We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Radiance Thompson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Radiance thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
“Thompson – one day, you’re going to be something.”
I remember when my favorite teacher in the whole world looked me right in the eyes and spoke life into me in front of a room full of people when I was in 6th grade.
His name was Mr. Ouweleen. Picture a Tom Cruise-esque teacher wearing suit pants and a dress shirt to everyday. All the single and married teachers had a crush on him – secretly or not-so-secretly.
I’d become enamored with his teaching style in 3rd grade when he told a story about the Greek gods and goddesses to our class. Acting out multiple characters in a classic Greek tragedy, he jumped on desks, fell in love and came to his own demise in front of our class, stabbing himself with a ruler. He was magical.
Being in a non-traditional track school system, instead of having 3 months off school during the summer, we had 1-month off every 3-months during the school year. Depending on which track you were on determined the teacher you would be assigned to each year and when you would be at school or on a month-long break.
After one class with Mr. Ouweleen, I found out which track he was on and immediately shifted tracks to his (with my mother’s approval). That’s how determined I was to have Mr. Ouweleen as my teacher. I saw what I wanted and went after it like the Sagittarius Sun I am. When the student is ready – the teacher appears.
It took 3 years for me to be in 6th grade – and finally be in his class. Eventually getting there, I knew I was in for a challenge. He called all the hardest working students in his class by their last name, so I was determined for him to call me “Thompson.” After months of hard work, I earned the prestigious title of him calling me by my last name.
Yet that’s not what I loved most about him. Looking back at a time that’s over 20 years ago, what I love most about him was that in spite of my preteen know-it-all my-shit-don’t-stink attitude, he saw the light in me. If he ever reads this, I hope he knows how sorry I am for being an immature turdball – and how grateful I am for him giving me grace and recognizing that I was in a long arduous season of growing pains.
The one day where he randomly validated my light in front of a room full of people telling me I would be something someday, it was as if his soul knew I would need that reminder now in my late thirties. Those words have been life jackets for me in moments where I was drowning.
It was after graduating 6th grade and leaving his class that I began a period of darkness in my life that I’m just now starting to make sense of. And his words still provide a reminder that the light he recognized in me is still there.
When I’m in state of thinking that my life isn’t where I’d like it to be – or that I’m not who I want to be yet, there’s times where I hear his voice telling me that I’m going to be something.
Mr. Ouweleen, my 6th grade teacher in Columbus Elementary serves as powerful symbol of how important our teachers are. A teacher that can speak life into their students, especially when students are in extremely sensitive and vulnerable states of growth in their lives.
Remembering when my teacher, who had the power to inflict pain, and instead chose to be kind will always provide my heart solace.
To Mr. Ouweleen – thank you for your grace. Thank you for your dedication to your craft. Thank you for serving as a reminder that the greatness you saw in me in 6th grade is still present in me now. You will be in my heart always.
And to the readers – to the people who play the role of “teacher” to some capacity in your lives, the words and actions you choose can make a world of difference in someone’s life. No matter what the situation you can always choose to use words that heal.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Radiance Thompson – yes that is my birth name. I clarify because I’ve gotten asked so many times if Radiance is my real name – and indeed it is! My dad said I looked like a glow worm when I was born.
I’m someone who believes that everything is divinely connected – that we are all one microcosm part of the macrocosm that is the universe. That being said, I didn’t always have a conscious connection to energy work or spirituality. I’ve had spiritual encounters and experiences – having dreams in the night before that would happen the next day. Yet that wasn’t what drew me to the world of healing, spirituality and energetics.
What drew me to spirituality, energy and healing arts was a painful experience where I realized that I had no self-worth and was searching for love and approval in all the wrong places.
I was introduced to reiki healing after reading a Facebook post saying that reiki would help you feel better, relieve anxiety and lower stress. I didn’t care about what it was and had no idea what doors it would open for my life – I just needed to feel better, to change, to feel like life wasn’t over.
