Inspired by: Natalie Walstein, Astrologer and Life Coach
Interview by Kirby Hodkinson
As a Career Astrologer at Soulshine Astrology, Natalie Walstein blends ancient astrological wisdom with modern, down-to-earth career coaching to help creative souls on a mission to discover their calling turn it into the work they do for a living, too. She is also the host of The Cosmic Calling podcast which can be found on iTunes, Spotify & Google Play.
Your soul mission is to help others spread their magic into the world - tell us a bit about the magic of you and your brand, Soulshine Astrology.
I started Soulshine Astrology because I know what it feels like to not know your place in the world. I got to a point in my career, prior to starting this business, where I just wasn't feeling fulfilled anymore. I thought I was following my dreams - I had wanted to be a graphic designer all of my life and I was doing it - but there was a disconnect and my heart wasn't in my work anymore after 5 years of running my own studio. I worked with a lot of other female entrepreneurs as clients and they were often confused about who they were and how they were meant to show up, too, so I knew I wasn't the only one.
Part of getting to that place involved almost dying from a near-fatal illness and having a crazy near-death experience from it, which really put things into perspective for me very quickly. I feel like there was more I was supposed to do in my life but I didn't know what exactly. After I discovered astrology and decoded my own astrology chart, I found out that I was actually meant to help people on a deeper spiritual level, and as I brought the pieces together on my chart more and more - and had a ball doing it - I realized that astrology was helping me with my career and I could use it to help others with theirs, too.
Part of Yes Queens mission is to eradicate bullying in the workplace - before you started your business, did you ever experience bullying and/or toxic workplaces?
Oh yes! I've had my fair share of crappy day jobs before I broke out on my own journey into entrepreneurship at the age of 23. That's a big reason why I am so passionate about helping others create their career on their own terms and to center it around doing something they love without needing to be someone else's minion or put up with disrespect from people who don't have their best interests in mind at work. So many people work so many hours for so little pay on top of not always being treated fairly for their time or recognized for their true talents, and it's simply unfair. That's why I show up to work each day - to help others believe in themselves and the magic of the universe during those times when things aren't feeling very magical in the world.
We have to stand up for ourselves and own our power and the rest of the world will catch up eventually.
You refer to astrology as your 'Top Secret Tools' and believe that we can all use the stars to navigate the uncertainty in our lives. Can you give us an example of when you have done this? Just how accurate is the blueprint the sky provides us?
This is an enormous question and it would be impossible to explain all of the specific ways that astrology can help us in our lives & careers in a paragraph. But to try to put it into a nutshell, there are two main branches of astrology. There's understanding yourself and your soul blueprint based on where the planets were when you were born, which is most important, and there's using the stars to navigate our way forward through forecasting where the planets will be in the sky going forward.
I'd say the top way astrology has helped me is that it has allowed me to stop trying to "fit in" by being someone I'm not. Because I know exactly who I am and what I'm here to do now, I no longer feel like I have to contort myself to be considered worthy. Instead, I am able to see all of the things that make me uniquely special and then decide for myself what living an authentic life looks like for ME. This has helped me break up with toxic boyfriends, move to amazing new places alone, and start a brand new business from scratch, knowing that I am perfectly in alignment with my soul's mission along the way. Imagine waking up and knowing exactly what you're meant to be doing each day! It's an amazing feeling and it helps you feel so much more confident and accepting of yourself and all your weird little quirks. Plus, it makes it easier to decide what you should be doing for a living and what you should not.
Forecast for 2021? Should we be expecting any major events personally or as a global collective?
This is a big year that is very much focused on community outreach. It's not enough to work hard and hustle to increase your own security, status, or success, we are also going to be measured by how much our work helps contribute to furthering the world in positive ways. It's no secret that the world needs a lot of help right now, and I believe the way we can each best help the world is by tuning in to our own special gifts & interests. It is a year to honor our uniqueness and the uniqueness of those around us, to begin to work more seriously to balance the scales of inequality when it comes to human rights, and come together around the causes that are most important to us in order to innovate & create much-needed change.
We are ready to break up with the old paradigm and step into a more accepting society, but there will be a lot of work that needs to be done to get there, and that's why it's SO important that we all find a way to do our part.
