We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kara Whitney. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kara below.

Kara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To start with, I think it’s important to realize that success means different things to different people and there is immense value in knowing your own definition of success. If we live in accordance with society’s idea of success or other people’s expectations of what success is for us, then that’s not truly success. With that in mind, to be successful means knowing yourself and being aligned with who you are and what you value, including discovering your calling and what feeds your soul.

It’s about integrating and balancing all facets of yourself including your spiritual side. It’s about choosing happiness, gratitude, abundance and fun. It’s about living in the experience of love. It’s about managing your mindset, effectively regulating your emotions and nervous system, learning and growing. It’s about striving for excellence. It’s about embracing our humanness and our divine nature. It’s about making a difference. Behind the scenes though, success also requires a blend of perseverance, discipline, intuitive guidance and leaps of faith.

With a childhood into young adulthood that was driven by perfectionism and over-achieving, I experienced a lot of superficial success. I also found myself facing massive health crises and burnout. Performing, doing and proving my worth had me on track to the grave before 35.

When your once very vital and active body rebels at a level that debilitates you, it forces a wake-up call. Old paradigms of success started to crumble and made room for a more holistic and expanded view that invited me to learn how to transform perfectionism (which I uncovered was a coping mechanism for years of trauma) into a commitment to excellence with grace for my humanness. It turns out that I had a massive fear of failure which ironically can block success.

How many attempts at the light bulb or other inventions did Thomas Edison make before successfully creating the light bulb? According to a quote in the Smithsonian Magazine, Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times — I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

I also think success is about perspective vis-a-vis the meaning we give the experiences and relationships in our lives. Like healing, success is more of a journey than one singular point in time as is evidenced by progression and growth; ultimately becoming the best versions of ourselves that we can with each and every day.

Kara, 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?

In all honesty, what called me into the self-development, life coaching and healing industry was my own journey. I was in so much pain and suffering in every area of my life, but something in me knew that I was destined for more and there had to be a way to something much better.

With immense tenacity, I sought answers. I invested thousands of dollars and countless hours of time in growth and transformation. I dove into the depths of my soul with the help of mentors, programs, trainings, medical/alternative healthcare and my spiritual connection. This was and continues to be fueled by the unconditional love for my children, a dedication to breaking cycles of dysfunction and becoming continually more empowered — not only for myself, but for my children, my family and how that holds space for humanity.

As a survivor of complex PTSD, generational trauma, near-death experiences, debilitating health challenges and toxic relationships, I know what it’s like to go through intense dark nights of the soul and how to get through to the other side with greater strength, resilience and love. I was called to help others.

I guide others based on depth of knowledge; personal experience/transformation; and training that I’ve gained over two decades. My approach is rooted in holistic insights across the spiritual, energetic, mental, emotional and physical aspects of life. I’m passionate about helping my clients go from a place of enduring and surviving to a place of thriving.

Trained in Healing Touch and crystal, energetic, somatic and aromatherapy healing, I combine many modalities with empowerment and life coaching principles to bring compassion, safety and strength to the work I do with my clients. It’s part of the secret sauce that helps people transform in ways that they haven’t been able to before. People usually come to me when they are finally ready to break free from what’s been keeping them stuck so they can step into their most authentic and empowered lives.

I love making a difference in people’s lives. It’s truly an honor to be a part of each and every client’s journey to becoming the best version of themselves. By creating space where my clients feel safe to face the hard stuff that has been holding them back, I guide them to reclaim a deeper connection to themselves and to their intuition. I’m humbled every time I hear relief in their voice when they have a breakthrough or when they venture into the unknown territory of feelings they’ve never processed before.

Connecting with people has always been a part of who I am.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In June 2010, out of strength I didn’t know I had, I packed up my two very young children and our dog and left my husband, the father of my children and my high school sweetheart who I had been with for 20 years. He was my best friend and the love of my life. Ultimately, things became increasingly unsafe as he battled with alcohol and opioid addiction.

I stood by his side through various treatment programs with hopes for a way forward as a “whole” family. Unfortunately, his spiraling meant greater instability, abuse and negligence. It gutted me to leave him, but, like a mama bear, I had to protect my children. Their safety and wellbeing was like a north star. I could get through anything to give them a better life.

It certainly wasn’t the life I imagined for myself or my children, but I held onto the honor and gift of being a mom and leaned into that to garner the strength to move homes, change cities, become a single mom and ultimately transform my life and the lives of my children.

This immense heartbreak ultimately broke my heart wide open to be able to create an entirely new identity and new life. It served as a bridge to finding myself and my purpose.

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

That life is hard and anything worthwhile takes a lot of grit (aka no pain no gain). This lesson is based on the tenet that the harder you work, the better your results in life will be.

After many years of working harder and pushing myself to extremes as though I was a robot, I found myself in excruciating pain and debilitating sickness. Medical doctors told me I’d likely be on pain medicine for the rest of my life and I just needed to learn to live with chronic pain. Through deep inner work, alternative healing and spiritual connection my pain was healed.

Working harder and “life is hard” can come at a high price. It also often impedes fulfillment and happiness.

What I learned in the process of unlearning “life is hard,” is that is actually a limiting belief designed to keep us small and disconnected from our truth. It feeds disempowerment. This is not to say that there aren’t immense challenges and even horrific experiences that can come with being human at times, but the more we buy into and feed the narrative of “this is hard,” “life is hard,” etc., the more we perpetuate that in our reality.

I realized that the more non-negotiable time I built into my life for self-care that nourished me physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, the less stressed I became, the clearer my priorities were and the more space I had for ease and flow in life — professionally and personally. Life became easier even with the continued ebbs and flows.

The more we progress in our journey of self mastery, the more often we maintain positive perspective, happiness and a sense of gratitude and abundance regardless of the circumstances around us or how others are feeling or showing up in any given moment. This is not about bypassing anything; it’s about navigating through the challenges with greater ease, speed and resilience.

We can actually create a reality of “life is easy, beautiful, joyful and magical” — and, actually believe it. Live it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.karapiercewhitney.com/breakfree
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KaraWhitney21
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Most photos are courtesy of Lynn Townsend and Illumine Photography.