Welcome to the Grant Writing and Funding podcast, the world's top ranked podcast since 2017 on grant writing and, you guessed it, funding. I'm your host, Holly Rustick. And here at GWF, we have a movement for grant writers to secure $1,000,000,000 in grants for amazing causes in the world and 25 to $30,000,000 in their grant writing businesses. We are well on our way there with hundreds of millions of dollars of grants already secured and millions of dollars secured in client contracts through our two signature programs, the freelance grant writer academy and the grant professional mentorship, where hundreds of students at any given time are working on replacing their full time income on flexible hours, writing grants from home for causes and missions they are passionate about. To learn more about our movement, be sure to check out our newsletter, write grants, get paid, and go to grantwritingandfunding.com to check out our free grant class and resources.

Now let's get into our podcast episode so you can learn how to win grants and advance impact in the world. Hello. Hello. Hello. It's Holly Rostock here with Grant Writing and Funding, and I'm really, really excited because I get to interview another one of my students from the Freelance Grant Writer Academy.

I'm talking to Veronica Kulan today, and she is the CEO of VK Empowerment Solutions and just doing amazing things. You just joined in June, we're in October right now, 2025. Amazing things in your business that we're going to talk about today. The grants you've secured, over $1,000,000, you've already secured over $40,000 in clients. And you're like, literally, if you guys are watching this on our YouTube, Veronica, is in the garage because she's going to get class because you're going to law school because why not?

I love this so much. To the podcast.

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Yeah, super excited to have you here. Let's talk about you. You have a lot of passion. I've seen that you're doing the things, you're working, you're going to law school, you have clients. You have big dreams and you are living them, and I am all for that, a 100%.

So what's been going on like the last few years and what got you interested in grants?

So ironically, used to be a teacher. It was very different, but I still worked with low income communities. I saw a lot of the issues that the children and families had firsthand, but I didn't feel like I was having the impact that I really wanted to. And so I decided to go into grants and to get training at that time because that was about thirteen years ago, there really wasn't a lot of structured programming. So I actually went back to school to get my master's in nonprofit management and one of my classes was grant writing.

When I finished, it was really hard to get into the field in a staff position coming back to Atlanta. So I started my business twelve years ago and formally part time. So I've been doing it for a long time, but I didn't formally incorporate it until January 2024.

Oh, wow. Okay. So you're just like, okay. Did you have the typical experience of like, oh, I know how to write grants at a party or a fundraiser or whatever, people are like, oh, can you write this thing for me? Is that kind of how it was?

Oh my gosh. Let me just tell you. I literally decided six months ago that I will never say that unless I'm around a group of my colleagues because literally it doesn't matter if I'm at a conference, the grocery store, if they hear the words grant writer, can I meet with you? And you know, you get all the questions and yeah, it's kind of overwhelming.

I always say it's the best party trick.

Right. Right.

I'm like, people have gotten like clients at birthday parties, at funerals, at like all kinds of places. As soon as you throw out the work, people I want to meet with you. I know somebody. Yeah. So now you're like, Okay.

I've got limited time, so I'm not going to say this if people are serious to hire me.

Right.

All right. So teaching and then nonprofit management. You went to school and then you're like, Okay. Let's open this business. But you said it wasn't it was just kind of, like, there.

But were you do what were you doing then, as as other type of income during those those about twelve years or eleven years?

So I started off doing some program positions in different nonprofits around Atlanta. I started to focus in on homelessness, and so then I had staff positions as the contract and grants writer for some of the larger ones here. And so I was responsible ironically mainly for government grants. That was my foray into grant writing, which is not normal in our profession. And I've done large foundations.

So really kind of just getting thrown into it, understanding the broad scope of different aspects of nonprofit management really helped me. And so when I got my first client, actually I used to work with a CFO when we both had staff positions up here. And when he went down to Jacksonville, he told the CEO, I will not work with anybody else but Veronica because we just worked so well together.

I love that so much. So you're currently also you have a you have a part time job as well, and then you started like, tell me about your your situation now. Like, when you got well, let's kind of backtrack just a little bit. You got serious, like you said, I think it was 2023 about your business. Is that right?

Yeah. Did I hear that right? Okay. What made the switch then?

