually take action on those ideas, instead of what they thought their next steps “should” be.
Walk us through how you structure FriendFest as an offering. How do you price the events?
I currently run FriendFest three times a year at specific seasonal junctures that are important to my ideal audience. For example, our September event is focused on recalibrating after the summer and reconnecting with your bigger business vision and priorities for autumn.
I did market research to figure out the right cadence. This included talking to my own clients, colleagues, and friends, as well as listening closely to the challenges and topics that were naturally being discussed in my 1:1 and group conversations. This helped me understand why someone might want to attend an event like FriendFest, why it could be valuable to them, and what it could support them with.
In general, when choosing a price point for an offering, my goal is to decide on a number that does two things:
- Reflects the value of what I believe attendees will receive (and actually, energetically feels like I’m overgiving without undervaluing my time and effort)
- Is one that I can wholeheartedly stand behind
I’ve found that when the price for an event (or any offering!) meets those two criteria, I’m able to share and market it from an energy of excitement and fun as opposed to feeling concerned about whether people will see the value. When I stand behind it and love it, everyone else can too!
I’ve also steadily increased the price of FriendFest with each event, as I’ve learned and iterated and improved upon the last event. I don’t tie myself to one number; I let it flow.
For a coach who is thinking about running an event, I'd encourage them to consider: What is the intersection between what I absolutely love talking about, facilitating, and sharing, and a question or challenge the people in my community are actively navigating?
If you can identify and combine those two things, you'll find yourself in the sweet spot of doing work that genuinely lights you up while also addressing something that matters to the people you're serving. In my humble opinion, that's where the magic happens!
How do you market to your audience? What channels work best for you?
While I do share about FriendFest on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, I primarily view social media as a tool for staying connected, nurturing relationships, and building awareness rather than direct client conversion.
The channels that work best for me are referrals, community-building, and simply having conversations with people I genuinely click with. I love connecting with like-minded people through both virtual communities and in-person events, especially those centered around topics I'm interested in or where there are people I'd like to get to know better.
Much of my practice is referral-based, which makes sense because my clients tend to be people I'd genuinely enjoy spending time with myself.
Building authentic relationships and contributing to communities I care about has been far more effective than focusing solely on social media marketing.
How do your iPEC coaching skills show up in the way you run your business?
Understanding Energy Leadership has been instrumental to the way I run my business! Business is a mindset game, and being able to assess my own energy when it comes to certain projects and experiences has been a game-changer. I’m so grateful for this framework, because having an awareness of it in the background of all that I do has impacted my life, business, clients, and relationships in so many ways!
In terms of facilitating deeper connections and conversations at events (and while coaching in general), acknowledging and validating is the absolute best tool I know. Especially in today’s fast-paced world, people are deeply craving the ability to be heard and understood by other humans. Unfortunately, deep listening is perhaps becoming more rare. There’s nothing quite like acknowledging and validating from a genuinely compassionate and caring place in order to help people feel deeply heard and less alone, and more connected to themselves and their truth.
How has your coaching practice itself evolved, particularly since launching FriendFest? Do you still do 1:1 coaching?
Actually, the majority of my practice continues to be 1:1 work with clients! That said, running and witnessing what occurs during FriendFest gave me a much deeper appreciation for how much people benefit from being in a safe space around people who are asking similar questions. That’s probably the biggest shift for me: going from thinking primarily about coaching to thinking more broadly about how to create the type of environments where growth is almost a natural byproduct of being in that kind of space.
Witnessing the types of topics discussed in FriendFest and the way in which conversation was held is what inspired my next group offering, which is a group coaching and mastermind-style program called Peace and Possibilities that will be launching in September. The idea is to give women entrepreneurs a place to stay connected to their goals, receive coaching and accountability, and continue benefiting from the support, ideas, and perspective that come from being in community. The program will include both virtual and in-person components, which I'm really excited about!
What's on the horizon for you? Where do you see your business evolving?
I'm prepping for a speaking engagement this summer about how to say no without being mean! I’m often connecting with business owners and even parents on things like “what to say yes and no to and why” and “how to set boundaries that honor their priorities.” Communication and people-pleasing are all themes that come up frequently with my clients, so I'm excited to continue developing my work around this topic through speaking, teaching, writing, and, one of my favorite forms of content... creating funny character videos!
We’ll be having our next FriendFest in September in NJ, and then I’ll be launching Peace and Possibilities.
I’m increasingly interested in building spaces where people can get clearer about who they are, what they want, and what they want to do about it.
Sometimes that happens through coaching conversations, sometimes that happens at FriendFest, and sometimes it occurs speaking, teaching, writing, or creating humorous content that helps people feel seen. So, the medium may change, but the goal stays the same: helping people trust themselves enough to move toward the things that matter most to them. That's work I'm excited to keep doing for a very long time.
More About Aliya Levinson
Aliya Levinson, CPC, LMSW, ELI-MP is a Life + Business Coach, speaker, published author, and founder of FriendFest — an in-person event series for women entrepreneurs ready for the kind of community that actually moves the needle and makes growing your business a whole lot more fun.
Her work blends practical strategy with deep mindset work to help entrepreneurs build businesses and lives that reflect what they're truly capable of: not just what feels safe.
Aliya has spoken for the New York Public Library, ICF Arizona, teams at JetBlue and MetLife, and more. She is the author of How to Win With Willpower and creator of How to Say No...(Without Being a Bi*ch) in Business.
She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter.
