We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katy Schlegel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Katy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Being successful is subjective and differs from person to person and business to business.

From the outside looking in, I probably haven’t been much of a success in my business. I’ve failed a lot—if I’m being completely honest. One thing I had to learn as a business owner and founder is that I can never give up on my dreams because once I’ve given up, that’s when the real failure sets in.

I remind myself often of the story “3 Feet from Gold.” The moral of this story is that the miner gave up on his mine because he wasn’t striking gold, so he sold it to a “junk man,” and when this man got to work, he struck gold just 3 feet from where the miner gave up.

This story has always motivated me to never ever give up. It has encouraged me to continue down my path and given me the grit that’s needed to keep moving forward. Of course there have been some times where I’ve needed to pivot along the way, where I changed my direction and focus, but ultimately, I never give up. And it’s this attitude that leads to being successful.
Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.” So to me, why not think YOU CAN?

What it takes to be successful is often a small shift in your mindset.

I’ve always seen things, even the most devastating things, in a “cup half full” kind of way. I find the silver lining and the lessons to be learned in everything I experience, which I then try to pass along to others that will hopefully help heal them in some way on their own journey.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My business today doesn’t look anything like it did when I first started. It has had many transitions and pivots along the way.

I started out with a women’s online boutique that was inspired by my travels around the world. It then transitioned to creating a platform to celebrate and support independent artisans from Morocco, Argentina, Bali, and Japan.

And now it’s in a new phase, perhaps in one of its biggest transitions, transforming into something more holistic in nature- one that incorporates healing, reconnection, spirituality, and experience.

Mariposa Skies is becoming a fusion of sorts. I am a healer and an intuitive, and I’m in the process of bringing all the different aspects of me and all the gifts that I’ve been given together.

This transition in my business is because there’s a sense of disconnection in the world right now. Not only are we disconnected from each other, but we’re disconnected from the natural world, disconnected from the spiritual world, and disconnected from ourselves.

The word disconnection is defined as to sever the connection of or between.

While that word sever is a very strong word and seems so final, the truth is, we’re never truly disconnected; there are simple ways to reconnect with each other, with nature, with spirit, and of course with ourselves.

I offer women these various ways to reconnect with their mind, body, and spirit. Whether it be through booking a 1:1 crystal energy healing session, listening to one of my channeled meditations, learning to travel through this life intuitively via my podcast, or shopping for jewelry handmade with intention and healing from artisans around the world.

All of these things have one thing in common: they’re all about helping you reconnect with who you truly are.

Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2020, I decided to put my business on the back burner. Not for the reasons why most businesses did that year, though.

My mom was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately transitioned in September of 2020. And so I decided that year that it was more important to take care of her rather than my business. It wasn’t without inner turmoil, though. It was a constant struggle of trying to be the sole caretaker for my mom as well as run a business.

Finally, in August 2020, I decided to let go of Mariposa Skies and solely focus on taking care of my mom in what I would later come to realize were her last months physically here with us. And I’m so glad I did.

I need to mention my mom and her transition because this was a major turning point in my life’s direction. You see, my mom was not only my mom; she was my best friend, soul sister, travel buddy, and what she lovingly called herself, my executive assistant. She was there when I first started my business and every single step of the way thereafter.

After her death, I didn’t know what to do, where to go, or how to continue. But what I did notice happening was that I became more aware of the other side and my mom’s presence there. So, I started asking, What happens beyond death? And that got me questioning a lot in my life—especially the direction I was going.

The truth was, my business felt dead for quite some time after my mom passed. It felt like the soul of my business died right along with my mom. I breathed a little new life into it with the launch of my podcast, The Anxious Adventurer, but I felt like I was floundering, not really knowing which direction to take.

Until recently, when I pivoted my business and started paving my own path.

Back in 2022, I took a crystal healer certification course. Crystals were what started healing my grief from the loss of my mom. When I felt their healing energies, I became curious and wanted to know more.

I was certified that year and started to work on some clients, but for the most part, I kept that side of me hidden. In all honesty, I felt like it was a little too woo woo, and I was scared to share that part of myself in fear of being rejected. I came from a traditional Christian upbringing, so pivoting to being a healer working with crystals was, well, I’m sure you can imagine all the thoughts that come from that.

However, just this April, I decided I can no longer deny helping people in this way because it brings me so much joy to help heal others, and I know there’s a need for healing right now in this world.

So I can’t mention this shift in my business and really my life without mentioning my mom because her passing, as utterly painful as it has been physically losing her, has also been a gift in disguise because I would not be who I am today without it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I started my business, I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be.

I thought if I build it, they will come, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It takes a lot of courage to start a business, yes, but it takes a lot of moxie and grit to keep going, especially when you’re not having the success you want to have.

No one tells you that being successful in business is 80% an inner game. I had a lot of personal challenges to overcome. Plus, I’m an introvert and an empath, so putting myself out there takes a lot of energy.

I thought so many of the things that were going to turn my business into a success were outside of me. I took countless courses and signed up for memberships, workshops, and training to help me find my way to success, but then I finally realized that I’ve had everything I’ve needed within me to be successful all along.

My definition of success has changed over the 8 years I’ve been in business, and to me, in my life’s journey, being successful also means that I’ve helped someone in some way or form every day.

And when this way of looking at my business shifted, that’s when my messaging, my mission, and my why came into alignment with my values.

But it hasn’t always been this way. For many years in my business, I measured my success on money and how much money I was making. Which is not a bad thing by any means; I’ve just also learned that for myself, if I am not bringing blessings to people in the process of that money coming to me, then what’s the point?

I am so grateful for the journey my business has taken me on and the challenges I have had to overcome.

And now, I look at my business as one of my greatest teachers in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariposaskies.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariposaskies/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mariposaskies
• Other: Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/anxious-adventurer-with-katy-schlegel-a-podcast/id1670260108Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zIrHlxfvrdD7bDsj5Rd3Q