Healing Through Personal Development

Melissa (00:06) Well, hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of The Healer's Corner. We are back and we have Miss Brittany. And Britney, it feels like forever since I've gotten to see you. because you've been off doing really busy, wondrous things. you have a whole program helping women do all sorts of astounding things. So tell us about you. Maria (00:15) Bye. Brittany (00:17) It it is. Melissa (00:35) How you got to where you are, how you keep yourself busy. Maria (00:39) Just... Brittany (00:40) I'm a personal development coach and an educator and teacher of the occult. And how did I get here? Yes, I always keep myself busy. I'm absolutely always busy. I'm currently working on a degree, which is keeping me incredibly busy in psych. I'm I'm following ⁓ my dream of finishing my bachelor's and my master's in psych. So I I created Synergy Soul. From my own life experiences. And it had a lot to do with my own struggles, addiction, and mental health struggles, and the journey of discovering who I am and and living out to living my fullest potential. And in the midst of all of that, it was a lot of spiritual discovery, trial and error, lots of trauma healing, lots of different modalities. I have experimented with pretty much anything and everything on on purpose to see what works best, what is the motion most efficient, what what has worked for me and what do I feel is really effective and efficient for others. So I've been through ⁓ I started out as a ⁓ in school for exercise science, then I graduate graduated with my s my associates in applied physical therapy assisting. I went back for Reiki Master, Yoga Teacher, all of the things in between. And over the last six or so years have come to a space where I really enjoy the combination of helping somebody find their own connection to whatever the greater greater creator, life, spiritual way, and personal development. Lots of trauma healing, internal, ⁓ internal reflection going within somatic work, nervous system healing. And the reason why my work has shifted so much is because again, I've tried everything. I've been in the field of wellness and holistic wellness for 20 years. And been through it all, tried it all, and it just felt like something was missing. And the piece that was missing for me was the nervous system healing, the somatic healing, the trauma healing in the in the depth that I have the knowledge now and as I'm continuing my education. So I'm really focused on personal development. I have a year-long coaching container with women that is specifically Designed to assist women through self-mastery and self-actualization while also healing your nervous system, moving through somatic practices, breaking through burnout, managing stress, anxiety, depression. A lot of what I found in my work previously when women felt disconnected, it wasn't so much of their spiritual disconnection, it was mental health and trauma healing. And we live in a world where there's so many different forms of spirituality and beliefs and who knows what, right? New age, whatever you want to call it. And so when people are creating a life that they desire, if they want if you want to call it manifesting or living life by design, whatever it is, it's harder to hold on to your success when you are operating from trauma or if you're in burnout or you don't have the proper habits or tools to manage stress, anxiety, or your neurodivergence. So my work has really, really transformed into those areas because it's prolonged and it's creates sustainability and longevity in our wellness. Melissa (04:36) Well, I think it's great that you have tried so many things because not only you know it how it's helped you, but you've also now have experience in how those different things work and operate. So as your clients are coming to you, you're able to match them, you know, from experience. What works really well. And and I love that you are actually going through degrees of psychology, so you actually have a backing. Brittany (04:52) Yes. Yeah. Melissa (05:04) when you're saying, hey, this is actually trauma and not just buzzwording, you know? ⁓ 'cause it seemed like in the last year, year and a half, narcissist was like the buzzword that you heard everywhere for everything. And I'm like, well, how many of these people throwing this word around actually have a degree that to know exactly that that's what it is? So I love that you're like, no, I have this fancy piece of paper that's going to have my name on it. You know, to prove that I know what I'm talking about. Brittany (05:10) Yes. Maria (05:29) You Brittany (05:30) Yeah. Yeah. It does kind of feel like that though. Just like, ⁓ okay, this little fancy piece of paper because yeah, some of the classes I take right now, I'm like, I don't even need this. I don't know what I'm doing. But here we are. And yeah, I I agree. I agree. I I feel like there's a lot of therapy and psych jargon that goes that that people throw around and we don't really understand it. And the Melissa (05:42) Yeah. Brittany (05:58) the context in which people apply certain concepts. We want to make everything something more complex than it really is. And Yeah, I I think it's important. It was important for me to have that book science backed information for the work that that I desire to do. Melissa (06:23) And I know this nervous system healing seems to be a a growing aha moment for a lot of people. ⁓ would you say that's kind of like one of the beginner steps that you need to start with for a lot of the clients? Brittany (06:28) Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's actually safety, safety in the body. So that has a lot to do with nervous system healing and trauma healing. Because when we're not we when we're not feeling safe with something, it's harder to we the word self-sabotage, people always call it sabotage. It's not necessary sabotage. It's that we've created some protective mechanism within ourselves that maybe we're it's putting a barrier in our relationships or in our career development or in the way that we see ourselves. So absolutely. And I and I love that the nervous system work is more recognized because it's so important. That's something also that I think about a lot when it comes to spiritual healing and coaching that I've in the world of coaching and and I was a yoga teacher. I'm still a yoga teacher. I'm just not registered. But we there needs to be some type of education behind trauma and actual nervous system science so that people understand and can support their clients, their students in that way rather than just a surface level understanding of what of what we're doing. I think that should be an important piece integrated into that work. Melissa (07:59) No, no, Maria, because you do a lot of hypnosis for Maria (08:00) Isn't it important? No, another