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

Khristee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Interesting question. I never thought about this before. It wouldn’t have been possible for me to start my business earlier. I was sick with a debilitating chronic illness for fifteen years.

My illness was all consuming. It was even hard for me to work. But eventually I got a full-time job working at a contemporary art museum in Connecticut. Because of the recession, I was downsized from this job. And suddenly, I found myself with so much free time. It was the summertime. After being stuck in a cubicle, I suddenly had so much freedom to do whatever I wanted to do. And my heart wanted to explore! There was so much going on! I tuned into the energy. It seemed like everyone was having fun! I allowed myself to go to water aerobics classes outside in the sun with the Beach Boys playing. I found it hysterical that this world existed when normally I would be behind my computer all day and only get a burst of sunshine at lunch or at the end of the day. I sat at cafes. I went to the beach. Life was so much fun! And because I felt so free, it ignited my imagination. It was like my world had transformed into an ongoing comedy skit. Everything was funny to me and every conversation or story sounded like a comedy sketch to me.

I always heard that if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. And writing comedy was all I wanted to do all day. I wrote from the time I woke up in the morning, all day long. I would even wake up in the middle of the night laughing and write more comedy. So, I decided to turn my passion into a comedy business.

It was divinely guided. If I hadn’t been downsized, I wouldn’t have quit. I loved my job and I loved working with artists and creatives. It was like my Muse came to me and inspired me to start my business.

Khristee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For those who don’t know about me, I think it’s important to know that I always wanted to be a professional actress. I never had ambitions to be a business owner. I was a BFA theatre performance major in college and I moved to New York City after graduating, to pursue my dream. But I developed a chronic illness during my Junior year of college while living abroad in London. Even after I returned back to the States, I couldn’t get well. So, even though I gave my acting career my all, I was too sick to continue to pursue it.

I moved back to my hometown to live with my parents. I felt defeated. I never thought I would give up on my dreams. My health became my main focus.

Long story, short, I struggled with my illness for fifteen years. I was misdiagnosed. I was medically gaslit. I was told that I was fine because my blood results didn’t show otherwise. And ultimately, I was labeled with an incurable disease – fibromyalgia – and told that I would never be healthy and that I wouldn’t be able to live a normal life like others. But I didn’t accept that. I knew there must be a reason why a girl who had been healthy all of her life suddenly got ill and couldn’t get better – and I was determined to figure it out and get better.

Finally, I met a specialist who agreed to do further testing and I was so glad he did because he determined the root cause of my 15-year illness – heavy metal toxicity. My levels of lead and mercury were the highest he had ever seen and he was amazed that I hadn’t suffered from brain damage or paralysis. He predicted it would take a full year of chelation therapy treatment once a week in New York City, if not longer.

I was shocked. I didn’t know how this happened to me. Where did the metals come from? But I felt validated that he believed me to do further testing and that these tests finally held the answers of why I had been so sick.

I went home and researched chelation therapy and heavy metal toxicity. I learned that the one treatment that he recommended, the only option he said that I had – chelation therapy – could cause worse symptoms than I currently had. It was terribly painful and could cause brain damage, paralysis, even death. I was not willing to risk my life for my cure. I decided right there and then to heal myself. I had learned various healing modalities while sick and I was an avid researcher. I believed that there must be another way – that I could heal myself naturally.

I discovered through research that I could eat food that naturally chelated (attached to the metals and drew them out of the body). I could take these foods daily without side effects and get better. I ate these foods daily. I started meditating daily for 20 minutes twice a day, daily. I was optimistic. I walked daily. I told myself that I would be well in a month.

Yes, I gave myself that exact deadline.

My doctor was drawing blood every three to four days to see if my levels were going up but instead my levels were going down, down, down and by the end of the month they were down to zero like they never existed. I never did chelation therapy. I healed myself naturally.

Once I healed my physical body, I decided to help other women too. I met so many women during my illness who had been diagnosed with chronic illnesses and they couldn’t get well. They suffered and like me they were told that they had an incurable illness and to accept it or that nothing was wrong with them and that it was in their heads. Either way they needed help. So, I transformed The Dancing Curtain, LLC from a comedy business spreading joy and laughter during the recession to a healthy lifestyle business helping women to heal mind, body, and soul like I did.

