We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anastacia Anastascio. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anastacia below.

Anastacia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

Starting my business wasn’t a decision I made overnight, but it did happen very quickly, like puzzle pieces falling into place. I grew up in an environment where I had to constantly adapt, and that shaped my ability to pivot when necessary. Before my business, I spent years in academia, collecting degrees, partially because I was searching for purpose and meaning, but also because I was running from my true calling​.

The moment things clicked was during quarantine. I was casually following someone on Instagram for her fashion content when she started posting tarot readings. At first, I was just intrigued, but soon I found myself completely drawn in. One day, I decided to buy a deck, and the first time I read for a friend, the words just flowed out of me. It was like something in me had unlocked​. That was when I realized this wasn’t just a curiosity—it was my calling and something that I was meant to do for other people who really needed help. There was an a-ha moment, and that was when my business was formed.

I was a middle school English teacher, so the biggest challenge was giving myself permission to pursue my spiritual work seriously. It’s one thing to dabble, but another to say, “This is my business, and I’m going all in.” There were moments of doubt, financial fear, and imposter syndrome. But I kept pushing forward, and soon I was fully booked for tarot readings. That naturally led to coaching, energy healing, and past life regression—all modalities that I trained in because I genuinely wanted to understand the depth of spiritual transformation.

If I could do anything differently, I would have started sooner. I spent so much time hiding behind traditional career paths when my real success came from following what actually lit me up. My advice for anyone starting their own practice? Bet on yourself. Clarity comes through action. Start before you feel ready because the experience itself will shape you into the person who is ready.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Anastacia Anastascio, also known as The Spiritual Goth. I’ve spent my whole life searching for the spiritual community I’ve now created. My journey into spirituality wasn’t a straightforward one—it was shaped by childhood experiences that I didn’t fully understand at the time.

I had my first spiritual awakening when I was just 3 years old. After Sunday school, I asked my father, a devout Christian, “Who created God?” His shocked reaction made it clear that questioning was not welcomed in my family. That moment stuck with me. By the time I was 5, I had already seen spirits. Most notably — a glowing blue angel and an old woman surrounded by white light peeking around corners of our house.
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I was always different. While my family was deeply religious, I never bought into the idea that the devil was waiting to “snatch me up” if I misbehaved. As my home life became unstable and we faced homelessness through middle and high school, I coped by immersing myself in books, particularly Gothic literature. Edgar Allan Poe, whom I discovered at five years old, became my first love. I was the classic Goth kid, complete with Jack Skellington gloves, an obsession with the macabre, and an unshakable desire to challenge the status quo​.
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Despite my natural spiritual gifts, I spent years running from them. Instead, I pursued academic validation, earning three master’s degrees in education, Gothic literature, and creative writing. I became a teacher, hoping to offer students the same support my own teachers and guidance counselors gave me. But deep down, I still felt disconnected—like I was missing something​
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Everything changed in 2020. During the pandemic, I stumbled upon tarot readings on Instagram and decided, on a whim, to buy a Mystic Mondays deck. The moment I opened it, something unlocked inside me. I started channeling messages immediately, shocking both myself and my friends. From there, I dove headfirst into spirituality, studying reiki, past life regression, hypnosis, and sound healing. For the first time in my life, everything made sense, and I knew I was meant to make a business out of it.
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With this newfound understanding, I created my first spiritual coaching program. My goal was to guide others through their own spiritual awakenings, helping them break free from limiting beliefs, connect with their intuition, and fully step into their power. Through my coaching, tarot readings, reiki, retreats, and my community, Be Here Now, I help people shift their mindsets, quiet their negative self-talk, and embrace the magic around them​
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What sets me apart?
I’m not your typical soft-spoken, whispery-voiced spiritual guide. If you work with me, expect to be called out (with love), held accountable, and given real, no-B.S. insights—not just from me but from your spirit guides and ancestors. I don’t do surface-level transformation—I go deep. My clients start seeing results immediately, from expanding their psychic gifts to making radical shifts in their lives.

I am most proud of the community I’ve built—the one I wish I had growing up. My work isn’t just about spiritual guidance; it’s about creating a space where people feel safe to question, grow, and step fully into their power. My clients don’t just learn about spirituality—they become the versions of themselves they were always meant to be.