thing that I have realized is you can't give them the very scientific jargon because they won't understand. So you have to try and break it down to something like, I am not saying this as a way of criticizing like a two-year-old. Melissa (08:05) No, go ahead. Maria (08:30) to understand, know, something basic. Because I come across that there are some people are like, huh, I don't understand what you're saying. So I have to break it down to little baby chunks for them to get it. ⁓ okay, that makes sense. know, does that make sense to you? Is that what you come across with your clients? Brittany (08:34) Yeah. Yeah, for our clients, absolutely. Yes. For for my clients, I don't really use a lot of the scientific or even educational jargon from any of any of the areas that I've studied in. It really comes down to making it as simple as possible for people to grasp. Maria (09:09) Mm hmm. Yeah. Melissa (09:12) No, I know at one point Brittany, you used to do and maybe you still do, when you were in the store regularly, like ancestral, and sometimes that would tap into some like past life stuff. Do you find that some of the trauma in nervous system can be carried over from past life, or is that more like what's going on right now? Brittany (09:37) I definitely still work with the ancestors. They're my best friends. We spend as much time together as possible every day. And I wouldn't so necessarily say past life as in that person, but generational. Absolutely. Absolutely. Both, both, it seems to overlap. A lot of what people experience, the patterns, you can even recognize recognize them in living, in living family members. And also ancestral. And it can be. generations we don't even know those people who existed you know ⁓ and the and when the more that i've studied trauma the more there's a really great book it's called i think it's of my grandmother's hands or or my grandmother's hands and he's a therapist and he talks about black body white body trauma he works with i think mostly officers police officers And the way that it's broken down, and I love this book because the way he breaks it down is how the trauma starts at the beginning. It starts at the beginning of the lineage, whenever pain and suffering begun. And it's been passed down since. So absolutely it's not just what what we're experiencing today, but generational patterns that we're also breaking energetically and physically, mentally and emotionally. Melissa (11:03) I I've seen somewhere and I never went down the rabbit hole to make sure this was scientifically accurate, but what I saw was saying how those trauma can be embedded in the genes and they get handed down birth by birth. Have you run across that yet in some of your actual studies that that that is scientifically backed, or was that just online wishful thinking? Brittany (11:06) Well, Yeah. So technically it's epigenetics, and it's not that it's handed down in the genes as is an imprint, it changes the way that the genes function. So they ⁓ to put it simply, a gene can turn on and off, and then the way that it's presented, you know. ⁓ for example, recently I just read a research study for a class that was about children. Who have experienced significant childhood trauma, the gene to manage stress turns pretty much turns off if it's not taken care of. And so as they're entering adulthood, that it's they're less likely to be able to handle stressful situations and you know, may take different routes, addiction, whatever, you know. And Per a genetic at the genetic point, we don't they don't know how to actually turn it back on or change the gene. You know, there's no there's no Cure to changing the gene. Now we do have like mindfulness, we have breath work, we have energy work, we have all those things that can help us manage stress. And we have plant medicine that can help with neuroplasticity, but specifically at the at the genetic level, there's no way to go backwards, you know. So I don't know about I I I absolutely At a personal level, believe that it's passed down in an energetic way. Now in a genetic way, it's more of the way that the genes function. Melissa (13:13) Hmm. Can that same type of damage happen later in life, or is that more so the younger years? Brittany (13:19) Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Trauma can do so many it's in it's in s it's incredible the amount of changes that can happen from a traumatic experience in your body. Melissa (13:34) Well, I can't call the body a lemon at this point and return it. ⁓ Maria (13:37) Thanks. Brittany (13:38) No, no, we can't. We can't. And there's there's all different levels of trauma, you know. It's not just hu it's not mi it's not experiences like violence or ⁓ abuse. It can be micro traumas. We live in a world where we're protecting ourselves from each other spiritually and physically at this point, you know. The demons are really us fighting each other back and forth about who knows what. And Maria (13:57) Mm-hmm. ⁓ Brittany (14:06) We are experiencing micro traumas on a regular daily basis. So it's it's important to have tools in your toolbox to manage your stress and and keep your nervous system happy and healthy. And also addressing maybe childhood traumas or trauma from a from a a recent experience because it really does make a huge difference. Now there is science now. That says trauma is absolutely stored in the body. And this is why somatic healing is so important because it's not just a mental experience, it's a physical visceral experience, and your nervous system is going to respond in a specific way based on your traumatic experience. And it may not even, you may not even know there's a really there's I don't want to get into it here because I don't want to, you know, ⁓ right flag of. Maria (14:38) Mm-hmm. Brittany (15:01) of certain conversation, but there's a lot of crazy research about People being in a space having extreme visceral responses to something that they don't even realize they have then experienced. And it's because it it's not just our mind, it's stored it's stored in our bodies, it's stored in our energy. Melissa (15:23) Now I'm gonna have to go back and start Maria (15:24) Can a person create the trauma also based on other people? Because they can create it because that's the mental health part, right? correct, the mental health part, you can create it. Brittany (15:41) Wait, do you mean like we can we can create trauma for others? Maria (15:48) We can create trauma for ourselves based on other experiences, someone else's experience, not something that runs in your genes or genetically. Can that happen? Brittany (16:01) I don't think I understand what you're saying. Are you saying like because we're watching somebody else experience or like we're like we witness, we witness something happen to somebody. Absolutely. That is considered trauma. You by the book, if