What advice do you wish someone had given you before you started your own business that others can benefit from knowing now?
Give yourself permission to do what you REALLY want to do. Stop looking around at what others are doing because that is not going to be right for you. Everyone's birth charts are so unique and special. You really need to tune in and ask yourself... what do you want to create for this world that does not yet exist in quite the way you want to share it? Make sure it's your biggest passion. Make sure it's something you'd want to do even if you weren't getting paid. Make sure it's something that will benefit others in a really positive way. That kind of passion knows no bounds when it comes to creating a successful venture for yourself.
And also... and don't let the "muggles" talk you out of your dreams. I've proven everyone wrong who thought Career Astrology was just some weird witchy side business. Multiple 6 figure years later, who's the weirdo now? Follow your dreams, get *really* specific with your vision, and let it become more real to you than your current reality, and if you don't give up, you can't lose.
Self care is a huge feature on the YQ platform. Talk us through your astro rituals.
Working with the moon is a wonderful way to manage your energy throughout the month. When the moon's light is getting brighter, we're meant to be working hard towards our goals. When the moon's light is fading, we're meant to be winding things down and taking more time off to reflect and just simply be. It's like a permission slip from the universe not to be working so hard all the time. Plus, there's a bonus - the best ideas tend to come to us when we're in our energetic flow.
In addition to your ‘Unlock Your Cosmic Calling’ course, you also have a podcast, a blog and offer blueprints and forecasts - is it difficult to fit everything in? How do you plan, organise and execute?
Um, yes! The amount of love I have for my work can be a problem sometimes. It's funny how you work so hard to find your dream career, and then you find it and you can't stop focusing on it because you love it TOO much. I do have a wonderful team of 5 that helps with everything from marketing to billing, admin, graphic design, and web management and I definitely couldn't do what I do without them. But this is an ongoing issue for me - wanting to slow down, but also always wanting to create new projects. Every day I see how powerful astrology is for people and it gets addicting to want to spread it as far & wide as possible! I use a lot of organizational tools like Asana, Acuity, and Later that help a lot with scheduling.
What do you enjoy the most about having your own business? What do you find the most challenging?
The freedom, the flexibility, the creativity. What is most challenging is that, because I have so much space and freedom, it's difficult to estimate how long things will take, so I find myself balancing multiple projects at once sometimes when I wish I could just focus on one. But as each year of my business goes on (we're now in our 5th year), I'm learning more about my natural rhythms and how to space things out more. Hopefully, 2021 will be better for me! My word of the year is Simplify. :)
Top 3 Personal Branding need-to-knows?
1. Your brand is more than just a logo. It's also the energy you put into your work, and your astrology chart can help you understand what the best way is for you to express that energy so that it's authentic to you (and not a compilation of a bunch of other peoples' brands as can so often happen when we're starting out).
2. Don't try to be perfect when you show up. That's an impossible goal. No one feels comfortable going on video at first (unless maybe Leos), but you get comfortable by showing up and being consistent and persistent with it. People feel relieved when they can see that you're human like them.
3. Your vibe is everything and it needs to be checked on the daily. If you are in scarcity mode freaking out about business, your audience will feel it. Even if that is how you feel on some level, try to take some time to meditate or journal before you sit down to work. Talk yourself off the ledge and try to get back into the fun of your work and the impact you want to create and you will be so magnetic that you'll naturally draw everything you need towards you.
We’ve all heard of Mercury Retrograde - is there any other major planetary movements/cycles we should all look out for / be aware of?
Yes, tons and tons! I think the next thing people tend to ask about are Saturn Returns when you're about 29.5 years old. Saturn represents the promise we made before we were born, so this is like our coming of age moment when it's time to take our mission more seriously and get on track to pursue it. It can feel like an enormous amount of pressure, but it is setting you up for a more authentic way of life that will help you fulfill the duty you came here to fulfill through your life's work.
What’s next for Soulshine Astrology?
We've just launched an online community membership site to share Career Scopes and help people work more closely with Career Astrology in their everyday life & work at soulshineastrology.com/community. I wanted to create an option that was super accessible, especially in these times when a lot of people are hurting financially and those are the people who need help with their career the most. I'm also publishing a book in January 2022 to help you find your calling using astrology. I can't wait!