Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephanie Urbina Jones . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Stephanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
At the age of 33 I was a successful songwriter, living my dream, carving out my heart in song. I had a long ago given up my dream of being an artist performer. I had had a vision when I was four years old. I knew what I was born to do, but as I grew older, I was debilitated by my inner critic and trauma. I just did not have the infrastructure to stand, and share my love. I was devoted to music, and wanted to do whatever I could to be a part of bringing this medicine that had saved me as a child to the world. I made my way to Nashville. After working many jobs, waiting tables answering phones doing whatever it took and then I got my lucky break and became a songwriter. I figured this was my lane in life until the day I got a call from my grandmother who told me she was dying. I flew to her bedside and midwife to her between this world in the next. . It was one of the first times I was elevated to a different inner, knowing being guided by something within and beyond myself. Just before she died, she was talking to my grandfather on the other side and then came back to me. She told me I was born to be a Messenger in Mensajera, she quite literally said you will be traveling the world sharing our culture and country music with chili peppers. I told her I can’t I can’t do that I don’t have it within me. She smiled, and kindly whispered “mija you will.”. As her spirit left her body, I felt a jubilation and freedom I had never known. I’m not only thought I experienced life beyond death. In many ways, everything changed in that moment. Now that I knew that death was just a doorway to life I could live as if I was dying. Within weeks, I got on a bus with chickens, and headed to a little town in Mexico, where I begin to Immerse myself in my Mexican culture. I worked with Mexican healers and begin writing songs in English and in Spanish again in this powerful portal of life I received a message from my great grandfather Manuel Anaya Urbina. He had cross the border in El Paso in 1907, and gone on to be a revolutionary minister writer teacher, and had created an all Spanish newspaper in Kansas City. He came to me when I was in Mexico and guided my heart to go back to the United States, and begin making records. With a clear vision and a heart on fire. I am mortgaged my house for the first of four times to make my first record. That first record made me the first independent artist female to go number one on the charts in Texas and I was invited to tour Europe and play the Willie Nelson Fourth of July, picnic. Nine albums, and I have a tour to much of the world lived my grandmothers dream . As I continue to write and record, I continue to heal those old stories and traumas through the new experiential ways that were connected to the indigenous cultures. These healing ways got you out of your head and into your body, where we hold the vibrational stories. I rapidly transformed, and so did my life. I married my husband, Jeremy Pajer, who I met in a medicine wheel in Tennessee together we created our nonprofit Freedom Folk And Soul leading spiritual pilgrimages of transformation all over the world. I am truly humbled that my life is so meaningful with so many wonderful relationships two years ago I was given the opportunity to write a chapter for the publisher Brave Healer‘s , it was such a profound experience that again healed and transformed sacred wounds and me and empowered me that I felt called to lead the first ever authors journey with 25 authors in the pyramids a Teotihuacan the book was called ShamanHeart – Turning Pain into Passion and Purpose. The experience was so incredibly profound and life-changing, for everyone of us. The day our book came out that became an Amazon Best, Sellers, and many categories. The following year we created another authors, Journey for Shaman Heart- Sacred Rebel . We walked on fire we danced we breathe. We took our stories to task and turned our sacred wounds into our wisdom and powerful. A deck of Shaman Heart medicine cards followed., Our line of Sacred Journey Cacao and I am humbled to share I made history bringing Mariachis for the first time ever in the 90 year history to the grand Ole Opry stage just last week. Another dream came true because we were invited to play the Country Music Hall of Fame. My new album “Manuels Destiny.” Is a 30 year dream. Come true we will create a show with the Nashville Symphony to honor our ancestors this fall, and we will take another Authors Journey to Peru to write our third book in the Shaman Heart Series .
I have been taking risks daily since I left Texas for Nashville 32 years ago. There has not been one month since I was 18 years old that I knew how I would feed myself the next month I/we live by the spirit and by the compass of our hearts, we live hand to faith and in communion with the great mystery of life. It has been a wonderfully wild and fulfilling adventure. What I know is that your dreams are seeds planted in your heart on purpose for a divine time we just had to have the courage to take that step, and then the next. Follow your heart it always knows the way
Stephanie , 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 am a crazy dreamer. After all these years, I feel like I’m an expert at being a sacred witness and guide to those seeking to transform their lives, and lift their dreams. Our organization, Freedom Folk And Soul has created programs like the Toltec Medicine Wheel Transformation, that intimately guide people back into the parts of their lives, where they may have lost their power or be living a filter that is keeping them from experiencing or being able to harnessed their dreams. We are sacred gods that help you stock those old stories Feel them heal them and set them free. We know that within those wounds lies our power and our medicine we are so powerful and when we come to our own rescue to experience our own power and divine nature, we come alive the programs that we’ve created have been the ones that have Transformed our lives to living beyond our wildest dreams. They are deeply personal and experiential. They get you into your body where those stories live and are living mantras every day. Most of us have no idea that we are living these filters and agreements that we grew up with like I’m not good enough or I’m unlovable Rejected. I’ve never met anyone that didn’t have one of these filters that was keeping them from experiencing the fullness and the fulfilling life and love that that we all have a sacred longing for. Our pathways to freedom are healing and empowering. Every single person who has taken the risk taking the time, taking their life to task, looked back so that they could let go of what was holding them back has transformed their life, when someone’s life comes alive, and their heart is in alignment with their passion and their purpose, there is no stopping them. At that point we are aligned to our own divine nature connected to all of creation. Suddenly miraculous things continue to unfold the right places the right people finally our agreements inside that we have healed and transformed, make it so that we can have a new experience and receive the abundance That we’ve been longing for. There’s not a program that I have experienced or seen that has the depth and integrity that what we offer at Freedom Folk And Soul we believe that each one of us is our own healer, and that we just have to be guided until we can awaken that power that lives within and knows , we feel as if our trainings in our programs are awakening people to serve their purposes at this exciting and powerful time on the planet. From our point of you we believe that there is a death collectively happening on the planet and that that Hass to happen to some degree for new thoughts, a new dream, and a new earth to emerge , we are seeing that on a collective level and our programs help people to awaken to their personal role. What I know is that when we do step in to who we were born to be become alive with joy and purpose and passion. We are filled with compassion and humility well for defying, our inner, knowing guidance and GPS , everything we do is in service to these principles we work with people of all walks of faith and honor all pathways.
