We recently connected with Rachel White and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Taken from a recent post on Substack, written to my subscribers:

“So, our self-funded and self-published TOTEM Tarot Deck has just officially sold out on Amazon.

And, while we have the remainder of the copies available on our Etsy Shop, it’s effectively *this close* to being really, truly sold out altogether.

Like, forever and ever and ever. It’s kind of weird to think about, actually.

Investing the time to create the cards, their art, and the accompanying booklet with artist Emma Cook took several years and was largely an act of faith that maybe, someday, we would print it.

Then, deciding to roll the dice in the midst of Covid to spend $15,000.00 to print this labor of love on the other side of the world— hoping that folks would find it, purchase it and love it— was, in retrospect, an act of pure madness.

Thankfully, my insane trust fall with the universe worked out— and it worked out because of all of you reading this right now. Without thoughtful, spiritually curious folks like you finding our work and supporting our small business with your hard-earned dollars, I would probably be living the not-so-glamorous life of Oscar the Grouch, calling a city trash can my home. Or, worse, I’d be sitting in a suburban co-working space with bad overhead lighting going through lease abstraction spreadsheets for a mid-cap corporate real estate company.

Do you see the deep layers of hell you all saved me— and TOTEM— from?

From the unexpected deck review that was just shared by Moonflower Moments on Youtube to the news about our sold out tarot deck and progress on Substack, it’s been a surreal little window of good news.

And, while that is of course welcome and overall positive, it’s also very, very weird.

Hear me out:

Having transitioned to the Business of Woo full-time only a few years ago— and in very challenging, unpredictable times with very few resources— I’ve frankly been in super-focus, head-down, get-shit-done mode. I’ve been pushing and striving to maintain momentum, and have been reinvesting all of our earnings back into the business at every turn, even self-funding and self-publishing our new TOTEM Flower Essence Deck last year.

You know. Because the first time was so much fun, right? Right.

(SARCASM)

But one thing I haven’t done much of is celebrate the wins, partly because there haven’t been that many that are measurable. These things take time, and a lot of work, and perhaps more importantly: a lot of cool people that manage to connect with you and your work, making it all possible to maintain.

And, if nothing else, this is the message I want to share with you all today: that, if you enter the Business of Woo with your own, unique vision, you actually give that vision the time, patience and consistency it needs to fully materialize and bear fruit for you to enjoy in kind.

There are no cheat codes. No life hacks. No sales funnel innovations. No hat tricks or flip-of-a-bitch feats of magic that enable anyone to just outsmart existence— especially when it comes to the Business of Woo.

Anyone telling you that is lying. And they’re selling you something. Trust me on that one. I do Business of Woo mentoring work for clients all the time, and the consistent themes are always: stay focused, stay aligned around your soul’s purpose, have fun, work hard, be ethical, maintain boundaries, differentiate yourself and assert a point of view, and don’t you dare fucking give up.

It’s not exactly mastering quantum mechanics, but it does require a copious amount of self-belief, self-discipline and, well, a touch of madness.

But shamans are good at madness. So, here we are.”

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?

ABOUT RACHEL
Rachel White is the owner of TOTEM Readings, the creator of the TOTEM Tarot Deck and the TOTEM Flower Essence Deck, and the host of The Skeptical Shaman podcast. Rachel is the owner of the TOTEMReadingsATX Etsy Shop, where she sells both of her decks (in addition to selling them on Amazon) as well as her handmade, organic TOTEM Flower Essences—spiritual potions to shift the energy body.

Rachel is the author behind the bestselling TOTEM Readings Substack, where she shares insights into both the Business of Woo AND the Woo itself.

As a working shaman and psychic practitioner, Rachel provides various 1:1 sessions as well as Spiritual Transformation Coaching and Business of Woo Mentoring. Through TOTEM Readings, Rachel has worked with thousands of clients around the world for more than 15 years. She transitioned from doing this work part-time alongside her corporate real estate job to “doing” TOTEM full-time five years ago.

Now based in Austin, TX, Rachel is more focused than ever on serving the “spiritually-homeless” and offering a transparent, pragmatic suite of spiritual services for the modern client.

You can learn more about Rachel, TOTEM Readings, The Skeptical Shaman podcast and the various published TOTEM Tarot and Oracle decks HERE: https://linktr.ee/totemrach

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

My podcast, The Skeptical Shaman, and my Substack, TOTEM Readings. Both of these platforms feel authentic and feature LONG FORM content (audio and written), enabling my clients (or prospects) to really get to know who I am, what I do, and why I do it!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Yes– I abhor social media, so I don’t invest time, energy or money into IG, TikTok or Facebook. That said, I’ve invested HEAVILY in Substack and in podcasting, and believe these Free Speech-supporting, decentralized and intensely democratic platforms align with my mission at TOTEM, my shamanic practice/ beliefs, and with where the market is going in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.totemreadings.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/totemrach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/totemrach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-white-559b098/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/totem-readings-austin?osq=Totem%20Readings
• Soundcloud: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-skeptical-shaman/id1692028897
• Other: https://totemrach.substack.com/

Image Credits

I paid for these photoshoots, so they’re my IP.