Today we’d like to introduce you to Debra Driscoll.

Hi Debra, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As a woman the mystical realm and the potential of our spirit and the universe have always fascinated me. My curiosity has driven my studies in varied modalities of spiritual practice, healing, applied theater, storytelling, and personal development. For 30 years I have been both student and teacher, researcher and subject. I anchor into the belief that we are spiritual beings having an earthbound experience and are here to explore and expand.

All of this was a journey of discovery and delight until my earthbound life shattered and my spirit showed me why I was here.

In the days before my life shattered, a guide visited me in my dreams. He sat on the edge of the bed dressed in his Middle Eastern attire and an elaborate hat that completed his look of authority.

He shares, “I know you do not want to listen as you have chosen to forget every other time I have come. But we are running out of Time. I need you to remember… the research is important.”

Three days later my son, Sage unexpectedly died one month before his 11th birthday.

It took me years to understand the guide’s message. The research is not only important, it is my life’s journey and work.

Surviving Sage’s death has meant I have been on a research path to discover why our hearts break and what that has to do with our spiritual path and our souls.

My research is not limited to the grief we feel when a loved one dies. I believe we will all meet at least 1 of the 4 D’s of Big Life Loss; Death, Divorce, Diagnosis, or the DReam that doesn’t come true. My work is for all hearts. For the woman who seeks heart repair after a loss, to the woman who feels ready to explore and amplify her magic, and to all the spaces in between that our lives take us.

When Sage died my heart broke, yet my spirit felt strong. In the days, months, and years that followed Sage’s death, I leaned on my spiritual practice and chose love and magic as my guides. I am unsure where I would be if I had not had magic as my guide. When I tune into this potential pathway, all I see is darkness.

My heart repair journey took me from my home in Australia to my new playground in New York City and then 7 years later to my new island home of Tobago deep in the Caribbean. I live by the sea with my husband, our sheep, and the building of our dream, a retreat center that invites people to connect with nature and magic.

My work has mirrored my discoveries and expansions. I continue my work in grief transformation and have expanded my research to women and our magic, focusing on the (re)claiming of our intuitive superpowers. Like many, I believe that women are changing the world and I seek to support every woman to change their world by alchemizing their hearts and channeling their unique gifts and talents.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t believe that our lives are designed to be smooth journeys. I think we are challenged so we can tap into the strength we have or the strength we are inspired to create. My heart-repair grief journey had its challenges as all grief journeys do, and I was shocked to discover that this would not be the only chapter of my life that challenged and stretched my heart and spirit. What my loss to magic journey uncovered was my divine path. Now that in and of itself is fabulous, what is not so sparkly is the discovery that despite fear, I need to turn up for that life now. I feel challenged daily as an entrepreneur, as a woman in magic, as a wife, and as a creative being. At the moment I am feeling pulled in a new direction and it feels both exhilarating and freaking scary! The new direction is speaking up for women and our magic. For too long women have been silenced or shamed for our intuitive skills, healing abilities, and natural leadership. So many women I work with tell me they feel scared to step into their full magic and an intuitively led life. That makes me mad and sad. And, I too feel scared some days. I seek to meet this challenge within myself and find ways to support other women to find safety in their magic and expression of their unique gifts. This looks like being compassionate to myself and balancing that with being a cheerleader for me. And on the days that feel hard, I reach out to the amazing women who support me. I don’t believe we are meant to heal or grow alone.

We’ve been impressed with Big Life Magic, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In 2020 I published my first book, A Series of Surrenders: A Memoir of Grief, and launched my business, Big Life Magic. Both ventures felt like leaps off a cliff into a wide realm of possibility. My book supports my work in grief transformation and I am proud of the support it provides to people navigating loss and heartbreak.

I will always feel committed to my work with grief and loss, and I can not deny my fascination and love for spiritual practice and magic.

When I launched Big Life Magic I hoped to inspire others to embrace spiritual practice into their every day and widen their world to include their soul as their creative and healing companion. In the past 4 years, my business has achieved that plus more! The beating heart of Big Life Magic is the virtual membership community for women that embraces women as magic makers. The community is powerful and the women inspire me. The magic is secondary as it is all about the women and the safe space we create together. Women report feeling more confident, happier, and more trusting of themselves. To me, this is success.

As well as the community I work with women 1:1 as a grief guide and support their loss to magic journey. In 2024 I began a new offering called, Elite Energetic Alignment. This is for the women who identify as living in their big life and making the magic happen. To them, I am their energy guide ensuring they are operating at their highest vibration so the magic they make can expand and amplify.

In January 2023 my husband and I hosted our first retreat in Tobago. It propelled our joint dream into reality. We host solo and group retreats for women that unify the wonders of nature with spiritual practice.

I never feel at a loss at what to create, my tension is that I want to make and share so many things! As my business grows I wish to carve out time to write my second book and to create my first oracle card deck. Both of these creative ventures are high on my wish list.

One of my core strengths as an energy guide and spiritual teacher is my ability to create safe spaces that embrace truth and integrity, with possibility and magic. This supports others to heal, grow, and dream. Inside safe spaces are where our hearts and souls get to dance, it’s where women remember that they are freaking magical. Whether it is through my business, retreats, writing or speaking, this is what I want to continue to create, safe spaces for women and magic.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me, success is a feeling. It feels satisfying. It feels like I have done the best I can. It feels like I have been of service to the people who trust me with their hearts, creativity, and magic.

Many years ago I was the project director of a community circus arts project in a small country town. For weeks the teenagers turned up to train in circus skills and we devised a show to be performed in the center of town. On the day of the show, I was super stressed. I worried about every detail, focused on getting it right, and wished for the perfect performance. On the night of the show, kids tumbled across mats in fun yet imperfect circus form, performance fire was twirled on sticks, clowns poked fun at the audience, costumes sparkled and some fell apart, the music played and the performers laughed and cried. It was intense and I don’t think I took a full breath all day or night. As I sat in my car ready to drive home my creative partner on the project asked me if I felt successful and I allowed all my stress to spill out over the steering wheel. I noted every thing that was imperfect and blamed myself for it all. Matty listened to my woes and then shared my new (and to this day) measure of success. “Deb, the kids loved it, the parents were proud, and the town came together to celebrate. It was a fabulous night. Everything you just shared, all that went wrong, you are the only person who noticed that.”

Whenever I feel that success is either slipping away or hard to reach I ask myself if the people (or me!) feel loved, connected, and supported. If the answer is yes, then that is a success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://biglifemagic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biglifemagic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biglifemagic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-driscoll/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqyd0BRG1goNlfjtjFLa4yQ
• Other: https://biglifemagicmembership.com/about