Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Colleen McKinnie . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Colleen , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Two years ago I took a massive risk and started down a highly unconventional path. I left my comfy career in fashion to become a professional psychic medium. Up until that point, I had kept this little interest of mine a secret. I was doing free readings in my closet where no one could see or hear me, taking classes at night and on weekends to better understand and improve this “gift”, and in general just staying very, very quiet about this side of myself. It felt almost as if I was leading a double life.
I was running branding for a fashion/tech company at the time and was simply staying in it because it was the “normal” thing to do. It brought security. I could talk about it. People understood it – I understood it! Much unlike the mystical world that I was secretly dabbling in.
While I was doing these practice readings (often while my son was napping), the channeled guidance coming through was so profound, and one theme in particular would come back time and time again: we’re not here living this life to keep ourselves small and in the shadows. We’re meant to truly live authentically – whatever that looks like for each of us. And without fail, every time we step away from this authenticity, we end up back in the loops of struggle, fear, etc. I had this “aha moment” where it seemed so absurd that I’m hearing variations of this advice come through for people on a regular basis and I’m not even listening.
Eventually I started to open up more to people about my abilities. I found that most people were actually intrigued and supportive, but every time someone launched judgement at me, it was crushing and would set me back almost to square one. Still, I continued to learn and practice as much as possible with anyone who would give me a chance. Oddly enough, the hardest element in all of this was learning how to release my own self-doubt. If I’m honest, that process took me years and is still something that pops up every now and again. But once I conquered my own inner critic, there was nothing any outside voice could say that would break me down.
It was at this point that I knew I was ready. I made the choice to leave my career as I knew it and venture into the unknown. And I haven’t looked back. This is the most rewarding job I’ve ever had and I’m so grateful I didn’t let all the criticism and negativity coming from others get in my way. It was not easy, that’s for sure. It’s so much easier sometimes to just stay quiet and small so that others feel comfortable, but that can only last for so long. The universe is tricky that way. It will always find new ways to force you to confront the same issue until you’re stepping in the direction you were meant to walk.
Colleen , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a psychic medium & intuitive guide. I am not the person who spent her whole life in this space, although it does feel that my whole life was leading up to this in many ways. I saw spirits as a young child, but I grew up in a family that did not understand or believe in this type of thing. I learned very early on to shut down this side of myself. Everyone was so afraid of it and judgmental about it, so I figured it must be something bad and to fear.
I lived a very normal life growing up in Michigan and then moved to Los Angeles at 23. My dream was to get into fashion, and I ended up with a successful career in fashion PR. I represented fashion designers and dressed celebrities for red carpet appearances. I soon moved on to cofound a fashion/tech company based in San Francisco, working as fashion director, and from there ran branding for multiple fashion/tech companies. I married a tv writer and started a family. Everything was as normal as could be.
On my 36th birthday, everything changed. I had felt this spiritual side to myself creep up many times throughout my life, and it always caused chaos. Let me tell you, people are very, very afraid of what they cannot see. So I always managed to shut it back down. This time, however, things were different. It was like a high-speed train that I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t even slow it down. It was full steam ahead and I was completely terrified. I was getting psychic downloads, hearing spirits, seeing spirits, feeling my energy shifting. I knew it was all real, but it felt so crazy.
I found support with The Den Meditation in LA. I had never meditated in my life. I hadn’t even done yoga! But I was drawn to The Den and there was a teacher there who really helped me to ground and explain what was going on. I began taking classes and met a couple of teachers who really changed things for me. I trained in energy work and mediumship and began practicing a lot. I learned the science behind this type of work and that helped to clarify things in a very practical way. I learned boundaries and a process that worked for me. I was still working in fashion and this was all done very much behind the scenes for several years.
I eventually launched my business and haven’t looked back since. My work is always evolving. Right now, I offer intuitive guidance through psychic readings and mediumistic readings. In psychic readings, I connect directly with my client’s current energy, providing insight into their own unique path. Here, we can look into any topic they would like (relationships, career, finances, health, spiritual growth, etc.), provide general life guidance, or look for specific answers to current circumstances and challenges. These readings are empowering, validating, and can provide clarity into areas that feel stuck, heavy or foggy. Everyone has a story. I’m here to help them uncover and get to the root of theirs.