After one reiki session, I was hooked – I instantly felt an energy shift. I consistently received reiki healing for 1-year, 1-2 times a month. I was noticeably a different person.
For the readers that don’t know, reiki healing is a form of nervous system regulation where you have practitioner serve as a vessel, transferring energy to the physical body to help you destress, provide anxiety relief, relieve chronic pain and align your energy centers also known as chakras.
After a year of receiving reiki, I got certified as a reiki healer and started my reiki healing business in January 2020.
The death of Kobe Bryant and the 8 other souls on January 26, 2020 served as a catalyst for my business. As an LA native who grew up watching the Lakers, Kobe’s death felt personal. I knew I wanted to make a change in the world the way Kobe influenced the lives of millions of people around the world. I made a decision that day energy healing and spirituality would be the way I helped make a change in the world.
To gain confidence in my craft, I gave over 50 free sessions to people both in person and online. By Spring 2020 I started giving paid sessions to people around the world.
By 2021 my client base spanned 5-continents. I was serving clients on a 1-1 basis and in a group program. The learning platform I created for my clients at the time consisted of shadow work, energy healing, mindset work and developing spiritual gifts.
Fast forward to 2024 – I’ve grown and evolved, enhancing my skills and knowledge in reiki, energy healing, spirituality, science, mindset work and religion. What sets me apart from others in my field is I know science, spirituality, energy healing and religion are all intimately connected with the sole purpose of wanting to help people become the best version of themselves.
Science, religion, spirituality, energy – they all deliver their own version of truth that leads to the same destination – a deeper connection within ourselves and the God/Source/Universe life force energy available to us all. I believe that unity consciousness – where we can have more compassion for each other’s beliefs vs asserting a wrong vs right, you vs me mentality, is what will lead humanity to the healing and ascension it needs right now.
The way I work with my clients is heart to heart. I actively listen and provide insights on what’s blocking my clients on their healing journey from reaching their highest potential. Many of my clients have big dreams and aspirations to make an impact on the world using their gifts – yet find themselves getting in their own way.
When my clients get in their own way, or self-sabotage, it could be due to people pleasing, hitting income plateaus because of feeling guilty for having money, being uncomfortable being seen for their gifts and facing rejection, or not trusting themselves to make big decisions and take bigger risks so they can get to their next level. They’re people who’ve achieved some success in their lives and still know there’s more work to be done, there’s more people to help, more impact to make.
The way I help my clients is with my signature H.E.A.L. Method – a method I created to help my clients manage big responsibilities so they can manifest even bigger dreams without self-sabotage or self-sacrifice. Many of my clients are busy women managing jobs, businesses, children, partners, family responsibilities, clients, housework, meal prepping – they’re wearing many hats.
They use the H.E.A.L. Method to get more grounded, to help themselves reconnect to Source/God/Universe energy while juggling it all. After consistently doing the H.E.A.L. Method and going through my program, the women I work with start living and walking their dream life because they’ve embodied the higher frequency needed to achieve a level of self-mastery to get them to their next level.
With my signature H.E.A.L. Method, which stands for Harmonize Your Thoughts, Elevate Your Emotions, Align Your Body and Let Go, I help my clients stop getting stuck in their heads so they can learn to look at their thoughts from a third party objective. My clients learn to elevate their emotions so they can raise their frequency from feelings of lack, anger, distrust and anxiety and learn to develop deep self-trust and cultivate the confidence they need to move faster toward their goals. My clients learn to regulate their nervous system so they can align their bodies toward taking the action they need to take to get to their desired reality. The reason I focus on nervous system regulation is because the more my clients can stay in a state of calm, the more they can make decisions that can help them create their desired reality vs continue to be in a reality they don’t desire to live in. Finally – I teach my clients to “let go” to let go of expectation, to let go needing the thing to happen. When my clients learn to stay in a state of gratitude, the universe responds by delivering more reasons for you to stay in a state of gratitude.
