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

Isabel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I learned early on that my brand is me but I needed a tagline to bring awareness of what I have to offer. I landed on Radical Wellness which by definition means “actively pursuing a state of good health by thoroughly affecting your fundamental nature.”

“Radical” because I am a very grounded person, or rather I’m told I have a grounding effect on others and I’m a firm believer in getting to the root of the problem or situation in order to find the solution. Although “radical” means root in Latin, radical also has an edge to it, and so does my outlook on life.

We all aspire to be well, feel well, do well by our own terms. Because I offer a multitude of ways to experience “wellness”–physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually–through yoga, guided meditation, tarot and akashic readings and standard coaching techniques, wellness on all levels of being is my objective with each encounter.

Isabel, 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?

People often ask me how I “got into this” after I read their tarot cards. My response is that I’ve always been this person but that I didn’t know I could do it for a living. Prior to offering spiritual services, I earned an MFA in photography in 2014 and wanted to be a photographer since I was a kid. Of course I didn’t take the direct route straight out of high school but rather studied fine art and then web design prior to getting my masters but all of those skills are still active in my business now.

My personal evolution creatively and personally started with “drawing with light” (photo+graphy) and now I show/help others become aware of the light they carry through energy work. That is why I call myself a lightworker.

My business was born during the pandemic. I had recently moved back to Sacramento after living in San Francisco for 11 years, the last 4 working at a photography company. The job opportunities were limited in Sacramento so I found myself in food service to pay the bills. By the time we were told to shelter in place in March 2020, I was working at 3 different restaurants and had no time for myself. So when I finally got laid off from all 3 jobs, I gave myself time to reorient–to get reacquainted with who I am and what I wanted out of life because what I was doing wasn’t sustainable.

The advice I received from a source I cant recall, was to look around my home objectively, specifically at my bookshelf, to see what I’m interested in. I had books on the occult, astrology, numerology, feminism, reiki, chakras, etc. I had also been practicing yoga off/on for 15 years. Then something clicked for me, like “ohh THIS is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life!” I quickly found a reiki training, which led me to a 200RYT yoga certification, which led me to an introverted, heart-centered coaching program, which led me to an akashic record reading course…you get the idea!

The pandemic gave me the time and just enough financial support to be able to craft my business and immerse myself in subjects that I only dabbled in before so that I could cultivate the skills and intuition to become an energy worker. I was finally able to hear my own inner voice and trust it. I had so much clarity and quickly noticed that most people were still walking around the same haze of hustle and grind culture and I wanted to fix that, especially for marginal folks.

Four years later, I offer energy work and divine guidance to women, BIPOC & LGBTQ+ communities via intersectional and decolonized approaches to healing for the mind, body and spirit. My services span from tarot and akashic record readings, women’s circles and plant medicine retreats, yoga classes, reiki treatments, workshops and more. I’m a crafty witch so I also make hand made ritual items to encourage others to embrace their own power.

In everything I do there is an undertone of coaching in that I am here as a sounding board to support you in discovering your own answers. Do I use divination tools and my own intuition in my coaching practice? Yes because that’s how my gifts manifest.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being authentic. We get told from a young age how to fit it, what is popular, and don’t be weird. But your “weird” is what makes you special, what makes you you. Anytime I get insecure about not gaining faster traction in my business, I recall a photography assignment where we all had to go out and shoot the same subject–an alley. When we turned in our photos for critique, none of the photos were identical.

The only way for you to be successful or happy in life is to know that you bring something unique to the table even if you are doing the same exact task as the person next to you.

So I stay true to myself and know that I will organically attract and connect with those whom I am meant to. I am a genuine person who just wants the best for you regardless of whether or not you are my ideal client and I think people recognize that.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Early on in the development of my business, I became hyper aware of the programming I had been subject to growing up as a woman of color in America. Things like people pleasing especially in close relationships, devaluing myself because my skills were atypical, and even demonizing money and being judgmental toward “rich people” were big themes that had been ingrained in me since I was a child. I remember a moment of awareness where I thought, “why do I want to be wealthy if I think rich people are bad?” Turns out I didn’t actually feel that way but that was something I was taught.

In the first year of my business, I found myself doing a process I called “decolonizing my mind” from all the outdated stories I had been told to believe my whole life. That was an empowering process. And the more I stepped into my power and forged ahead with my business, the more I’d run into these oppressive paradigms like brick walls that I needed to scale to see to the other side.

What people don’t realize is no matter what your business is, it is an extension of you. And if you’re offering spiritual services like I am, that requires a lot of deep personal work to be done along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.isabelemilie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabelemilieg/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isabelemilieg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabellebasi

Image Credits

Neko Reindl