We were lucky to catch up with Heather O’Lear recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I grew up in a family that prioritized education and knew from a young age my future would include education and a conventional, societally acceptable career. Specifically, I was encouraged to study math and science, in order to create my place in the world using my brain and to be taken seriously as a female. However, from a very young age I was drawn to esoteric and less conventional concepts, such as spirituality, astrology, communing with spirits and the dead, as well as understanding our relationship as humans to nature and animals. I loved to learn, research and educate myself on both conventional and non-conventional topics throughout my life, but always found it difficult to integrate them in a socially acceptable manner. In college I did my best to bridge my interests by studying biology and environmental science, with further studies in a Master’s Program in soil science. I was successful, but something was missing. That “spark”, the soul piece. But the voice of society generally drowns out the voice of the soul.

In the early years of my career path, I vacillated between conventional jobs in science, at universities and tech companies, and less conventional jobs, in massage and alternative healing clinics. The conventional jobs paid the bills and gave me the recognition of a smart, successful, educated woman. The non-conventional jobs fed my soul and made me feel I was contributing to the collective in a deeper, more meaningful way. As my career path went on, I leaned into more conventional jobs, as they were more socially acceptable and paid the bills more easily; however, I would continue to study a variety of non-conventional, more esoteric concepts, like yoga, Reiki, astrology, shamanic journeying, flower essences and herbalism. I would generally hide these studies, or at least downplay them to my friends and coworkers, for fear of being seen as quirky and ungrounded, and losing being seen as smart and educated because of these unconventional dabblings.

Animals always played an important role in my life. My first jobs as a child were pet sitting neighborhood dogs and we would often get neighborhood dogs visiting our patio door to say hi. I loved all of them, as I didn’t have my own dog. Later in life my love for animals evolved into a variety of volunteer opportunities at local animal rescues and shelters. I learned Animal Reiki through The Shelter Animal Reiki Association. I honed my photography skills and became a member of HeArts Speak, a non-profit where artists support shelter and rescue animals in finding homes. I also fostered dogs, often choosing the more behaviorally challenged dogs or older dogs. I even had the honor of fostering a hospice dog, which were 8 of the most significant weeks of my life and one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever had to say.

As my volunteer work with supporting animals continued, I really wanted to find a way to support human-animal relationships in more depth and found my way to a local animal communication course. At the end of the first day of the course, I asked the instructor “do you think I will be able to do this?” – she smiled and said “Heather, you already do”. I had just never realized I had been doing it my whole life. I didn’t realize how normal it was for me. With the help of my mentor, I strengthened not only my ability to communicate with animals, but also trust in my gift. I deepened my work further with the Animal End-of-Life Doula program at UVM, which taught me how support animals in transition, as well as their human companions through the grief process.

At some point my animal communication mentor asked me if I would be offering my animal communication and animal transition doula services. I felt uneasy about it – the fear of putting myself out there, especially with something so non-conventional. It felt like a huge risk to my other life and people who knew the more conventional me, but I decided to do it. I created a web page, which really helped me clarify for myself what it is I do and what I can offer to others. It was a vital piece of the puzzle, not for the marketing per se, but rather for my own clarity. I also created an Instagram page that put me out there as an animal communicator. The day I published my website and the Instagram page I was so nervous. Now anyone – strangers, friends, family, co-workers – would be able to find me and know what I do.

It all felt like a huge risk, and it was somewhat nerve wracking to think about having to explain and/or defend myself to people. And yet fast forward to today. I have never explained myself, in terms of defending what I do. I do explain to people what I do, but with no personal investment in getting them to believe in it. I just state my truth – take it or leave it. I am clear that my job isn’t to get people to believe in being able to communicate with animals. I’m here to help people who already know, or are unsure, but desperate to make a connection with their companion animal and are ready to throw caution into the wind. Most of my clients find me through word of mouth. And one of my most humbling moments was when a client called me and when I asked who referred me, they indicated my mentor. My animal communication mentor had referred a client to me. That gave me validation that I do carry this gift and strengthened my resolve that this was something I was meant to be doing.

