The Power of...Maria Fontana!

Hello and welcome to The Power of Healing Your Energy, the show that's all about your light, your energy, your healing. And did you know depression and anxiety are a side effect of you not living your life intuitively, not trusting your gut, and the lost connections with self and others? And hello, fellow empaths. I'm Christine J Gold with 24 Karat Healing. I'm a medium. Intuitive energy coach, old soul healer, and each week I have a guest or a subject, and this week is no different. Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020. Are you feeling it? I'm feeling it. Maria Fontana is my guest, and a little bit about her: guiding spirited CEOs and transformational experts to create a Zen and profitable Business One Business at a Time. She is the multi-passionate entrepreneur, published author, intuitive business consultant, growth strategist, hairstylist, salon owner, educator, speaker with over 25 years of experience in getting purpose-driven results for her clients, all the while discovering their own innate gifts, power, and potential to be truly authentic, happy, successful, and thriving in a passionate, purpose-filled life and business. She's a lightworker and a Badass business sense. I love that, I really do. Her own experience as a successful entrepreneur of multiple 6-plus-figure businesses and salons, both brick-and-mortar and online, experience in the financial sector, education— whoo— have been the foundation of her knowledge and growth. Maria is passionate and certified in guided imagery meditation. I love that. I'm all about guided and seeing images and meditation. Her mindset practices stem from her spiritual connection to energy and light work, plus she's a certified NLP practitioner. And hello and welcome, Maria. So nice to see you. Hold on here, looks like we're having a little bit of a glitch here. Just give me a sec. Here we go. And off we go.

Come on.

Ah, there I am. There we go. Hello everyone. If you're here, say hello. Let us know where you're from. There you are. Oh my goodness, you magically appeared. Yes. And, uh, and I've known you for about 2 years because I started my journey, you know, becoming spiritually aware and opening up to my gifts and all that good stuff and healing all of my traumas and etc., etc. And I found you and I've been following you for 2 years and I'm like, okay, I love your personality, I love your no BS, I love that you're a straight shooter and that you help other people. So I'm like, I gotta bring this lady on for the first show of 2020.

Yes, let's get the year started off on a right foot because I Honestly, it's all a choice, right? Yeah. So thank you for having me. I'm totally honored. And yeah, you know what, I started my journey about 18 years ago spiritually when I hit a brick wall, and it was either get up and get help or die. So I chose to get up and get help. I turn— you know, they always— I love the saying, um, you know, don't wait for the light to turn on. I turn that bitch on myself because there was just— it was either, you know, get the light and turn it on yourself, or, you know, you're not gonna find your way.

That's true. Very true. So we're going to talk a little bit about the power of light work. So I guess, how has light work— how have you merged that into your daily life, into your business, for your clients? What does that look like?

So what it looks like for me is— and I think every single one of us has a different viewpoint, a different perception of it. And really, whatever that looks like to you is correct for you. And there's no nothing wrong with that, I believe, you know. I think we all have to really hone in on what feels good to us. And once again, it's what it feels— it's not our logical mind, it's the feeling, the heart center that is your— I call it the GPS. That's telling me where I need to go because it knows exactly where— what's right for me. So I started out with light work and seeing angel lights and seeing all different kinds. I actually physically see angels and beings of light since I was a kid.

Wow.

I'd be on the swing set in my backyard and I would see like images of angels like sitting on the roof of the house or, you know, kind of hanging out next to my dog. And of course no one believed me. So fast forward, you know, and all that was quelled. And this is something that I think a lot of us in our 40s, 50s, 60s, um, people weren't that aware and they were afraid. And they were all doing the best they could at what they knew how. So what happened was, even if they might have thought I was really seeing angels, because of their own fears and their own beliefs, they quieted our intuition. Mine was quieted. Don't say that, because I always knew without knowing. I would just know stuff.

Yes, it's—

and I don't have a special power or gift. Mine is just fine-tuned from using it, honoring it, and listening to it. And every single one of us has that. That's the beauty. There is not one human being that is not born with that light in their soul. We all have that GPS. It's a matter of really allowing it and allowing it to shine.

Yes.

And accepting that, that first instinctual thing when you ask your divine feminine, because that's your subconscious when you ask yourself a question like, well, what should I be doing? What do I need to do?

