Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melanie Herring. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Melanie, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I think the most defining moment of my career was not something that happened outside of myself, but instead was an internal shift and understanding that has allowed me to show up more fully and authentically for my clients. Since I work in the realm of energy healing, be it through skin and the nervous system, working with a client’s Akashic Records or sharing advice and guidance through writing, for so long in my career I thought that I had to be perfect, both in my work and in my day-to-day life. There came a moment about two years ago when I realized that striving for perfection is like drinking poison and offering a glass to anyone I served. By bringing my most authentic, true self to my sessions and writing, I am offering clients a greater opportunity for healing through self-acceptance and self-love and through reciprocal understanding. That realization offered me the greatest amount of freedom I have ever felt in my work. And opened the door to an immense amount of creative exploration through intuitive guidance.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am what many might call a late bloomer. At the age of 40 I attended aesthetics school after hearing a voice in my head repeatedly telling me I had to work with my hands. Before signing up, I apprenticed with a Holistic Esthetician looking for proof that I could forge my own path in an industry that notoriously makes its money by capitalizing on insecurities, something I knew I would never be able to do. I was also really lucky to have an instructor at school who was an acupuncturist and herbalist in addition to being an esthetician and made a point of stressing more natural approaches to skincare.

Once out of school I was invited to return to the place where I had apprenticed and spent a year steeped in the realm and studies of holistic skin care. When that year came to an end, I was invited to help open a spa in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn and a year later stepped out on my own to work independently. The desire to craft my own offering, to follow my intuitive internal guidance played a huge role in going solo. I found myself drawn to working with the Reiki attunements I had received in my early 20s and felt more intrigued by my clients’ emotional worlds and nervous systems and how those things affected their skin more than any other niche in the skin world. To this day I am an ardent believer that the most holistic way to treat skin is to address the tension that is created through stress, unexplored trauma and trapped emotions. And the way that I have discovered to best accomplish this is through energetic facials with slow, slow, slow attentive massage and Akashic Records readings. The best sessions, in my opinion, are the ones that combine the two offerings, allowing for a deep unraveling of what is hidden. I invite the entirety of self into my treatment space and for me, it’s the most beautiful and humbling experience.

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

I think forging your own path is never fully easy. Trusting the internal knowing that marches to the beat of its own drum can be undermined by so many factors: self doubt, the doubt of friends, family and colleagues, financial considerations, self doubt, self doubt, and did I mention self doubt? Despite my belief in my work, I have found myself wondering if there is a place for it or if it’s too niche to make an impact. Relocating from Brooklyn to Maine during the pandemic has tested my resilience and self belief time and time again. Starting from the beginning again with few local contacts, taking the leap and renting a space and trusting that if I rent it, they will come. And that the way I work with skin is something that people need and are looking for. That being myself is the best way to be of service and being myself will attract clients to my treatment room.

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

This goes back to the idea of perfectionism. In the “wellness” world we are bombarded with images and stories of healers and practitioners who live what seem to be perfect lives. Happy, whole, healthy. And if we could just be more like them, we too will reap the rewards and benefits. While I experience and have experienced much happiness and fulfillment in my life, I have also had periods of deep, deep struggle throughout my life. These struggles often led me to believe that I was a fraud. How could I offer healing and wholeness to my clients when I myself was ultimately very much human with my own struggles, pain, foibles? After receiving a life-changing diagnosis of ADHD in 2021 at the age of 47, I have worked diligently over the last few years to step into a place of the deepest self-acceptance I have ever known. And to release any shame about my ability to be very good at my job with a brain that works differently than many. I can be a beautiful energy healer and channel for my clients and have a neurodiverse brain that creates challenges for me in my daily life. The two do not have to be independent of one another. And truly, I am a better healer for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melanieherring.com; www.skin-healer.com
• Instagram: melanie_herring

Image Credits
All photos taken by me. I own the rights to the art images.