This week, Disabilities Beat continues its series, “Voices of Disability Pride,” with a conversation about empowerment with local life coach and psychic, Alex Jusko. Jusko discusses with WBFO disability reporter Emyle Watkins how she became a life coach, what her career entails, and how she incorporates various spiritual practices and her own experiences into her work. The two discuss how empowerment can help everyone live intentional lives and achieve their goals.
Plain Language: WBFO’s Emyle Watkins interviews psychic medium and life coach Alex Jusko about his career. Life coaches help people identify what is stopping them from achieving their goals and how to overcome those challenges. Alex talks about the importance of recognizing and addressing personal obstacles that get in the way of growth. He also talks about how he incorporates various spiritual practices and his own experience as a person with a disability into his coaching practice. Alex also talks about the importance of community, self-empowerment, and active listening in his own journey. Finally, Alex encourages people without disabilities to be open-minded about what perspectives society values.
Transcript (Segment)
Emile Watkins: Hello, I’m Emile Watkins, WBFO Disability Correspondent.
One of my favorite things about covering the disability community is hearing the wisdom people share. For this week’s series, “Pride Voices of Disability,” I wanted to speak with someone who combines her professional training, love of spirituality, and lived experience to empower people to live the life they want. Here’s my conversation with Alex Jusko, a local life coach and psychic who shares her advice about living with intention and an open heart. This interview has been edited for length and clarity, but you can listen to the entire interview at wbfo.org.
Emile Watkins: First off, I just wanted to let you know that you popped up on my Instagram feed the other day.
Alex Jusko: I love it.
Emile Watkins: I’d love to hear more about your work as a life coach and spiritual consultant.
Alex Jusko: That’s great. It’s all about empowering individuals and giving them the tools they need to overcome obstacles. Whether it’s something that you’re working on or you just can’t get started or you don’t have a simple plan to develop it. That’s what we do. We talk about the obstacle in your life, the problem. It could be anything. The great thing is that we can address that problem and empower that person to say, “Okay, I’ve done this. Next is that. Next is the next.” That’s really great.
Every time you meet someone, you build a relationship with them where you get to watch them grow, and that’s amazing, because you get to recognize that person as the most powerful person in your life, and that’s really amazing, and I love doing that.
And then I also incorporate spiritual techniques and energy work and stuff like that, which is really wonderful. We talk about that as well. It sometimes varies depending on the day and the person’s needs, but it’s really, really wonderful and really empowering in that sense.
Emile Watkins: Is it rooted in any particular spiritual practice or do you work with people from any faith background?
Alex Jusko: I work with people of all faiths and none. I’ve worked with agnostics, atheists, everyone. So this idea can be applied to anything, because it’s not about faith, it’s about how they see themselves according to the universe they live in.
Emile Watkins: You have a background in psychology, right?
Alex Jusko: Correct, I have a BA in Psychology.
Emile Watkins: How does that impact your work?
Alex Jusko: I think it’s fair to say that we all use psychology every day, in our lives, we just don’t realize it. So that’s it. I would say most of my work is more spiritually based than academically based.
Emile Watkins: I was wondering too, as a disabled person, I know my experiences influence the work I do, do your experiences influence or impact the work that you do or the clients that you work with?
Alex Jusko: Yeah, I mean, I think everybody at some point in their life has felt like, “Oh, am I doing the right thing? Am I in the right place? Am I where I should be?” And I actually felt that way a lot growing up.
I used to feel like, “Oh, I don’t belong here. I’m unworthy. I’m a monster. I’m this, I’m that.” Through my journey in life, and especially in spirituality, I’ve learned how to empower that part of me that says, “Yes, you can do it. You can do this.” And I’ve learned how to build on that and make yourself really strong and powerful and allow it to grow and expand. It may not be the same as other people, but it’s still your progress, it’s your life. That way, you can see yourself as someone who’s progressing, even if it’s not how other people see you. It’s how you see yourself. Because of that, you can see that reflected in the world around you.
Emile Watkins: Wow, that’s really insightful to hear from you. Is there a community of people with disabilities who are doing this work like you are? Or do you have any advice for other people who are interested in this profession?
Alex Jusko: Exactly. There are a lot of connections. Buffalo definitely has its own spiritual niche. It has its own community. I’ve met some people with disabilities, but not many yet, but I’ve met a variety of people. A lot of them are usually very warm and welcoming, which I think is great. I work at Rising Goddess in North Tonawanda every Sunday. It’s a great community, a great place to get together and talk about anything. You’re free to talk about whatever you want. It’s a place of encouragement and acceptance. That’s why I love it here and what I do, because I’m a big believer in accepting people wherever they are, wherever they are at any given time.
Emile Watkins: What advice would you give to someone interested in this career path?
Alex Jusko: One of the things I would recommend is to get certified in life coaching. Also, explore and be open to people’s belief systems and everything that’s out there. There’s tons of material out there on everything, books, YouTube videos, etc. Start exploring and find what resonates with you the most and go from there. Work on what makes you feel the most empowered and most powerful.
Emile Watkins: Are there any particular skills, people or perspectives that helped you get to where you are today?
Alex Jusko: Absolutely. Especially in life coaching, active listening is so important, first of all, being able to sit with the person and say, “Now, my attention and my energy is fully dedicated to you in this moment,” literally acknowledging the fact that you’re there to be with them and be a part of their process, and helping them know that they have someone who is 100% with them in their process.
Beyond that, like I said, I have a lot of different modalities. I do tarot readings, I do energy readings, etc. This is very personal to me, but it’s part of my process. It’s part of what I do. It’s definitely part of it. It’s also very important to have the ability to be open to different beliefs. This is also part of it.
Emile Watkins: I ask this question of everyone I interview for this series, but if you could give advice to your younger self or to someone with a disability who is just starting on their own journey of self-advocacy, what would you say?
Alex Jusko: Hang in there. You’re doing great. Honestly, there will be dark days, but the truth is, there will always be daylight on the other side of it. Don’t worry when you see the darkness, because there is always light on the other side of the darkness.
Emile Watkins: That’s great. At Disabilities Beat we talk a lot about things that are foreign to people who don’t have disabilities. What do you want non-disabled people to understand about our community?
Alex Jusko: Good question. What I want to say is that perspectives come in all shapes, sizes, and forms, cognitive, physical, any other way. Neurological, anything. We should be open to all different perspectives, not just the standard able-bodied perspective. In that sense, I think there is beauty in all kinds of direct experiences. And we need to honor that, instead of discriminating, “This perspective is better than this, that perspective is better than that.” It’s about seeing the world in a universal way that allows for people’s ability to be seen. Regardless of ability or disability. It doesn’t matter. We should see each other as equals, regardless.
Emile Watkins: Disabilities Beat is available to watch on demand, and you can find transcripts and easy-to-follow explanations of each episode on our website at wbfo.org. I’m Emile Watkins. Thanks for listening.
BONUS: Listen to the full interview
Alex Jusko’s full interview