Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bethany Barton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Bethany, thanks for joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

One of my most heartwarming client success stories is one I use as an example the most. I was working with a client who was having trouble bringing in the right type of partner, he felt everyone he met was limited. He felt that they checked some of his boxes or liked some things about him but he couldn’t quite find the right overall fit.

We did a tarot reading and discovered that on his dating app profile, he was only putting a very small amount about himself as far as his career and passions. I encouraged him to be more expansive and explained the reason he was pulling in limited partnerships was that he was limiting himself. He didn’t believe that someone would relate to all aspects of him, so he was limiting himself to topics and aspects of his career he felt they would.

Once we worked on his belief that all of him was loveable, acceptable, and of course, awesome, he was able to draw in a partner that became a perfect fit.

What I love about that story is how often we limit or hide parts of ourselves, and how often we try to force ourselves into smaller boxes when what we really need to do is expand. I have a million stories like this, where the very thing that we think is most unloveable is usually the very thing that draws our soulmate in. As cliche as it sounds, the best advice I can give clients, is truly, authentically be themselves. All of it. Even the parts they deem unloveable because those may be the very parts someone else loves the most.

Bethany, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Bethany Nicole and I am an author, astrologer, and relationship expert. I am the author of the book Apologies I Never Got and the creator of the Written In the Stars sessions. My path to these has been a varied and winding one, but that’s what makes our life stories more interesting, isn’t it?

My degree is in Philosophy and that is truly at my heart, what I feel myself to be. Philosophy is not just a scholastic pursuit, it is a way of the soul. It is a method of looking at the world and interpreting the things around us. Conjoined with that are my pursuits of writing and astrology, both attributes of many philosophers as they help us read and interpret the world. Philosophy also led me to the subject that is the pursuit of my life and my book, forgiveness.

My book and brand, Apologies I Never Got is the book of dating and relationship horror stories, phrased as apologies you never got, from the people who never gave them to you. It is ultimately about empowerment, self-healing, and of course, forgiveness. Readers learn the 3 Step Apology method and how to write their own apologies, for the ones they never got, leading them on the path of self-healing and forgiveness.

My journey to relationship expert joined up with my background in working in social services where I saw both the depths and the heights of humanity. I witnessed how important our relationship dynamics are in our lives and what happens when they go awry. It also helped me develop quite the container in holding space for people going through difficulties and allowed me to understand what it is they need most in those moments.

My Written In the Stars sessions while using a variety of complex healing methods, is actually quite simple. I help people understand their path, their world, and their relationships. I help them to discover and heal what is holding them back and provide them with all the tools they need to move forward. I help them learn to work with their astrology instead of against it to create the love and life they deserve and I help individuals and couples create the love life they desire.

My path and practice are certainly not conventional ones, but they are what I love and what has helped many others find the path(and person) that they love too.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have spent a lot of my life trusting others over myself, valuing others’ opinions over my own. It was a lesson I had to unlearn and unfortunately had to do so the hard way. I took a lot of advice that not only wasn’t right for me but wasn’t right for anyone. I trusted people I really should not have and I allowed people into my life and work who had no place being there.

However, I learned from these mistakes. I learned that especially on the entrepreneurial path, the opinion that matters most is your own. Not that you shouldn’t learn from others or take well-meaning advice into account, but if it doesn’t sound right, if it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right. All advice is not good advice, at least for you or your business, especially if your business does not fit into a specific mold.

If you are walking where no one has ever walked before, why are you asking others for directions? They don’t know. But you do. Because this mission, this calling, this business, is yours and yours alone, so you have all the answers, even when you don’t feel like you do.

I learned other people have their own motivations, and all advice is not given from a good place. It is important we learn to trust our own instincts and opinions over others, even the people who are close to us.

So the biggest lesson I learned from my trips down Bad Advice Lane, is to be your own best advisor, take into account your own life experiences and intuition and trust the internal navigational system that has gotten you this far.

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

It has been a long journey, to be sure. There have been times when I was living off of peanut butter between paychecks when I was living in roach-infested apartments with less-than-ideal roommates, battling with resurfacing substance issues, fighting to ignore the judgment of toxic friend groups, breaking off bad relationships, all while dealing with seemingly endless family drama, and just trying to make enough money to keep the lights on.

But through it all, I had my writing. I had my books, and I had my spiritual connection. Those were the things that got me through some of the darkest times of my life and helped me find the light again. I learned invaluable lessons about love, life, and people, all things that went straight into my writing. I have a seemingly endless well of compassion now because I can relate to so many aspects of the human experience, both the highs and the lows. That is essential in working with the clients I do. They need empathy, compassion, and someone who has navigated the territory, someone who can meet them in the dark places they currently reside, and show them how to make their own light.

I also never let go of my dream through it all, even when it seemed the tiniest whisp of a possibility, a million miles away, and that to me is one of my greatest accomplishments.

I have always wanted to share the knowledge I have gained with others, and maybe save them a little of the drama and chaos I have experienced. Although sometimes the chaos is the most fun part.

Because once I learned to alchemize my experiences, take the pain, and spin it into gold, the down times didn’t seem so down. In fact, I began to look forward to tests and challenges, knowing that not only would they make me stronger but they would make for some amazing writing. To be a good writer, they say you have to write what you know. Well, I know a lot, because I’ve experienced a lot. So not only do I bring that to my writing, I bring it to my clients.

My resilience is one of my greatest attributes and one of the things I feel helps me serve others in a way that is real, accessible, and authentic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bethanynicole.com
• Instagram: @bethanynicolelove
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanybarton/
• Twitter: @best2bbethany

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