you witness a traumatic experience, you watch somebody get hit by a car and they transition, that's a traumatic experience. It doesn't have to happen to you. Maria (16:08) Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Brittany (16:28) Before I think it used to be considered where it like had to happen to you, it it doesn't have to happen to you. You could you could be standing there, which is why violence in a home with a little child is considered a traumatic experience, you know. So it doesn't have to h happen to you. You can witness it and it's still traumatic experience. Maria (16:29) Okay. Mm-hmm. Okay. Melissa (16:49) Hmm. Don't leave the house. Brittany (16:52) Yeah, pretty much. I don't. I'm just kidding. No, I do. No, we can't live like that. We can't live in fear. We gotta just live, you know. Maria (16:59) Ha ha ha. Melissa (17:00) So Right. Yeah, you gotta learn to deal with it, right? Or you're gonna keep coming back onto this planet. And I refuse to come back. I'm done. ⁓ Brittany (17:08) Yeah. Please don't. Please don't do that to me. Somebody was just we had a at one of my best friend's house, we had a like a little witches link up the day before Sawin and somebody the c they we did played this little card game and it said, If you're an ancestor, how could people call you back? And I'm like, just don't. In fact, just leave me alone. Okay. My friend was like, my best friend was like Maria (17:11) you You Brittany (17:35) I'm gonna call you back. Meg, you can call me. My son can call me. Like everybody else just let me do whatever I'm doing in my garden over there. Okay. Maria (17:43) Hahaha! Melissa (17:46) You're not gonna wanna call me back. Brittany (17:47) Yes. Melissa (17:50) be grumpy about it, okay? so your your client comes in, you're addressing, you know, the nervous system in the trauma. What would be the next step that you start taking them through? Maria (17:53) you Brittany (18:06) So I meet every client where they're at. Some people they've already been through a lot of trauma healing or they have a lot of resources. And so maybe we work on goal setting, career advancements or small goals. Like there I have a lot I actually have the group of women that I'm working with now are a lot of women be ⁓ from their mid thirties and older and they're going through major life transitions, changing careers, exploring new avenues of life, taking time off. ⁓ So I will really I really meet them where they're at. But once we move through creating the safety and moving through some trauma, we build a relationship with all with all the layers of themselves, the way that they experience themselves, maybe need they need some stress management, maybe it's addressing anxiety or depression. And obviously if it's out of my scope, then I will suggest that they see somebody maybe such as like a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist or A hormone specialist because a lot of us are all going through perimenopause, menopause changes, which is a signific plays a significant role in our mental health, which is a huge thing. ⁓ so yeah, wherever my client, wherever they're at, a lot of goal setting, a lot of building routines and habits that benefit them, creating wellness habits or ⁓ changing financial the way that they see five the way that they work with or make or see money and their relationship with money. Maria (19:06) you Mm-hmm. Brittany (19:33) And yeah, a a lot of a lot of big life transitions. A lot of women come come see me for coaching when they're moving through big life transitions. They've maybe they're in their mid-30s, mid-40s, or mid-50s and they quit the job that they've been in for 30 years and they don't know where they are or what they want to do or who they are anymore. ⁓ so a lot of reconnecting with self, stress management, a lot of that. Melissa (20:00) I was gonna ask if you have like an age bracket that you you find seems to seek you out more? Like is it the later in life the kids are leaving emptiness, retirement, the hormonal perimenopause, menopause, or is it the younger people who they're coming out of school and you know, 'cause we tell our young people, what do you want to be when you grow up and now you have to go into college debt to go learn how to do that thing? You know, like it Maria (20:12) Mm-hmm. Brittany (20:25) Yeah. I see a lot of women from early thirties and on. Not really younger a lot of younger people are in my field, they ask a lot of questions, they may get readings for personal development or join the academy for learning witchcraft or things like that. But when it comes to the coaching, it's definitely women in their thirties and and older. I've had a few younger women, but they were already mothers, they've already graduated. It was like they were in a space of their life where they were going through major life transitions because they've already had kids and they had a career for a while and like late twenties but but definitely thirties and older. Melissa (21:09) So as we edge into the no longer likely to put up with other people's crap. It is maybe it's learning to give yourself permission to not have to do that, right? Brittany (21:15) Yes, yes. Maria (21:16) You Brittany (21:22) That that and what happens a lot is I've lived somebody else's life for the way I I thought I was supposed to live. And now here I am, mid 30s. I actually hate this. I want to change everything. Same thing with 40s and 50s, right? Or 60s. Like I've changed I want to now change everything and I want to live for me and rediscover who that is underneath. So the self-actualization and the self-mastery really is about uncovering who are you when. Maria (21:40) Mm-hmm. Brittany (21:51) You don't have everybody else's stories or experiences or trauma c creating blinders to who you actually are and what you want in your life. And permission to live it, because a lot of women don't have permission to actually live it. They know what they want, but they don't nobody gave them permission to quit the job and follow their dreams or take a year off because they wanted to travel and eat pray love, you know, things like that. Melissa (22:21) Well, and think all three of us have the experience, because we all have kids. You were always so and so's mom, even amongst other moms and parents. Like you weren't Brittany, you were your son's mom. You know? And I'm like, wow, there's more to me than being my son's mom. Like I thumped you outside in that box. You know, so that's that's why I was wondering. And like as they grow up and hopefully at some point able to leave the nest, it's kinda like, well Brittany (22:34) Yeah. Maria (22:35) Mm-hmm. Brittany (22:38) Yeah. Maria (22:39) Mm-hmm. Brittany (22:41) Yeah. Melissa (22:50) Holy cow. You know, I have a new title now, so what is that title? Brittany (22:53) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's