Last November I interviewed the amazing Joanna DeVoe to coincide with Wonderworker Week. I took the opportunity to ask her some questions about the business journey and it was amazing! This time around I couldn't wait to ask my darling friend and much respected fellow online biz owner Carrie Mallon some questions. Her answers have seriously enhanced my Wonderworker Week tenfold! I am so happy to finally be able to share her amazing insights with you and I am so pleased to be able to call her a friend. Read on and you'll totally understand why!
I’d love to know what originally led you to
realize that you wanted to start a Tarot business..
Carrie: There were a handful of years where I had the sensation the universe was
leading me to something, but it took a while for me to figure out what that
was. It really was like following breadcrumbs! During those years, I was slowly
liberating my creative energies that had been blocked – tarot was a huge part
of that process.
As I went through all this growth, it became undeniable to me that the
corporate world wasn’t where I was meant to be. I knew I wanted to do something
‘bigger’. I had such a strong desire to help people work through their blocks
and take ownership of their creativity. I’d gone through all this transformation
and I felt like I could contribute something to others on their own paths. But
all of this seemed really vague, and I couldn’t quite grasp what that next step
would look like.
In this way, it was almost like the concept of starting a tarot business
had been sitting there staring me in the face for a while, but it took me ages
to see it! When the idea did come to me, it was just like “oh yeah. I should
start a tarot business. That’s perfect!” It felt like exactly what I’d been
waiting for. Looking back now, I feel like the timing unfolded perfectly. I
really had to work through a lot of my own BS and show a level of trust in life
before I realized that starting a tarot business was what I wanted to do.
Did you find that you had to battle a fair amount
of resistance or insecurity before actually taking the plunge and starting
Happy Fish Tarot?
Carrie: Oh yeah, totally! Ha! I talked about that a little in
my response to the previous question. Right before I started my business, I
couldn’t stop thinking about this quote from Anais Nin: “and the day came when
the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to
blossom.” Once I knew I was at that tipping point the resistance was still
there, but I also knew I HAD to expand. That was when I started to feel a force
within me that was even stronger than resistance, and this was what helped me
move forward.
What was the most challenging thing about the
first few months of being in business?
Carrie: The most challenging thing was realizing that this really was just the
beginning of my adventure. I think I kind of hoped it would be like, I learned
so much about myself, worked through all this resistance, started a business
and then everything was great! But of course, it didn’t quite go like that. It
WAS great, but I still had SO much to learn about myself and about running a
business. I had to learn consistency, I had to learn grit, and perhaps most
importantly; I had to learn to keep following my creative impulses no matter
how the external world reacted.
Along those lines, one of the challenging things about the beginning phases of business was showing up even when it felt like no one was listening. I did not have an audience when I started putting out content, and feeling like I was talking to myself tripped me up. Of course, this ended up being yet another learning experience. I learned the importance of creating for the sake of creating versus creating for outside validation. And the funny thing was that as I made that mindset shift, more people slowly started paying attention to my message.
As you look back over your business journey so
far, how would you say you’ve grown as a biz owner and as a person in general?
Carrie: I’ve grown so much, and I know I’m still evolving! It’s only been a
little over two years, but when I look back at my first few blog posts and
videos I can really sense how my energy has shifted. One of the main things is
that I’ve just become more consistent at letting myself inhabit my creative
bad-assery. I do still get in my own way sometimes (as most of us do!) but
overall I feel like I’ve become more unfiltered ‘me.’ It’s not that I wasn’t me
when I started out, but I had a lot more self-consciousness and uncertainty. I
think I’ve now learned to sort of set that shit to the side and let the more
powerful parts of myself come forward.
People can definitely fall into the trap of
romanticizing the notion of being a self-employed Tarot reader. Let’s take a
brief moment to honour the fact that it’s not all shiny and joyful! What are
the toughest parts of your job and how do you deal with them?
Carrie: A lot of the things I’ve talked about already is tough stuff:
encountering self-doubts, putting out content that sometimes gets ignored, all
that jazz. But that’s the tough stuff I think you have to be grateful as a
business owner (or even just as a human being) because you can learn from it.
Aside from all that, one thing that’s tough for me is how lonely it can be.
Not everyone understands what it’s like to be so immersed in something that
means so much to you. Some people think “it’s just a business” and don’t get
that it’s more than that! It’s an ongoing creative project that I pour myself
into. It’s been so important for me to spend time around people who do get
that. I’m not saying I can only be friends with passionate, entrepreneurial
people, but I do need some of those people around me! Especially for the last
year or so, I’ve been making a conscious effort to regularly talk with people
who understand the business journey. This has been huge in helping me feel less
lonely and more connected.
There are people out there who are only just
starting their business journey. They are right at the very beginning, trying
to build an audience and hoping for that very first sale. What would you say to
inspire and encourage them?
Carrie: First I would say: good for you! You should be so
proud of the bravery it has taken you to get here. From time to time, you may
find yourself feeling impatient or overwhelmed. Know that this is okay, we all
feel this way – but this energy isn’t really conducive to your creativity (and
you need all that creative energy to build your business!). Make it your
intention to cultivate patience and assurance. Remind yourself to focus on
tuning into your soul and taking the next right step in any given moment.
