Follow the Breadcrumbs (and how I got to where I am today)

There are 2 phrases that I hear myself saying frequently to both my clients and my students: “follow the breadcrumbs” and “listen to the nudges”. The idea with both of these is the same…when you get an idea, or something piques your interest, there is a reason. And you owe it to yourself to pursue it so that you can see where it will lead you.

Your journey will rarely, if ever, be a straight line from Point A to Point B. You are meant to have experiences along the way, including a variety of people, places, and things. The easiest way to figure out the next step is to listen to your intuition when it is trying to guide you. Did you hear about a topic that made your soul perk up a bit? If so, then read about it, watch a YouTube video on it, or ask someone you know to share their knowledge of it with you. Have you met someone that seems to magnetically draw you to them? Invite them out for coffee (even if it’s virtual) and see where it leads; they may be your next teacher, colleague, or confidant.

If you had told me years ago that I would one day own my own wellness business, I would have laughed hysterically and told you that you must be completely delusional. At that time, I hadn’t yet started following the breadcrumbs that would lead me to where I am today, so I had no idea that my life as it currently is was even a possibility. And quite often, we won’t see the end point until we’ve arrived there, so it’s also important to enjoy the expedition at every step. People often ask me how I went from working in Quality Assurance at a biotech company for nearly 16 years to owning my own wellness business, so here is my breadcrumb journey thus far.

Several years ago, I was on a solo retreat at Kripalu and was looking through their Healing Arts offerings. (If you’ve never been to Kripalu, I highly recommend a visit!) I saw this thing called Reiki, and the description intrigued me, so I had a session (breadcrumb). And I loved it! So when I got back, I was talking to some friends about it, which led them to ask me if I wanted to take a class to become a Reiki practitioner. I asked if I became a Level I practitioner, would I be able to do self-Reiki? They said yes, absolutely, so I signed up for the class (breadcrumb).

During the class, I learned that in Reiki II, practitioners learn and receive the ability to do Distance Reiki. As someone who is fortunate enough to have friends & family all over the world, I knew I had to progress on to Reiki II so that I could help them too (breadcrumb).

After receiving my Reiki II attunement, I was chatting with a friend about Reiki. She owns a local gym and offered me a small room to rent there so that I could offer Reiki to people there, as it was something her clients were interested in. I was a bit incredulous, as this hadn’t really ever crossed my mind, and said “Wait. So, like, people would pay me to do Reiki for them??” She laughed and said, “Absolutely. I have a list of people that would love it.” So I said sure and set up shop there a few nights & weekends (breadcrumb).

I quickly discovered that I absolutely LOVED working with Reiki clients, and I considered getting my own space so that I could offer additional availability to people that might be interested. The space at the gym was great, but I had to work around the Zumba schedule, which wasn’t always convenient for clients (or me). One day, the thought to look for an office space on Craigslist popped into my head (breadcrumb). At first, I was hesitant, because…well…Craigslist. But the nudge was persistent, so I looked and there was a small, affordable office available less than 15 minutes from home. I called to inquire, and the landlord said I could come by and look at it any time that day. So I went to see it and could imagine making that space mine, so I wrote him a check on the spot to secure it (breadcrumb).

Shortly thereafter, my Reiki teacher asked if I was ready to take her upcoming Master/Teacher class (breadcrumb). Yikes. Me?? Really?? At that point, the idea of becoming a Master/Teacher hadn’t really crossed my mind, and holy shit, being a Reiki Teacher is a LOT of responsibility. Did I really want to do that?? After I got over my initial fear of it, I said yes, and received my Master/Teacher training and attunement.

A few months later, I was drawn to a very particular oracle card deck. I already owned a few decks at that point, but I couldn’t get this particular one out of my head, so I ordered it (breadcrumb). When I received it, opened it, and touched the cards for the first time, it was absolutely electric! I immediately knew that I needed to start offering oracle card readings to people and that THIS was the deck I was supposed to use. So I added oracle card readings to my list of services (breadcrumb).

Fast forward about a year. I had quit my corporate job and was now doing this work full-time. One morning, I woke up and was told by my guides that I needed to start making crystal jewelry as another way to help people heal (breadcrumb). I was shocked because I didn’t know the first thing about making jewelry, but, after I finished laughing, I said “Ok, I’ll figure it out” (you can read more about that here). And over time, I’ve been guided to make different styles of crystal pieces (breadcrumb), which has allowed me to help an even wider variety of people.

So long story short, follow the breadcrumbs! You never know how different your life can be a year from now just by saying “Yes”. I can’t wait to see what my life will be like 1, 5, or even 10 years from now!