We recently connected with Heather Schultz and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?
I manage my entire social media presence from creating the content, to posting it, to interacting with others through those various social channels, etc. As an elder millennial, social media has always been pretty fluid for me since back in the MySpace days, so not only am I comfortable using it, but I also enjoy using it. I feel anything we enjoy doing we’ll naturally have a knack of doing well. Those things considered, I would feel it would be a waste of my time and money handing that duty over to someone else that I myself am perfectly capable of and enjoy doing. There’s a creative aspect that goes into creating what you post and I love doing that, plus I’m a naturally extraverted person so I enjoy socializing with others and connecting, even if it’s through a screen. I find it helps me get to know and understand my audience and clients better when I’m doing that myself. There also might be a slight bit a control freak within me that wants to have control over that aspect of my business that I’m just not comfortable releasing into someone else’s hands. Is that the perfect option for everyone? No. But for me, especially as a solopreneur it’s best for me having the reins on that.
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?
I am an intuitive tarot reader/psychic advisor/soul coach that works with clients online providing them in depth readings to find answers to their burning questions they may have about life, love, career, family, friendships, etc. with the goal to ultimately help them not only survive this crazy thing called life, but truly thrive in it. I find most people like myself do this work out of it being more so a calling in response to the gifts we have, rather than something you deliberately set out to do like attending college to earn a degree for a particular line of work. This was never work that I intentionally set out to do, but I more so stumbled into it. Long before doing this type of work I worked in the music industry (I’ve always been in some kind of creative field) and at the time I really got serious about doing readings for others I was a dog walker in Los Angeles. Summer of 2020 was when I revamped my YouTube channel and started seriously posting Pick-A-Card readings for the collective there and began offering personal readings for those who were interested in them. The pandemic put me in a unique position to present me the opportunity to really begin this work virtually, as most people were heavily working from home at that time. Prior to 2020 I was walking dogs in LA and once the pandemic began I lost all of my dog walking clients either due to them losing their jobs or working from home and no longer needing my services. This of course, made the world wide open for me to deep dive into this work as I needed to find a new route for myself anyway.
Before 2020 I had also been on my own spiritual journey going back to when my dad died from cancer in 1993. I was only 13 years old when he passed. However, the night he died, something spiritually profound happened that really made me understand from a young age that there is so much more to this life than what meets the eye. The night he died I had a dream of being in the hospital waiting room and we were waiting to find out what was happening with him. My dad walked into the waiting room wearing his everyday normal clothes, he looked happy, healthy, and like the dad I knew before he got sick. He gave me a huge bear hug and told me that he loved me very much, that he was ok, and finally that he was going home. When I woke up from that dream I looked at the clock and it was 1AM. My dad died at 1AM that night. I know without a shadow of a doubt that was him saying goodbye to me and giving me that assurance I needed as a kid to help me in the time of grieving that would be ahead of me. I don’t consider myself a medium. But I do know that dream connected me in a very deep way to something other and larger than myself. Something very spiritual that we are all ultimately connected to. With time, age, and life events yet to unfold in my life my own personal spiritual development continued with many important milestone markers along the way. However, it was still very much just my own journey. I hadn’t reached that point yet of extending that to help others.
In 2019, I consider that the being on the edge of the diving board portion of my journey, before I officially dived into the business portion of helping others. At that point I was in a lot of spiritual communities, especially online through different Facebook groups, etc, connecting with others and I had a knack of helping others through those communities completely for free. I was heavily involved in a lot of twin flame groups at that time since that was where I myself was at in my journey. After the pandemic occurred, that’s when I connected the dots with everything that led me to that point where I could actually take those gifts, put that together with how I was already helping others online, and combine that with my knowledge of social media marketing and digital content creation that I learned from my time in the music industry and realized I could actually create a business out of that which would be beneficial for others of course in assisting them on their journeys, but I would also be doing something that I enjoy and am passionate about, while still being able to keep the lights on.
Free readings for the collective are always up and available on my socials such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. This is a great way for people to get to know me as a reader simply to see if our vibes align. If people are interested in receiving their own personal reading they can easily find those on my website, shadownshine.com under the Tarot Readings section or Shop section of the website. There are three main types of readings people can choose from in terms of offerings:
1. An Image Reading – In this reading you will receive images of the cards that were drawn for you with a brief explanation of what the cards mean for you and your situation.
2. YouTube Reading – An unlisted YouTube link is sent to you of your own personal video reading that you can watch as many times as you like.
3. Zoom Reading – This reading is an opportunity to meet with. me live, one on one, in Zoom for your reading and is a great option for those seeking the true conversational experience.
Within those three types of readings on my website you will find even further breakdowns of different readings within those categories regarding length of time for readings, subject covered, pricing, etc. I try to give as many options as possible because not everyone will need the same thing. Readings run from anywhere between $5 – $150, so there is something for everyone in terms of budget. No topic is truly off the table either. Sometimes people come to readings not even knowing what to ask. In those situations I set the intention to be whatever the client needs to know the most at that time and we take things from there. Otherwise if the client has a particular question or topic in mind, they are welcome to present it so we can dive into it. Most of the time I find people desire to know more about their life purpose, they’re seeking career guidance, insight on their love life, etc. So as I said, no topic is limited. I find a lot of tarot readers, especially online, will either do one of two things: they either tell you what you want to hear and sugar coat things or they fear monger and play on people’s vulnerabilities and weakness to quite frankly get more money out of them in the long run. I can’t stand either of these approaches and do not handle my readings as such. I am honest and upfront with clients throughout our sessions, even if uncomfortable or undesired outcomes pop up. However, even if that happens I’m a big believer in redirecting energy. So if an undesirable outcome pops up, that will usually lead to a conversation with the client on how that can be spun around into something better. We can’t live in fantasyland about things, but we also can’t live life in fear constantly dreading the worst. There needs to be a balance of somewhere that is grounded and stable in between, and that’s the area I try to help clients find. It’s in that stability of groundedness we can find peace and a way to build upwards into better, whether that means repairing a broken situation, or starting fresh.