Honestly, it wasn't just about money. Although at that time I realized after talking to several people that had been doing it for years that I definitely wasn't being paid what I was worth, but it was also a matter of not really getting the respect for my input and my expertise. And so I was like, I just want to do this full time. Just want to be able to do what I love to do the way that I love to do it and get that respect in the community. Yeah.

So that was my goal. And there were a lot of barriers. I knew the structure of how to like get the business account and do the incorporation, but all the rest of it, writing grants is one thing, managing a business is totally different.

And then is that when you found the academy or did you still kind

of like,

you know, go through

this process? I found the academy in 2024. I wanted to join then, but I had to decide when you do something like joining your academy, it's an investment. So I had kept putting it off and then I'm like, the money that I'm spending, spinning my wheels and not making the money that I should be making my business, that's something I could be investing. So I finally decided to do it and I set aside that money.

And obviously after what you said, you can tell that it was definitely worth the money that I put into this investment, but it was so much more than I thought it would be. In my mind, was just like training modules and one on one mentoring. It's it's been so much more.

I love it. And then how has your business changed? Like you mentioned you're, when you went full time, you were getting more serious about it. But what was the real change then from going more serious to then having support?

So I want to say it started with the mindset because I would, you know, being on the board of the Grant Professional Association, I know a lot of other individuals, like probably the three most well known in Atlanta. They're colleagues of mine. I would sit there and say to myself, I have the expertise they have, but I can't brand myself and I don't value what I'm doing. And I can't speak with confidence about what I can bring to an organization. So being able to develop that mindset, but also have the very structured tools that I got from the business modules, especially the module talking about pricing, because a lot of people don't understand in their mind like, Oh, I'm just going to charge per hour what I was making.

And you have to think about all the other things that need to be considered as far as costs. And so I really dug in and spent a lot of time doing that piece before going into the other modules because that was my main reason. I can always learn. I believe in lifelong learning about my profession, but looking at you and some of the other people that have gone through the program, I always tell myself, that's goals. I want to be able to do what she does, but she has the knowledge.

Like a lot of people don't understand that I can train someone how to write grants, but that skill of empowering and giving the information because it's not competition. We're sharing, we're making the field better.

I love that so much. And yeah, and I hear that a lot. I love doing these interviews with y'all because it's like, get to really go under the hood and like see, you know, everything. And it's funny how often it's like, Oh, was it the grant reviewer? And people are like, yeah, that was super helpful too.

But really, I hear over and over again the mindset. And I love that. You know, I like to go deep.

Right. Right.

I'm like, oh, I'm like, let's go.

And I know sometimes I can feel a little like, ah, for people, but I'm like, until we get this, because what you're talking about over here, like it's about the pricing or whatever. Yeah, sometimes it's just that that is strategy, But oftentimes, it's like, oh, that's shielded by this other stuff we need to talk about first. And did you feel like any of like, you know, you mentioned, like, coming in from that nonprofit sector, coming in from undercharging and realizing you were when you went full time. Like, how has it been helpful with with how we train about mindset to, like, come out of that? And thank you to Grant EZ Management Software for sponsoring today's podcast episode.

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I guess because everyone, including the mentors in the program, are very transparent about the journey that they had and that they still are on, and so people that were in the part of the mentoring that I'm in and moved on to the next level, which I plan on doing, acknowledging what the issue is, but knowing that if that's something that you struggle with, you may have to kind of fake it till you make it, until you really get those tools so embedded that it just comes naturally. Like, before right before I joined, I did, I think it was a Discovery Sales Lab, and I literally used that script and had prepared myself for sales calls. And at first, before I went in the Slack channel, I was disappointed because I'm like, oh my gosh, I finally did all these things she said, I'm getting these calls and no one, you know, signing my proposals and contracts, but they're interested. And the feedback I got from just even the other cohort members, and I remember one of my colleagues out here was saying to me, So did you really want them as customers? If they couldn't decide if what you were charging, because I definitely don't charge what I really could.

I have it at a fair price, but that is the struggle because I've had clients in the past for short terms that eventually I would have to let go because it's just not sustainable. It's not about like beating yourself up. Everything is a learning experience and everything is practiced for the next thing. Yeah.

Yeah. And then having those tools and getting comfortable, like, sales calls, sometimes it just it feels weird, like, until you learn how to do it. Like, sometimes we just show up weird.

Right. Right. Know, like, process.

So yeah. So I love the discovery sales call that we have because that helps you have a structure. And like you said, and you still may need to practice it, but at least you're like, okay. Like, now I have a structure. Right?

