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

Myan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

The one thing I’ve struggled to admit was how I discovered this industry. I secretly thank my ex-partner’s ex-girlfriend’s sister for this. Sounds confusing, I know. However, my story shows that so much positivity can come from pain.

I was in an abusive relationship for over 5.5 years. I knew nothing about this man because he kept so much from me. As a result, I spent my waking days stalking his ex-partners in hopes I could learn more about him. I was reliving his history without him. I knew all about his exes, their families, etc.

I must share this crucial detail because as women, we all have stalked an ex or knew of someone who did at some point. However, it’s rare to see a business come out of it. It’s even rarer to see anyone openly admitting it.

One day, I stumbled upon his ex-girlfriend’s sister’s Instagram page. She was heavily into crystals. I didn’t know much about crystals, but I was drawn to them for some reason. My competitive nature urged me to just have more crystals than this woman that I didn’t even know. I wasn’t even sure why I was so interested in crystals, but something kept calling me to them.

I started to look for ways to purchase crystals. I purchased my first crystals on an Instagram Live Sale and quickly realized the business model was great. It was similar to QVC home shopping. The seller would show the item, reveal its price, and customers would claim the item on a first-come, first-serve basis. Oftentimes, I claimed the items just so I could win and claim faster than the next person. This was a great business model!

This was all during COVID 2020. It took me 3 months to get the business going. I wasn’t spending any money eating out or being wasteful. It all went into the business.

I fell into a rabbit hole of researching how crystal sellers were selling on Instagram to include watching YouTube videos and Googling. I discovered how to find vendors, how to ship, how to invoice, etc. I purchased from other crystal shops to understand how they invoiced and shipped.

I was on a roll and moving so fast that I am amazed at myself looking back. I was drilling down on everything about the business and industry.

I spent $5000 on my first batch of inventory. I first started selling to friends and family, posting available items on my personal Instagram account. All of this was a learning progress, but it gave me time to perfect my selling platform.

Not all my inventory was great because I didn’t know much about the crystals at the time. Looking back, I would have spent more time doing the market research to see what was popular. However, through constant research and seeing them over and over again, I learned crystal names and their metaphysical properties in just 3 months.

All the while, I started to research for content creation apps and artists to help with my logo. I started learning how to use apps like Canva and found a Russian artist to design my portrait. I finally created my own crystal Instagram page and started to engage with the crystal community to get my name out there. In one month, my following grew to 1000, which was amazing progress for me. In the first year, I reached about 7000 followers, and in the second year, that number more than tripled.

My engagement strategies included creating Instagram ads and creating reels. I spent a hefty amount on ads initially to get my foundation going, but I soon found that reels helped me most with audience engagement.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My crystal journey stemmed from my need to escape the abusive relationship that I was in. I didn’t know that I needed to leave at the time, but something beyond me urged me to start this business. Little did I know, this business would carry me out of that relationship and help me heal. I ultimately went through a huge spiritual awakening that not only helped me heal my inner child, but also help me discover my psychic abilities.

My business grew from a source of pain, not only from the need to heal my inner child, but from the need to leave a relationship that was no longer serving me. Uniquely, I am a woman of color, Veteran, abuse survivor, and newly discovered intuitive.

I have always known I had the desire to help others. I didn’t know how I could do that, but I soon discovered that I could do that through crystal healing. I enjoyed curating crystals for each person’s needs based on the metaphysical properties the crystals offered.

For example, a client would come to me asking for crystals that would assist in the stages of grief. I would recommend a combination of crystals such as Moonstone (for new beginnings), Smoky Quartz (for cleansing of negative energy), and Rose Quartz (for self-love and compassion). I enjoy those interactions most.

My shop offers a wide variety of items to include both rough and polished crystals, crystal jewelry, and healing tools such as singing bowls and chakra extractors. All can be purchased either from my monthly Instagram Live Sales or from my website.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There are a lot of ups and downs when it comes to running a business. My hardest moments came after I found out my ex-partner cheated on me. This resulted in a child outside of our relationship, and we eventually broke up. I found out a day after Christmas, but I still had to get ready for Live Sales.

Despite the emotional roller coaster and mental exhaustion, I was still showing up for sales, invoicing, and pushing out packages to keep the business going. Those were the toughest days of my life, but a lot came out of them. I created better content and my sales skyrocketed one month after.

I admit that I’m a bit overwhelmed now and have taken a few months off to recuperate. I am grateful for a full-time job that supports me, and I can afford to take breaks from my business. I am learning to accept that taking breaks is okay. I know that I have always been able to bounce back and succeed. No doubts. Always resilient.

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

One year into my business, I started to realize a stall in audience engagement and growth. I was posting 1-2 times a week and thought that was enough. Most of my posts were only photos and not very interactive. I reached out to other crystal businesses asking for advice on content growth. All of them were very kind on giving me advice, and I ran with it.

I realized that to grow, I had to shift towards creating more reels and posting more consistently. I began to post every day, several times a day if my capacity allowed it. My most engaged reels were educational and entertaining. I was shy at first about being in front of the camera, but soon realized that my followers liked seeing the face behind the scenes. This change in methodology helped me grow from 7000 to 25,000 followers in less than a year.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.myancrystals.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/myancrystals