Gelika Bücker: Inside the Bold Pivot From Catering Heavyweight to Tech Founder and Astrological Innovator

Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their lives. Jeff Bezos worked in Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50's.

How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?

In this series called “Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life “ we are interviewing successful people who reinvented themselves in a second chapter in life, to share their story and help empower others.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing (Gelika Bücker.

Gelika Bücker is the CEO and Founder of Stars Align, the first of its kind compatibility app that uses Western astrology and synastry between natal charts to find one’s soulmate. A serial entrepreneur at heart, Bücker has created successful companies all over the map from South Africa to South Korea to the United States and beyond. In addition to serving as CEO of Stars Align, Gelika is the Director/Business Developer for a RFID tech start-up out of Seattle.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

I was born in Pretoria, South Africa and I was raised in a very small town 30 minutes from there. My parents owned the only restaurant in town and I used to love the action, and watching people come and go. Our family restaurant was the most exciting destination in town. I walked to school every day and remember always feeling a bit misplaced and would dream of something bigger for my life. When I was 16, I started at a new school in a bigger city and it was the most thrilling feeling to start over and create a new life for myself.

My entrepreneurial side really came to life when I was studying Industrial Psychology at the University of Stellenbosch. I failed a subject and my mother was disappointed in me and told me I had to pay her back. Growing up in a restaurant I decided to start a seasonal Pizzeria near campus. I balanced running the business while finishing school and am proud to say I was able to pay her back.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Wow, I have so many. The one that is speaking to me most lately is “The number one reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbors.”- Napolean Hill

Of course, everything should be read in perspective, and you should always keep an open mind on other’s advice but you never have to take it. I really do believe people have their own compass and the more you tap into what you feel and what decisions feels right to you that is when you have reached your full power. That is when magic happens. Having a clear vision and trusting yourself will not only eliminates procrastination but will guide you to where you want to be quicker.

You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

1. Emotions and Energy. Emotions are fuel for your body, it drives you to what you want. If you have a strong emotion to succeed your energy will increase. Don’t dampen your emotions- listen to them and feed.
2. Passion and Vision. You need clear vision and passion to wake up and do it every day. You need to trust yourself and the passion you have.
3. Consistency. You cannot succeed without consistency. It does not matter how strong your emotions, energy and passion are without following through and being consistent it can be destroyed at any moment. Keep your foot on that peddle and push through.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about ‘Second Chapters’. Can you tell our readers about your career experience before your Second Chapter?

I am a trained chef and had a big full-service catering and equipment company. I started the company from scratch and grew it to employ 50–100+ people depending on the event. We catered backstage for famous artists including Katy Perry and John Legend, and did large events for corporations including BMW and WWE. While I had found success in my career, I was extremely unhappy in my marriage and I had built a huge wall around myself.

And how did you “reinvent yourself” in your Second Chapter?

After years of discouragement from my former husband about my career, I reluctantly moved out of the city and to the family farm. This is when my whole life really felt like it started spiraling in the wrong direction, I did not like where I lived and ultimately the person I was married to. Then my dad passed away and my intuition was screaming for a change. I was truly unhappy. I remember sitting at my dad’s funeral asking myself, “Gelika do you want to live like this forever?”

I was scared and I knew it will take a while to find my feet again. I prepared myself mentally and I closed my eyes and jumped into the deep hoping for a miracle. I left my long-term partner, sold my catering company to Big Concerts, a division of Live Nation, and I moved to Maui, Paia. I wanted to take a break from life but soon was pulled into the technology side of life after meeting a few people on the island. I realized you only need one person to trust you. That is when I met my good friend and the person who changed my career for the better. I started developing a program for a RFID Tech company and a year later became the Director. My life changed, my location changed, my perspective shifted, I was growing, and I was exactly what I wanted to be.

It was the biggest risk I ever took. My family was upset, I lost most of my friends, most people said I was crazy. I trusted myself for the first time and I chose myself for the first time too. I was and I am happy again.

Can you tell us about the specific trigger that made you decide that you were going to “take the plunge” and make your huge transition?

When my dad passed away and when I married a man who wanted me to stop working. My father resembled the final push that drove me to end my relationship and explore a life of my own.

