We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meredith McCowan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Meredith, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I first started to entertain the idea that I could start my own business practicing astrology in 2015. I had been studying and learning under an experienced astrology mentor for two full years. At that time, I was already 13+ years in to my corporate career and thriving there. However, I had started to log in to my retirement account almost daily to calculate the “countdown” to my retirement. I slowly realized that I was doing that because I was not being fulfilled or finding joy in my corporate job. I was very good at my job and always moved up the ladder and received more pay, but something else was calling to me.

I felt that I could offer a unique service because I was practicing an art (astrology) that had been underground for eons on Earth. Astrology had always been labeled as a “pseudoscience” my entire life. This is a label that I believed…until I started studying it! I started out my undergraduate education in science. I excelled at science. I LOVE science! My corporate career was in….science! I felt that because I had a love and respect for an accepted method of study (science) that I could offer a service based on a historically unaccepted method of study (astrology). My new passion for the art of astrology had helped me so much in my personal relationships. I had a new understanding and compassion for difficult people and situations. I also had a new compassion for myself! Astrology had helped me understand my authentic nature on a level that is very difficult to put into words. I had a drive to help others understand themselves more deeply. Honestly, logic was not the driver for me to start a business practicing astrology. I know now that it was a deep intuition that compelled me.

Meredith, 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 got into my craft by a long string of synchronicities which began by me calling off an engagement! I was engaged to an amazing person and had no logical reason for ending things. I just had this “feeling” that I wanted to understand. This strange “feeling” catapulted me down many rabbit holes to find answers. I read books, took classes and made appointments with many healers, psychics and tarot readers. I was in a Reiki class when another student asked me if I tracked the movement of the planets. I looked at them confused! In high school, I was the President of the Astronomy Club so I figured it was a question about physics or astronomy. They were actually asking me if I had knowledge of astrology. I had no idea astrology was anything more than horoscopes in the newspaper at that time. After that innocent question, my life changed forever!

I soon realized astrology was a mix of all of my favorite things….astronomy, math, mythology, story-telling and psychology. The dopamine hits were constant in those days while I was studying this ancient art! I couldn’t stop talking about it and annoyed everyone in my circle of friends. I realize now that I had found something I was PASSIONATE about! I wanted to share this feeling with everyone I met. At the same time, I realize that astrology is not for everyone and that is OK. I tell my clients that I am completely capable of learning how to change the oil in my car, but I have no desire to learn to do that as the passion for automobiles is not there.

I chose my business name for a reason. On this planet, we all have so many different ways we can separate ourselves from another person….religion, politics, race, culture, beliefs, height, weight, etc etc. I wanted to choose a business name that united and included every person. What is the ONE thing we all have in common? We all live on the same planet…..Earth! That makes us all Earthlings. Hence, my business Earthling Astrology was born in 2017. In just five years, my client base has expanded to all corners of the globe. I offer astrology readings to help with relationships, career path, life mission, and to help understand those strange “feelings” that we can all experience.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I was a year into my business when the landlord of the space I was renting announced a 40% price hike. I was devastated as I had just started to break even with the business. I went on the hunt for a new office space and kept hitting wall after wall. I finally saw an ad for a space that was a little above my price range, but I decided to look at it anyway. When I walked into the office, it felt amazing! If you’ve read about how I started my business, you will know that I had started to trust my intuition about things. However, I was always in a battle with the logical side of myself! I decided to rent the new space even though logically I knew I probably would not be breaking even. I would be taking a step back financially with the business.

Within days of moving into the new office, I had a woman walk in with a giant smile on her face. She told me she couldn’t wait to meet me after seeing my sign go up on the office door. I was flabbergasted! At my old office space, I was the only person in the building practicing a non-traditional craft. This woman explained to me that she was down the hall and was a practicing psychic medium. The synchronicities between us turned out to be numerous! Within a few months of meeting, we started working together with clients and she eventually moved in to my office space. A new business partnership was born which is still ongoing today!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I funded my business 100% myself. I started out working only nights and weekends while still working full time in the corporate world. Eventually, I moved down to part time in the corporate world which gave me more time and energy to put into my business. I had no plans to quit my corporate job fully as I really liked the comfy corporate paycheck! However, due to a conflict of ethics in my corporate environment, I ended up quitting my corporate job before I was ready. This ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me! I did make major budget cuts as I was putting energy into my business. You may be surprised at how many material things you can easily cut out of your life when you find your passion and want to start a business doing the very thing that you love!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.earthlingastrology.com
• Instagram: @earthlingastro
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthlingastro
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-mccowan-589a0b23a/
• Twitter: @earthlingastro
• Other: Tik Tok: @earthlingastro

Image Credits
Brenna Lightfoot (https://brennalightfoot.com/)