big. I'm really good at keeping my my own life. I'm like I'm a that's why I tell people like that's why I had one. Okay, because I'm a selfish person and I have lots of goals. So good thing you fit in my lifestyle, kid. ⁓ Maria (22:57) Mm-hmm. It's Melissa (23:16) Yeah, ⁓ once my son got to a certain age and I'm like, mm, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for eighteen. I am not restarting that clock. You know. I I want freedom at some point. You know? And Maria, how your your two, are they pretty close in age? Like I don't know how old your oldest is now youngest. Okay. Maria (23:28) No. No. There's 12 years apart, about 11, 11, 12 years apart. So yeah, I was one of the ones like, ⁓ no, I'm starting this all over again. So yeah, but it wasn't fun. cause the first one I did see the light in the tunnel and I would chat all these goals and Brittany (23:43) Wow. Melissa (23:43) ⁓ no. Yeah. Okay. Maria (24:08) then here's a little one. No, I'm no. But they're both grounds, they're both doing their own stuff. That's great. Melissa (24:15) I mean Well, I mean, and I don't know if you've heard this, Brittany. Like, I am to the point where I am tired of being responsible of small things, be it children or even pets, that I'm like, I love my cat to death. I will burn the world down for him. But when he crosses, I've already kind of said, like, I probably won't get another pet for a while because I don't want to have to take care of something else. I I want to do my own thing. Brittany (24:51) I am right there with you, actually. I love my cat. He is very self sufficient. Like he's I feel I mean he loves to be pet and everything, but he's an indoor outdoor, so he could survive. We rescued him from outdoors. but my dog transitioned this year in February, he died. And my like everybody we I I bought three years ago. I bought chickens three times and I returned them. Okay. Maria (24:51) Thank you. ⁓ Brittany (25:17) 'Cause I'm like, I want eggs and then I'm like, actually no. And now that I don't have a dog and I just have a cat Please no, nothing. Nothing else. Okay. Even all these extra house plans, like I keep giving everything away where I'm like, okay, the least amount of things I have to take care of, other than like what I already have, I am I am okay with that. Melissa (25:40) 'Cause I mean, women like w it's not as much now. But I mean, even when I was younger and Maria, 'cause we're we're older than Britney, we're we're the old ones here. we are the caretakers we are supposed to love and automatically wanna nurture and take care of everything. And so to say like, No, I don't want any kids or any more kids, and no, I don't wanna have two dogs and three cats and you know, for a while there, you kinda got the side eye because you were expected as a woman Brittany (25:51) Okay. Maria (26:09) Bye. Melissa (26:10) To have to want to take care of everything. And I love that that's changing. And it is do you find that for some women, like trying to embrace like I don't have to take care of that, but I've been taught that I have to and I don't know what to do with this knowledge. I don't know what to do with myself now. Has that been something that's come through and you're like, No, it's okay? Maria (26:19) don't know. Brittany (26:31) Yes and no, because a lot of the actually the group of women that I have in my the cohort that I have right now for my year, ⁓ n nobody has kids. ⁓ and so they choose to take care of themselves. Now they were caretakers for in other ways of parents or community or ⁓ you know, their parents are aging or sick or things of that nature and Melissa (26:42) Yes. Maria (26:42) ⁓ Mm-hmm. Brittany (26:59) So still yes in that way. Just a lot of what I've noticed, it's not even ⁓ people in their household, but the people pleasing caretaker aspect is huge. It's very it's a it's a it's a it's always I I feel like every woman that I've ever worked with, it that always shows up for them. Like I take care of everybody else, even if I don't have kids, I overgive, I overgive at work, I overgive here, I overgive there, I've helped. Maria (27:15) Mm-hmm. Brittany (27:29) all my p I helped my parents before they died. I helped you know, like all of that. So I think women in general, like you said, it's definitely shifting because Are we a lot of cuss on here? Okay. Okay. Okay. It's it's it's more no fucks given, really. Women are in that space of like, no fucks given. I'm taking like you said, you know, the age of I'm caring less about what people think about me, how people perceive me. You're not paying my bills, then you don't you can't say shit, you know. And I think that's not just in wellness spaces. I think that's in Melissa (27:45) Yeah, we're rated as not for children. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Maria (28:07) and Brittany (28:12) I think women are just getting to that point. They're tired. We are tired, okay? Stop asking us for shit. Go get it yourself. Maria (28:21) you Melissa (28:26) I do like this time period to be a part of that. ⁓ it's it's fantastic. I I don't well, I mean, I've had past lives and I I don't think I lasted very long in some of the on the earth plank because Yeah. That's I'm like that's why I also wouldn't be good in the military 'cause I would have told my higher up, Well, you know, what they were telling me was dumb, stupid, and I'm not gonna do it. Maria (28:37) you I'm Brittany (28:49) It exactly. Exactly. My sister was in the military. My sister was in the Air Force. And I always think about that and I'm like, there's no way I wouldn't have made it. I wouldn't have made it one a day. I would have been I told would have told them like if you talk to me like that one more time and tell me what to do, I'm definitely not doing it. So Melissa (29:06) Yeah. Then I'm like, Anne, you're out. Goodbye. Brittany (29:08) Yeah. Melissa (29:13) So it in in the wealth part, how do you help women like kinda understand their wealth, understand their blocks, you know, start growing that? Brittany (29:23) It begins with the story of what what does wealth mean to them? What stories have they created around wealth? What have people told them about wealth? And money in general, you know, that's a big thing in in the spiritual community. People are afraid of money. You can't want a lot of money. You're greedy. It's really what you do with it and who you are. It's it's neutral. It's a neutral resource. It's who the person is. But it it has a it has a lot to do with first of where have you learned what you've learned about wealth. What are the stories that you're carrying? How do you perceive things? How do you approach handling money and wealth? Do you know how to manage it? There's a lot of lack of financial literacy in our world. I know I was there. This is why I loved the the journey of learning about money and