What did you do to discover that you had a new skillset inside of you that you haven’t been maximizing? How did you find that and how did you ultimately overcome the barriers to help manifest those powers?

I surrounded myself with intelligent people in the tech and start-up world. I learned from them, and I watched them make right moves. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you are in the right environment with similar minded people. I manifested my new skillset by changing my fear into a positive vibrational energy. I took that energy and I read, studied and learned from people who have done it before. I gave up my old life and I changed every aspect of my circle to maintain what I wanted. “Nothing changes if nothing changes”- if you want a better and a new life you need to be willing to give up old patterns/friends and your environment.

How are things going with this new initiative? We would love to hear some specific examples or stories.

It is going amazing. As a director of a RFID tech start up, I also started my own astrology-based connection app Stars Align that was launched on my dad’s birthday. All of my life experiences have paved the path to Stars Align. During my time spent in Maui it really engaged my spiritual side and I got my diploma in Astrology. I also have learned from my former marriage that it’s so important to know yourself before you enter into a relationship with someone else. I wanted Stars Align to be different than other dating apps in that we help people get a better understanding of oneself through an interactive astrology chart, horoscopes and more, and built a cutting-edge astrology-based algorithm to match users by their birth charts revealing a compatibility score. It is really taking off and exciting that others are resonating with it.

Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I realized that the people around you play a huge role in who you become. I was very selective about who I let into my life in my second chapter. The saying “birds of a feather flock together” is really something I believe in. If you have similar people around you, you can be yourself and learn from each other’s skills and help push one another.

I met a really good friend, who saw my skills as potential and not as a threat. He introduced me to his good friend who started the RFID company. They both became mentors. They pushed me and were the first people in my life to encourage my creativity and ideas.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started in this new direction?

From a small-town girl from South Africa to a woman who lives in New York City, I am very grateful for the strong, like-minded people around me. I have met such inspirational people. I started my new chapter with $500, sleeping on couches and sharing rooms with strangers. I have found who I am and I would do it all over again. There is power in the way you think. I know this now and I manifest the life I want every day.

Did you ever struggle with believing in yourself? If so, how did you overcome that limiting belief about yourself? Can you share a story or example?

Of course, every day I wake up with a little anxiety. I turn these emotions into positive thoughts. You have to see any emotion as energy, you can change energy into anything you want. I wake up every day and I set my intention and I manifest what I want. I am a strong believer in what you think will happen. I preach this every day.

In my own work I usually encourage my clients to ask for support before they embark on something new. How did you create your support system before you moved to your new chapter?

I chose like-minded people and friends as mentors and advisors. People I trust and respect. Be careful who you take advice from! I have friends with similar life paths now and I value their opinions.

Starting a new chapter usually means getting out of your comfort zone, how did you do that? Can you share a story or example of that?

I prepared myself mentally. I knew it will take a lot of courage and work to start over. I was prepared to step out of my comfort zone (change friends, locations, and myself). I remember reading the following quote and this spoke to me a lot: “The risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

I think anyone who reaches rock bottom in their life has a strong urge to start over. It happens unexpectedly and there is no time to overthink it. You need to go with the wave and believe and hope you will make it to shore.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my organization” and why?

1. Not everyone is going to like and believe in you: Most people act on ego. People can get jealous. People also don’t like someone who is different, it scares them. So be prepared to feel like a complete crazy person.
2. Prepare to feel lonely: You work a lot and anyone who tries to develop a new mission/vision will feel alone because not everyone speaks your language.
3. Choose who you employ very carefully: Toxic people can ruin a business. Make sure you employ people who believes in you and your idea. Managing relationships can take loads of time.
4. Trust your intuition: Don’t second guess yourself, if you are not sure sleep on it.
5. Procrastination is your enemy: Don’t procrastinate, it makes your workforce confused and it steals valuable time.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Promoting equality.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)

Elon Musk. Not only were we born in the same town, but I really love his attitude. He is an inspiration to me. Would love to pick his brain.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Stars Align is available in the App Store or Google Play, or follow along on Instagram @starsalign and @gelikabucker.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!