We were lucky to catch up with Tonya Kassler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tonya , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

What it takes to be successful is putting in the work, especially starting out the business, there are no days off. I hear it a lot, ” You own a business, you can take a day off.” I wish is were that easy. I didn’t start off successful. I was working my business and my full time job, 90 plus hours a week. I know that if I didn’t put the work in to build this business to where it is, which took 2ish years, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I am happy where it has come and in my heart and mind I feel successful. Success also doesn’t have the same meaning to everyone. To me, being able to quit my career job and putting my faith into my growing business to now owning a store front, is success! My happiness is my ultimate success.

Tonya , 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 started getting into my business around the time covid started. I am a licensed MRI technologist and a took a voluntary furlough at the time and started to embrace my passions. I have loved crystals, some call them rocks, but I see them as much more. They harness energies of the earth and they have been used for centuries around the world. I decided I wanted to start selling crystals during this time and I acquired a few crystals I wanted to sell. I created a Facebook business page and did a live sale on a Sunday afternoon with my little board of crystals that were lined up in little numbered boxes to make it easier for online sales. BOIII, was I NOT prepared for that life changing moment. This was a time where the internet was at a peak due to many people being home due to covid. I had made multiple sales that day from my little show. THIS was a life changing moment. I continued doing live shows twice a week. Acquired a big following and continued to do live sales while working my MRI job( I did go back to work soon after)! What sets Soulspressions apart from other businesses is we want to change the worlds view of crystals as well as help those wanting to know more about them. I didn’t get into this business to make money, that is a perk of it. I got into it to help and create dreams for people, teach people that harnessing energies can help and make a difference in your life. Happiness is the key and I want everyone to be happy in their life. I tell that to every person that I meet.
I went from an at home online business to now, my boyfriend and I run a store front at Destiny USA in Syracuse, NY. Every-time someone steps foot into the store we feel blessed because we know we are helping them in some way. We want everyone leaving with a smile on their face and happiness in their heart.
We feel blessed to be doing something we love and to be able to share it with the world.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Deciding to quit my full time career job! This was a pivoting life choice. Its the Angel and Devil on the shoulder feel. I had a career and I was making good money. I had to decide to quit this steady income job to put my faith in my business, with an unknown outcome. YES, I am glad I was glad to put my faith into my business. I was at a point in my business where I had to decide to quit or continue to work while doing my business on the side. The demand for my business was growing. All the time I put into the business while working my career started to out way the career and I was at a turning point. If I didn’t quit, I would be at a steady slope, maybe even a possible decline because I would have to keep putting in the same exhausting effort(90+ hours a week) and eventually pass out. So continuing both could happen but, the growth would be at a stand still. If i quit, all my time can be dedicated to my growing business with an outcome that could increase overtime, but honestly, I didn’t know what the outcome would be. It was scary, it was ballsy, it was crazy in others eyes, but I am so happy i put faith in myself. Now, my boyfriend and I run a store front at Destiny USA.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I do sell crystals on Etsy, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok! The pros are getting your name and crystals out to customers all over the world. This is great because you do not have to leave the comforts of home to shop. The cons of this is a lot of people like to encompass the energies of the crystals and this is not an option when ordering online. In this case, I try to provide as much information about the crystals as well as taking beautiful pictures of each piece on the site. Having Facebook and Instagram lives are helpful also because customers are able to see the crystal in real time as well as being able to gauge the beauty of each one. Having reviews are helpful for customers to be able to order online because they want to make sure they are ordering from a reliable source, rightfully so. We do our darnedest to make sure everyone is happy in-store and online!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.facebook.com/soulspressions
• Instagram: Soulspressions
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/soulspressions
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/soulspressions

Image Credits
Mural done by myself, Tonya Kassler. Boyfriend, Ryan is demonstrating size of image.