We were lucky to catch up with Katie Potratz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
I started my business in 2018 with the desire to help people change their lives. At first, I wanted to help everybody on every issue imaginable, but over the course of a few years I narrowed my focus to issues related to anxiety, trauma, self-worth and chronic pain/symptoms.
The more I learned about the mind-body connection and the possibility of healing the body with the power of the mind the more excited I became. More and more, my dream became clear: I wanted to help people living with chronic pain and symptoms find relief with the power of their mind. This dream led me to take many additional trainings such as Medical Hypnotherapy for Chronic Disease, Breathwork, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and more. I felt extremely passionate about helping those with chronic symptoms realize the power of their mind to influence their body.
However, over the years, I’d received a great majority of my business from clients working on issues related to anxiety, trauma and self-worth. These clients were open to the idea of using hypnotherapy to address their problems, and the great results we got together resulted in referrals for more clients with similar issues to address. I loved working with clients on these issues, but it began to seem as though getting clients with chronic symptoms was more difficult, and, looking back I created a lot of limiting beliefs about creating the dream business I wanted.
Unconsciously I believed that my “dream clients” were hard to find, and that if I were to market to that audience I would lose the clientele that was sustaining my business and my business would fail. Yikes! The fear of losing business caused me to keep the chronic pain/symptom offers as a quiet whisper in my marketing strategy, and instead, focus mostly on anxiety and trauma related topics.
As someone that works with people on limiting beliefs and fear, I certainly recognized the fear I had about marketing myself to my dream clients, but it wasn’t until a conversation with a friend that it all clicked and my business finally changed.
I was having coffee with a friend when I told her my biggest dream was to help people with chronic pain and symptoms. I told her about a recent client of mine who had learned how to completely eliminate her migraines with the power of her mind. I was absolutely beaming while telling her this story, and when I finished she said to me “I didn’t even know you could help people with migraines! I just had a friend the other day mention how bad her migraines get, and she has no solution. Why don’t you talk about this more? I know lots of people who have chronic pain and have no idea that someone like you could help them”.
That simple statement hit me like a ton of bricks and it all became so painfully clear. I have everything I need to help my dream clients (and build my dream business), but none of them even know I exist because I’m hiding my offers! I realized that all this time, the false-belief that my ideal clients aren’t open to this kind of work, or that there simply aren’t enough of them to sustain my business had caused me to NOT do the very thing that would help me create this dream business.
Something that felt so overly complicated in my head now seemed so crystal clear. After that conversation I started ramping up the marketing for my chronic pain/symptoms offers. I started to tell myself that clients with chronic pain/symptoms were just as common and easy to find as the clients working on trauma and anxiety.
It’s been about 10 months since that conversation and I now focus at least 80% of my marketing to people struggling with chronic pain and symptoms, and my business has transformed. I have been invited to speak on podcasts about the mind-body connection, and appear in masterclasses to educate people on the power of the mind to influence the body. I’ve created pain-specific offers in my business to create more tailored offers for my ideal clients. I’ve even received several referrals from other hypnotherapists, telling me that I was the first person that came to mind. My business now attracts more ideal clients on a regular bases than it did in the first five years combined.
The defining moment for me was realizing that the only thing standing in my way to creating the EXACT business that I want is me. Getting out of my own way and working on the fear and false-beliefs fueling my self-sabotage has completely changed my business.
Katie, 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?
I am a Clinical Hypnotherapist with a passion for helping people to help themselves. I truly believe that we already have everything we need to be happy, healthy and fulfilled, but our fears, false-beliefs, and subconscious conditioning can make it feel impossible.
As I’ve mentioned, working with individuals on chronic pain and symptoms is something I cherish. I know what it feels like to have health issues with no clear solution. I know what it’s like to feel like your body is broken, failing, or weak. And this is why I am so passionate about helping people take their power back and use their minds to influence their health and healing.
Along with chronic pain and symptoms, I also find it very fulfilling to help those struggling with anxiety, low self-worth, and past traumas to heal and recover. I can personally relate to anxiety, the impacts of trauma, and the deeply rooted shame that my clients experience. This is why being a guide to my clients on their healing journey is so fulfilling to me – it’s the guidance I wish I had at one time too.
I’m also a bestselling author, and published my first book, “The Uncaged Mind: How to Break Free from your Subconscious Conditioning to Live a Wildly Fulfilling Life” last year. Putting my message and all the knowledge and understandings that I had into a book to help people was an incredibly fulfilling experience. Every time I receive a message from someone about how my book has helped them understand themselves better, or given them the courage to begin to heal, I am filled with gratitude. My book is currently available on Amazon.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I can certainly say that being genuine and authentic is what has helped me build my reputation. I’m doing work that genuinely fulfills me, that lights me up, and it’s usually very clear to people. Trust is hugely important when someone is deciding who to open up to about their struggles. I work to gain my audiences trust by being as real and genuine as possible.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Absolutely! I sometimes wish I could go back to the beginning of my career and give myself some pointers that would get me to where I am now a lot quicker. However, I genuinely believe that the path that got me here, although winding at times, was the exact path I needed to take. Every move I’ve made has led to a greater understanding of my craft, and my client’s needs. It’s natural to want the short cut in life and business, but I believe that the winding path that gets us here was worth every step.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katiepotratz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiepotratz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiepotratzhypno
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiepotratz/
- Other: My book on amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Uncaged-Mind-Subconscious-Conditioning-Fulfilling/dp/0645461873/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11FTV7GLLLBGW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.c-WKk8C6wzJl9qT5QK1_EqQsTXUfUk3D1gkIUIFcA06VVE59S5mnEUW9RqFYmG9pynpW1OiTN5Kqh_TWX8y0q95q77vTC_s73qdmfcUxSiq5eTox9iaFlfEyi82o_oAW5MFpEeCh5KFqx2hqvWlcAg.Jj50cL8ODViz-7fNUe6CesOMt30ZVYLPTiDaKeWV-MM&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+uncaged+mind&qid=1733860019&sprefix=the+uncaged+mind%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1
Image Credits
Danika Rita Photos