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

Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

My decision to start my own practice evolved slowly. I first studied Reiki mostly because I was interested in energy healing, but still skeptical. I attended training to find out “once and for all” if it was legit. Training made it real for me, so I completed my certification over the course of a few years, practicing with other students in between.

At some point, I realized that being a Reiki practitioner ticked off all of my “dream job” requirements. I love talking with people and learning about what makes them tick. I don’t love sitting at a computer all day, and I wanted to offer something that required no inventory or significant overhead.

Then I got really lucky and ended up having access to an office space to practice in, so I decided to create The Hoot Spot!

If there’s one piece of advice I would give to someone starting out – it would be to just start somewhere – anywhere – and stay with it. If you don’t have a ton of capital for local advertising, you CAN bootstrap it. Just keep everything simple and be prepared to stay the course for maybe even a couple of years while you’re building your client list.

Nicole, 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 think I was sort of pushed into the work that I do from some sort of source outside of myself. Call it whatever you want to – spirit, god, higher self, the universe. I just know the push was coming from *somewhere* that wasn’t me.

I never even considered doing energy work or anything of the sort until late in life. But a different reality began poking at me. I needed to know what it was all about, so I started researching, reading. and working with all sorts of spiritual practitioners.

What did I learn? A lot of what is meant to be available to us as humans has been lost. Whether it was intentional or something that just happened, we have wandered so far away from our connection to the earth, ourselves, and the power that we have to shape our own worlds. Many of the things we were taught we need to do don’t really help us live our best lives, and they actually pull us away from our divine roots. There are better options out there and many wise people to teach us how to access them!

I also learned that there are so many methods of healing available to us that I never knew about. I love being able to do my small part to help people find relief from physical pain, emotional turmoil, self doubt, stress, and grief. I provide as much information as I can to each client to give them new ways to promote their own wellbeing.

One goal I try to reach with every session is to send the client away feeling more confident in their self worth. It’s so much fun to watch someone who came in contracted and heavy leave bouncy and bright. That’s why I love doing this work.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn (well actually, my clients have helped me unlearn) was worrying about whether clients would be happy with the service they received. I would wonder, “Will they be disappointed? Will it not be what they were looking for?”

So when I opened my appointment schedule, I was a little nervous. But here’s the cool thing about working in this field. My practice has attracted some of the coolest humans I have ever met. I do have consultations now and then where the client discovers my practice isn’t what they were looking for. But that’s the reason we have consultations. And everyone who ended up booking has been just lovely, and has enriched my life and helped me get better at my job.

So I had to let go of those worries, and now I’m just excited to see who is about to show up and what kind of magic we’ll uncover together.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than training, I think the biggest thing you need is patience and trust. Sometimes you have to keep showing up even when the clients don’t. You have to trust that what you’re putting out into the universe will come back – and that if you’re consistent, potential clients will sense that and will be able to put their trust in you. You also have to trust your own product and your own brand. It’s natural to feel a pull to do things the way you see other people doing them to try to get things moving. Yes, you have to let the community know you’re here, but do it in a way that’s native to you. This is gonna sound cliche, but your authenticity is one of your most important assets. Stand in that and stick with it, and trust that the right people will find you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thehootspot.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thehootspot.reiki
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehootspot
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-hoot-spot-reiki-duluth