We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tina Landrum. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tina below.
Tina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I took a leap of faith and quit my “day job” after over 20 years with the company. I had found my passion and the Universe helped conjure the circumstances that forced me to embrace it.
I had spent my entire adult life working in the field of healthy lifestyles and wellness, from age 17 to 50, always in health food stores and finally at the biggest retail chain store in that category. I was enveloped by a fascination of how our bodies work, the benefits of simple whole foods, the dedication of herb farmers, holistic practitioners and cultural artisans making products according to ancient traditions or family recipes. My values aligned with my employer, a rare accomplishment I was continually told, and I felt seen and appreciated. At the same time I continued to venture into more metaphysical areas of interest, which unfolded as a natural extension of the relationships I made through my work. After a particularly exhausting night doing inventory I was invited to receive a short session of Reiki, a type of calming, balancing hands-on energy medicine. I stopped in on my way home and after 15 minutes of healing with the teacher/Reiki Master I was pleasantly surprised! I had walked in exhausted and stressed but left feeling clear, calm and energized.
Where I had previously poured myself into nutritional studies with zealous abandon, I felt myself now lifted to a place of amazement and wonder in what else there was to discover in a world I couldn’t see and find proof in, but could certainly FEEL down to my bones. I had to learn how to do this technique for myself and the benefit of family and friends. So I studied with that Reiki Master, then another, a beautiful angel of a woman. I became a practitioner and true to my word I used Reiki on myself and friends with wonderful results. I then ventured into classes on crystal healing, taking workshops at the end of my work day and on days off. As more seminars and workshops emerged I immersed myself to learn more and more about this wonderful world of energy healing and all its modalities. The evidence was the felt shifts in my body, my outlook on my life and environment. During all of this I was raising two kids with my husband in the home we’d just bought, and running a very active marketing team at my company. But I just couldn’t get enough of this new world that kept unfolding around and me.
The feedback from those who received my healing work was so positive I got bolder and began to accept clients in my home. I thought of doing this work full time but the idea of leaving a regular paycheck, stock options and all the corporate benefits terrified me, so I ran myself ragged in order to do both at the same time.
After twelve years of this lifestyle, the year I turned 50 it all began to unravel. First one challenge at work, and then more and more. Bad experiences, difficult relationships, a reduction in my support system (in addition to more tasks on my plate) mistakes on my part and others … it all tangled up into an untenable situation that had me waking up at two am with anxiety and panic attacks. I was so stressed I started to have physical symptoms that made it difficult to focus and get through the day. One day a supervisor began laying out ways I needed to improve: add more items to our event calendar, finish projects faster, expand social media, etc.
And that was my breaking point. The sky suddenly cracked open (or I did), the room began to spin and I literally saw the light, though it shone most brightly in my own head. I had the sudden and complete knowing that my time in the job was over. Whatever else could possibly happen I wasn’t sure, but I knew that I could NOT continue doing what I’d been doing, and my heart was shouting louder than all the panic in the room; “It’s time to let go. You can do this. It will be okay.” And I completely utterly believed that to be true, so I interrupted my supervisor and told her that I understood what she wanted but I wouldn’t be able to deliver it. “I realize it’s time for me to go. I’m going to turn in my resignation today.” And the joy I felt with those words I’ll never forget. I was free and could fly if I wanted to! In that moment I regained the ability to breathe again and all the anxiety melted. My shoulders relaxed and when I stood up I wanted to dance with somebody, but my supervisor was in too much shock to appreciate my liberation. She tried to talk me back into the box. Poor woman, that was never going to happen.
Through the ensuing process of informing my husband (bless his heart he congratulated me) and the necessary management folks, a realization dawned; that chaotic moment was perfect. The crescendo had been building for years. What seemed like a rash decision was really a long time winding up to the eventual crack of the bat. It was the perfect moment to grow into my next stage in life. The impetus was there in the form of ongoing challenges and negativity but I had stayed where I was out of fear. I didn’t want to embrace what was trying to burst onto the scene of my life through me, AS me, because I didn’t trust ME. I also didn’t trust God to catch me when I made the leap. So I got to do it the harder way.
And I won’t say that everything has been easy-breezy as a self employed Energy Medicine practitioner, not by a long shot. I had never worked for myself and had to get up to speed quickly on what that entailed. So I asked for help, took advice, learned lessons and kept going.