Usually, that next step will be quite small, but that’s how meaningful things
are built, through a series of small and consistent steps. You’ll need to
hustle to make this business work. You’ll need to get comfortable putting
yourself out there, seeking clients, taking risks. But remember that hustling
is only beneficial if it feels good and comes from an authentic place. Clarify
why you are starting your business, and constantly bring yourself back to that
why. Keep learning about business, keep learning about yourself, and remember
to enjoy the ride.
You now offer business mentoring to help people realize their own business dreams. What is your core philosophy as a business mentor?
Carrie: My core philosophy is that your business is your own hero's journey, and
it will come with trials. I’ve experienced that firsthand, and it lends itself
to the way I approach my mentoring clients. For many of us, starting a business
brings up a lot of our issues. I alluded to this earlier: my business has
taught me that I often just need to get the eff out of my own way! That’s one
of the main things I work on with my clients; helping them get out of their own
way. I guide clients in looking at all the monsters that come up in business:
resistance, impatience, procrastination, the list goes on. We consider what
shifts can be made to move through these things. I think that we are often our
own biggest barriers in business, and the best part of business mentoring is
seeing people recognize and step out of those patterns and into a more
empowered way of being.
I think that mindset stuff has to come first, but I also work with
people on more traditional business themes: starting and growing a social media
account, figuring out content creation, looking at how to market themselves,
etc. I really enjoy talking about business stuff, and it’s super cool to see my
clients making real progress.
Carrie: This is going to go against probably everything else you’ll read about
‘rebranding.’ Seriously, I was Googling so many articles about how to make that
transition and most of them implied that this was a Huge Deal and I needed to
spend ages planning the change. This is probably true for some businesses, but
I run a small heart-centered thing. I didn’t need to be getting hung up about
how this change would impact SEO or any of that more nuanced stuff.
That said, my main advice is don’t overthink it. If making that switch
feels right for you, just do it! It really doesn’t have to be some huge
dramatic thing. I managed to stay pretty calm and self-assured through the
whole transition, and I think that embodying that energy was key in helping the
transition go so smoothly.
Why did you personally decide that it was time to
use your own name?
Carrie: On a subconscious level, I think I wanted to use my
name from day one, but I wasn’t ready. Using a business name made things feel
more safe, like there was a protective wall between vulnerable little me and my
business. It’s not that using the name Happy Fish Tarot was inauthentic, it’s
more that it was a healthy stepping stone for a while, but I reached the point
where I felt confident without it. Aside from that, I think it just makes more
sense to use my name considering the type of business I run. I’m a one-on-one
service provider. Different naming philosophies work better for different types
of business. For my business, using my name just seems like the natural thing
to do.
Who do you currently recommend for awesome
heart-centred business advice? Lay some links on us!
I can’t get enough of Paul Jarvis lately (pjrvs.com). He has this approach
that I find centered, practical and kind. He’s kind of the antithesis of the
‘make six figures while you sit on an island!’ type of business teacher – in
fact, he regularly pokes fun at a lot of mainstream marketing advice. He also
has refreshing perspectives on how business ties into our experience as human
beings, and I’m hugely interested in that.
I also recently discovered Meighan O’Toole (meighanotoole.com) and I’m
digging her style, too. She gives a lot of straightforward advice on the
day-to-day tasks of running a business. I like that she has a heart-centered
perspective but she doesn’t shy away from things like analytics and growth. I
really admire teachers who walk that balance between the logic, data driven
parts and the creative, artistic parts of business.
What do you wish someone had told you before you
became a professional Tarot reader?
You’re more talented than you think, you have a
better work ethic than you think. You have a lot to offer others, and you
really can inspire, encourage and transform people through your work. You’re
heading in the right direction, keep going.
Tell us one thing you’ve learned about
the art of getting sales and making coin in this game?
Is it okay if I tell you three things I’ve learned? ;)
I’ve learned that the old
cliché is true: people buy from people they know, like and trust. This is even
more true if you do one-on-one tarot readings, mentoring, counseling, etc.
People want to get a feel for who you are, what you know, and how they resonate
with you before they invest in your services. I recently had a client who told
me she’s been following me on Instagram for over a year and just decided to
make a purchase for the first time.
I’ve also found that when
you’re generous with your free stuff (blogs, social media posts, etc) people
are more inspired to work with you. I did a huge series on my blog where I went
through the cards from the Wild Unknown tarot one by one, pouring heaps of
knowledge into the process. I’ve now had many clients who purchased from me
because they enjoyed that free series.
And the last thing is the
most importance: get your own energy right. I do think there’s something to the
notion that people are drawn to energy. If you’re approaching your business
with a desperate “I need to make sales NOW” energy, things tend to get murky.
It’s much better to do the inner work it takes to approach your business with a
calm, trusting energy. That’s when things start to feel like they are gradually
clicking into place.
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