Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefanie Kim.
Hi Stefanie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
What still feels like yesterday, I walked away from a financially dependent abusive relationship and a marketing career I worked so hard for because my life was being run by someone else’s control. After a traumatic injury stole my voice, I made a decision. I was taking my life back. Freshly divorced with multiple kids, one with special needs, I swapped a salary for survival work. I stocked shelves before sunrise, worked as a temp during the day, taught robotics at night, and served as my daughter’s PCA. Even then, I made too much for support but not enough to live, so I donated plasma to cover the gaps. Humbling, yes. It taught me how to build with grit, adaptability, one honest step at a time.
A couple years later I landed a dream marketing role at a local agency. I thought I had made it. Then the long hours, constant turnover, and filling every gap they needed, took their toll. After a medical leave, I returned to find my role quietly replaced and myself reassigned to data entry. That was the line. I refused to shrink to fit someone else’s priorities.
For months I was looking into ways to leave my job, learn how to earn an income online, and that’s when I stumbled upon Adrian Brambila’s course teaching how to become a freelancer offering services as an independent contractor. Within 90 days, I freelanced my way to replacing my corporate salary and resigned from my last job for good.
From there, I rebuilt with what I knew best: operations and marketing. I leaned into modern tools and automation, focusing on lead generation and management. A coaching client hired me to automate every touchpoint from lead to sale and generated over $1.5M in nine months from a new program. A local business plugged revenue leaks, lifted consultation bookings 63 percent, and closed $18M that quarter.
Within a year I turned freelancing into ASA Solutions and ASA Marketing Solutions, building custom AI-powered CRMs and full-service marketing agency. We design clean, scalable systems that capture every lead, book more appointments, raise show rates by 68 percent, and give owners an average of 18 hours a week back.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Short answer: No. It’s been messy, humbling, and worth it.
Leaving an abusive, financially dependent relationship while supporting multiple kids while helping one navigate the nuances of living with CP and Polymicrogyria…it was a storm. I lost my voice from a traumatic injury and still had to advocate for my daughter’s special needs services. I worked multiple jobs to bridge the gap, yet earned too much for assistance and not enough to not worry so I donated plasma and overcame my irrational fear of needles because I had no choice with a rising amount of post divorce debt and those occasional incidences that could drive people into bankruptcy. I did what I had to do to keep my head above water.
Starting over as a freelancer came with new realities. Cash flow swings. Scope creep. Tech breaking at the worst time. Learning taxes, contracts, and pricing while trying to balance the single parent life. I had to learn to say no to fast money that was the wrong fit. Rebuilding confidence after years of being minimized while already suffering from inferiority complex; it was a lot of “newness” in a short amount of time trying to navigate and pivot while hiring and firing. It can be a mess…but it’s my mess, that I proudly own and I’ve learned an immense amount of value by doing and experiencing along the way.
What changed things was treating resilience like an opportunity. I’m still learning as I’m going and those life lessons are only making me and how I operate, better.
We’ve been impressed with ASA Solutions, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
ASA Solutions and ASA Marketing Solutions were born from real life, my passion for helping others and my nearly three decade experience in Operations and Marketing. I built them to serve the needs of businesses that are stretched thin, operate without clear structure and fueled by chaos. I experienced the hard way that businesses do not fail because the founders lacks heart. They stall because of revenue leaks, follow up slips, and no one can see what is working. So I create a custom systems and offer a full service marketing agency that fixes that for founders like me, hard working, values first, doing their best with limited hours and wearing too many hats that we aren’t equipped to be wearing.
What I built was carefully and intentionally designed for founders in mind to give back time without sacrificing opportunities. We design customized clean, dependable systems that generate leads and capture every opportunity, systemize follow up, manage all conversation streams into one portal; no more duct tape multi platform systems; we build one unified single source custom software that manages customers, conversations, payments, and AI Agents making results measurable. Sometimes that looks like our AI Agent powered CRM customized to your business. Sometimes it is full service marketing that finally connects the strategy with implementation through website/funnels, social media, ads, email, SMS, voice and chat into one clear path.
Clients come to us overwhelmed managing 8+ tools to run their business. Hundreds wasted on redundant or outdated system costs, no clear marketing plan, chaos above clarity. They leave with fewer tools, clearer numbers, and a strategic marketing plan they can trust. The tech is modern, but our standard is old school. Show up. Tell the truth. Keep promises.
What sets us apart is lived experience. I have been the parent at a school event trying to nurture leads, becoming disconnected from my kids. I have been the employee who held a business together by wearing too many hats that I wasn’t equipped to wear. That empathy shows up in our work. We solve the right problem in the right order. We protect your time. We scout and hire talent for each explicit zone of genius so you will never have a generic experience with working with ASA Solutions.
Brand wise, I am most proud of how ASA Solutions came to be. From adversity and grit, I went from voiceless and disabled and still being able to serve and make an impact. I’m not a big brand, so there’s no hype. no jargon. But I’ve made my mark with hard work, integrity, clear systems that give owners their time and transition from making it another year, to forward thinking and scaling. We celebrate client wins, and we also celebrate quieter victories like the first week you did not have to chase no shows or the first month you knew your numbers without hoping or guessing.
With ASA Solutions and ASA Marketing Solutions, you won’t get a copy paste setup or a generic playbook. You get me and a team who truly invest in your business successes and your goals, then build the custom system that will actually move the needle. Our AI-enhanced CRM is configured to your reality, and our full-service marketing is crafted to your voice and buyers. I take your success personally. You will always get clear communication, clean execution, and a solution that is customized, accountable, and built to grow with you.
As my business grows, so does my responsibility to the people I came from. With every new client, I’m able to train more stay-at-home parents and survivors of domestic abuse in practical tech and AI skills that translate into real, flexible income. We start with confidence and safety, then move into tools, workflows, and hands-on projects so they leave with proof of work, not just theory. I hire from this community whenever possible and create roles that fit their life. We host free workshops, mentorship circles, and resume-building labs, and I personally coach survivors through the first paying contracts so the leap feels supported. My goal is simple. Turn silent strength into visible opportunity. If you’ve been told you’re too late, too busy, or too broken, I want you to know there’s a seat here for you, and a path you can walk at your pace with people who get it.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
As a kid I spent summers at western horse shows. My curtains were lined with purple participation ribbons, and right in the middle hung one blue. I can’t even remember if it was for barrels or jumping, but I remember what it meant. That blue was the “what if I had quit the time before this…”. My favorite memories are those show days when my parents could be there, cheering between long work shifts. Long travel days, dusty manure covered boots, decked out in western gear, and that single blue ribbon reminding me that effort stacks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.asamarketingsolutions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asa_marketing_solutions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StefanieKim
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asamarketingsolutions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@asamarketingsolutions
- Yelp: https://yelp.com/biz/asa-marketing-solutions-owatonna
- Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=asa+marketing+solutions&oq=asa+marketing+solutions+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCggAEEUYFhgeGDkyBggBEEUYOzIICAIQABgWGB4yCAgDEAAYFhgeMgYIBBBFGEEyBggFEEUYPTIGCAYQRRhBMgYIBxBFGEHSAQg1NzU4ajBqNKgCA7ACAfEFEEp2xG6V7rE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#