wealth and investments and savings and all those things because I was never taught any of that. And I could get a dollar and spend a dollar really quick. So, ⁓ Maria (30:05) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brittany (30:21) That that has a lot to do with it. It's a it's your stories. Who who's told you what you've known? Can you change those beliefs on a nervous system level and ⁓ in mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically and approach things differently and be open to be open to assistance and sometimes the mundane logical education on On finances is really beneficial. We want to make everything so magical. The life is already magical as it is. We don't have to make it any more magical than it already is. The ritual is living, you know. So the the the mundane education sometimes on financial literacy is so important for people. Where's your money going? Do you know what you're spending? What does it look like for you to create generational wealth for your family? What does that mean for you? Because some people it might not mean necessarily. leaving a large sum of money, but it could be leaving a plot of land or a home or changing their health to take care of themselves so they stand and represent different ways of wealth for their family and those who come after. Changing emo changing patterns of emotional intelligence because maybe that hasn't been something that's was taught in their family or abuse and violence and yelling and Maria (31:25) Mm-hmm. Brittany (31:45) Different ways of communicating have been passed down and now it's it stops with you, which is you know, ancestral healing. So ⁓ wealth can be looked at in in many ways. It can also be looked at as returning to, I wanna I want to like to call it returning to finding and coming home to the spiritual practices of your ancestors, because a lot of them are lost. Melissa (31:54) Yeah. Brittany (32:13) If we think about the practices of our ancestors, like we're I love learning about other people's cultures. I love learning about all things, but I like to keep the practices of my ancestors alive, you know. And I think that's wealth also. Melissa (32:29) Well, like Maria Maria, you work with numbers all day. That is your your Clark Kent job during the day. And then you do all of this woo-woo magic stuff on at night and on the weekend. And you and I were just talking about in a long car ride ⁓ this weekend that the the school system should be teaching basic differences between the, you know Maria (32:34) Mm-hmm. Brittany (32:39) Yeah. Maria (32:46) I'm go. Melissa (32:55) Mortgage rates, how you know, a fixed rate versus this or that. And, you know, ⁓ filing a simple tax form. Nobody knows how to do it. But they they teach so much school, because a school used to be geared towards a kid working in a factory when they were old enough is is what it is to work on an assembly line. But the practical way of functioning and handling your basic finances, you know, and what it means when somebody says to Maria (32:58) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Melissa (33:23) To live below your means versus living above your means. And and most people nowadays wouldn't know what that even is is defined as, you know. so it's it's kind of ⁓ astounding when somebody, you know, and I'm like, What do you mean you don't know what a fixed rate on a mortgage is? Why would you sign for this one over here? Yeah, I'm like, because they Maria (33:28) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Thank Brittany (33:46) Yeah. Yeah. And like s opening a checking account and savings. We obviously don't have to balance checkbooks anymore, but still being able to look at where your money is going. Like, do you have a savings account? I remember there was a time in my life where I couldn't save a penny. And also I had this thought pattern, this belief that saving money was because it was gonna be emergency and I didn't want to have to experience emergencies. And obviously I was very ungrounded and not in Melissa (33:47) You know. Maria (33:58) Mm-hmm. Brittany (34:16) in the best headspace. And so when you shift your perspective on certain things in life, you realize like those things are important. Those things look at our world. Okay. Those things are important. Being prepared, preparation in many ways, whether that's health wise, you know, preventative care, but also pre preventative care it involves financial preventative care. Maria (34:25) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I also, even though we're in the modern age of technology, I made sure that my children knew how to do a basic checkbook. You know, the debits and credits and they knew, okay, part of it is my accounting background, but that is, even though we don't need it now, it's good to have that knowledge so when everything is shut down, you know what you need to do. Brittany (34:44) That's important. Maria (35:13) As far as balancing, you know, your money and, you know, understanding how to read a general ledger, understanding the debits and credits. that having that knowledge, in my opinion, is actually part of the wealth knowledge. Because anytime this can be all shut down, we don't know that, you know, it might just just go away by having that knowledge of Brittany (35:31) Absolutely, I agree with you. Maria (35:41) how to write a check, how to balance your checkbook, even though it's old fashioned to some people, but it's wealth knowledge, the in and out of account, yeah. Brittany (35:49) Yeah, I agree. Melissa (35:53) Well, and I think ⁓ you know, having my store in my business, I did if you want to call it like a mini accounting degree in high school. So I I knew what a PNL was and how to read it. So that played in my favor, right? To buy a business and keep it going for the fifteen years that I've had it. Whereas, you know, what is the rule like most small businesses close within the first three to five years? Maria (36:11) Mm-hmm. Melissa (36:18) And I know in my industry, so many people are like, I love crystals. I'm gonna open up a store, but they don't know how to run the back end. You know, and I'm like, here's something else that people don't know. They, you know, or you say somebody, you know, you you're like, What's your first thought when you hear, you know, about millionaire? And most people recoil and they're like, ooh, because they're thinking of the millionaires, billionaires that don't have a good rep. And I'm like, well, that's why you're never gonna get there. Brittany (36:27) Yeah. Exactly. Thank you for saying that. Yes, because we put this misconception to to I just told my girlfriend I'm like I'm right now in between this space of I don't ever want to see people again right now because I need a hermit and also I need to become a billionaire. You know, I'm like in between this these two my two