We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Weslyn Rae Newburn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Weslyn Rae, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I actually run two businesses: I’m a tarot reader and one of the creatives behind Creepy Girl Trap, a business I started with my best friend so we could share our art and love of all things creepy with other like-minded people. The cards came first though, so we’ll start there.
I’ve been reading tarot since I was ten years old. When I got my very own deck at twelve, I knew I wanted to read professionally some day. That dream finally became reality in 2022 when I got over my fear of reading for strangers and finally put myself out into the world as Southern Witch Tarot. The main reason I wanted to read cards for others is to help them. I find tarot to be one of the most useful self-help tools I own and I wanted to provide that resource to others. I take a slightly different, although not entirely unique, approach to the tarot. I don’t use spreads when I’m doing in-person readings, I just let the cards that want to be read pop out and I read them in sequence based on the client’s concerns. My readings are a combination of intuition and extensive knowledge in the occult and esoteric realms. I feel that I offer a wealth of information that can sometimes be overlooked by other types of readings. I’m also incredibly honest and I’m not afraid to tell you the truth, even if that truth is painful.
As an artist, I’m primarily a taxidermist. I work with insects, bones, and smaller animals to create works of art out of something that many deem as ugly or not worthwhile. I’ve been collecting specimens since I was a child, but I never really made anything with what I had until 2023 when I visited my best friend, Allie, in Portland, OR. We were sitting on her couch, talking about all of our goals and aspirations in life – how we just want a way to share our art and passions with the world – and that is when Creepy Girl Trap was born. There are plenty of businesses out there for alternative folks, but not many of them encompass everything that we strive to. We strive to supply a collection of tarot and oracle cards, books, secondhand clothes and shoes, handmade jewelry, art, and anything else we can find for the weirdos who are never fully represented anywhere they go. Our motto is that Creepy Girl is a state of mind, not body. Everyone has a Creepy Girl inside of them. We cater to that.
Now, if we want to talk about the mundane, I just got my FL real estate sales associate license at the end of 2024. I’ve worked as the Strategic Coordinator at Fowler Revell Real Estate Co. for a year now, learning the business and taking the pre-licensing course. I never thought this would be the field that I ended up in, but in a way, real estate is just another way to help people realize their goals and dreams. I believe that a home should be a safe space, and if you don’t feel that way, I want to help you find it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As a tarot reader, I’ve been reading for over 20 years. I strive to constantly educate myself and keep myself spiritually aligned so that I can provide the most accurate information possible to my clients. I’m very open, spiritually, but generally speaking I’m an eclectic solitary Pagan. I offer both in-person and distance readings as well as cleansings and occasionally spellwork. I’m also an ordained minister for anyone who doesn’t follow a particular spiritual path and wants non-denominational services. Before I started Southern Witch Tarot, I worked as the store manager at the largest metaphysical store in North Florida, Stone Age, for nearly ten years. I was the manager for about half of the time I was employed there. The bulk of my time was spent helping customers solve their spiritual dilemmas, and in doing that I learned a lot. I strive to spread my knowledge and help people through readings and the other services that I offer. I think I am proudest of how many people I have been able to help through my work. I genuinely care about people and their well being, so if that means I have to tell you something that might hurt you in order for you to understand, then I’m going to do it. Most people appreciate the honesty even if it is painful to hear sometimes.
As an artist, I want to express my love for nature. I strive to be as sustainable as possible in my artwork and that bleeds into the inventory of Creepy Girl Trap. While my art focuses heavily on nature and includes everything from insects to bones, dried flowers, and anything else interesting I find outdoors, the rest of my inventory focuses on sustainability and spiritual growth. I exclusively source secondhand clothes and shoes in an attempt to show people that you don’t have to buy the newest fashions from alt brands to look goth or alternative. There are so many textiles out there that we don’t need to constantly be purchasing new things to look how we want to look. I’m also a huge fan of physical media, so I source secondhand books, movies, and music to share with others. I do focus more on “weird” stuff than the mainstream, but generally, if I like it and I already own it, I’ll pass it on to someone else through Creepy Girl Trap. As far as spiritual growth goes in terms of my business and art, I like to create spell bottles and intentional jewelry as well as curate a collection of tarot and oracle cards to help people on their journeys. I’m most proud of how my art and business has opened people’s eyes to the beauty of taxidermy and how being intentional with everything you do can change your life.
