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

Jilliana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

n 2008 I began a study course in Reflexology. In 2011 I added another protocol to enhance my practice that would identify the underlying emotional triggers that were usually at the core of the presenting discomfort. In 2013 I wrote my own Reflexology protocol and became Nationally Board Certified as well as received Instructor credentials.

Having a strong alternative therapeutic and medical background I wanted to discover a modality that could accurately assess an individual’s energy system. While reflexology could identify what I like to call “congested energy” within the body, there was a missing element in identifying causal scenarios. This is where a course in identifying emotional factors stored within specific body elements became an essential part of the new protocol I submitted for professional accreditation. This technique is called ISET (Integrated Sole Energy Therapy). Once the emotional factor is identified, clearing the congested energies allows the individual’s body to process the information. Once an individual was able to come to an emotional understanding of the causal insult, the body could shift and begin its own healing journey. I am Nationally Board Certified as a Continuing Education Provider and Professional Reflexology Instructor. Today there are only 32 practitioners around the world utilizing this reflexology technique.

While not every learned course pursued will lead anyone to a field they are confident in….all collective information can be a foundation for what can become a satisfactory and viable income resource.

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

In the early years I learned the craft of medical transcription which provided a significant income but was extremely demanding. Edging closer to retirement from the field I needed to find a resource that would satisfy both income needs and be a satisfying endeavor.

During the interim years before my planned retirement, I enrolled in any alternative therapeutic practice I could find. Reiki at the time was emerging in popularity. I’d connected with an amazing teacher who encouraged me to enroll in the energy course. My first attempts were flawed. While participants around me acknowledged their feeling the subtle Reiki energies, I felt nothing! Not to be discouraged I enrolled in the same class the second time…with the same dismal results…I felt nothing. But my instructor, a man I’d come to respect, encouraged me to try the class one last time. Finally, I felt the energy…subtle at first but nevertheless undeniably present. I should also state here that generally speaking I would have considered myself to be a “doubting Thomas.” I needed tangible proof. Now my curiosity was looming. I became so proficient at feeling the energy, today I am considered an energy sensitive that goes far beyond the early years of Reiki.

While I’m certain there is an element of Reiki in my current practice, the protocol I utilize goes far beyond the gentle energies of Reiki. It is profoundly accurate in its assessment, exceptionally rewarding in releasing the restrictive symptoms that are at the root of discomfort. and if I can connect the emotional belief system behind the presenting discomfort, while the technique is highly relaxing it can be healing to an over-taxed human sensory system.

I should also state that over some 35 years of research, I have acquired a significant spiritual understanding of how our living world reacts to its environment and the thought concepts of its inhabitants. I have written books alerting individuals to the factors that govern our lives, discussing the energy components that comprise our living world, and encouraging listeners to become familiar with their internal spiritual landscapes. Understanding the causal factors that surround each individual’s world is highly illuminating. It allows each to release outdated belief systems, to experience life in a much more enjoyable and complimentary manner, eliminating energy factors no longer complimentary to that individual to drift away allowing opportunity and overall well-being to prevail.

The proof of a successful practice is in seeing the often profound healing that occurs in the individuals, even in the most elementary benefits of relaxation which should reduce the stress which most probably brought them to seek relaxation in the first place. I try to teach all they are incredibly bright energy systems learning to discover who they are, helping them to assume a productive role in their environment and become more than they ever thought possible.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Too often in life a challenge is presented that completely shifts one’s life direction. In my very early 40’s I led an idyllic lifestyle. I was married, had two children, I ran a successful business, both my husband and I worked hard to provide for our family and all this shifted in a moment. Whether it’s divorce, an unanticipated accident, a life illness…whatever the cause … all unexpected challenges can shift a life. My life shift came with a very sudden divorce that left me solely raising two small boys and trying to resolve an initial $250K debt. Just to stay afloat financially, I’d find creative ways to earn extra income. I was on contract to 15 physicians providing daily patient records, I learned to drive a school bus to provide medical benefits, and I would clean houses and mow lawns. And in the mix, I would be a chauffeur to various school activities for my children, somehow managing to accomplish the enormous workload I found on my shoulders. I had no choice but to dig in. In the early stages putting one foot in front of the other seemed exhausting. But financial resourcefulness came into play, I would sell my property, and pair down expenses anywhere I could. We ate a lot of Cheerios but we learned to survive.

My new life status would lead me to pursue “causal” factors. There were few books to guide me through this uncharted labyrinth. This is where my pursuit in anything alternative emerged….and this pursuit is literally what saved my life. I found purpose in the pain and was developing a new, much more rewarding direction.

Simultaneously while working as a medical contractor, I secured a job working first in a hospital’s Pathology Department…a job I dearly loved. I worked as a Medical Records Department Manager, then as a medical recorder for a major Radiology practice but I was finding time to explore weekend exploration in the energy fields. And slowly, very slowly, the inherited debt was diminishing.

In what little spare time I could find I wrote books….first one to slam my wayward spouse (I Hope Your Turkey Burns) a cartoon rendition of a scorned lady, formerly on Amazon, now distributed to Women’s Shelters and those in need of comic relief….then an international award winning title “Life Is A Spiritual Soup,” followed by a comical rendition on how prayers are answered, “God’s Toolbox; How God Answers Prayers,” and onto more serious titles on living spiritually in a physical environment, “New Beginnings; Elements of Change,” “Discovering Your Mastery,” and my latest endeavor, “Before Your Last Breath,” an A-Z accounting on living life with dignity while preparing to return to the spiritual dimension. My goal here is to take the fear out of dying, to inform all of a loving spiritual environment full of opportunity and exploration without restriction or judgement.

And while accomplishing everything else in my life, seeing the satisfied faces of my clientele from a rewarding reflexology practice provides much personal satisfaction.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

There were so many delicious questions to answer in this segment but I chose how to establish initial capital for this segment. In the current state of residence the art of Massage Therapy is a rewarding practice as more and more individuals turn to the relaxation this practice provides. There are multiple levels of massage depending on what the student may be looking for. The length of study is generally 6 months to one year of instruction at currently a modest cost of $900 to 1600. At first, an individual might gain the hours of practice necessary to be certified and confident in opening an individual practice by working alongside an established practice. When compared to college costs this is significantly less. The same holds for energy therapy practices. Many bio-energetic practices are opening with study courses that are generally reasonable, especially when compared to college or university degree programs. Massage/Reflexology/Bio-Energy Therapeutic studies are also economically beneficial to the practitioner and an art that can be taken anywhere and is timeless. While in most massage protocols reflexology is included but the brief introduction doesn’t go into the depth a true reflexology program can provide.

Generally opening an individual practice will require licensing fees along with insurance coverage, the cost of renting space or designing a modest studio for your professional practice.

While romantically one could consider marketing variations, I have never openly advertised, and yet my clientele find me. I receive physician referrals , client referrals and those I trust will be guided to my studio.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jillianaraymond.com
• Instagram: jillianaraymond@gmail.com
• Facebook: jillianaraymond@gmail.com
• Linkedin: jillianaraymond@gmail.com
• Twitter: jillianaraymond@gmail.com
• Youtube: jillianaraymond@gmail.com