We recently connected with Theresa Gepila and have shared our conversation below.

Theresa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

When I look at the bigger picture of my life, I am happy. But it took me awhile to realize that. When I first quit my 9-5 job to pursue my business I was excited and all of my supporters were excited for me as well. There’s that initial high of feeling like you’re on top of the world and you can do anything. When that excitement died out I realized I had to work harder than I ever had before. Working from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. Repeat 7 days a week. It was exhausting physically and mentally, especially during periods of slow sales and slow social media engagement.

The thing with being a business owner is that the highs are high, and the lows are low. It feels like an up and down rollercoaster that messes with your emotions and self-esteem. I’ve been up and down too many times to count and I’ve come to learn that happiness is just an emotion. I won’t always be happy and that’s okay. I understand that it’s just an emotion I am experiencing in that moment of time.

During the first year of running my business full-time I questioned many times if I had made the right decision or a huge mistake. When I worked a regular job all I had to do was show up and get paid. I worked at a huge company with great benefits, flexible scheduling, and unlimited opportunities. But it doesn’t give me the same satisfaction because when I’m running my business I know that I’m fulfilling my purpose in life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Theresa, I’m 25 years old, and I own an online crystal shop based out of the Bay Area, California.

My experience with crystals started in January 2019. I was entering the last few months of my college career and like many others I was so lost. What the heck was I going to do now? I turned to crystals for guidance and to remind me that I harnessed the power to overcome the difficult obstacles of everyday life.

Straight out of college I moved back home after 4 years and secured a 9-5 job. It was an amazing opportunity and I was dipping my feet into the adult world. But to say I was sad is an understatement. I started to question my purpose in life beyond my career and beyond my material possessions. What do I have to offer the world? I was missing fulfillment.

To cope and escape my mind I created my Instagram page to showcase my personal crystal collection. My page gave me the space to be creative and share my growing knowledge of crystals and spiritual healing. It fostered an environment for continued learning.

I opened my shop on December 7th, 2019 and it has been an incredible experience thus far. My business has given me the opportunity to travel to the biggest gem shows within the USA and curate a wide selection of different crystals for my customers. I’ve been able to make so many meaningful connections within my community. Most importantly running my business fulfills the missing piece I felt I had in my life and I hope to continue adding to the collections of so many more.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Something that helped me build my reputation within my market is sharing my business journey and parts of myself in my content. This might not work for every brand but I’ve found that people really like to get taken behind the scenes. I have a very niche market so I try to document exciting moments that people find interesting. Some examples could be how I make jewelry, going to gem shows, packing orders, etc.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Anything from Brian Tracy. His lectures are some of my favorite to listen to. They’re completely free on YouTube and I’ve watched them many times and often repeat the same videos. I have yet to read any of his books, but I’ve been implementing some of the lessons he teaches in his lectures and they’ve significantly improved the way I set goals, manage my time, and view my business overall.

Contact Info:

• Website: badwitchcrystals.com
• Instagram: @badwitchcrystals
• Other: TikTok: @badwitchcrystals Pinterest: @badwitchcrystals

Image Credits
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