Welcome to this week’s episode of the phenomenal career podcast. Today I have the amazing Julie Chandler with me and I can’t wait to dive into her story.
Hi! I am Julie. I am the owner of soul focus UK, which is completely designed to let you tap into the universe’s tools.
So all things spiritual but being your complete authentic self, because I do not conform to the woo-woo stereotypes at all.
So what are the woo-woo stereotypes?
Within the industry, there is this preconception that you have to meditate daily and have to do a certain amount of practices and rituals which have descended through your family.
I’m just not a believer in that. Because I can do it, and I don’t do all of that.
When I told a friend of mine that I do all of this, he was like, do you wear a turban and have a crystal ball and wear chiffon? No, I’m reading the cards in a hoodie and joggers.
How long have you been practising for?
I was always aware that I could do this kind of thing. When I was younger, I did see spirits and feel spirits around me. But I grew up in a household where my dad was an atheist and my mom’s Roman Catholic.
So, you’re either making it up, or you’re a devil child. Although my parents are very free and open, they are set in their belief systems and so it was never really cultivated and it was never really something that I spoke about.
I then continued on until life forced me into a path where I needed to be listening to this skill.
If you looked into psychics, they were very mystic Meg. And that was it. It was definitely something that I didn’t resonate with because I didn’t know that I could be who I am and be myself.
But through my early 20s, there was obviously a lot of partying, a lot of drinking, and I essentially had a bit of a breakdown when I was 24 and my whole life completely changed. My group of friends completely changed.
I never worked a normal job. I would look online at things about Tarot, but I would never necessarily know who to speak to about it and it wasn’t actually until my brother had a psychic reading that I knew this was the right path for me.
She identified multiple times where I had seen something in my dreams or spirits in the room, and she was the first person that ever validated what I was seeing. Everything that then followed was a step by step process to bring more and more of it into my life.
And the further I go down the rabbit hole, the more the universe pushes me into the spotlight to be this person.
We take these moments for granted because it’s not logical doesn’t make sense.
We are spiritual beings and I think that’s one thing that we forget, or it’s clouded in religion. Do you use crystals?
This does sound very woo-woo but I asked a crystal pendulum a yes or no question about whether I approach a certain client or not before this interview. I got my response and I trust it.
How do you make business decisions?
If I want to do something in my business, or in my life, I sit with my body and think, how does this feel for me? In terms of my energy? Do I feel excited? Do I feel passionate about it? Do I have a clear vision for it? Does it like feel like it’s calling me or do I feel drawn to it? Am I forcing the thing?
Asking yourself those questions and actually checking in is very important.
You mention body scanning in your work. Can you tell us more about that?
I first learned body scanning when I learned more with regards to Reiki. It’s slightly different because you’re picking up energy that needs clearing. We can use it for ourselves by asking what are you doing? Are you like holding on to something? Are you holding on to your ears, because it means you’re not listening.
If you’re scratching at your earlobe, you’re not listening to something that you need to be listening to. So it’s definitely those little subtle signs in how your body transforms the information that you need to know – it’s the universe trying to communicate to us. It’s trying to bridge our human language and energetic language.
Trying to work out what your signs are, what your messages are, and how your body transmits that information. So if you are someone that is fidgety and doodles alone, ask yourself – what does that stem from and how can it benefit you.
What would you say to the critics out there?
We find our own ways to move through this world. And as long as it’s working for you, that’s all I care about.
What is important to you about your practice?
It’s not necessarily the best business model but for my Tarot clients, I would rather instil the power into them, and help them make their own choices, and how they can do this exact same thing that I’m doing for them.
I guess that might mean that they’re not necessarily going to come back and that’s fine because if I have people that are just relying on me to answer their questions, continuously, then they’re not evolving or growing and that doesn’t sit right with me.
Don’t forget, you always have the answers yourself. Nobody can tell you, like a coach, a guru, a complete psychic or medium – nobody can tell you anything that you’re body or mind don’t already know.
