We recently connected with Tammy Barton and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tammy, thanks for joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I have had several defining moments throughout the 18-year journey of my holistic healing professional career and there is one in particular that I would like to share that truly changed my life and the way I run my Illuminating the Soul business. I am 51 years old and in looking back at my personal life, I have never been one to fit the mold, the box, the ‘norm’ ~ even though I tried.
So, when it came to creating my own business and stepping away from a secure job with great pay and benefits and stepping into building a holistic healing practice from the ground up, I shaped the foundations of my business around what I had read in business books and what I had learned from my mentors, colleagues and other business owners. All of this was great in meeting my initial goals and expectations, but it still left me wanting and desiring more.
I knew in this moment changes were needing to be made to take my business to the next level and the defining moment came to me when I decided to go within myself to find the answers rather than finding them from the outside world.
I began journaling, meditating, walking, and creating art work to find the answers and that is when it ‘hit’ me. My business has always been about loving what I do and coming from my heart and in that pivotal moment I began finding ways to integrate everything I love – art, travel, spirituality, healing, creating, teaching, and meditation into my holistic healing business.
I began creating new offerings, such as, Chakra Balancing, Shamanic Healing, Intuitive Bodywork, Spiritual Retreats, teaching empowering workshops and selling my artwork and photography and creating a multi-faceted approach to my business that then created multiple levels of income and my business started booming and was truly being taken to the next level.

Tammy, 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 have always been drawn to helping people heal and to feel seen, heard, valued and loved. My personal journey and experiences haven’t always been the easiest, which is why I went into the healing arts. I wanted to offer a healing hand through massage, cranio sacral therapy, somato emotional release, reiki, and intuitive work. And I wanted to offer my clients something different than what the majority of massage and spa businesses are offering. When a client comes in for a healing session, I take time to get to know them and listen to their story and what they need to heal. I have also continued to learn and expand the variety of modalities I offer that includes working with trauma, abuse and neglect clients and to help find the source of a clients suffering and pain for deeper healing and also what makes them happy, brings them joy and feel empowered.
I also teach empowering and healing workshops and lead spiritual retreats to Mexico to help awaken the soul.
And in my Illuminating The Soul business I also offer retail therapy, where you can purchase gemstone bracelets, necklaces, rings, candles, pottery, hand made artwork and photography and so much more.
When I came up with my business name, Illuminating The Soul, my goal was and still is to help you to find what sparks the light within you and then help you use that light to illuminate the world.

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

When I read this question, I had to laugh because when I first embarked on creating my own business it was back in 2008, when the economy crashed and I didn’t have a clue how it was all going to come together and happen and I kept trusting clients would still want to come in for massage, cranio sacral therapy and healing work. So many people say that the massage and holistic healing industry are luxury items and quite honestly, this hasn’t been my experience at all. My business in 2008 grew and expanded so much I was able to leave my post office job and run my holistic healing business full time and make a great living. And then Covid hit and my clients couldn’t come in person for their massage and therapeutic healing sessions, so I had to get really creative in order to make ends meet and navigate my way through the pandemic, both personally and professionally. I had to really rely on my own self care and healing techniques and knew that others needed help as well.
So, I started offering healing sessions virtually, focused on selling my retail therapy goods and also made great efforts to stay connected with my clients through online marketing, social media, newsletters and personal calls and text messages.
Fortunately, everything has paid off in the end and my business is thriving and better than it has ever been. In fact, I am getting ready to move into a beautiful new business space and am creating a new mentoring program teaching others how to trust and use their intuition for self care and healing and also helping others heal.

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

I feel the most helpful aspects that have helped me be so successful are really listening and caring about what my clients and students share with me, having empathy and absolutely loving what I do and having it come from my heart and soul.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.illuminatingthesoul.com
• Instagram: illuminatingthesoul
• Facebook: Illuminating The Soul
• Other: [email protected]