We were lucky to catch up with Whitney Hutchison recently and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I previously worked in the mental health field, and more specifically with children who live in residential facilities for mental illness. Growing up, it was important for me to have a community or at least a single person that I could rely on consistently. This was my goal working in the mental health field; I wanted to be that consistent person for other people. I worked 12 hour days for 4 days out of the week and the work was mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. I started to second guess if this was my right path. I so desperately wanted to help other people and I really wanted to help people feel better about themselves and their environment. But I was being drained and without any room for self-care and recovery. I always worked through my own obstacles, confusion, or disappointments with my spirituality. More specifically with my tarot cards. But could the same work for other people? Could I bring that same peace and clarity to others that I provide for myself? One night I was reading my own cards and I received The Fool. This card represents new beginnings, starting something completely new, and going into life living more in the moment versus hyper focusing on the future or past. In that moment I asked if I was happy with my career path, and without the cards help, I determined that I was not happy. So, the next day I quit my job. Just like that. That day forward, I opened my gifts to those in my community. I may not be able to help people through the mental health system, but I am motivated to help people with my tarot readings and advice. Each person I’ve helped, even in the smallest of ways, I can feel the love and appreciation. I’m helping others in my own way and I no longer feel burnt out or like every ounce of my being is being used up. The biggest risk I took was quitting that job to pursue my heart’s desire. And every second has been worth it. It’s was a slow start but, I am so happy with where I am now. I keep taking risk after risk; now I’m on the path of owning my very own online metaphysical store.

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?

Hi! I’m Whitney, a tarot reader and soon to be business owner. I started my journey with tarot cards and runes about 10 years ago. I used these spiritual tools to help me through a time of darkness in my personal life. Tarot gave me the space to lay out my thoughts, my goals, and my inspiration. It made it easier for me to prioritize what was most important to me and my personal path forward. About 4 years ago, I decided it was time to take my gift and help other people through the same things I went through. My biggest goal was to help clear a murky mind, to help others love themselves the way other people love them, and to help affirm the feelings people were already having but couldn’t quite admit to themselves. I started with friends and family of course, which led to farmers markets and small fair booths. Over a year ago I created my Facebook page Green Witch Readings. This became a platform for anyone who wanted a reading with me and helped me provide free readings for the general public as well. I’ve gained so many wonderful clients through that page and other spiritually led groups on Facebook. This beautiful tarot journey led me to my dream of owning a small business. I wanted to incorporate tarot readings, but I also wanted to provide my second and third favorite things; crystals and house plants! That’s when Magpie’s Hideout was created, and is still being created. This will be a store that provides ethically and locally sourced crystals/stones, art done by my partner Steve, incense, homemade oils and sprays, plants grown by me, and other metaphysical items for every day use. I want to create a space where people feel comfortable to shop for what they want, to express themselves through something new, and to have a little fun. The big goal is to have a store front in the future! One step at a time and I believe that this dream will come true!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started providing tarot readings for other people I didn’t charge. I held a belief that since I was just getting started with connecting to other people’ energy, it wouldn’t be fair to charge. As time went on and my readings became more sought after, I reached out to a mutual of mine and asked for guidance. I was struggling with feeling like a “sell out” or like I was now “scamming” people. Those thoughts had me second guessing if I should even be trying to do this as a career. But my friend gave me some sound advice to follow; “What you provide is a service. Do people go to the barbers and expect a free haircut? No. Do people show up to their therapy appointments and expect it to be free? Again, no. So why should you?” This helped me open my eyes and helped me regain my strength within my purpose and skill. I got a lot of backlash when I added prices to my readings, and I lost a lot of followers on my page. But what it taught me was that I am worth it even when people turn their backs, and the people who appreciate me will still come to me for services and guidance. It was hard at first but it built my resilience and confidence.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’ve mentioned that I have my own Facebook page, Green Witch Readings, but I gained a lot of my recent clients through another Facebook group called, Natural Witchcraft. Joining another group that provides tarot readings, among a lot of others things, helped me dive further into a community that related to me and my own journey. This specific group, Natural Witchcraft, has an approved reader program that I applied for. Once getting accepted, it showed the members that I was not some one who was scamming people, but a trusted reader who had to go through an intensive interview with the Administrator team of the page. It built trust between myself and the community. Finding social media groups or pages that align with your career is a wonderful way to expand your business or to gain more clients. The more you spread your name around, the more attention you will gain. Networking is an old trick in the business book but it’s really beneficial if enough dedication is involved. I was lucky to find a community that supports me and let’s me support them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magpieshideout.myshopify.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarotbywhitney
• Other: Tiktok: @mommaandherplants