What—

show me the way— that first thing you get, that's the right answer. It's when we start second-guessing and start using the rational mind. Oh well, if I name myself an intuitive business coach, what are they going to say? What are they going to think? It may discredit me. And then all the voices and all the bullshit from the outside world and You know, all the nonsense will shut you down again. So I got off the subject here because I get so excited about it. So what happened is with light work, I just intuitively knew. I would just imagine showers of light from angels coming to me, coming down through my head. The first experience I had, I was about 8 years old. I was hospitalized. I had to have surgery. And in the hospital, I physically saw angels. Physically saw angels. Like, again, not— they weren't like dressed up people with big clothes like the typical way. It was just energetic beings of light that were actually honing— I felt warm, like delicious showers of light on my body. Now, I was only like 8 years old, so like, I thought I was dreaming. But as I got older, I realized anytime I asked for help, I got it. Guidance, a feather, a coin. I'm walking down the street, I'm like, oh, show me a sign, what do I need? You know, also I see like a heart-shaped leaf in a tree that I pass every day when I'm walking. I'm like, wait a minute, that wasn't there yesterday.

Just that's for you, that's for you.

Another experience, I was at Barnes Noble many years ago when I, you know, hit rock bottom with depression and not feeling well, and after I had my daughter, blah blah blah. And this big beautiful— now I'm a big woman, I'm like 5'9", I'm not like skinny. I'm, you know, I'm a nice, like, me-size girl.

Yeah.

This lady was huge next to me. Like, I was like, oh my God. And she— and— but I was like, not right. So fast forward, this beautiful, buxom blonde woman with this big blonde hair, she hands me this book. She goes, this is what you need. And I was kind of annoyed because I wasn't awake. I wasn't where I am today. I had just started working on myself. So I was like, what the hell does she want? Like, who are you? And I turned around and I had this book in my hand. She left. That was the beginning of my journey. It was, um, Sanaya Roman, Joy of Living, Living with Purpose. I can't remember the exact name of the book. I still have a copy on my nightstand. It was about light and it was about angels and it was about connecting to our higher purpose. So I incorporate all this stuff, helping people heal, grow personally, professionally, in their business also, because I really work with, you know, like you read that great announcement. So the bottom line is, yeah, I'm a lightworker with a badass sense and business, 33 years business experience. So I marry those two.

And that's beautiful because usually it's always the analytical side, you know, results and what are the numbers, and we got to make tons of money, and we don't care if we're miserable and overweight and stressed out and ready to— for the rubber room for the weekend. Hey, but we got lots of money. Yeah. I just want to say hi to a few folks. Liz is saying, spot on, we all have that GPS. Thank you, Liz. And Lynn is saying hello as well. Share this out, guys. Share this out to your friends. Share this out to maybe fellow entrepreneurs or, you know, some of your ladies that are looking to start a business or maybe start their spiritual path, their spiritual journey. Maria has, like I said, loads loads of information. So we want to get that out to everybody. Let us know where you're from as well, if this is your first time, if you're on the replay as well. We will answer all questions. We don't have a—

yeah, make sure you do it— hashtag replay, hashtag live. Share with your friends. My passion, guys, I came out here today because I wanted to share, because I love Christine. She's a doll. I think she's an earth angel myself. Oh my goodness. When we connected, she was starting on her journey of entrepreneurship. Oh also. And, and the passion lies that as a lightworker, I had brick-and-mortar businesses that had nothing to do with lightwork, had nothing to do with intuition. I owned salons, spas, I had a cab company, I had a beauty supply. It had nothing to do with my life purpose. But once I started to realize I wanted to share my spiritual gifts and my offline business experience and marry it, my goal was to help all the healers integrative practitioners, people who— lightworkers, holistic practitioners, Reiki healers, mediums, psychics— anyone who's working with that guided spirit, with those beings of light, in whatever realm you're using it to bring those, those gifts out to the world. Guys, especially for a woman, you know, over 40, you know, maybe you got divorced, maybe you have to restart your life like I did, maybe you have to reinvent yourself, maybe you need a side hustle, maybe you need more cash for your kid to go to college. Why not take your gift and your passion, package that up into a beautiful business, and start healing the world with what you're meant to do? Because if you're on here watching us, you know damn well you're here to help us raise the vibration. We are right here to do this together. That's why I met Christine. That's why I'm talking to you. And I refuse to hide that. That's why I came out about my spirituality 3 years ago, and against all— I, I fired all my mentors, I fired all my coaches because everyone wanted me to keep that quiet. They felt— they were like, yeah, but you're a businesswoman, that's going to discredit you. Oh Lord, it was making me physically sick because, yeah, why can't I marry these? So when I fired everyone and just followed my truth, my business exploded, and that's how Zen and Profits was born. My methodology to marrying intuition, spiritual work, light work, healing into growing a practice with little or no money, guys. So if you have little or no money, trust me, you can do it because I did.