In the 13 years since that day I’ve never been sorry I made the choice to be true to myself. And interestingly, the world has since caught up with my passions. Crystals are enormously popular now, found in every boutique and gift shop. Celebrities and CEO’s seek out massive amethyst geodes and install bubbling quartz fountains in their homes and gardens. I’m glad to say that Reiki is now practiced in hospitals and healing centers around the world; you never know which stay-at-home mom or RN is going to confess over coffee that they’re also a Reiki practitioner. So I guess I was ahead of my time culturally, but for myself and what my heart wanted, I know I was right on time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a silver-haired, admittedly eccentric sixty-something Energy Medicine Practitioner. A hybrid of therapies have emerged from the pursuit of what’s fascinated me the last thirty years, so I’ve combined Reiki and crystal grid healing – also known as Trans Crystal Therapy, with Spiritual Counseling. The latter was a result of gloriously surrendering myself to an immersive four year program toward Practitioner licensing at the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles. I also sell precious and beautiful healing crystals, the mysterious friends and allies with whom I share a language of frequency. Through the Practitioner program I used the Life Visioning practice developed by Agape’s founder Michael Bernard Beckwith as part of my daily routine, and from that work emerged the Light Body Crystal Elixirs. And so my life purpose and chosen career is one of phenomena. It’s a world that must be experienced in order to appreciate its benefits fully.
I’m an empath and I work with energy, so the main ingredient in my
process for healing work is not only invisible, but often suspect and misunderstood. I’ve always been a bit of a vanguard in my interests, and true to that flow I found myself in an arena where prejudices and judgement tend to precede acceptance. Most folks put their faith in the tangible rather than the etheric, so in my passion I’ve naturally become a kind of ambassador, a voice for the truth of our unseen reality and an instrument for its demonstration. From all this has grown an ever-sprouting business that is so far myself and my husband Nate; The New Path Energy Center.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I’ve grown in so many ways through the years of doing this work, but my greatest leap was when I learned to trust myself and my own intuition. I’ve spent years in wonderful retreats, seminars and workshops. I tune into spiritual healers and teachers online, I’ve helped build a network of holistic practitioners in my community, and all of this has contributed to the practitioner I’ve become. But it wasn’t until I learned how to deeply love and trust myself and my own inner knowing that I felt truly comfortable and confident being of service to others in a meaningful way.
I admit it was gradual, and the result of lots of self-reflection, meditation and just living, but it was accelerated by my Practitioner studies. The spiritual principles we became immersed in through classes, service and daily practice began to dissolve my thickened human skin. One day I just got tired of looking for someone else to teach me about the next great mystery. I was weary of the constant journey outside myself in search of answers I thought others had and I must somehow discover. In my reflecting back on so many small moments; like when I had made a decision not to do something. Just as I was silently condemning my laziness, another possibility dawned that resonated as true … I didn’t choose to do that “something” because it really was in my best interest to say No. It wasn’t because I was lazy. I got curious to see how often I assumed the worst about my intuition and instincts, was I really that hard on myself? The answer was Yes. Definitely YES! Enough of that, what a waste of time. On the other hand, what a revelation! Awareness is a potent alchemist. I was renewed to rewind and count all the quietly brilliant choices made at just the right time, how well so many things had turned out and yet I had allowed a film of self doubt to settle over the glow of it all. I had hidden my light under a bushel, as the saying goes. I had hidden it from myself. And found it within. Life is a great teacher.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
From my years in retail and management I learned what didn’t work way more often than what did, but those added up to the ability to cut straight to the point. It begins with hiring for attitude/personality and enthusiasm. I asked questions designed to reveal evidence of common sense (most valuable trait!), a sense of humor, an inquiring mind and respect for others. I could stop there and you’d be well on your way to success, but I also learned that consistent communication with my team was key. I asked their opinions and made creativity and the freedom to share ideas a cornerstone. In the beginning I made the mistake of trusting that if I bent over backwards to give everyone what they asked for, they would bend over backwards to excel at their jobs and support my efforts. I found out that this wasn’t true, and that applied to all age groups. It was better to have a vision, share it, improve it when the best ideas were offered, make my expectations for their work ethic well known and hold them to it when they missed the mark. Communication was respectful but clear and consistent with all team members.
I also recommend a humble heart and a healthy ego; one that uplifts with confidence, not arrogance.
I once went to bat for a woman who had worked for the company a year earlier but had been let go. My store leadership didn’t want to hire her back but I had an excellent interview with her and my gut said she would be great. She explained that the year before while she worked for us her father had become ill and she was caring for him as well as working. When he began to decline physically she found herself in a terrible emotional state that affected her work, to the point of termination.
I explained all this to my store leadership and voiced my faith in her until they were tired of hearing about it and relented. The woman was so grateful and became energized by my confidence in her.
In no time she became the most reliable, productive and trustworthy team member I had. She was generous with other teams in the store too, and would help them on her days off if someone called out sick. At the end of the year she won a fabulous gift basket, cash prize and extra time off when she was voted Team Member of the Year. I learned that I would have to trust my gut and go out on a limb sometimes. Granted, it didn’t always yield perfect results, but every experience is a lesson. That’s how we get better at our jobs and in our lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheNewPath.net
- Instagram: @tina_lightbody
- Facebook: www.facebook/floweringtina
Image Credits
Megan Zuzevich