If you’re looking for fluff, I’m not your girl. But if you’re ready for real transformation, to face your fears, and to embrace the unknown with confidence, welcome to The Spiritual Goth.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For most of my life, I followed the path I thought I “should” be on. I was the overachiever—the girl with three master’s degrees, the dedicated teacher, the one who always had a plan. But what happens when you realize the plan you’ve worked so hard for isn’t actually the one you’re meant to follow? You pivot.

I spent years in academia, stacking degrees like armor, keeping myself so busy I never had to sit with my own thoughts. I believed teaching was my calling because my own teachers had saved me as a child. Growing up, I was homeless through middle and high school, and school became my refuge. I found safety in my books, my teachers, my guidance counselors. When I became a teacher myself, I thought I was fulfilling my purpose—helping kids the way I had once been helped.

But deep down, something felt off. Teaching drained me in a way I couldn’t ignore. I was constantly exhausted, always anxious, and felt like I was forcing myself to fit into a mold that no longer served me.

Then, 2020 happened. The world shut down, and suddenly, I had no distractions. No in-person work. No mindless busy-ness. Just me, my thoughts, and a growing curiosity about spirituality. I started seeing tarot readings pop up on Instagram, and something inside me pulled. I bought my first deck in May 2020, and the moment I opened it, it was like a door I had been holding shut my entire life had been kicked open. I gave my first reading to a friend, and words just flowed out of me. I knew things I couldn’t have known. It was clear that I wasn’t just reading cards—I was channeling.

At first, I tried to balance both worlds—teaching by day, reading tarot and coaching at night. But the more I explored, the more it became impossible to ignore: I wasn’t meant to be in a traditional classroom anymore. I was meant to teach in a completely different way.

So, in the middle of the school year, with no backup plan, I quit.

I walked away from the career I had spent years building, the security, the degrees, all of it. I had no guarantee my business would work. But I had one thing that mattered more: trust.

I trusted my gut. I trusted my abilities. And I trusted that if I had been led here, there was a reason.

I poured myself into building my spiritual practice. I started offering tarot readings, coaching programs, and energy healing. The response was immediate—people *felt* what I had to offer. My first clients experienced transformations that solidified what I already knew: I was exactly where I was meant to be.

Now, I help others through their own spiritual awakenings, guiding them the way I once needed someone to guide me. I don’t regret a single thing about my academic journey—it shaped me. But I also know this: No degree, no “safe” career, no external validation will ever compare to the fulfillment that comes from fully stepping into your purpose.

The pivot was terrifying. But it was also the best decision I ever made.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

For most of my life, money felt like something I was always chasing but never able to hold onto. Growing up poor and experiencing homelessness through middle and high school shaped the way I viewed security and prosperity. I learned to survive on as little as possible, to expect struggle, and to always prepare for the worst. Even as I built my career and collected degrees, that scarcity mindset never left me. No matter how much I achieved, I always felt like it wasn’t enough.

When I became a business owner, I quickly realized that my biggest obstacle wasn’t strategy or skill—it was my mindset. I had spent years operating from lack, believing that money was hard to come by and that financial struggle was just a part of life. Even when I started making money in my spiritual business, I still found ways to self-sabotage. I undercharged for my services, overdelivered to the point of burnout, and felt guilty for wanting more.

It wasn’t until I fully committed to my spiritual practices that I started to rewire my beliefs around abundance. I used EFT tapping to release limiting beliefs, practiced gratitude to shift my focus from what I lacked to what I had, and started visualizing myself as someone who deserved financial success. I stopped treating money as something outside of me and started seeing it as energy—something I could attract, something I could trust to flow into my life as easily as I let it go.

This shift changed everything. Instead of underpricing myself, I began valuing my work. Instead of fearing that success would disappear, I leaned into trust. Instead of associating money with struggle, I started associating it with freedom and expansion. My business grew as a result, not just financially, but energetically. I stopped making decisions based on fear and started making them from a place of knowing that I was always supported.

Unlearning a lack mindset isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a daily practice. But resilience, to me, isn’t just about pushing through hard times—it’s about doing the inner work to make sure you don’t stay stuck in the patterns that created those hard times in the first place. I had to teach myself that I was worthy of abundance, that money wasn’t the enemy, and that true security doesn’t come from hoarding or hustling—it comes from trusting that I am always provided for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thespiritualgoth.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thespiritualgoth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastacia-anastascio/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thespiritualgoth

Image Credits

Madeline Stanley
Maya Holt