personalities are like arguing currently at the moment. And but I I I completely agree with you because it it all has to do with again Melissa (36:48) Because you have a negative mindset. Maria (36:50) Yeah. Brittany (37:16) Who the person is. It's not, it's not the money. Like somebody who is a good-hearted person who's a billionaire is gonna do good with their money. We've seen that happen. We see that happen, you know? ⁓ so yeah, I that's that's gotta that people gotta break out of that mindset because it's keeping people, it's keeping people poor, it's keeping people broke, and the people who Maria (37:18) Mm-hmm. Melissa (37:29) Mm-hmm. Maria (37:29) Mm-hmm. Brittany (37:43) want to make the most change, then can't make the most change because they're they're afraid of money. It's it's our it's our energetic exchange. It's our exchange in this world. It's not going away. If anything, it's gonna be even a greater asset to everybody in some shape or form. So why not build a healthy relationship with it, shift your mindset around it, make a fuck ton of money and do some good with it. Maria (37:54) Mm-hmm. Melissa (38:11) Mm-hmm. There there are so and I'm just trying to think who it was a woman. And it's because I don't follow a whole lot of celebrity gossip. I'm like, gossip, I don't care. ⁓ but it was a celebrity and she had just paid a bunch of school lunches for the year. You know, and she wasn't even the one who announced it. She just kinda came in, paid a bunch, and you know, did. And I'm like, that's the type of stuff I would do. You know. Maria (38:12) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brittany (38:39) Yeah. Maria (38:40) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Melissa (38:41) Our our homeless veterans, well, let's take care of them, you know. there's too many people on the street, too many of our veterans ⁓ on the street that need to help. But that whole negative, like, I want to be rich, but also you rich people, look how bad they are. You know, I'm like, nah, you gotta change that. You have to change that. Brittany (38:44) Yeah. Absolutely. Maria (38:45) Mm-hmm. Brittany (38:50) Yeah. Maria (38:51) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brittany (39:04) Yeah. I heard a story recently and I don't know who the woman is, but she was a billionaire and she ⁓ felt like she they needed more doctors. I wanna say in New York or something. So she paid medical students a whole couple years or more tuitions of a handful, a large amount of medical students, their tuition so that that there could be more doctors to whatever. Anyways, they the stipulation for it was that don't tell anybody who it was. It ended up becoming public because some trade or something. I don't know. But she was like, I don't want anybody to know I'm doing this. This isn't for fame. It's because I wanna do something with this money that I have that's just sitting here. So I might as well do some good. Maria (39:33) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Melissa (39:47) Yeah, nobody benefits if you hoard it. You know? Brittany (39:49) No, not at all. We're gonna die. It's not like we can take it with us, so give it to somebody, do something with it, you know? Maria (39:50) Yeah. Yeah. Melissa (39:56) Right. Now, so if somebody wants to find you, they go to synergy soul dot org. Brittany (40:08) Yes, actually my my website's under construction, but you can still find me on there. or Instagram, it's underscore synergy soul. I'm I'm most active on there. Yeah. Melissa (40:17) 'Cause you offer on Instagram. I've seen you go live every now and then and I'll pop in there. ⁓ Brittany (40:22) So I actually ha probably haven't been live in in a very long time. I I've really a dip changed the way I approach social media. I don't spend any time on social media really. I don't like to consume a lot of things. I've come there, I teach, I share, I market, and then I leave. And I'm currently in a hiatus from social media for the month because this semester is kicking my ass. So I'm like, let me just not consume anything at all. Maria (40:37) Mm-hmm. Melissa (40:41) Yeah. Ha Brittany (40:51) Other than what I want to, you know. Melissa (40:52) What's that's why I have an employee. That's my job. I'm like, you keep up with the trends, what we need to post, how many hashtags, what you know. I'm like, that's your job. I don't want to deal with it. Maria (40:54) You Brittany (40:56) Yeah, I Maria (40:58) You Yeah. Brittany (41:01) Yes. For my botanica, I just learned that you can schedule posts from your computer. So you don't even have to have the app on your phone because regularly on a regular basis I would download the app, make a post, delete it. And if I had something to say 20 more minutes, in 20 more minutes, I'm downloading it and I'm saying it and then I'm deleting it. So now I know you can schedule a post from your computer and then I don't even have to look at it. So that's great. Melissa (41:27) Mm-hmm. Yeah, it it makes it easy. The only thing then you have to fill in is if, like for us with the selling, like you gotta worry about the trending and the in the items. And I'm like, my God, like we've we've had this stone forever and suddenly everybody wants it. Like you know, okay. You know, yay, but why? Why are you looking for this now? I saw it on TikTok. Of course you did. Okay, come with me. Maria (41:45) ⁓ huh. ⁓ Brittany (41:48) Yes, yes, yeah. Melissa (41:53) No, you you mentioned your witchcraft academy. Tell us about that. Brittany (41:57) Yes, it's the Academy of Witchcraft. I opened it in April. It's just foundational practices. I make I make witchcraft really practical. You doesn't need to be anything fancy. It's a connection with our with with nature. And to take your life transitions or wellness practices or protection into a practical grounded ⁓ you know matter in a way of matter. So I teach one one One live class a month. I'm in there communicating in our chat group. I share journal journal prompts through for the new and full moon and different spells for protection magic. A lot of we we've so I've covered so far I've covered the history of ⁓ how we've got to modern witchcraft, goddess worship, the ⁓ Celtic Sabbats, the Lots of spiritual hygiene. I'm really big on spiritual hygiene. Like I said, we're protecting ourselves from each other. So we should probably know how to do that, you know. and I'm really big on taking care of your your energy in the way that you take care of your physical body. So you brush your teeth, you take, you know, just like you would brush your teeth, make sure your energy is clean for yourself mostly. ⁓ so lots of protection magic. Lots of Maria (42:56) huh. Melissa (42:58) Mm-hmm. Maria (43:15) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brittany (43:22) cleansing magic in there. And this month I will be teaching