We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Jimenez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
When I made the decision to create my hypnotherapy practice, it felt like I was moving in the direction I was always meant to go. What started as a few classes that I wanted to take for regression therapy quickly expanded into a whole new industry that I felt instantly connected to. It was a big decision to go to school while working full time and having a family. I knew it would be hard, but I was ready to follow the path that my heart was already calling for. My family was all on board for me going for it, so with their graciousness, I went to school for a year to begin my practice. While I was in school, I was so glad that part of the curriculum was building a successful business that was meant for virtual care. The pandemic had not only evolved the school towards virtual classes, therefore allowing me the privilege to attend from home, it also gave them the knowledge to teach us how to be effective in online sessions. I worked on transforming a spare bedroom into my home office. I wanted it to be warm and inviting so that it would be ready for my second semester when I would take pro bono clients as part of my requirements for graduation. The main challenge I ran into was keeping my kids and dogs from being disruptive during sessions. It led me to improve my home office to make a more private space and ensure my sessions would be better. It also reminded me that I wanted an actual office so I could see clients in person if that’s what they felt would benefit them most. I came upon a really great option through Humanly which offers community rooms already furnished for therapy. It provided the flexibility I needed as I transition into hypnotherapy full time. For anyone thinking of getting into hypnotherapy, I would suggest finding the best spot in your home that is optimal for privacy, even if it’s in an unconventional space. If that’s not possible, do some research on space to rent in your area because there are many office buildings that now offer great, affordable offices.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The last time I was interviewed, I was only a Certified Hypnotist, but now I am a Certified Hypnotherapist with a diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy. As I shared before, I found my way to hypnotherapy through my love for dreamwork. During the pandemic, I began having very vivid dreams and decided to really dig into working with them and understanding how the pandemic was affecting our subconscious minds. It started with lots of research on dreaming and I even learned how to lucid dream so I could help others who wanted to learn as well. I eventually had dreams of what felt like past life memories, which led me to researching how to facilitate past life regressions. This is where hypnotherapy came into my life. I found many schools that offered classes on regression therapy, but I was drawn to HMI College of Hypnotherapy. I had no idea there was a school offering an extensive program to help people more than I had originally planned. Not only would I have a way to use my knowledge of dreamwork, I would use it throughout my hypnotherapy practice to help others bring changes to their subconscious mind. I learned many modalities and techniques that I use throughout my sessions such as Emotional Freedom Technique, Neuro Linguistic Programming, and Therapeutic Imagery. I was also able to take advanced courses of Past Life Regression Therapy, Advanced Handwriting Analysis, Hypnosis for Childbirth, Smoking Cessation, and much more. I even had the opportunity to become a Reiki Practitioner by a teacher of the school who was also my mentor. Currently, I am taking a class called Healing the Inner Child. Practicing what I will eventually use for clients is incredibly healing. I will continually take classes through the school and I’m so grateful for the time and dedication they put into the programs so I can feel equipped with the right tools to help people help themselves. That is what has always been most important to me. It has always resonated within me that we are our own healers. Even when we require help from therapy in any form, the real transformative work happens when a client is empowered by their own capabilities and potential.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
If I could go back, I would have chosen hypnotherapy and dreamwork first. 20 years ago I went down a different path not knowing this was even an option for me. I have mentioned I work full time in the oil and gas industry and that is still a career I am proud of and grateful for. It has afforded me the ability to provide for my family as well as create my own business for the future. As I continue to transition to being a full time hypnotherapist, my job and co-workers support me. Hypnotherapy fulfills a deep part of that has always wanted to help people. I get to use so many of my personal interests throughout my work and it brings me happiness to share that with others.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Word of mouth has been one of the best ways of finding new clients. I am very lucky to have such a great support system that shares what I do and helps me reach more people. I also get many new clients from people searching on Google and finding my website. I met a wonderful website designer Moto.Red Design House through another client and she built me a new website that is not only beautifully branded to represent me, but is also functional and informative for potential clients. My strategy is to have absolute trust that the Universe will continue leading those needing my services to eventually find me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stellardirective.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellardirective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stellardirective
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stellar-directive?trk=public_profile_experience-item_profile-section-card_subtitle-click
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/stellardirectiv
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBoah6CcjLEOj9sIF3EAtaw
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stellar-directive-hypnotherapy-and-dreamwork-littleton?osq=stellar+directive