We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Talbot a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I put it all on the line. Everything I had, I risked it all. To fulfill my purpose, to execute my dream.

And I would do it, again and again.

I moved to Spokane, Washington from Seattle two years ago. Now if you know Washington well, you know Spokane has spent a few decades being Seattle’s less cool cousin. It gets a bad rap for not being as pretty, or as cultured/diverse.

But I felt a calling to come here. I felt the calling to do things differently, like so many of us did after the pandemic.

I had been wanting to open my brick and mortar space for years. I wanted to open a healing center that would have a large class room for workshops and daily mediation classes, I wanted there to be a community kitchen space, I wanted there to be multiple healing rooms for 1:1 sessions, I wanted a little apothecary to sell all my favorite self care and ritual items. And I wanted it to be all about community and dropping people into their heart center to create a ripple affect of healing in our world.

I had been working towards this goal for years. Doing everything I could mobily and collaborating with different studios and spaces and practitioners. Learning and training and growing and expanding my business.

In 2019 I found a cute little spot in the suburb we lived in outside of Seattle. It was tiny. But I thought it would be a great place to start. I got to work and poured all my heart and money into construction.

Then we ran into permitting issues because the building owners had zoned the space improperly. So I waited and waited and waited. But everything was stalled.

Then the pandemic happened.

And all of our lives were turned upside down.

I continued to do my work virtually. I continued to hold hope for the space. But I also began to feel a calling to do it all differently.

Spokane specifically was the invitation. And all signs pointed to yes.

I shook everything that wasn’t working up. My marriage, my sons schooling, my career, our home and I pointed us in a new direction.

I sold my house, nearly divorced and then completely rebuilt my marriage, decided to put my son into the school of our dreams and came to Spokane in 2021.

It was still the pandemic. I didn’t know anyone. And I wanted to open an event and community based business.

I took about 6 months to let the pandemic dust settle and then I started to network and meet people. Within two weeks of that I found my space or rather it found me.

I got an amazing designer to bring my dream space to life and I invested in the business I had been yearning to share for over 8 years.

The space is in the Heart of Downtown Spokane, and everything flows into it. We absolutely love this city and love the people. Spokane has welcomed me with full open arms and I could not be more grateful to be here and to have listened to the calling and risked it all!

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

t has been a lifetime of experiences that have led me here and made me qualified to walk that path with you. No one is free from life’s ups and downs, something I know well. I grew up with a lot of love but also a considerable amount of trauma. Brokenness, addiction, and the deep loss of my mother at a young age led me to have a strong pull to help people. This drive to serve has manifested itself in many ways, often in positions of leadership.

Later in life, I gained an even deeper knowledge of the inner workings of a business and how to lead a team as the director of operations for four restaurants. Managing a team of over one hundred employees taught me a deeper language of human connection. However, I didn’t yet have the tools to manage my own life and the emotional commitment it required. It was in my burnout of that job, my marriage, and motherhood that led me to yoga which opened my eyes to a whole new world, and it reconnected me back to me.

From this connection, I rediscovered Reiki and found my home in energy healing and meditation. This led me through my own healing journey, really getting to the root causes of my own pain and struggles in adulthood. I found that so much of it was linked to unhealed wounds from my childhood. From there I discovered Earth Medicine which invited me to live more seasonally and connected me back to nature.

Through mindfulness and energy healing I discovered a deeper connection to life. I want you to have that same discovery and learn that you are your own best healer, you are your own best teacher. Now, with Anam Cara, you don’t have to do it alone. Myself and the collective of practitioners are here to help expand and illuminate your path. I look forward to welcoming you into this space.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I bought my first business when I was 19. It was the bakery and coffee shop I managed in high school and the owners wanted to sell it to me.

This was a very simple acquisition and I don’t think I knew enough to ask more questions or think about 10 years down the road.

If I was to do it now, I would have asked so many more questions and been thinking about what I would do in 10 years. Not just 2-5 years.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being authentic and being a natural connector has greatly impacted my reputation in my market. I came to Spokane not knowing a single person, let alone anyone in my industry, and I certainly didn’t have any clients over here.

I looked at who was already here and doing similar things to me. I found them mostly on social media and through a few key networking events. I didn’t see them as competition, but as allies. I looked to people who I thought I would vibe with and asked to collaborate with them. I was opening up a beautiful collective space for them to do their work out of, so I had a connection point and an offering to support their work. I showed gratitude and appreciation for the connections people gave me. I started to connect other people together as well. Within a few weeks I felt like I already had a community going. By being myself, being warm, being gracious, offering to help others and support their work I found myself surrounded by new colleagues, new clients and new friends.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.anamcarahealing.center/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anamcarahealingcenter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anamcarahealingcenter