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

Denise , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

She was sitting on the couch in the living room at a friend’s house when we met. She had been battling cancer for quite a while, and now there was nothing more to do but surrender. Because she was in constant pain and fear, her friend thought I might be able to help her. Assisting someone in making their transition is a privilege for me. I was honored to be there.

We sat and talked for a short while getting to know each other. She was lovely, open, honest, and grateful for the help. Before we started she took a beautiful bracelet from her wrist and handed it to me saying she had made it for me to thank me. I put it on my wrist. The plan was to guide her into a state of hypnosis and give her suggestions to relieve her pain and fear. Then because she had not had much sleep, I would end the session by having her go into a deep, peaceful, sleep for as long as she wanted to be there. I asked her to make herself very comfortable, so she lay down on the couch.

The power of the brain to create change is a wonderful thing. As she relaxed into a hypnotic state and began to take my suggestions, her face lost the look of pain and softened. I could see her body change as she let go of her fear and pain. Her breathing eased. Her friend remarked that it had been a long time since she had seen her so relaxed. At the end of the session, I gave her a suggestion to drift into a deep sleep, which she did and I left. I went to my car and just stared at her bracelet. I was so moved and grateful to be able to make a difference for someone else. It was not long after our meeting that she passed. I will never forget her or that day and the gift of love she gave to me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Often times when I tell people what I have done in my life, I think it sounds unbelievable. Other than being a wife and mother, I really had no other plans. But as it turned out, life had plans for me. “Necessity is the mother of invention” was my guide and mentor. I started at 10 years old, seeing an ad to sell Christmas Cards in a bubble gum wrapper. I wanted money, so I sent off my information and the next thing I knew, I was hauling a great huge album filled with Christmas Cards door to door, selling to my neighbors. From then on, I always wanted to be my own boss and I wanted to do it by creating art and serving others.

As a young bride, I saw some dough art in a store that I could not afford. So I went home, went to the library ( this was before personal computers), taught myself how to make it, made what I wanted, and then began selling it to friends and then to several local gift shops. I have been an award-winning artist, a singer, a horse wrangler, a face and body artist, a sailing and canoe instructor, and much more. But everything I did was expressive and made a difference for people.

In 1993 I became a professional clown and I loved it. I created multiple characters- Betty Spaghetti, Dr. Professor Wacky the Scientist, Alligator Annie, and more. I produced and performed shows for schools, festivals, and libraries all over the state and was invited to be part of an invitation-only group called The Rednose Roundtable made up of some of the best clowns in the Us and Canada. Clowning changed lives, including mine and it was such a good fit for me.

I did that for over 20 years and along the way in 2003 I was introduced to Stage Hypnosis. I was looking to add more challenge in my life, and this seemed like the right move. Little did I know. Another clown friend had just started doing Comedy Stage Hypnosis. She mentored me for about a year and off I went with it. During that time, I became a Board-Certified Consulting Hypnotist and that completed the picture for me. Now I not only had the ability to create laughter but I could help people change their lives by changing their thinking on a subconscious level through hypnosis.

Since then I have continued to study the art of hypnosis changing the lives of well over 65,000 people in my 20-year career. I have added other tools such as Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), became a Hypnosis Instructor training new hypnotists, Virtual Gastric Band Instructor, Speaker/ Featured Performer at International Hypnosis conferences, and along with being featured author in two times Amazon Best Selling book The Best Business Minds in Tampa Bay. I am internationally recognized for my work in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Canada.

Currently, I practice in Lutz, Florida, and across the world via Zoom. I specialize in Quit Smoking Program and Weight Management featuring the Virtual Gastric Band.

My mission is rooted in the belief that people can change their lives and live to their fullest potential by changing their thinking. I provide people with the resources and support to change quickly and with ease.

Hypnosis Business of the Year Award 2022 The award recognizes someone who goes above and beyond to impact lives while running a successful hypnosis business.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If I could go back, I would choose every one of my occupations. Here is the reason why. Each one came at a particular time in my life to help me learn something I needed. Each one helped me develop skills that I would use not only in the next occupation but for the rest of my life.

For instance, there are many skills I brought forward from all my years of being a camp counselor. But never would I ever have envisioned using my campfire skills as an entertainer. I was hired by an entertainment company to create a campfire experience, complete with stories, songs, and S’mores for a group of women who had all survived breast cancer. What a gift that was.

When I was a horse-wrangler green-breaking horses, it was my job to get the horse used to having something/someone on their back. First, it was just a blanket, then a saddle just sitting on their back, then cinching the saddle on, and then eventually getting on myself…and hopefully staying on. I learned a lot about watching out for how the horse was feeling, looking at their eyes, their breathing, whether they were calm or restless, what does this horse need that is different than other horses. It is a very useful skill for helping people.

As an artist selling my work at festivals around the state, I learned how to put a program together, how to figure out what would sell to a specific market, how to be flexible, how to get along with all kinds of personalities and yes, how to be independent and stand my ground.

As a clown, I learned a deeper level of kindness and playfulness. I learned more about listening, especially to small kids and wounded adults. I expanded my creativity when building shows, sets, skits, and backdrops. I learned to trust the inner me and be myself…yes even when playing a character.

I bring every single learning and skill onto my stage and into my office. It is a formidable resource when combined with my current training. It is what sets me apart from other hypnotists. So yes, I would go back and choose each occupation I had.

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

I had to do a huge pivot when the pandemic hit. I had a fantastic year planned with Comedy Stage Hypnosis. I was heavily booked with great tours, corporate performances, and shows for the year. I was very excited because the plan was that after my summer tour, I was going to come back, get some rest and then work on making a change by doing less Comedy Stage Hypnosis that required traveling and doing more shows in-state, more corporate speaking and more consulting hypnosis. Everything was set and it had taken some diligent work to get myself to this place. I was so excited. And then… the pandemic. All my shows for almost two years were wiped out. And like many, my savings began to dwindle. I had to pivot fast.

I was given the wrong information by a professional about the PPP and so I never got the help I could have received for a small business. It was so scary. I am a widow and there was no one else bringing in income. But I determined that I would find a way and there was. I had Zoom. I had long used Skype and Zoom with people who had been to a show out-of-state who wanted to work with me. So I was good with that. But…I had used mostly agents for my work and had no real connections for business locally, at least not for clinical hypnosis. In the past, most of my clinical hypnosis work was through referrals and I made the bulk of my income from the stage.

I was fortunate to find Mark O’Donnell’s RGA Network which had over 10 networking meetings a week on Zoom! My friend told me about it and I showed up. Every day- at all the meetings. I also began having one-to-ones with the people in the group over Zoom. Slowly but surely people got to know me, trust me, and started using my services for all kinds of things, including weight loss, anxiety, and phobias to name a few. I did some free group sessions online to help people with anxiety. I started to earn an income in this way.

Then hypnotist Sheila Granger from England started a group online to help hypnotists stay in business and grow. I joined her first group that ran for 3 months and then I joined permanently when she offered ongoing help. She was just what I needed. She provided training on how to write copy, how to send out press releases, and how to create offers that were current for example – hypnosis for fear of needles, hypnosis for dealing with masks, and hypnosis for being in lockdown. She supplied us with personalized videos to help promote ourselves. I am still a member of her group -The Hypnosis Growth Program. These two groups are the reason my business grew considerably in the last two years. And me, I showed up and gave it my all. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I jumped in the water and swam.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.deniseoatleyhall.com
• Instagram: deniseoatleyhallgcq
• Facebook: Denise Oatley Hall
• Linkedin: Denise Oatley Hall
• Youtube: Denise Oatley Hall

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Denise Oatley Hall