Yes. And I, you know what I've benefited from, you know, and she does walk the walk and talk the talk. She shares so much, so many tips. I, you know, she goes live at least once a day, I'm pretty sure. And you're always sharing like, um, all these tips and PDFs, and she gives a ton of value and content. She's not like, oh yeah, you know, I'll help you for, you know, right away, like X amount of dollars. Um, it's, it's interesting that, um, I mean, you are here to make, make money, I get that, but at the same time, I think there's a fine line Uh, with that, you have to work with someone you know, like, and trust, and that's how you built your business.

Yeah, and I believe that to be true. And I have to be honest, guys, you know what has happened? The whole online space has kind of contorted— I was actually sharing with this Christine J Gold earlier— it's kind of contorted the word spirituality slightly. It's contorted marrying business and entrepreneurship and all this stuff, unfortunately, because there's a lot of what I call Insta coaches. People that come on, they take a course, and then just start duplicating stuff and are promising people a bunch of bullshit. It's not real sustainable business practices. And I have to say, I feel sorry for those people, and they are unfortunately taking advantage of a lot of people. So if you have an instinct or a desire in your soul to start a, a conscious business, to start a spiritual practice, to start a holistic practice, whatever that looks like to you. I mean, I've helped everyone from a Reiki healer to a construction worker who decided he was gonna do Access Bars because it was something he had done once. And this guy was like, bro, I usually work with women, but I was like, all right, I'm like, I'll help you. And again, you can do anything you want. The whole key to this is to really find someone, a mentor. And like I said, you guys can follow me, on my regular Facebook page, on my business page, my YouTube channel. You can join my Zen and Profits for Spiritual CEOs group. It's free. I give tons of value. You could just follow me, watch videos like Christine said. I really want to help you because the bottom line is that's my energy. And by helping everyone awaken and seeing that it's possible— I wrote 2 books. People were like, oh yeah, you're going to write a book, right?

Oh yeah, I did. I published 2 books by myself. Yeah, right.

Love and Light and Business is a Spiritual Thing. They're both on Amazon. They're both selling because they're topics no one wants to talk about, and it's my truth. So you can do that. If you have a dream of writing a book, I can help you do that. I can show you how to get that done. It's so doable, so easy to do. You just have to get your voice and really decide what you want to do to make your magic and your mission known.

Exactly. Don't die with the music still in you, as Leo Tolstoy would say via Wayne Dyer. I had to watch Wayne before I went on the show. He inspires me so much. I love him. Yeah, I love him. Uh, Robin says you came out, and she's laughing there. That's awesome.

Yeah, yeah, it's true because, right, Christine, a lot, you know, I was brought up in a certain, you know, lifestyle, a certain cultural way. I'm Italian first generation, so like the minute you start talking about certain stuff— I'm from New Jersey— they're like, what are you freaking nuts, you know? But I have to tell you something, I've had more people, which moves me and it makes me so happy, so many people that message me, people I went to high school with, people that knew me my whole life, they're like, Maria, can you help me? I call it they become spiritually bi-curious, and all of a sudden, even if they start working with me and they never ever thought that they were spirit. They are, because we all are. We're all spiritual beings. There's no label to it. And every single human's different. So what— like, Christine's gifts are, are one. My gifts are different. Your gifts might be different, but we all have them. Yes, it's going to empower us.

Power us.

Guess what, guys? You have the power inside you, in your heart center, to empower yourself.

You do, and you just have to believe it. And it's a practice and it takes work. And there seems to be a lot of fear as well, I guess, to anything new, because we like to stay in our comfort zone. And hey, I'm sure we all do it, right?

Yeah. I can share with you, when I started on my healing journey and I started especially my online practice, What happened was I remember one of my healers saying to me, no, Maria, as you grow and evolve, a lot of people are going to get pissed off and you may lose a lot of friendships and things are going to change. Your relationships are going to change. So what happens is you have to remember energetically, if you're evolving to here, yes, the people who are not, what's going to happen? I always remember that. So you can love them from a distance.

Yes, of course. Right.

You can still change up your relationships with them, send them always love and light.

Yeah.

You are gonna have to go through these processes to be able to really stand in your own power and be honest to yourself. And your intuition knows whatever your gut tells you is your truth. Your truth is not what everyone else tells you.