It felt like a big risk putting myself out there as an animal communicator, when I have built my reputation and a conventional career on being a smart, successful and educated woman and any sort of intuitive, mediumship, psychic abilities are seen as “woo” and lacking validity in our society. I feared people would view me differently and I wouldn’t be taken seriously by co-workers and friends. I would say the opposite has occurred, for the most part I feel well supported. Additionally, I believe I’m showing others that some things society deems “unconventional” need to be normalized and integrated back into our society. Our society benefits greatly from reintegrating these techniques back into society in a reverent way. This process has also made me realize that our soul work doesn’t necessarily have to be how we make our entire income, it can also be how we contribute positively to the collective in a variety of ways. I still have my conventional job but have integrated my animal support work and I have found a good balance between the two. It helped me validate that when you take a risk, especially a risk that is driven by your heart, soul and spirit, opportunities to feel soul-fulfilled, as well as to support our communities, show up in the most beautiful ways. Taking a risk can be scary, but when you walk through that door an entire new set of possibilities becomes available to you.

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.

I am an animal communicator and animal end-of-life/transition doula based in Denver, Colorado. I offer animal communication and end-of-life/transition doula services to bring connection, love, healing, depth and understanding to the relationships between animal guardians and their animal companions. I am passionate about supporting and empowering human-animal relationships. Through my work, my goal is to help strengthen the relationship between humans and their animal companions, which can, in turn, create amazing healing and bonding. Some of the most heart-felt work I do is work with humans whose companion animals are in the process of transitioning. Supporting our animal companions through their transition can be a difficult time. Animal guardians often experience fear, sadness and grief and can be confused about what decisions to make and when. I use animal communication to open the lines of communication between humans and their companion animal so they can better understand the animal’s needs and desires during this time, as well as convey messages of love, gratitude and support. I can also help humans connect with animals that have passed, creating an opportunity to tie up any loose ends, ease worry and guilt or convey things left unsaid. My goal for any session is to listen to the Client in order to navigate finding them answers or solutions to the best of my ability, as well as building trust with both the human and the animal. A lot of healing and progress can be made when animals and humans feel heard. Feeling heard builds connection.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

DOING IT. There is always that voice in the back of your head saying you aren’t ready, you aren’t good enough and you don’t know as much as other people in your field. You can read books, take courses and have as many mentors as you can find to help your process, but the success and wisdom always come from the experience of doing it. You learn by doing, making mistakes, experiencing successes and having a variety of personal experiences. I learn something from every Client, every single one, and each session gives me more information and experience and makes me more successful in supporting animals and humans in this way. The only way to get better at something is to just do the damn thing and build the knowledge and experience on a personal level.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Since my animal support work is not my main source of income I don’t focus on the financial aspect of it. However, I do want to help as many animals and people as possible. Most of my clients come by word of mouth. So, of course, the best way to grow my clientele and reach as many people as possible is to be responsible with the work I do. At the start of each session, I ask the human client questions to ensure I understand what it is they are wanting out of the session – what is the problem they are looking to solve, what is the connection they are looking to make, what is the information they are looking to get. I make it clear that we may not be able to address all their questions – animals are sentient beings with their own wants and needs. Sometimes it is a negotiation process and not every animal is going to get on board with solving something they don’t see as a problem. I have to build trust with both the animal and the human and bridge the communication gap to the best of my ability and to the extent the animal and human allow. Animal communication is not necessarily a magic pill to fix things, but rather a way to open up the lines of communication between humans and animals. I believe my clients would say I’m honest with expectations, I listen, and I truly care about them and their animals. That is what brings people to me and grows my clientele – my ability to connect with both humans and animals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://8mitts.com/
• Instagram: @8mitts