sweetening ways to sweeten and what that looks like. Yeah. It's really practical. I'm not like you need 25 different herbs from different countries. Like what's in your kitchen? I can't I I'm I'm all for that too, you know. I'm a practitioner of of Santaria Lukumi. So things all from all over. But when it comes to magic, I've always been really practical. Hodo. I my roots are in hoodoo. So Maria (43:38) Yeah. Thank Brittany (43:51) well European and Hundoo because I'm mixed. But it's what is available for available to us? You know, what what can we what's what plant spirits are in our backyard? What plant spirits are in our kitchen? Simple candles from the dollar store, things like that. So it's really practical, simple and easy to apply to your life. And I like it that way because magic doesn't have to be complex. Look at our lives where there are things already so fucking complex. Like, do we really need to make Maria (43:58) Mm-hmm. Okay. you Brittany (44:20) ⁓ Our magic that complex. You know? We should be able to fix a little tea light and be able to do the same work as we did with five different herbs from different countries, you know. Maria (44:22) Ha ha ha ha! Melissa (44:35) Well, I mean that's how it all started back then. They worked with what they had, you know. There weren't all of these fancy pools and all of I'm like, well, who brought this? it that that meme ⁓ where it talks about like some people like the full moon, they're taking baths or doing this, they're meditating for twenty minutes, blah blah blah to get to a spell and then there's brush the Cheetos off my fingers and I'm like Maria (44:35) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Brittany (44:37) Yeah, exactly. Maria (44:42) Mm-hmm. Brittany (44:43) Yes. Maria (44:45) Yeah. you Brittany (44:57) Yes. Yes. Yes. I teach both though. I teach like the really traditional way or I teach I teach the traditional way of like just do it and then also in some other ways of like prepare your space, do that. So at least people know, like, do what feels good to you. Cause truthfully, in craft there's no rules. Like you there's no rules and there is rules. And the rules we all made up. So Maria (45:23) Mm-hmm. Melissa (45:24) It's a thing now. Write that down. I made it up. There we go. Yeah. Brittany (45:27) Yes, pretty much, you know? Melissa (45:30) So if somebody wanted to to join in into the academy, would they go to the same website? Brittany (45:36) ⁓ in my Instagram bio, it's actually through a Patreon. So it's a Patreon membership. There's three tiers. the first tier is the academy, it it is all the classes, any lives, any posts that I make in the chat group. The second tier is I host a prosperity ritual every single month. And so that one includes that. And then third tier is the ⁓ adept. So it's a single session for for ⁓ mentoring in craft. ⁓ once a month a live session and it's in my link in my bio in s in Instagram. I couldn't think of what I was what I was gonna say on Instagram. I'm transitioning my website. I haven't really worked with my website in a while. I school has been taking majority of my life since 2024. So like I tried to get back into marketing a little bit. I got burnt out and I was like I have I need to finish this degree. I'm almost done. So I'll have a little time off before I transition to my next degree. Maybe I'll take care of my website in between those four months that I have free. Yes. Melissa (46:41) Like the maybe I might maybe I'll do that. Yeah. I I'm I'm like excited for the psychology aspect because I love psychology. And you and I have talked because you use astrology. We've talked about human design and you already know I'm that person that I'm like, no, the planets have nothing to do with why you're acting like that. That's because your mom hug you. And we've had fun discussions on it. Maria (46:44) you Brittany (46:52) Yes. Mm-hmm. Yes. Maria (47:01) Thank Brittany (47:01) Yes, yes. Melissa (47:11) And I'm like, ooh, maybe my old lady years, I'll go audit some psychology classes and go sit in because I love the whole psychology behind serial killers and how and why and the mother trauma behind so many of them. And you know, and I'm like, ⁓ that's gonna be my old lady, you know, obsession later. Brittany (47:18) You should take them. Yes. Maria (47:30) Yeah. Brittany (47:33) I love it. I was just talking to a few people about that. Actually, at the Witches Link up. Some people were like, I can't get into that. And I'm like, I've loved serial killer psychology since I was little. And I wrote a couple papers on like Manson in in high school. And so we have had to wait, what class was that for? Maybe it was abnormal psychology. I think it was. There was a serial there was a serial killer in. Melissa (47:45) Yeah. Brittany (48:01) Columbus, I want to say it was the seventies, don't quote me, who was the first person to get charged with ⁓ dissociative identity disorder, which was multiple personalities back then. ⁓ I watched the documentary. It was so awesome. I love serial killer psychology also. I think it's so fascinating. It's so it's you know, they don't really have a lot of answers to why. Melissa (48:16) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Maria (48:25) Thank Mm-mm. Brittany (48:29) people experience certain things like yes, trauma, but when I took abnormal psychology, one thing that I love and hate about science, I love spirit. I've said my whole life studying spirit, but I, you know, I'm in the science world now and well, I've always obviously been in school, but one thing that I love and hate was like, here are all the reasons to why something exists. Okay. Like the list is here. They don't actually know, which makes it even more fascinating because it's just wild. Maria (48:56) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Melissa (48:56) Yeah. So it's like you can take two people put them through the same trauma. One might become a serial killer, the other one won't. And it's like, so what was the difference between the two? And it's Yeah. And it's astounding to me. And I Maria (49:06) Mm-hmm. Was a deciding factor. Yeah. Yeah. Brittany (49:10) Yeah. Yeah. Melissa (49:19) Who was was it you, Brittany? That you're like, Well in their chart and I'm like, get out of here with that astrology my serial killer. Brittany (49:25) I mean, actually, it probably does show up. Some one of my favorite people, who's actually one of the reasons why I decided to go back to school, also, he's an astrologer and a psychologist, Dr. Lennox. And he has studied astrology for 40 years, been a psychologist for, I don't know, probably most of his life. And he combines the way he's very practical with the way he's he understands the stars and the psyche. And I love them to death. ⁓ and I I love I that's one of the reasons why I w I wanted to go back 'cause I'm