No.

And you'd be surprised how many women come to me to, with their business, there, there, yes, tons of naysayers out there. No lack of them. True. But it's your responsibility and your choice to figure out who you're going to surround yourself with.

Exactly.

If someone's negative to me on Facebook, delete, goodbye. If someone, any kind of, it's okay, you don't have to like me, that's okay. I have plenty of people who love me and I love myself, so it doesn't matter. We will automatically attract our own tribe.

Definitely, no, and I, yeah, I totally, resonate with that. I think— well, I know for myself that we were programmed right from an early age. You got to think this way. You got to follow the pack. Don't think outside the box. Oh, but think outside the box. But this box particularly. And if you speak up or say anything, then, oh gosh, I'm sure you've heard these labels. Troublemaker, sensitive. What's wrong with you? You're crazy. Yeah, I'm crazy. I lost my mind and I woke up. How about you?

Yeah. Anyways, um, and that's how my journey started. Yeah, I hit rock bottom after my daughter was born 18 years ago. I wound up getting divorced. I had no support, you know, of course the circle around me was not supportive. Lost everything, but I gained everything. I lost everything materialistically, but what I gained I am— would not be the person I am today, healing, helping. And, and what I do is in my practice, when I'm helping, you know, spiritual entrepreneurs, spiritual CEOs, conscious CEOs really get their businesses off the ground or to scale, we bring in— we do a lot of intuitive work. We do a lot of— I do a lot of light work with them being, you know. So I'll just show you quickly how I do light work. You know, I just make sure my feet are on the ground barefoot, which I'm barefoot right now. I mean, I could be sitting here in my underwear, you guys wouldn't even know it, but that's okay. I'm not, it doesn't matter, right? And, um, I just close my eyes and I simply just ask whoever's on duty. That's what I say. I say, whoever's on duty, whatever being is of light or on duty, because I really have no preference, I need a shower of light to heal me or give me direction or show me what to do, whatever that may look like. And while I'm doing that, I imagine like when fireworks explode and they all shimmer down like this and all that warm light. And every time I do it, the light may be a different color. Sometimes it's pink, sometimes it's green, sometimes it's lavender. It'll just naturally come to whatever it is you need, and your interpretation of that is your own. Like, I, I feel if it's violet, it's peace. If it's green, it's healing. If it's pink, I needed love and tenderness. You know, whatever that may look like too. If it's gold, I may have just needed vision from, you know, from the universe.

Yes.

And I, I allow all of that light to shower through my body, travel down my arms, travel down my chest. If there's some particular area of my body that's feeling discomfort, I will actually do an exercise where that light goes counterclockwise. Now once again, this is just something that just I do. No one taught me this. And it goes counterclockwise, and it will wash away whatever pain I have or ailment. Um, and then I allow it to move through my body and exit through my feet into the universe, as if it's shooting out. And as it shoots out, it shoots out a different color. And that different color is— it's taking everything that doesn't belong there. Once I finish that exercise and I just ask the universe and the angels to cover me in all-knowing healing white light, and I just take it all in, and I just do it as long as it feels good. It could be a minute, it could be 2 minutes, it could be 5 minutes. And then that's beautiful.

It's like a— you could see that as guided imagery, you could see that as body scanning or scanning chakras. I mean, everyone's got to— whatever it works for you, that's what you use. Or grounding. And I think taking a few minutes for yourself in quiet and just sitting with your body, because a lot of times we go, go, go. And then you go to bed, then you wake up and you do it again. You're like, okay, what's going on here? I feel like I'm on the proverbial treadmill. When do I get off? And that's where you can sink into depression, anxiety, and other—

absolutely. I mean, I don't ever claim to be a medical doctor or be able to heal anxiety or depression, but I've had clients who've worked with me because I've been there myself.

Yes.

And, you know, the first thing we do when we start a session, if it's on the phone or it's live one-on-one, or if it's on Zoom like we are now, first thing we do is we just relax and ground ourselves, and I just feel into their energy. And the truth of the matter is, if I have something that I'm dealing with prior to me being with my client, I make sure I allow at least a half hour of time for me to clear my own crap.

Oh yes, I did that.

The table, that's right. I'm not being of service to them or of me because I can't show up in my right energy where it's going to be off alignment and they're not going to get what they deserve. And it's wrong of me to even show up like that.

