We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elaine Riley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elaine below.
Elaine, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
I took a huge risk in my business about a year ago when I decided to transition from the soap and skincare space into a more spiritually forward, service based business. I’ve been practicing energy work for as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until I officially started Reiki training that my whole world, and business, transformed. Coupling the Reiki training with my Astrology knowledge helped me to uncover so many things about myself and put me on the path to what I believe is my soul’s purpose. Through my trainings, I felt so much lighter, relaxed and fulfilled. I wanted everyone to feel the way I felt. The clarity that I had gained from my experiences made me want to share my knowledge and my journey. So I started talking about it online. I started a Facebook community and just began sharing about the energy I was feeling, messages that I was receiving, what was going on astrologically and how it affects us. It was very intimidating for me to be so open about this in a public space as it was definitely outside of my comfort zone to be so vulnerable. These were not topics that are commonly talked about. And I was really taking a risk at losing my current audience and customer in doing so. I felt so passionate about it though that I kept at it. Spiritual work can often be seen as taboo but the essence of it comes from a place of love and connection. It should be fostered, not shunned. So I kept sharing and started attracting others that were curious about spirituality but not sure where to start or what to do. They started connecting to my content. They’d send me messages thanking me for reigniting their passion for the spiritual space and guiding them to start working on themselves on an energetic level. I started to realize that I had created a space in which people felt comfortable to explore these topics without judgment, without the intimidation or the intensity that can often be found in some of the other spiritual spaces. Just people looking for down to Earth, everyday advice on these topics. I realized that through sharing my journey, I was inspiring others. Knowing this fulfilled me on such a soul deep level, that I knew I had made the right decision.
Elaine, 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?
My business is currently focused on the energetic healing space. I use a combination of things like Reiki, Astrology, energy work and crystals to help others re-align themselves and find their soul’s path. My goal is to make spirituality less intimidating and something that is more prevalent in day to day life. There’s a lot of focus and information out there on physical and mental health, but what most people don’t know is that our energetic bodies connect the two. So part of my job is educating others on how to heal and align their energetic bodies, to then help their physical and mental health. Reiki is an amazing tool for doing this and incorporating it into my daily routine has truly been life changing. It has helped to calm my mind and my anxiety. Reduce my stress levels and really put me in tune with what my body needs on an energetic level. I focus my client Reiki sessions on doing the same. While Reiki has some great physical healing benefits that come with any session, my sessions tend to focus more on the energetic body. We tend to not process our emotions in healthy ways which can lead us to have a lot of energetic blockages. This makes our energy very unhealthy and can ultimately lead to things like weakened immune systems, and sickness. Clearing out these blockages through Reiki will help that energy flow better. Leading to things like reduced stress levels and healthier physical bodies.
Another thing most people don’t know is that they can also learn to do Reiki themselves. You don’t have to have any special inclination to the spiritual realm or be of any certain religion. Reiki healing can be learned by anyone. So teaching others how to do this for themselves is a big focus of my business for this year as well.
Along with my passion for Reiki is my passion for astrology. Studying astrology and how it affects us is one of my favorite things to do. Just like the Moon affects the water and the tides, it can have an impact on our bodies and mental state as well. Our bodies are made up of mostly water and I’m sure everyone has heard how people swear things get crazy around the Full Moon. That’s just a small example of how these astrological events can affect us.
I offer astrology readings to help people learn more about how these planetary shifts may affect them specifically. Everyone has a unique birth chart and are impacted differently by different planet alignments. Along with the birth chart readings, I also offer the opportunity to work weekly together on a one on one basis in my Grounded Spirit Program. This is a program where we get really specific each week about what’s happening energetically and astrologically and how it could play out for you. Working with the energy and astrology of the moment can give you insight into what days may be more emotional, what days would be better for inspirational things or even when you may tend to be more active. There’s also a spiritual component that’s added where we discuss things like what times would be better for manifesting or communicating with your spiritual guides. The program is designed to help you with what you need and to guide to you to the best and highest version of yourself.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson that I had to unlearn, and honestly am still trying to unlearn, is to break away from the hustle culture mentality. I feel like we are at a point in time that there is so much information out there, so may podcasts and influencers that tell you how to do all the things. Grow your social media, find your target customer, make more sales, be on all the platforms- Amazon, Etsy, TikTok shop, standalone websites. It’s a full-time job absorbing all the information and another one to implement it all. I operated for a long time under the stress of putting my all into my business. I would work while the kids were in school, after they got home, and a lot of times on the weekends. I was truly trying to do it all. And being burnt out because of it. I even invested in a lot of programs that were supposed to make it easier and streamline it. At the end of the day though, it was still information that I had to take in, process and implement. That’s when I made the decision to hire a business coach and she truly helped me transform my business in a way that I didn’t even see coming. One of the first things she had me do is to schedule a set day off every two weeks. Just a day where I did whatever I wanted as long as it wasn’t business related. Then throughout the year that I worked with her, she started to see my passion lighting up in other areas with my Astrology and Reiki trainings. Things that I was just doing for fun at the time. She encouraged me to explore business options in those areas and create a business that fulfilled me on a soul level. Through working with her, and doing so much work on re-aligning my own energy to a healthy space, I have since ditched the hustle culture vibe and now only work on opportunities that align with my highest good. Ones that don’t have me working round the clock and ones that help me remain closer to my kids and husband.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Social media and in person markets has helped with building my reputation the most. People buy from people is something I heard on a podcast a long time ago and it is so true. In this age of short form content and social media, people want to see your story. They want to interact with you, whether that’s face to face or online. The pandemic really highlighted this concept and connected people in a way that wasn’t as prevalent before. Customers want to see your face, your behind the scenes. They want to see more of the real personality behind the business owner and not just what you have to sell. Believe me, I fought that concept for a long time. I was/am shy and kind of a private person. But when I started making videos with a fellow business owner during the pandemic, just to connect to people, they were so well received. And I actually enjoyed being able to interact with others online at a time where connection with others was hard. The more we did these videos, the more people would engage and now it’s become the way business is done. I try now to make videos weekly just talking about what’s going on astrologically and energetically for the week and I truly believe they help others to feel my energy and connect with me as a person more. And vise versa. I’ve come to get to know so many of my customers on a personal level and I think that connection is key to building a good reputation. The more customers can feel and trust your energy, the more likely they are to refer you and spread the word about your products and services.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.claryhollow.com
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