As an artist, every stage I perform on becomes an altar and opportunity to be altered, and let the music sing through us, and into the hearts and souls of those we are in Communion with. The brand of music that I make is called honky-tonk mariachi it is what my grandmother said I would one day make, it is an honor to place stages and bring joy to the world
You can join me by signing up for one of our online journeys or Breathwork‘s. We leave lead monthly the first Saturday of every month, You can join us for. freedom Folk and Soul day or firewalk in Nashville, or join us on one of our spiritual pilgrimages around the world to Egypt, Peru, Mexico or Africa over rh end t year or take a deep dive through the Toltec Medicine, Wheel Transformation online or in The Pyramids of Teotihuacan, Mexico and transform those old agreements into your power tools for life by connecting with us at
freedomfolkandsoul.org
You can purchase our Shaman Heart books or Medicine Cards at
shamanheart.org
You can get my records and listen to my music or book me to perform at
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Just this year, I finally have healed enough of my old, unworthy agreements to actually believe it’s not only possible, but in evitable that I will be given the opportunity to oversee and lead an entertainment company that curates develops and delivers new thought, inspiring media and stories for our times.
I’m currently co- creating A show with a Nashville Symphony that will become an altar to celebrate Dia, Delos, Muertos, and our ancestors, true story and song.
I believe this is the first next big step, and from there I intend to write and create a musical and a touring experiential healing journey.
Of course, there are musical experiences that I intend to develop and artists that I believe deserve to be supported, and brought to the world because their words and melodies will embody the vibration of the new earth
I’m currently taking meetings with dreamers that can match and hold, walk with and support these visions. My sense is that the last 30 years has been training ground to walk between the worlds of business and creativity I believe with all my heart, my co-creators and dream partners will be Continuing to be revealed .
Am I scared ? hell yeah. . And because my husband is a fire walking instructor I know that fear is energy and that I can focus that and transform it into my love and power. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for and I’m excited to be on the front lines, creating the stories that will inspire, me and each other.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Music has been my medicine since I was a little girl. I used to climb in a closet and rock myself to “you’ve got a friend.” I could feel Carole King Spirit, and it touched mine. I was held in the arms of a song. I learned how to self soothe very young. I also learn to write and go in word. Writing songs was easy for me. It was safe to go end and then to share those words, the challenge for me came in delivering because I had felt abandoned, rejected and unworthy of love from my childhood. I took that neediness and the projection of rejection into every relationship and stage. I can now see and have compassion for myself. This led to me, not quite being authentic as an artist , I wrote from my authenticity, but when I performed, I wore a mask. Ultimately, I wanted to be loved. I thought who I was could never be good enough and so I wore masks and hopes that I could make you and everyone else happy so that I could be loved . Life is always a mirror an intent is always working. Therefore what I got back for years and years was rejection that only compounded my belief that I was unworthy once I got to healing those sacred wounds I was able to truly be vulnerable and share my heart and authenticity. Finally, it was more important that I feel embodied in the hole that it was for me to try to make you love me. Of course a part of me wishes I could’ve come to this healing earlier, but I got here as fast as I could. What I would offer any artist or creative is that if you have a recurring situation playing out time again not feeling good enough people leaving you betraying you or whatever in my opinion this is an invitation into an initiation. This is an invitation to look at what part of you is calling for this to happen again and again, obviously ultimately it’s a call for healing. Once we give that part of us the attention that needs it can finally let go now I play for the music for the joy. I’m grateful when people show up to commune with me, but it’s not what makes me fulfilled , I’ve come along way. It was worth the inner work.
Contact Info:
- Website: Stephanieurbinajones.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie_urbina_jones
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephanieurbinajonesofficial
- Youtube: Stephanie Urbina Jones TV
- Other: freedomfolkandsoul.org https://www.facebook.com/Freedomfolkandsoul.org shamanheart.org