Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Stephanie Cunningham, Co-Founder of RevelationU Reiki & Wellbeing, located in Marysville, OH, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
RevelationU Reiki & Wellbeing is a personal development firm committed to helping individuals create a life that feels deeply satisfying by reconnecting them with their true nature.
Through Reiki Energy Healing, Spiritual coaching, and live and online workshops, RevelationU has helped hundreds of people feel more comfortable in their own skin and enhance their lives physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Each offering is designed to help individuals become more self-aware, feel deeply understood & connected, and able to move forward with more confidence and spiritual alignment on their unique path to wholeness.
Most of my clients and students are Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) & Empaths who are more sensitive to the world around them physically and energetically. Experiencing life with these personality traits can be, well, a bit confusing and cause feelings of anxiety, depression, disconnection, and even serious health problems as they try to navigate a world that feels foreign.
Another subset of clients are women transitioning from one phase of life to another, looking to get reacquainted with themselves after a long stretch of focusing their attention elsewhere. Women whose children are getting older and more independent, women who are experiencing a divorce, going through a career change, or who are in their 60s are looking to reconnect with themselves after a lifetime of focusing on family.
Tell us about yourself
I've always been intuitive and felt deeply connected with others and the world around me. A good thing but also confusing. I was very sensitive, but most people didn't know that. Like many, I kept it hidden. Feeling like there was something wrong with me. At 23, I realized that there wasn't anything wrong with me; I just navigated life a little differently than most. Understanding that I was a Highly Sensitive Person and an Empath cleared up a lot of things for me. Had I been privy to this information earlier, I might have understood life and everything in it better.
Nevertheless, my way of navigating the world inspired my spiritual awakening at the age of 12, when I came to understand that most of us were not experiencing life in alignment with our true nature. That we were living in a state of disconnection that was slowly killing us from the inside out. Kind of intense for 12, I know. However, that realization unleashed my mission to help people feel better. That's how my adolescent brain understood it. Now I understand that my desire is to help people reconnect with themselves and the world around them.
Unsure of how this mission translated into an actual career, I zeroed in on traditional psychology. It seemed like the right move, but as I began to study psychology, it just didn't feel right. It felt more clinical than connecting to me. So, I left the program and went to business school. I grew up in a business environment and really enjoyed learning more about it. I learned about marketing, technology, group dynamics, strategy, and execution. It was thought-provoking, activating, and FUN! It wasn't as connecting as I would have liked, but it offered other things that felt good, so I continued down the path.
At the end of my senior year of college, I read a book that changed my life. The Celestine Prophecy introduced me to the subject of metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that studies being, knowing, and existence. This book addresses the concepts of awareness, energy, and interconnection, which helped me understand what I was experiencing and put words to what I intrinsically knew was true. This information was what I had been seeking for nearly a decade! I couldn't believe it!
As I began my professional career, I continued to study metaphysics and human behavior. I developed my business acumen and my understanding of how we interact and connect with each other on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. At 24, I heard the term life coach and knew that was the direction I wanted to go in. This was not a particularly popular career choice in the early 2000s in Columbus, OH. Not only was it not popular, but it was also basically unheard of, and many in my circle thought my interest in spirituality and metaphysics was a little, um, unconventional.
So, I tucked that dream in my pocket and set off to learn more about life. I vowed to use my life as a class, soaking up all the knowledge about subjects that interested me and learning from every person I came in contact with. I understood that each situation I found myself in was an invitation for growth, development, and connection. I knew one day, my vision of helping people better understand themselves and the world around them to create dynamic, connected lives would become a reality. And it did.
After 20 years as a devoted student and (informal) teacher of metaphysics, human behavior, business, spirituality, mindfulness, and meditation, I decided to take the next step. To step into the vision I'd held for over two decades! In 2015, I became a Certified Professional Coach and founded RevelationU.
In 2018 I went through a transition, a divorce, and my own version of the Great Resignation (a few years before the trend during which Reiki supported my healing and growth journey, which put me on a path I had not expected.
After deepening my understanding of how energy affects us on every level (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual), I became a Reiki Master. I have watched this powerful modality enhance the lives of hundreds of people in ways I never expected. My clients have experienced relief from chronic pain and stress, healing of headaches and small injuries, the release of stuck energy related to emotional trauma, reconnection to self, others, and Source, the release of brain fog, enhanced clarity, and an overall elevated sense of wellbeing that has positively affected their personal and professional lives.
It's been an incredible, powerful journey. As a professional, I am known for my practical approach to spirituality, non-judgmental listening style, and energetic yet laid-back personality. As an HSP & Empath myself, I too, am a seeker focused on personal & spiritual growth. Much of my life has been spent studying spirituality and human behavior and integrating the concepts of the law of attraction, awareness, energy management, interconnection, chakra healing, mindfulness, and loving detachment into my own life, which has led to incredible inner and outer transformations.
I love the work I do and fully believe it is a calling more than a career choice. I believe that aligning your energy and elevating your consciousness is the ultimate form of personal and professional development, and I am honored to support others on their journey.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Starting a business is my biggest accomplishment. Rather than staying complacent in a situation that was unfulfilling to me, I trusted the spark within and took the leap. Leaving the security of corporate America to create the vision held in my soul for decades (and letting it evolve as it needs to) is a great success.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things I've encountered as a business owner is doing everything. I am a one-person business at this time, and splitting time between working with clients, creating content, marketing, and administration is a lot for one person to do. If I could outsource any part of it, it would definitely be marketing.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Stay true to yourself. Be clear about what you want your life (your whole life) and business to feel like, and stay committed to that every day. I have made choices that didn't feel right, but I thought they would be best for the business, and in the end, that wasn't the case.
- Allow your vision to be flexible and your business to evolve naturally and organically. Structure and goals are important, but leaving room for evolution can take you places you only dreamed of. I have found that releasing expectations of how things must look/be has been beneficial for me and my business.
- Just get started. You can likely find more reasons NOT to move forward with your idea than to move forward. You won't regret trying; you will regret not trying.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Doing life differently than your parents, community, friends, or most of society can be really scary. Thankfully there is a community of people just like you who understand. Listen to yourself, trust yourself and your Source of inspiration and connect with like-minded people. You got this!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: http://www.revelationu.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revelationu
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/be.revealed/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniecunningham2/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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