When it comes to the work I’ve done for my clients, my business as a whole and my brand, the thing I’m most proud of is knowing that all of my self-development has made me a better mom. As a single parent, my two daughters see me working on myself, they know when mommy needs to meditate, they know when I’m on the phone for a podcast interview or a client call. They saw me build our lives back up from scratch. They see my strength and in seeing it, my dream is they’ll know the same strength is within them, if not more.
Another thing I’m proud of is the healing work for myself and my clients is changing generations, it’s allowing people to change their stories on an energetic level in the most beautiful of ways. It’s helping people realize that their past doesn’t have to define their present or their future. It’s helping busy women spread their gifts and knowledge to the people they’re meant to serve, creating a ripple effect across generational lineages, with each gift from each client leaving the world a little bit better than how they found it. The healing work my clients do helps them create a legacy that outlives them – essentially, my clients become immortal because of the gifts and footprint they leave on this Earth.
If you’re someone that’s ready to stop playing small, own more of your potential, break through revenue ceilings, and make a bigger impact in the world by helping people with your gifts using my signature H.E.A.L. method, let’s work together!
Find me on Instagram @radiancedthompson, YouTube @RadianceThompson and Facebook @RadianceThompson
Download Your Free Gift – From Self-Sabotage to Self-Mastery using my H.E.A.L. Method Here!
https://subscribepage.io/2j9OZ0?
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
It was March 2021 – my business was thriving in the best way and covid was thriving in the worst way possible.
The world being in the midst of confusion and grief, I’d found a way to make life work for me and my two kids building a business while working a corporate job in biotech.
Being a single mother in the middle of worldwide pandemic, having funds at my disposal was of utmost importance.
With the pandemic forcing kids to be at home, having a baby-sitter so I could work my full-time corporate job and run my business made life much easier on a personal and professional level – and also more expensive on a financial level.
As the needs of my children began to avalanche due to the snowball effects covid had on our lives at that time, I realized that it made more financial sense to stay home and take care of my children while building my business.
Of course, in March 2021 after making a big decision to stay home with my kids and build a life on our terms, I had a terrible allergic reaction to the first dose of the covid vaccine that took 3-months to physically heal from.
That one dose of the vaccine completely changed the trajectory of our lives. My face, hands and feet were swollen and disfigured. I had a rash that covered 90% of my body. It was terrible and yes, I definitely fell into victim mode for some time.
I’d trusted God when I felt guided to quit my job and build a business. Why did my health take such a downturn when I needed to be at 100% the most?
After my health took a left turn, it seemed everything else began to embody the energy of decrease.
The physical support I had from family was no longer available, as both my mother and father left the state of California to enjoy the second half of their lives elsewhere.
I began a lengthy court battle with my oldest daughter’s father, a court battle that I would eventually win, yet a financially, emotionally, and spiritually taxing battle that left painful scars on everyone. My daughter experiencing the most hurt and needing the most healing after the dust was settled. No tangible win I experienced could make up for the pain she experienced.
As more funds were going out than coming in, I fell behind on rent, paying my car note, and putting food on the table. There were days my kids and I went to the 99 cent store and struggled to purchase food. It was a humbling experience.
In May 2022, I realized that working for myself at home wasn’t working. That’s when I began my job search, hoping to get back into the biotech industry. Going on interview after interview and getting rejected left and right, the financial strain continued to increase.
We got so financially strained that by September 2022, we had to leave the apartment we called home for 4 years.
Not wanting to make my kids panic because of needing to leave our apartment, I told my kids we were going on vacation.
And that was when our short stent in hotel hopping began in San Diego, CA. Thankfully the beaches, beauty and tacos of San Diego made up for the state of poverty and confusion we were in.
I did my best to disguise what we were going through as an adventure, but my highly intuitive kids weren’t stupid. They would eventually realize something was up and express their disappointment.
And they had every right to be upset. Their lives were negatively affected by my decision. I’d done my best, yet my best wasn’t enough.
Definitely a tough pill to swallow.