How do you deal with more problematic topics? What do you think that’s about?
There are sometimes things that people don’t want to address. Sometimes they want to deflect the responsibility of making a choice because people are scared to step out of their comfort zone.
We get so attached to things and that is another big thing with regards to intuition and connecting. It’s remembering that things aren’t meant to be attached to anything – not people or objects.
What we do is give people the confidence in different ways to completely detach from what they already know, and start to move towards something else. And that is part of what intuition is, trusting your intuition means that you can trust yourself to detach from one thing and move on to another.
Let’s break down some of these terms. Spirit, Reiki, Tarot – what are those?
Okay, so, spirit is a broad term because most people use it slightly differently. When people think of spirits, they think of ghosts and the dog shaking. For me, I consider spirits to be any energy body that is outside of physical Earth.
Things that could be under that umbrella would be past loved ones, ancestors that we might not even be aware of but their energy is helping us in this lifetime, as well as our spirit guides. There’s also archangels, which are associated, typically with religion. Even things like Buddha, and Jesus, they sit under that umbrella term for me.
It’s all energy that is around us that we can tap into in a second.
Reiki is an energy healing technique. It originates from Japan, there are multiple different techniques that I think are all very similar in my own personal opinion but Reiki is very much about moving energy through your body.
I’s very important to know the Reiki energy is a thing in itself. It’s not something that I personally possess, but I can channel it.
I am not Reiki, I am not the one that has this magical power that can do the healing, but I have the ability to channel it and see where it goes and receive the messages that come through with it.
Reiki is similar to spiritual healing. You’re be tapping into spirits, archangels and energy and crystal energy as well. A lot of people are really into crystals and have them dotted around the house, but you can use them in the same way by placing them on you and it does the same thing.
It’s just about moving and transmitting energy and just clears away anything that doesn’t need to be there.
A lot has changed with Tarot over the years, and especially more recently because you’ve also got Oracle cards as well, but Taro is originally a deck of cards that have specific messages attributed to each card.
Tarot readers are able to read the cards that appear that focuses on a question that is specifically asked, so what I ask on a daily basis is what do I need to know today?
In terms of your career, how long have you been working with people in this way?
It took me a bit of time because I’m quite an introvert at heart. I never really wanted to overly put myself out there with people but i’d work with friends and family so it kind of started that way.
I had a bit of an experience when I went to Thailand, who doesn’t, right? I went and worked at an animal Animal Rescue Centre for a little while and the whole energy there just completely changed me.
I went there specifically to work with elephants but I found that I was radiating towards the dogs and I was off out feeding the strays around the sanctuary.
It really made me realise that I needed to do something to help animals so I learned to be a Reiki practitioner strictly for animals.
I was adamant I was never going to work with people again but that changed later on. I think of dogs as young children who can’t express themselves because they’re really innocent and don’t understand things so they harbour that energy inside them like memories.
I’ve reached out to shelters and actually set up a whole business behind it. Once I realised I was putting myself out there to promote the business, I came to the decision in 2019 to work with people.
What is your career teaching you right now?
Right now, it’s really highlighting that I don’t have control and that it’s okay.
There have been things where I think that the universe and spirits have completely altered my path. My life today looks completely different to what it did a month ago, six months ago, a year ago – it is transformed so much.
As someone that has suffered from anxiety, and is a high strung stressy person at times, it’s been hard to accept that realisation but I am glad I have.
Go with it and enjoy it as much as you can. Find pleasure in the smallest things and hold on to that, because what you find pleasure and joy in is something that is complete to your core.
Where can people find you and join you on this journey?
My main platform is Instagram, I am there and that’s at Soul_focusUK.
Otherwise, my website which is Soul-focusUK and from there you can look into whether you want to connect to the universe with me, which tools such as Reiki and Tarot or whether you want to be using the universe to connect to yourself through coaching, workshop kits or the membership.
