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

Alright, Kristen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have loved crystals my whole life. I remember, as a kid, walking with my mom to a small rock shop a couple blocks up the road from where we lived. I’d spend hours pouring over all of the unique crystals and stones there – it was always so fascinating.

Then, in my 20s, I’d go to local crystal and gem shows and spend hours wandering around the booths, looking at all of the different types of crystals. I’d wonder what it was like to travel from show to show and getting to have this huge collection of crystals to display and share with people. I also spent countless hours learning about crystals: taking classes, reading, and learning from all kinds of people.

In my 30s, I moved to Tucson, Arizona for an unrelated job. At the time, it didn’t even occur to me that Tucson is home to one of the largest gem, mineral, and fossil shows in the world every winter!

I attended my first Tucson gem show and it truly blew my mind. I came home with so many new crystals (on top of an already-healthy collection, haha)…and that’s when I decided to start sharing them online.

That was the beginning of Mooncat Crystals: it truly began as an organic way to share the crystals that *I* loved – and honestly bought for myself – and was genuinely excited about. I also decided to get certified in crystal healing and energy work, to continue to build on my crystal experience and studies.

That was almost 8 years ago and it’s still how I shop for crystals today: I only choose the ones I’m excited about and think others will love, as well. I obviously love the “pretty” crystals – but I also love the ones that are unique, rare, and a bit different from other pieces on the market.

I also recently decided to start a blog, All the Crystals. I love sharing knowledge and writing, but I always felt my shop platform wasn’t quite the right outlet. My vision for All the Crystals is for it to become a premier hub for all things crystals, crystal healing, and manifestation – and I’m so excited to be working on bringing that to life.

Kristen , 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?

I’m a three-time certified crystal healer, Advanced Crystal Master, energy healing practitioner, Ph.D., breast cancer survivor, cat mom, and – obviously – a life long crystal lover.

One of the reasons that my shop and my blog are so important to me is because I don’t just offer “whatever crystals are popular.” Instead, when you shop with me, you’re browsing pieces that I have hand-chosen, based on their energy, aesthetics, and intrigue. I shop with vendors I like and trust. And I choose 99% of the pieces I offer (and I let YOU choose the ones you love – it’s rare for me to use “bulk” or “intuitive selection” listings, unless the pieces I have are very similar). All of these create a buying experience that allows you to select high-quality crystals that you can love and feel good about.

I love hearing from my clients and customers that their new crystals are perfect for them – and I love it when they share photos of their new crystals in their homes.

My blog is important because education is also so important to me. While a large part of shopping for – and working with – crystals is intuitive, it’s important to feel comfortable with them and learn about what is possible.

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

When you own a business (or do anything in life, really), there are SO MANY opinions and “gurus” telling you what to do, what not to do, how you’ll succeed, how you’ll fail…everything. And they often conflict. As someone who earned a Ph.D. by following “the rules” (how many and which classes to take; exactly how to complete assignments; which forms to fill out, by when, in what order, and whom they needed to be signed by…), after I got past the initial starting phase, I really found myself wanting a roadmap: someone to tell me what steps to take, how to do things, and whether (or not) I was doing them “right.”

Especially in the last few years, I’ve really learned that the idea of a “right” way is just a myth: there’s only *your* way and what’s right for you.

I’ve still been finding that out for myself: and my business has really grown and evolved because of that: more and more, I want to not only share crystals, but help women lead a more fulfilling life that feels really good to them – and to tap into what they need, in order to do that.

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

In late 2020, I was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. I went through chemo, a bilateral mastectomy, and radiation therapy. I’m now past the majority of treatment, but am still on medication and working on recovery – and getting back to what feels like “normal life.”

I was lucky to have an amazing support network throughout and I’m grateful for everything I learned (and am still learning) throughout the experience – even if I wouldn’t choose it again :)

One of the things I realized – and why I’m bringing it up here – is that women don’t talk about challenges like this nearly enough. When I was diagnosed, I remember women seemingly coming “out of the woodwork” to tell me that they had gone through something similar. It made me realize that breast cancer is so common – but we’re still so silent about it. It’s seen as a “fluffy” form of cancer – no big deal. And while it’s often treatable at early stages, I can assure you that it’s very real and not fluffy at all.

As a business owner and a woman, it’s become really important to me to be transparent about my experience, to bring awareness and solidarity for others whose lives are affected – directly or indirectly – by similar experiences.

Contact Info:

• Website: mooncatcrystals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mooncatcrystals
• Blog: https://allthecrystals.com/