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

Alright, Chinelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission is to represent all women in the paranormal field. Women in this field are underrepresented, and the women that are headliners in the field are not portrayed as scientists, but as mediums, psychics, or empaths. Women in the paranormal field can have scientific practices and principles, and posses those spiritual abilities as well. The paranormal media portrays women as weak, and in promotional material women tend to not be in the forefront, but in the background. In reality, women in this field are just as strong and capable as the men in the field are, and at some locations may even draw better evidence just for being female. Our goal is to prove to the world that women are strong, capable colleagues in the field, with or without spiritual gifts. Furthermore, that women are able to produce strong empirical evidence to aid in the ultimate goal of paranormal science moving from a pseudoscience, to a natural science, while helping others along the way.

Chinelle , 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?

Elite Vixen Paranormal was an idea which I can not take credit for! My partner, colleague, team founder and best friend came up with this idea. An all-female team was something not unheard of, but is not common in the paranormal field. In fact, Nashville has 4 all female teams, and we weren’t even aware others existed until the Vixens became a reality.

Samantha , Kayla and I were on a mixed gender team, that had both men and women team members. The founder is a close friend of mine who had always wanted me to join his team, but I was unable to commit to the project prior to joining. In 2018, my life changed, and I was able to break into the field professionally. That is where I met Samantha. It didn’t take Sam and me long to realize we clicked, and soon I was defending her and backing her up during our investigations and in team meetings. Samantha and I both realized how differently the women on the team were being treated compared to our male counterparts. A few months in, Sam came up with the idea of the girls breaking off and doing their own thing. This idea was solidified after a…not so good…investigation at a location in Kentucky. Sam and I realized we would never be treated as equals, and it was time to step away.

We formed Elite Vixen Paranormal in November 2018, and hit the ground running. We currently have a group of 9 team members, and every team member has a different level of investigative experience. We are able to help others who are experiencing paranormal phenomena in their homes, but we prefer to investigate known haunted locations. We investigate scientifically, using meters and specialized equipment to document interactions with equipment. We also take the psychological factor into account when working with individual clients. Aside from being all-female, this is another differentiating factor. Paranormal teams which do not account for psychological affect will often consider anecdotal “evidence” as “paranormal”, when in actuality, it may just be a manifestation of the clients’ psychological disorder. All of our individual clients undergo a psychological assessment. I also collaborate with other colleagues and/or teams in the field when they reach out to me for assistance for their clients. We also host public novice hunts, participate in paranormal conventions, and partner with colleagues in the field for various types of events and public appearances.

In addition to being scientists, the Vixens are also philanthropists. We are in the second year of hosting “The Vixens Give Back”. This is a charity event we hosted last year, and it was so successful, this is now an annual event. Beginning in September, we begin to raise funds to provide “Holiday Spirits” to those less fortunate. Last year we were able to raise over $700 for a family in need, and we provided them with Christmas presents for their three children and the parents. This year, we are hosting a public investigation at a haunted location in Gallatin, TN to raise money. Our goal is to provide two families with Christmas. We are excited to see how this grows. We feel that we have the power to bless those in need and can use our strong presence in Middle Tennessee to not only help those afflicted by spirits, but by also those who have fallen on hard times.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Like every business starting out, you start out somewhere. We were blessed to have some connections and networking ideas when Samantha and I started building our brand. Samantha started by joining all of the paranormal groups on social media, and getting the name “Elite Vixen” out into the field. Within a month, we had over a thousand followers on Facebook. This may not seem like a lot, but for a brand new paranormal team…it’s almost unheard of. We did not have our first investigation for a few months as a team, but we maintained a social media presence while we were getting equipment, merchandise and anything we would need while out in the field. We also had multiple interviews with podcasters, and even spoke with a producer at a small local production company! Our first investigation we used live streaming to showcase our methodology, professionalism, humor and femininity all while walking around a creepy old haunted home. This set the standard for our investigative practices and we maintain those standards during every event. We have continued to build our reputation and have amassed a continually growing network of colleagues from The United States all the way to Australia.

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

I have had people tell me “oh I could never go ghost hunting! I would be too scared”. My response is to always laugh that off and explain that the TV shows are just that, TV shows. They are dramatized and embellished to say the least. That does not mean there aren’t bad things or entities in the field. However, they’re not as prevalent as one may assume. This line of work does come with possible job risks, and I’ve had more than one situation that caused me to make sure I am always protected when doing anything related to this line of work. One of those instances, I was tricked by some attention seeking people who put on a good show. I am empathic, and their cries and wails over the phone triggered me. I was unable to view clearly what their intentions were and suffered an attack of my own. Another time, I was physically attacked by a malevolent spirit in an old jail. The last time, I had a spiritually gifted human, who had a dark heart and dark intentions, manifest in my bedroom after a conversation with him earlier that evening and refusal of our services. We rely on our intuition, and when speaking to this man I had nothing but bad vibes so I denied our services and offered to refer him to a male colleague. I had to perform a ritual to rid him out of my life the following day. These three instances proved the importance of protection and that even the most seasoned, spiritually sound investigators are susceptible to attacks when not properly protected.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elitevixenparanormal.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/elite_vixen_paranormal
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/evphunters
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/elitevixenpara1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0_XjDupXMcyVgZMzgWB9mQ

Image Credits
Elite Vixen Paranormal