In mediumship readings, I connect with loved ones who have passed on. The goal is to make connections that are meaningful to my client, answer any questions they may have, and provide a sense of peace that their loved ones are still very much around.
Every single reading I do is vastly different. My job is to stay open to the communication that comes in and translate it into a meaningful, healing, and empowering experience for my clients.
I often find people have a lot of anxiety coming into their first readings because they don’t know what to expect. I will say it is a very healing experience. It can be a very profound experience. It is also a very grounded experience. I see myself as the opposite of “woo-woo”. I think I’m relatable and I like to keep things light and even a little bit fun. We are all here on Earth living our lives for a reason. There will always be challenges. There will always be moments of confusion. I offer guidance so that my clients can find their way through these moments with more clarity and peace. My goal is always to provide clear direction and a way forward.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I was honing in on my process and learning how to read for people, it was a complicated experience. It was almost as if I had to learn another language.
The information that comes through in my readings comes in the form of images, symbols, disjointed words, feelings and just a “knowing”. I had seen spirits as a child and often felt their presence, but it wasn’t until 6 years ago that it all hit me over the head like a brick and I couldn’t turn back. When this happened, I had a solid career, a family, a life in Los Angeles. The idea of changing everything was not even an option to me.
How could I ignore it, though? What was happening to me seemed surreal, but was very, very real. I was starting to hear and see spirits again. I was getting downloads of information out of nowhere. So much was coming through to me and I had no clue how to make sense of it. This was a side of myself that had been shut down for a very long time. I began taking meditation classes, which led me to a wonderful psychic teacher who taught me how to understand and work with the energy coming in. Soon after, I began training with an amazing medium named Manna Dabholkar. She helped me to understand how to interpret these messages and develop my own unique process.
When I started doing my practice readings, I would get things wrong. It would be so hard to get back up and try again. I was embarrassed. I thought I was failing and was super hard on myself. It was bad enough listening to others’ negativity, but I was my own worst critic. At that point, I also really feared what other people would think and say about my new career interest. I knew with every fiber of my being that this was real and what I was meant to do, but at times I deeply resented it. I was a regular person and wanted to go back to feeling that way.
But I kept at it, practicing every time I had the chance. This helped me to become fluent in the language and create a process that worked for me. I developed my own system of communication with the spirits and guides and suddenly everything clicked.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
In my business, trust is everything.
I have an hour in a reading to build a sense of trust by bringing evidence to my client that we are connecting with their loved ones, guides, or their higher self. From here we highlight challenges they are currently facing, answer questions they have, and bring clarity and a path forward. I am simply the channel, the medium, through which these answers flow.
While I was building my practice, I created my own version of an internship. Along with all of the professional training I was doing, I did readings for free for 2 years. As many as I could do. It is such a sensitive space that I am working in, and I wanted to be absolutely sure I was able to properly interpret what was coming in and deliver what I promised. Every single practice reading that I did taught me something new. I quickly learned that, whether I’m working on the mediumship side (connecting with loved ones who have passed) or on the psychic side (reading the client’s own energy and channeling their guides), every reading is vastly different.
Those 2 years of reading people for free worked for me. I was able to do it on my own time while I still had income coming in. I’m not suggesting everyone work for free. In most scenarios, it’s probably a terrible idea. In my case, however, it was how I learned, gained confidence, and proved myself. It also helped me to build an extremely loyal clientele and a business nearly all based on referrals and word-of-mouth.
There’s a real stigma to my industry – we all know the neon sign saying “psychic” at the building down the street; the stereotypes as hustlers and con-artists. I had to break through a lot of those mental barriers with people. It’s a very beautiful, expansive space that I work within and feels like the extreme opposite of the stereotypes that exist. Nevertheless, they exist.
My goal is to remove the “woo-woo” element to this business, the parts that make it taboo and something to fear. I think because of my background, I am relatable to most of my clients. I keep things light. I want to normalize the entire experience. People go to trainers for their body health, they go to therapists for their mental health, and they come to me for their spiritual health. I work in a very grounded way. Even when the messages coming through are highly spiritual, I keep things firmly based in our earthly reality so that my client has clear guidance to walk away with. There are many skeptics I have converted because of this.
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