So to answer your question, I got into this business, this field, through my personal experience overcoming my health and realizing I could help others to do the same.

Again, it was like I was divinely guided to have a health business.

My journey has been about healing myself and learning as I go, so that I could share from experience what I have learned. In the process, I have become a powerful healer. I have created my own healing style and method for healing. I have created the R.I.C.H M.E.T.H.O.D. I have become clairvoyant, clairsentient, and a medium. And I am still an avid health researcher. I love combining all of my talents together to help my clients.

As you can see, my business has gone through many changes – as I have. Currently, the main message I am teaching is we need to detoxify our life. It’s not just about healing the physical body or removing toxins from our lives but it’s about living a healthy, holistic lifestyle, removing what is unhealthy from products to habits to toxic relationships and to build confidence, and create more joy and expansiveness.

In the beginning, when I overcame my health challenges I focused on helping women to overcome their chronic conditions, chronic illnesses and traumas through natural ways and methods and a holistic understanding. Today, I help anyone who is yearning to feel more joy. Or to connect more with their creativity, freedom, passions, greater health, and purpose.

For the last twenty years, I offered primarily 1:1 sessions but now I am moving more into digital programs, speaking, writing, in-person events and VIP experiences.

In fact, I am very excited about an upcoming digital program I am creating that will help women to improve their chronic health issues and have more joy. Readers should definitely follow me to learn when it launches.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I shared one story with you already that shows my resilience – my health story. Being sick for 15-years and not giving up on my health wasn’t easy. But I want to share another story which is more recent and actually, I am still going through today.

I have been writing and researching for my three-book series since 2019. It has been a much longer journey than I ever imagined. This story seemed to be destined too. I met with a friend for tea, a pregnant friend, and she inspired me to write my book. I had never been interested in writing about childbirth but hearing her story of what it was like being pregnant, I realized that I didn’t know very much about pregnancy, birth, postpartum or what happens behind-the-scenes. I believed that the pregnancy journey was a rite of passage and I missed it. No one had passed this information to me even though I am a woman. I went down a rabbit hole. I was so fascinated by what I discovered through my research and then I began interviewing mothers and I marveled over their stories.

It began as one book on childbirth. I thought it would be mostly research-based but then I realized that stories are what connects us. I collected interviews from moms all around the world and then opened it up to childbirth experts too. Today, I have interviewed over a hundred mothers. And now, it’s a three-book series covering a diversity of topics and themes.

Early on, I met with a consultant to work on my proposal, marketing sheet, and sample chapters. Naively, I thought I would be published in a couple of years tops. But it’s been over six years now and I am still looking to sign with a literary agent and traditional publisher. I have worked so hard on my book proposal, on my writing, on developing the book and clarifying the title. A few agents have expressed interest but my platform was too small. For traditional publishing you need a large platform so that they can “guarantee sales.”

So, I am still diligently working on it all – building the platform, writing, and seeking representation.

Sometimes, I wish that I had written my book earlier but again, it feels like this was the right time. Plus my book has developed and has become richer and richer.

I’m not giving up. I will publish traditionally.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have had to pivot many times in my business. I shared how I pivoted from a comedy business to a healthy lifestyle business. Also, after I got immersed in my book, I decided to niche down to be better aligned with my book. Everyone always says to niche down for better business so I tried it but it didn’t work for me. I niched down too far. It was too limiting for me to only work with women who were considering conceiving or who were mothers and help them to conceive naturally or to be healthy and happy along the perinatal journey. It didn’t click for my business. So, I have niched up and instead of concentrating on my healing sessions, I am helping my clients to see themselves as the healers of their lives – for them to learn how to detoxify their lives for better health and joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thedancingcurtain.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khristeerich
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedancingcurtain
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khristeerich/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dancingcurtain
• Others:
  • Substack: https://khristeerich.substack.com
  • Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/khristeerich
  • TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@thedancingcurtain
  • Media: www.thedancingcurtain.com/media
• Contact: www.thedancingcurtain.com/contact