We recently connected with Niki Heinkel and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Niki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I hope to be remembered as someone who never gave up. I hope to be remembered as someone who overcame every challenge they were presented with and through these challenges inspired and encouraged others to push forward. Life never stops coming. No matter where you start, or how many opportunities you’re gifted, there are times when it gets hard. Things happen that you don’t expect. We grieve, we get sick, we suffer through tragedy and we still keep going. I’ve been knocked down time and time again, but through it all, I’ve still found reasons to smile. I’ll still encourage others even at my lowest. I can still love and be kind and share what I have because community is everything. That’s what I hope to be remembered for. That I fought for what I believed in, that I never gave up, that I always found a lesson and something to be grateful for no matter what I was dealing with, and I was kind to others.

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

I suppose I’ve been a little bit of everything to someone at some point. Out of high school, I was in college majoring in art and philosophy, but through health struggles and a lack of support, I dropped out halfway through the first semester. I got a job and worked in software technical support until the big crash, was laid off, and then learned tattooing. Eventually, the opportunity to be a part-shop owner landed in my lap. I wasn’t prepared to be blindsided by partners who weren’t honoring their end of the deal, and we got served with an eviction notice, but I did right by the landlord, and in good faith she let me start fresh in that spot on my own. I was even less prepared to be a solo business owner. I learned everything I could, asked for a lot of advice, and built a community of people around me who believed in what I was doing. I wanted to be fair and allow artists a chance to work for someone honest and who cared about them. I spent hours tattooing and piercing while learning about people’s lives and talking about my own. They came to me for advice and talked about their struggles. They would stop in to share their triumphs, too. Hours of talking to people about life and philosophy, and processing things that happened to us. I started to struggle financially when a lot of shops with more start-up capital and experience than I popped up. The stress affected my health, so when I shattered my elbow rollerskating at 300lbs, it was a blessing and a curse. I got stuck into a spiral of depression, but returning to reading the tarot and earning a Reiki Master Certification helped me process my grief. I discovered Life Coaching and embraced the personal healing modalities within these channels. I used my marketing and social media promotion skills to market my services. I ran across an artist and his small record label, Fake Four Inc. I fell in love with his story, his art, and the art of those he championed. This record label was doing things that no other label could speak on. Artists came first. No compromises. Art was a necessary part of healing. Art was critical to helping people think. We became friends as we navigated personal hardship and discovered ourselves capable of overcoming any adversity. I used these tools to transform my life, got into a weight loss program, and lost 150lbs. I had a lot of complications from the surgeries and discovered that I was suffering from auto-immune disorders, but advocated for myself until the right doctors helped me through healing. I felt like I was learning about overcoming challenges and discovering myself in the process. I found my joy again in helping others embrace their transitioning periods, helping them discover themselves and find *their* joy again, learning to process grief, and manage depression. Through helping myself, bridging this small record label together into a community online, and sharing my story with others, I grew my services into a small business that gives me as much joy and satisfaction as I could have ever asked for in life. Eventually, I got back on rollerskates, too. I fell in love with something that had once caused me so much pain and devastation. They say when you fall down, you have to get back up again. I did, and I learned to kick, too. Eventually, through self-help and healing services, working with clients through uncovering the difficulties in their past, I realized how badly I wanted to return to school. This is where I find myself today. I manage that small record label and help people find this incredible art that helped heal me, and showcase these incredibly deserving and hardworking artists. I have another small business that I run social media for called Dark Candles, specializing in their unique brand of goth, witchy, horror-inspired fragrances. I offer my own Spiritual Guidance Services, Tarot Reading, and Reiki Healing, Life Coaching and other healing modalities, like NLP. I’m a rollerskater. I’m an artist. I’m a healer. Now I’m a student again, working toward my Bachelor’s and eventually, hopefully, a PhD in Philosophy, where I intend to teach young people how to think critically, evaluate their own lives, and take in the perspective of others.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Nothing gives me more joy than seeing people smile when they achieve their dreams. When I needed a community to support me, they showed up. When they felt lost, I walked with them until they got back on track. When they suffered through grief, I was someone they could count on to be consistently grounded. I’ve found that being authentic and sharing human connections is the most powerful way we can help each other. Being vulnerable demonstrates to others that there’s better times ahead. If I can go through all these things and find reasons to smile, they can, too. Sometimes we need that one person to show up, listen, and give us tangible advice. My mission is to help people discover their true potential and recognize their resistance, tenacity, and ability to overcome adversity. They are so much more capable than they realize. Sometimes we need someone to hold up the mirror and tell us what they see.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve had to pivot more times than I can count. This is what makes me who I am. This is why I’m great at Spiritual Guidance and Life Coaching. This is where my diverse range of skills comes from. The first challenge was making a living when I couldn’t tattoo or pierce any longer. Once that was figured out, things started to make sense. COVID happened, and suddenly the face-to-face self-help coaching, readings, and reiki were impossible. Our artists couldn’t perform in venues, and businesses I promoted couldn’t sell in the same events they had once counted on. Everything turned digital. Thankfully, I was well versed in the internet and social media, and we turned to streaming. Weekly meet-ups allowed our artists to perform for donations. Streams allowed my clients to share their processes and products in new ways. I started to offer my services in different ways. I developed the “Life Path Spiritual Guidance” reading, recorded in my own sacred space, and used a photo of the client’s eyes to concentrate. I realized that without distractions, I was more focused and honed in on their energy and what the cards were presenting. These recordings were doubled in length than my in-person guidance and sessions! I started creating guided meditation videos, instructional walk-throughs, remote reiki healing, and classes- everything that I offered evolved with digital components. This is now my primary means of guidance and sessions to anyone in the world- and they seem to prefer it! It gives people a chance to process messages and the session in their own time and when they are most comfortable. We follow-up if there are questions afterward. It’s become my most powerful service!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://astralhealingwitch.com
• Instagram: nikianarchy333 & astralhealingwitch
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/astralhealingwitch
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@astralhealingwitch
• Other: https://Tiktok.com/@astralhealingwitch

Image Credits

These are all my photos.