After a week of hotel hopping, I asked my grandma if we could live with her until I got on us on our feet again.
She said yes – and for that I’m both eternally grateful.
While living with my Grandma, I continued going on interview after interview, attempting to get back into the biotech industry.
Going on 3-4 interviews a day just to hear no after no after no was frustrating to say the least. By that time it was Fall 2022 and getting back into the biotech job market after not being employed for over a year and a half proved to be a challenge.
Despite the disappointment, I stayed the course. Applying to more jobs every day. My business at the time was generating $1000/month. I’d gotten some financial help from my mom – and after paying rent to my grandma, buying food for the month and paying some bills, there wasn’t much money left.
At that point, it became a waiting game. Me and my kids had to wait until a job opportunity came through.
Finally in October 2022, I manifested an opportunity. A recruiter found my LinkedIn profile for a job that matched my skills and previous experience. The job required me to moved 350 miles away from Southern California to Northern California. After a long interview process, I got the job. I was expected to start working my new job in March 2023.
By February 2023, me and my kids packed up our Honda Accord and made our way to Bay Area of Northern California.
It would be me and my two kids starting over from scratch in a brand new city. And that’s what we did, we started over.
As the rebuilding process of our lives began, we spent our first year in the Bay Area in hotels and air bnbs. Living in the Bay Area is one of the most financially high costing areas in America. My credit was shot and having to pay first and last month’s rent while managing to pay off debts and taking care of kids was a challenge, especially since I hadn’t built the best relationship with money.
Finally in February 2024, I saved up enough money to get our DREAM apartment – a two bed-two bath town home in a safe city with great public schools for my kids to attend.
We did it! After a three-year journey of twist and turns, pain, disappointment, and spiritual battles, we did it.
And now I’m in a place where I could focus on building my business and enjoy time with my kids at our apartment’s community pool. I’m in place where I can recover from three years of emotional eating that caused me to gain 40 pounds. I’m in a place where my kids can individuate and form friendships, building lives for themselves. I’m in a place where me and my kids are coming out of the surviving day-to-day mindset and starting to expand into who our souls meant for us to be in this lifetime.
We are arriving.
I’m telling you all this story because there are times where you’ll feel like you’ve followed our faith, trusting in God/Source/Universe – which ever higher power you subscribe to, and you may feel let down. The reality doesn’t match your vision. The gift you spent weeks or months manifesting doesn’t come through the way you thought it would. The smooth path you anticipated is wrought with jagged edged stones, friends and family turn to unlikely foes, snakes greet you with a friendly smile and you’ll feel like you’re forgotten and alone.
You may even become angry with God for leaving you in a storm without a compass.
Please – keep going. Your path will be filled with many false successes as Raymond Charles Barker says in his book, “The Power of Decision.”
You will be misunderstood and mocked by people you thought loved you. Do not attempt to make them understand. You’ll be left feeling drained and disillusioned. Learn to be healed enough to be misunderstood by people who are committed to misunderstanding you.
The money will come – when you stop putting worry, anger, and frustration on a pedestal over who you are.
There’s worry, anxiety, frustration, anger within you, yes. God/Source/Universe is within you too, a divine intelligence that’s capable of all things. Instead of using your emotions, which are energy in motion to feed the anger, anxiety, and worry, use your energy to reconnect and feed the God/Source/Universe in you.
Because once you do – you will use challenges as opportunities. Opportunities that help you dig deep and solidify the connection you have with God/Source/Universe.
And once you have the deeper conviction that God/Source/Universe exists within you, then you will realize that as Jesus said, “even the least among you is capable of all that I have done and even greater things.”
Bare in mind I’m not religious or affiliated with a religion – I affiliate with wisdom, and wisdom can be found from the Bible, Torah, Koran, Rumi, Buddha, to backyard parties. I believe the keys to unlocking the “secrets of the universe” can be found where we choose to see them.
The biggest take away I want you to grasp from my story is this – stop allowing your external circumstances to define who you are and even more – who you’ll always be.