Yeah, and you're, you're definitely honoring yourself, and then you're honoring your client, and you're honoring the universe as well. I mean, it's a whole honoring of being present and being the presence.

Um, absolutely.

It's a responsibility. I, I I take it in, in high regard, definitely. And if you're also not feeling well or you're feeling off, I feel it's very important to rebook with someone because I don't want to give you 50%. I want to give you 100 or 1,000%.

Absolutely.

So taking that time for self-care, that's another one. We, I think as ladies, we tend to put everybody else ahead of ourselves. And then, you know, I laugh.

What does self-care mean? I'll tell you what self-care means. I had to be— now it's 6 o'clock PM. Yes, in the East Coast. I usually cook dinner every night. That's what I'm about. We have a family meal. So self-care meant to me, well, if I had to rush and cook dinner, I couldn't be looking good, showing up on camera, doing what I think that I— when I cook, I put on like my freaking tank top and throw my hair up in a bun. So I said, you know what, this is something people need to remember. Self-care doesn't just mean getting a pedicure, getting your facial. Self-care means honoring your soul. So I checked in with myself this afternoon. I'm like, what do I need today? Today I need to make my afternoon really simple and really like just— I need to really do what makes me happy. So I didn't work for the past 2 hours. I lit my bergamot candle, which is right next to me. I did some reading. I did some catching up on stuff that just was what I needed to do. And I made sure there was other arrangements for dinner, which were out of the ordinary, 'cause usually I don't do anything in the evening, 'cause that's part of my self-care ritual. I don't commit to things after 4:00 PM, except my red wine. But yeah, I'm drinking water right now. So that, these are silly things that people, sometimes they're like, you know what, I never thought of that. Like just saying no is self-care in business. Just saying, you know what, no, it's not about getting my hair done today. It's just about rearranging what I'm going to do that's going to work for me. Oh yeah, I'm not going to my mother's house for dinner because every time I go there, a war breaks out. I think I'm going to start inviting my mother out for a coffee at noon at Dunkin' Donuts. I mean, this is examples how you can make tiny little changes.

Yes.

Honor yourself. And that it's in itself. The more you honor yourself, I have to tell you, the more you will hear your intuition, because all this jargon clouds it. It's like, remember, like the old school TV sets with all the—

yeah, the fuzz, the fuzz. Yeah, the noise, the noise.

That's all outside elements clouding our intuitive gifts. Yeah, and we all have them.

Yeah. And, and anyone that says, oh, meditation, I don't have time for that, you know what, you're never going to find that in that intuitive piece that's always there. It's there, you just gotta— you have to take that time for yourself. Um, Lynn is asking, so what if you've been asking your angels and guides for help and you don't feel like anything's happening? Do you just trust that something's being done? In the background, I'm— yeah, yeah.

So this is what I found too, and I share with everyone because especially when I'm working with people in the business realm, they're like, yeah, but I really need this now. You can't ask for things to be delivered the way you think they should be delivered. My client said, I really need new appliances. Okay, it's broke. The next day, should I buy a new fridge? Was it the way— did it happen the way she planned? No, but the universe said, I'm gonna get you. So her angels, the universe, whoever it was, delivered.

Yes.

Um, something's always being done. I— what I find is you have to really be a little bit more loving and kind to yourself and stop having expectations that things are going to be delivered a certain way.

Yes.

You pay more attention to what's going on around you, you'll notice the little things that you didn't see. Like I said to you the other day, the, the, the leaf that was shaped like a heart that I passed that same tree every day. I'm like, wait a minute now, then, you know, like, how did that— and then today I walked by there with my dogs, I'm like, wasn't there? I'm like, did I— am I delusional? So that's, that's— I think the trick is let go of your expectations. Stop waiting for everything to be delivered in that blue Tiffany box because that's just how you think it should be delivered. If you really release and allow. And I would just say to the angels, show me the direction, show me what I need to know, give me guidance.

Yes, definitely. And patience. I, I used that word yesterday with a client, patience, and her eyes lit up because she knew, because just how she was talking. And, and I asked, I said, I asked your collective, like your guides, your angels, What—

what I'm going to remind you, which Christine, you probably agree with me on this, another thing I found myself guilty of, and a lot of my clients, and it's not guilty, I hate that word, but the truth is we're guilty of it because we're doing it, that see, angels, the universe, the law of attraction, any energetic works on free will.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, if you're subconsciously resisting that because of fear Yeah, that you are saying you want one thing, but you're energetically vibrating at a different vibration.

Definitely.