like, wow, like all of this, it's all connected. It shows up in some way, shape, or form, you know. But there's so much there's so much to it. There's so much to it that we really could study for for another hundred years and will we really understand it, you know? Maria (49:59) you Mm-hmm. Melissa (50:12) Who knows? Who knows? I mean, it's like for a hot minute after high school and a little bit of college that I did do before I'm like, I'm not going into college stuff for something that I'm not a hundred percent sure that I can tolerate doing. ⁓ I was like, ⁓ maybe I should go work for the FBI and find the the killers. and at that time I was going through the Hannibal Lecter books and of course we all know that like that last book he take spoil alert, he takes off with her. Maria (50:12) Yeah. Yeah. Melissa (50:43) And then Thomas Harris never put out we don't know what happened to Clary's. And I'm like, that knowing my luck, that would be me. Like I would get caught. So I'm gonna stand by the sidelines for now and just read, watch, go down the rabbit holes. But you know, Hannibal Lecter is my favorite literary, you know, because of how charming and how gentleman. Maria (50:43) Mm-hmm. Brittany (50:49) Ha ha Maria (50:50) you Melissa (51:09) Until you play that note wrong in the orchestra, well now he's gonna go take you out because you did a disservice to everybody playing and everybody who came to watch. And I forget which character it is, but that's one of his people that he goes and kills was he did a disservice playing his instrument. I'm like, that's all it took to catch his attention, you know? ⁓ Maria (51:25) ⁓ huh. Mm-hmm. Brittany (51:31) You really should go back to take some classes. You would love it. I tell every woman, I'm like, if you want to go back to school, you wanna take classes, do it. Do it it doesn't do it all the time. Do it until we're ninety. Like that's knowledge is power, you know. Melissa (51:35) I that seems to be my opening. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It it is. And I mean you can only get better with the knowledge, right? Hopefully. some there's my old lady goals. I'll be sitting in some college class, probably crocheting and taking notes on killers and everything else in the psychology of it. ⁓ Maria (51:47) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Brittany (51:51) Yeah, absolutely. Maria (51:52) Yep. Yep. Brittany (52:01) I love it. Make sure you find me so we can have some chats about it. Melissa (52:08) Yeah. We should. We should have like a meetup once a month in the store. Let's talk psychology, woo-woo, and serial killers and how they all how they all work. Well, it was good seeing you again, even if it's on screen. It it's been what, like a few months since you popped in? And I even turned around, I'm like, I know that voice. And you were like, Hi Maria (52:11) you Brittany (52:15) Serial killers. You as well, both of you. Yeah. Maria (52:27) Yeah. Brittany (52:31) I always peek to see, okay, is Melissa here? Okay, if she's out here, I don't say it, hey, I don't say anything to anybody else. I'm like, ⁓ is she back there? Okay. But yeah, I I just I hermit. I just hermit really. Don't do a lot. Melissa (52:38) Yeah. I don't blame you. I don't blame you. There there's some days that I wish I could, but Brittany (52:46) Yeah. Maria (52:46) Yeah. Yeah. Brittany (52:50) Yeah. Melissa (52:51) That's that's the downside of owning the business, right? You you gotta be there and and run the things. But so everybody, if you wanna get a hold of ⁓ Brittany, Britney one more time, how do they find you? You got your Instagram, which is Brittany (52:54) Yeah. underscore synergy soul and synergy soul.org which I prefer the Instagram ⁓ because my website is not up to date. Melissa (53:09) There we go. Which means you might have to check it more often, ma'am. Brittany (53:20) I need to change it. I need to update it in the four in those four months. I need to check my Instagram. I know. I know. I'm like, should I go on there? No. It's like it's like a it's like a feeling of resistance. I like went to go type it in. I'm like, God, no. Okay, let me go back to doing what I was doing. Maria (53:22) Thank Melissa (53:26) Yeah. Maria (53:29) Thank Melissa (53:40) Ha have have your have your son check it for you. I'm sure he's on there all the time anyway, the the young people. Brittany (53:43) Yeah. I need to no, he is not allowed to have social media. Melissa (53:47) ⁓ cool. Very cool. Brittany (53:49) Mm. We are well I am. I am the stickler on screen time and social media. So limited screen time, no social media. Melissa (54:01) Probably a good thing in this day and age if like kids can see now online. Brittany (54:03) Yes, yes. I have read too many things, too many studies. Maria (54:04) Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah. Melissa (54:10) Ha ha Brittany (54:12) My s my son and my husband are sick of me saying, you know what? Well, I love Andrew Huberman. He's a he's a neuroscientist. They're sick of me being like, you what, study this study says so you can't do this because study show. You can't. They are so and I've always been like that because I've always been in personal development for myself, you know. So they're just they're like, just let me eat Doritos. And I'm like, fine. Like, Maria (54:17) Okay. Melissa (54:26) They're like, Is schooling over yet? There's a Dorito of Fritos that can you can light on fire and they will leave no trace evidence. Brittany (54:42) I know. Pr probably both. Maria (54:47) Heh. Melissa (54:48) Yeah, and I'm like, Why do I know that? True crime. So In the back pocket knowledge and write that down. Well, thanks for joining, Brittany. Hopefully we can have you back at some point. I think we could go deeper on that nervous system stuff, you know. Brittany (54:58) Just in case. Maria (55:03) you Brittany (55:04) Yeah, absolutely. This was great. Yes, I love to talk about nervous system healing. Yeah, absolutely. Love it. Thank you for having me. Maria (55:08) Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Melissa (55:14) Yeah, well thank you. And Marianne, do you have any last minute questions or things for Brittany on her journey to get this degree out of the way? Maria (55:25) No, I'm glad. I'm glad that, yeah, it does coincide. Everything coincides when you think about it. Everything. Science, the mental health, everything. I just wish there was like one clutter of all of it being available in one area. Yeah. Brittany (55:43) Yeah. Even finance, like we need that. We need that. We need a lot of that. Melissa (55:47) Yeah. Maria (55:48) yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Melissa (55:53) Alright, well thanks for joining everybody and we will see you all on the next episode. Bye guys. Maria (56:01) Thank you. Bye. Melissa (56:06) I I always when that's when I