You’re not doomed to stay on the struggle bus. You’re not just doomed for love because you’ve had failed relationships. You’re not just someone who has chronic health challenges.
You are here to use your purpose to fulfill your soul’s mission – and that mission will have challenges that force you to learn painful lessons.
Do your best to learn those painful lessons the FIRST time to avoid wasting time staying in the same cycles.
Embrace your healing journey. Reconnect with the Source/Universe/God within you. I guarantee you, life will open doors for you that you never imagined possible.
If you’d like more information about how to work with me, contact me on Instagram @radiancedthompson, YouTube @RadianceThompson and Facebook @RadianceThompson
Download Your Free Gift – From Self-Sabotage to Self-Mastery using my H.E.A.L. Method Here!
https://subscribepage.io/2j9OZ0?
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
People pleasing used to be my act of self-sacrifice. Paying my dues. Appearing humble. Not rocking the boat.
Now I realize people pleasing is one of the most manipulative and demeaning characteristics you can embody.
Here’s why – people pleasing can often carry the energy of “If I do this for you, I expect something in return.” Whether that return on investment comes in the form of acceptance in a social circle, avoiding rejection, gaining a powerful position in an organization, or money – there’s a quid pro quo that comes with embodying people pleasing.
The perpetual disappointment that one feels when they realize that not everyone will bend over backwards when it comes to negotiating their self-worth or being inconvenienced leads to external resentment for those that benefited from the people pleasing.
Once I began my healing journey, external resentment turned inward as I realized how much I negotiated my worth to be accepted and avoid rejection.
There are quite a few stories of embarrassing people pleasing stories I could share. The most painful of them was when people pleasing became the expectation in my previous romantic relationships.
I thought being a great partner meant sacrificing everything and showing how much I could be there at the drop of a hat. You need it? I got it. Simple as that. I my made calendar open and available to my ex’s. My life was their life. My comings and goings were determined and evolved around them. I’d let friendships fall to the wayside as my sole purpose was to build a life with my exes.
And it came as a shock when I expected more of a commitment from each of them when in reality their commitment was to themselves. Fighting and arguing ensued as I wondered why my 100% devotion into my romantic relationships was met with a 50% return on investment, on a “good day.”
It was because I’d set the precedent for the relationships to be that way – for me to be the giver, the doer, the figure-it-out-her. Relationships often end how they start – and each relationship started off with me setting the foundation on being a push over. I wasn’t in a healed place where respecting myself was an act of self-love. For this, I take ownership for.
What I learned from each of these experiences is that no matter how many times you give to something or someone – you can’t make that thing or person care for you, desire you, or be there for you in the same way. Attempting to negotiate your worth through the filter of people pleasing leads to disappointment and missed opportunities for you to be with a person that’s meant for you.
Now that I’m in a more healed place – I realize how much of my own frequency I will never negotiate to keep the wrong situation, people or things in my life.
I don’t need the external validation of being in someone’s life to feel whole.
Being so deeply connected to my purpose and mission now – I use energy tools like reiki, breathwork, meditation and other forms of nervous system regulation to get back to ME and feel at home with myself whenever I see these habits start to sprout up again.
My signature methodology – the H.E.A.L. Method helps me and the clients I work with to:
Harmonize your thoughts, Elevate your emotions, Align the Body and Let go.
This method helps you identify thoughts and emotions that may be controlling you actions on an unconscious level, adjust your nervous system and body to take action toward your desired reality and of course let go of the “how” the “expectation” the “when” to materializing your desired reality.
Using this method – I’ve let go of control and allowed life to unfold around me, especially when it comes to relationships and goals I’m working toward accomplishing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radiancethompson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radiance.thompson?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@radiancethompson
- Other: Download Your Free Gift – From Self-Sabotage to Self-Mastery using my H.E.A.L. Method Here!
https://subscribepage.io/2j9OZ0?
Image Credits
Photos by Herson Hernandez.