And now I have a way to have conversation and, like, how to sell this in in a way in with a framework. So I love that so much. Then you have gotten clients since you've been on the program. So what has worked with getting them for you?

So ironically, I usually have good luck with getting referrals or being on the consultant list with you and then with GPA, but there was that disconnect because they would send an email and say they were interested, but I really didn't have a strong response. And I didn't have, like I had Calendly, but I didn't have it set up where I was asking those, you know, pre call questions, just the simple fact of calling it a discovery sales call, because if they don't click on it, because they realize that is the purpose of this. Because in the past I've had people say, okay, and want to meet with me three times. And that's consulting at that point.

Yeah, I

just want a picture

of it.

Surprisingly, one of them, I do still sometimes feel comfortable when they ask me the price, but I pose it as packages. So I'm like, depending on what you need and what you and the board's capacity is, you could start here and eventually go to the monthly retainer. Actually, one of my clients is a forty hour monthly retainer. The other one is starting off at ten, but they plan on moving to 20 by the end of the year. And so, you know, I'm very clear from the beginning.

I let them know I'm passionate about what they do, that there's a process to it. I don't make promises, but the information that I get from them and that I share with them in that initial call lets them know that I know what I'm talking about. Because I had some, I had a call yesterday. I don't even know how she got my information. She said, I was just searching and I've already interviewed three people and nobody really had any credibility.

And I can just tell from the first ten minutes that you know what you're talking about. And just tell me how much, you know, so she's about to sign the contract. So I have another. Yeah.

Love it. Yeah. And just having that framework, having that confidence, asking the pre questions, like all of that sets you up for professionalism and will set you apart from other people who don't know what they're doing. Right? Or who may know how to write grants, but they just, they don't know how to sell their services, you know?

Right. Because that's not something we're innately born with. Right. Right.

I tell people I'm not a salesperson, but I can sell a mission. So that's how I think about it.

Yeah. It can feel intimidating, right? But it's like, well, when you know your services are really going to help Look at you, over $1,000,000 this year helping organizations. That's life changing. That's world changing.

And we need to be out there talking about it. You know what I mean? People need our services. Nonprofits need our services. Especially in these times when things are changing so quickly, they like lead their organization.

They don't have the time or capacity most of the time to be able to keep up with all the grants and the changes and the things and how to keep getting money like you've

done. Right?

So it's almost like a disservice if we're not out there talking about our services. You know what I mean? Like, really is. Like, And when we can get underneath that and believe it and understand what we're actually selling, that's where it changes, right? That's where that kind of changes.

So I love that. You have so much to offer and there's so many people that need you right now.

It's been a tough year, but I'm all about pivoting. And that's one of the things I've raised large amounts of money before, but it was more, it meant more to me because they had lost so much money because of things that are going on. And so I was able to fill that gap. And there were organizations that were going to lay off a bunch of people. I mean, these are people's jobs.

These are communities they're serving that they wouldn't have been able to serve. So I feel like I have a responsibility to my clients and the mission that they serve.

Absolutely. And I love that you've been able to still get money. Like you mentioned, like we're seeing that even in our numbers. Right? We're seeing overall, the number of grants secured last year in the academy were like over 138,000,000.

This year, it's been about 48,000,000. So huge difference. Huge difference. However, you know what's really interesting, Veronica, is I've also though measured how much money people have made in their grant writing businesses last year and this year. And last year was about 4,400,000.0 around there.

This year, it's already almost, I think, 3,800,000.0, and we're not

even done. Awesome. We're

well on to, like, meet or actually overreach that even though we're securing fewer grants.

Yeah.

Right? Even though we're securing way fewer grants. Why is that? It's because we're still doing other things. We're still supporting our clients.

They're still hiring us even though they might there's not as many grants out there or things have changed. And a lot of that was just because of the pause in all of the things, right, in the beginning of the year. And now more grants are opening up. That is to say people will hire you even if you can't get them a million dollars, but you did this year. They will because they need that.

So I think that's just really interesting data for us to ground ourselves into.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

Really cool, right? You're the first person

to And share it that actually joining the Academy and having this success in this amount of time is also perfect because this is the first time I'll be presenting at grant summit, which I actually wasn't even going to attempt because that makes me so nervous, but I'm co presenting. And so like being able to be confident, I know that's going to make so much of a difference when I'm in the room. And even like I went to an AFP regional conference yesterday and people, they remember me. I mean, when you present and you carry yourself a different way, they come to you with more respect and camaraderie than just going around and feeling nervous and who should I talk to? So it's not just the mindset, it's the way that I am able to carry myself, which actually goes into other areas.