Frequently I find, especially with repeat clients, it’s not always about finding out what the cards say or what will happen in the future. Sometimes a client just needs someone to listen to them. Sometimes a client needs assistance in reprograming their mind to remove negative mental strongholds that hold them back. In those cases, I find that while yes, readings are helpful and insightful, this is where the soul coaching aspect of what I do more so kicks in. This is a space where we can create plans and tangible action steps to get them to where they want to be in life beyond the reading. Eventually in the future I plan on rolling soul coaching only services (similar to life coaching) as well as combination readings/soul coaching for clients. As the need for this service grows, that will be rolled out shortly on my website.
While most of the work I do is interacting with clients one on one through readings there is one other creative endeavor available on my website, my only physical product as of the moment, being my oracle deck – Written in the Stars – messages in life and love with a pop culture twist. I created and released this deck (originally on Etsy) in 2021. I frequently use this deck in my readings, so the public is able to see the product in action and if it’s something that someone would be interested in using themselves to add to their own deck collection they are more than welcome to. It’s a fun deck for anyone, whether you are a seasoned reader or someone who is brand new to learning how to do readings. In the future I plan to create and add more oracle decks as physical products. As a creative person, I never stop brainstorming new ideas for service offerings or products, so I’m sure there will be even more to come even beyond the present things mentioned. At the end of the day, life can be really hard, unbearably hard. I’ve experienced a lot of days myself where I’ve wanted to just quit and not be here anymore. That’s why I do what I do. Because I don’t want others to feel like that. My hope is that everyone can have the opportunity to not just survive their life, but truly thrive in it finding peace, love, and joy throughout it. With every session I have and every discussion I have with a client, that’s what I hope happens. It may not happen all at once, in fact It usually doesn’t, it’s a slow process. But the end goal is to see my clients living life feeling lighter and happier.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I find most non-creatives are very practical and I would say are “play it safe” kind of people. When I graduated high school most people went off to four year universities, graduated, got a 9-5 job, settled down, got married, bought a house, and started a family. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of those traditional socially culturally accepted routes – especially if that’s what you really want. However, that wasn’t what I desired. After high school, my college education was much more zig zaggy, than a straight line. I spent one year at community college getting general studies out of the way, the next year I was musical theater major at Columbia College Chicago, and after that I dropped out to pursue my career as an artist in the music industry and moved to Hollywood. Not a risk most people would take. The entertainment industry is not stable at all. And I find most non-creatives place stability before passion. I’m the opposite. I find life not worth living unless I’m doing something that lights me up on the inside. I flirt with risk on a regular basis in one way or another, but that’s also because I’ve been educated and experienced in the fact that with great risk comes great reward. I’m not interested in living a mediocre life. I’m not saying that doesn’t mean I haven’t also experienced some great falls along the way, because I have. But I’ve also learned how to climb back out of those and bounce back. Someone who isn’t familiar with taking risks and is just cruising through life may not know how to recover if they ever do experience a setback or loss of great magnitude. Eventually I did finish school at UCLA in the music business program, but that wasn’t for many years later and still with many twists and turns before and after. I would rather live a life of failed attempts than I life of “what ifs” because most non-creatives allow social cultural programming to dictate the flow of their life only dreaming the dreams rather than actually stepping out, possibly having to overcome a few obstacles along the way to live the dreams to some scale.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I personally do not feel I have a large following on social media. I know many tarot readers, doing the same thing I do, with vastly larger followings than mine. However, I am very grateful for the loyal followers I do have across all social platforms. I tried Facebook ads once, for only a few days, but the results of that promotion didn’t go very well, so as quickly as that ad went up, it came down. Considering that’s the only paid advertising I’ve ever done on social media, the rest has been organic. The truth is, unless you’re buying followers, there is no fast track to gaining a large following, and you don’t want that anyway. You can have millions of followers, but if only a handful of those people pay attention and engage with your content, what’s the point? It’s better to have a small, close knit group that interacts with your content. There can always be room to grow that more with time. And that’s the thing, real organic, genuinely involved followers take time to grow. It’s much like gardening. You gotta plant the seed, water it, give it sunlight, etc. You’re probably not going to see that plant sprout up out of the dirt for a while (you may even feel like you’re just talking to yourself on social media for a while), even when you’re doing all the right things, so don’t stop doing all the right things, because eventually that plant is going to sprout above the dirt and you will see the fruit of your investment. It’s no different with building a social media following. Aside from a great deal of patience, you have to be consistent. If you can’t post every day, that’s ok. But choose how often you can post, and then stick to that, whether it’s daily, weekly, or something else altogether. That way people will know you’re there and followers will take notice if you take a long leave absence. Life does sometimes happen and gets in the way, emergencies come up, etc that’s understandable. Consistency doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be there. So if you do need to take an extended break from social media, at least give your followers the heads up. That way they’ll still be there when you return. Finally, be yourself and have fun! Social media is important yes, but it’s social, which means it should be light weight and enjoyable. Because if you’re not enjoying your social media experience, chances are your followers won’t be enjoying it either. Relax and be your authentic self. People want what’s real, not fake, that’s how we connect, through relatability. By being authentically, amazing, and wonderful you, the right people resonate and align with what you have to bring to the table.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shadownshine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherschultz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowNShine
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherSchultz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/heatherschultz/
- TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@shadownshine
- Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShadowNShine
- Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HeatherSchultz
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@heatherschultz