As a real estate sales associate, I really just want to be myself. I’m not trying to fit a cookie cutter mold. I’m a goth southerner and I intend to be honest and forward about that with my clients. The more honest you are with people, the easier it is to help them, so why try to be someone I’m not? My main goal is to help people meet their housing needs. I want to help people see the potential that I see when I look at a property. The structure of a home has so much to say. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a manufactured home or a stately brick manor. There’s something beautiful in every structure and I want to help people see that.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective thing I’ve found for growing my clientele is putting myself out into the world bot physically and digitally. Social media is increasingly important because we spend so much time online. It’s hard to run a business without having some sort of social media. While the bulk of my audience is on Instagram, I’m trying to spread out to other platforms as well such as my websites and YouTube. I find that it’s much easier to connect with people in person though. The bulk of my clientele comes from markets and events.
For tarot readings, I predominantly do readings at my local queer bar, 926 Bar & Grill, that hosts goth night. I had been a patron there for years before I finally got out of my comfort zone and asked if I could attend goth night as a tarot reader. I read there three times a month, typically, sometimes more if there’s a special event that allows vendors. I used to do markets as a reader before I started Creepy Girl Trap, but realized it wasn’t as beneficial because most people are shopping at markets and aren’t as interested in spending money on an experience.
With Creepy Girl Trap, I travel all over the state of Florida doing markets and events. I think the more you put yourself out there, the more people you reach. Business cards are really important. I’ve had so many people take my card at a big event and then find me online later. While I have definitely had some flops in terms of events, I still think they’re worth a shot. Just stay within your means in terms of event fees. I think the best thing for people who are just getting started is to find a really good local market and stick with it for awhile. My favorite local market is Kreatures Oddity Market. I’m a little biased since I’m one of the people behind the scenes of the market, but it is by far the best market that I do outside of the really big oddities expos. The connections I make with my fellow vendors are amazing and the ability to connect with locals who have the same vibe as you is something I wouldn’t trade.
My clientele as a real estate sales associate is virtually non-existent right now, but look within your sphere of influence. Friends and family are likely to be your first clients or be the ones to refer others to you. Don’t underestimate how many people you’re actually connected to! Those connections can make a world of difference in your career.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
With all of my businesses, I started small. I didn’t have money laying around to invest in anything, really. When I first started doing tarot readings for the general public I was digital only. I had no private space to read in besides my home, so digital readings seemed to be the best option at the time. When i became more comfortable, I started meeting people at my local coffee shop to do in-person readings. Despite it not being a private space, I was able to make really great connections with people for the small fee of buying a coffee or treat at the shop while I was meeting clients. When I had made a small amount of money off of those readings, I invested in a 4′ by 4′ tent and a table and chairs to provide privacy for my readings. Spending that little bit of money (I think it was $150 for all of it) was the best investment I’ve ever made. I’m still using the same tent and chairs, although I did buy a lighter table in 2023. It turns out that lugging around a marble tabletop was a little more work than I expected it to be!
For Creepy Girl Trap, I invested some of my tarot money into buying a four foot table to do a small indoor market and supplies to make shadow boxes. I did so well at that one market that I was able to buy a second table and a clothing rack. Every bit of money I made at those little markets got reinvested into the business to either buy set up materials or supplies to make new inventory. By October of 2023 I was able to afford a 10′ by 10′ tent to do outdoor markets with. Now that I’m relatively comfortable with my market set up, it’s a matter of finessing things to make markets run smoother. Most of my expenses now are for supplies and inventory, but occasionally I have to replace things that I bought early on that weren’t the best quality to begin with, or stuff I got for free that is finally on its last leg.
The main takeaway here is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get started. Start where you are. If you have a small amount of inventory and you want to do your first market, see if you can borrow a table from a fellow vendor or the market coordinator. Source things secondhand to save yourself some money and as you make that money back, reinvest it into your business so you can keep going.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.weslynrae.wixsite.com/southernwitch | creepy-girl-trap.square.site
- Instagram: @southernwitchtarot @creepygirltrap @southerngothicrealestate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086225142097 | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554415644494 | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571419073874
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslyn-rae-newburn-1697072ba/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@weslynrae | https://www.youtube.com/@SouthernGothicRealEstate
Image Credits
Rewski Photography
Weslyn Rae Newburn