Are you presenting in Baltimore?

I am. So it's also my first time going in person.

Oh, that's gonna be I'm so only doing the virtual presentation this year. I was like, next year, I want to go in person. But I went back in 2019 was my first year attending and speaking. I was like you as well in 2019. And it was a lot of fun.

There's a lot of people. Yeah, I'm excited for you. Yeah, and then you'll be able to meet up. So our coaches will be there as well. Yes,

I saw it.

We got some swag. We got some merch for you guys. Really excited. First merch ever we're working on right now. So yeah, you'll have something to walk away with.

So yeah, that's exciting that we're doing. We're doing, I'm not going to be there personally, but we'll have our coaches there, our students there. We're doing a happy hour. Yeah, you'll have fun. I'm like having FOMO.

Well, I'm not gonna lie, your coaches definitely represent you because at first, you know, as someone who does training, I'm like, Oh no, she went on vacation, goals, but what about, you know, what's gonna happen in the meantime? But then getting on the call, I mean, they have the most awesome advice. They know that they followed what you taught them and they're able to then pass it on to us and understand it from a different perspective. And the encouragement and support, like, in a staff position, no one ever comes out and says, thank you for winning us a million dollars. Like, congratulations on having this knowledge and getting this, like, that encouragement alone, because working from home and being so isolated is difficult.

So knowing that I can just reach out with Slack, with the coaching call.

Yeah. I love it.

They are fantastic. I did an interview with somebody like last week and the whole time, this was hilarious, she was talking, Gwen this, d this, blah blah. She said no one thing about me.

Oh my god.

That's what you know. You have a good team. Yeah. I was like, she didn't it was all, they make the Gwen help me because she did this review on this pricing and Dee helped me because she reviewed my grants. This is how I succeeded in your program was because of your And I was like, a founder, as the head coach, that makes me happier than anything could to know that my program runs.

We train all the time. We meet. We're doing a retreat together. Are embedded in the culture. We've created this culture and a community that, yeah, it's good vibes.

We're all on the same vision, the same alignment. But like you said, they have such different experiences that it's so cool to bring those experiences too. And cheerleaders, like I said, Dee's like a house cheerleader. Amazing. Right?

Right. All the time, a million emojis, just on fire about everybody. I love that

so much.

So good. I'm glad that you have that experience. Yeah. Because when you join, that's when I was like, okay, we have our launch and I'm

up for

a month, but you guys are in

good hands. But I can imagine how you're like, hey, I saw you. It was your face on the webinar. Now are you really in this program, Holly? And I am, right?

But they definitely are too. So okay, let's talk about law school for a second.

All right. I want to talk

about law school before we get off. So I know we've been off for a little bit, but I definitely want to like so you have your business. It's definitely thriving, you're getting the clients, right? You have another client that could be coming on and you're working and you're going to law school. So what is your future with law school and your business?

How does that kind of feel or be, or is it kind of just like, I don't know.

So law school, you know, a lot of people ask me, so where are you going to practice? I don't really want to practice law full time. The main reason I started looking into law school is because a lot of the organizations I work with and the advocacy work I do really isn't going to push the next level until there's legal Well, you know what's going on right now. And so I actually already have connections with a lot of the organizations here that work in the social justice field that I'll probably be interning with. But having that knowledge from the inside and the communities really is extremely applicable to law school.

And so even though it's a lot of work, but I'm going part time, my goal has shifted a little bit. So I want to do my business full time, but eventually at some point, maybe in five years after I passed my bar, I want to have a staff of subcontractors that are doing the work. Like, I have someone that I was able to bring on with the extra income and I'm training her. She's doing my social media. She's awesome.

Like, she has the skills, okay? And she's younger, but that was my dream is to pass that legacy. And then I want to do like more of the training and the public speaking and all that. I have to set that base, but yeah, that was something being able to advocate is one thing, but when you have a JD behind your name, you get certain doors open that you can't otherwise. And I just feel like it's the last level of advocacy, naturally that next step.

I love that so much because, yeah, you're right. I have some friends who are lawyers and I'm always like, okay, so how does this work? Or we advocate together. We lobby to, like, I'm a for profit business. I can do that.

You know what I mean? Is

I was like, okay, Vanessa, what do we do? She's like, all right, we're going to do this. I'm like, All right. So definitely having that legal knowledge is so important, especially for advocacy. So I'm really excited that, yeah, that's how you want to lean in to continue to support nonprofits because you're absolutely right.

Like that's going to open up doors. That's going to open up doors that could just be something completely different. And you have your for profit business full time, so you could definitely tie those together. Okay. I was like, how does this work Ironically,

they just opened up that in this last year, they just opened up a Civic and Criminal Justice Institute, which is ran by the professor that founded Gideon's Promise. So we've already been talking about me writing grants for him, he's like, wait until you finish your first year. But I'm super excited because I knew about the organization and I'm like, what an awesome fit. He does civil rights legal work and he trains public defenders around the country.

That's so cool. I'm so inspired by that. Talk about goals. You've got goals. I love it.

You're living up. That is so exciting. So exciting. This is what I usually have. We've had a lot of lawyers who were full time at practice and then they like burned that business to the ground and they became freelance grant writers.

I was like, Oh, what's going on here? But I love that lens of like, but then we're always like picking their brains too. You know what I mean?

Right, right.

A legal question, Alex.

Right. I will say ironically, one of my classes is contracts and I know my professor got tired of me asking me, he's like, I can't give legal advice. And I'm like, but he said, by the end of the first semester, you will know how to properly draw a contract. Because I can see already from different situations that have happened what needs to be in there that wasn't. Contracts are very important.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I love that so much. Oh, this has been so great. Okay.

So we're gonna go ahead and wrap this up. But before we do, I just want a hot take couple hot takes for you. What were one to two up to three things in the academy that have been changing, like life changing for you, for your business?

I wanna say the business structure and tools, the feedback from the coaches, and the open channel to be able to ask basically any question and the opportunities to network in a way that's transparent and vulnerable, but also empowering at the same time.

Amazing. Amazing. I love that. And then you did say you waited. So I know we got a lot of lurkers out there too that have been on the list for a while, been following the podcast.

I get it. You want to know what your investment is going to do. You want to know the results. Are you glad you came in now? You're like, Okay, have you got anything to say for people who have been kind of watching it and going, I don't know if it's time to join yet?

Honestly, I wish I had joined sooner. My life probably would have been a lot different right now. And I'm one of those people I believe in being an educated consumer, whether it's my client or me. And so I looked at different training programs, but what you offer for the amount that you offer it for, it's no comparison to what anyone else is And I'm not trying to give anyone shade. They do a great job, but it's not just about one on one.

Like those other pieces are so important. And again, I wish I had started sooner. Return on the investment that I made is far beyond what I would have expected.

I love it.

I love it so much. Oh, so, so good. Okay. So Veronica, where can people find you?

So my website is www.empowermentsolutions.org, or you can find me on LinkedIn under Empowerment Solutions. Or if you want to look me up on GPA, you can see me on the list. Make sure I'm legit. And feel free to reach out to me even if you're not a member of my chapter. I would love to answer any questions that anyone has.

Yeah, and you're on the Atlanta chapter, right? On the

Atlanta GPA?

Yes. Oh, so, so good. Have fun speaking at the conference this year. That's going to be so great to be at the summit. Definitely an FMO because you guys are going be hanging out.

Once again, thank you for coming back away, sharing your experience. I'm so glad you joined the Academy. It's been such an honor to work with you and to continue to work with you. So I will see you back inside the Academy. Thanks for all.

All right. Thank you.

I hope you enjoyed today's podcast episode. And if you are still struggling with how to write a grant, it still feels overwhelming. Maybe you're new to it or maybe you're a seasoned grant writer with no processes in place on how to write grants. So every time you onboard a client, it is a lot of work. Make sure you subscribe to our private podcast on how to write a master grant template.

When you sign up, you even get a free downloadable master grant template and a workbook. You'll get five episodes that walk you through how to write our master grant template framework that has helped hundreds of people inside our freelance grant writer academy win more than $238,000,000 in grant funding. Go to grantwritingandfunding.com/private-podcast. And if you love this podcast, please do me a favor and leave a review on your podcast player as we love to read each and every review, and this helps other people find the podcast. Thank you for listening to our podcast today.