So, like, I can't explain it. I had one client who actually kept saying she didn't want something, she didn't want something, but she was so obsessed with not wanting something that she kept attracting more of it. Because in her heart, that's something she was attracting was keeping her in a safe comfort own.

Yes, that's right.

And it sounds so complicated, but when you just take time to be quiet— and when we talk about meditating, and, and this was a struggle for me when I first started meditating 18 years ago because I'm a busybody, I'm, I'm active, I'm a Gemini, I'm a doer. So for me to connect that divine feminine, I had to really figure out alternative methods. So you know what I started to do? These are just some tips and tools I'm a big fan of. I always have different beta, alpha binaural beat music in the background. Go right on YouTube, it's free. I just look, what do I need today? Block negative energy, raise my bra— okay, I just keep that in the background and it's a subliminal meditation while I'm just doing what I'm doing. It really shifts. And also on my phone, um, I think one is Power of Intention. There's a whole slew of, again, subliminal meditations. Just put the headphones in, go to sleep I never make it past walking down these plush stairs. I have no idea what happens after that because I fall asleep. But guess what? My subconscious does. And Kelly Howell is another great, great, um, not CDs, but now it's MP3s. And I'm telling you guys, if you can't really— she has like short little meditations that are like 2 to 3 minutes. You slowly get yourself— it's like working out your arms. If you want biceps and you never worked out or did some sit-ups. Yeah, you're gonna have to start slow in spiritual work, right? It's the same thing. Just start slow and be like, how can I make this work for me? So you're not into sitting a half hour, you don't have to sit like a yogi with your legs full, but no, just sit somewhere.

Yeah, I, I usually lay— I usually lay down, actually. That's me. Yeah, very rarely. The only time I sit is when I'm doing yoga and they want you know, it's part of the practice. But other than that, I'm laying down. I'm like, forget it.

Yeah.

All right, uh, do you have questions for the lovely Maria about your business, starting a business, starting, growing, doing anything with your business?

I mean, if you have any questions after this, be— just share them with Christine. I'll be glad to message her and answer them back, or in this thread. I also have another great little tip for you guys. This is great for business and for life. It's a little twist on your gratitude journal, something I learned from one of my healers. It's really quick. This is especially great for someone who says, I have no time to journal or do gratitude. Yeah, before you get out of bed in the morning, as soon as your brain wakes up, I want you— the first thing you're going to think about is what feels good right now. This morning, the smell of espresso next to my head that my husband brought in. Yesterday, the warm— my foot, the feeling of my warm blankie. You get where I'm going with this? Yeah, whatever feels good at that second. Then you're gonna think of your second thing. What felt really good in your past? What are you grateful for in your past? And it's gonna be the first thing comes to mind. Third thing, you're gonna think of what's gonna feel really good and what do you see happening that you're gonna be grateful for in the future. Depositing a check for $20 grand for doing a speaking gig. I'm just telling you what I said this morning. So, and that, and then once I get up out of bed, I'll just write those 3 things. That's my gratitude journal. For 21 days, if you do that, you're gonna see miracles happen because you are feeling. Remember, guys, feeling. Feeling feels like not thinking.

Exactly, exactly. And I think that's what gets us tripped up is, is the thinking part. And then the ego gets involved and says, well, it's got to be done by this time, and why isn't it done? Well, you're a failure. Oh, here we go. There's, there's that loop again, right?

So I tell my ego, I'm like, listen, thanks, but shut the hell up. Thank you for trying to help me out, but I'm not listening. So what I want to share with your beautiful, beautiful audience is this: if you're thinking of starting a spiritual practice, a healing practice, a, a, if you're a service provider, transformational expert, a coach, whatever that may look like to you, your business practice Offline and online, I do both. I want you to visit me at zenandprofits.com. I have a program that even if you're on a super tight budget and you're just starting out, guys, you can work with me for $97 a month. You get full access to my whole online course and library. And Christine could tell you the kind of products I produce. I give you everything I ever use. I give you 100 emails to anything you need for your business. I share everything with you in that learning academy. Plus you're going to get 2 live calls in our private Facebook group where we do interactive just like this. I get you in a Zoom call, everyone gets a turn, I help you with your businesses. It's only $97 a month, it's the best deal in the world. Plus you get intuitive, personalized— we work on mindset, we work on energy work. It's very personalized to what your needs are. So if you want to get your business going and you're on a budget, this is a great way to check out what I do. If you want to just hop on a call with me, listen, just book a call with me too. You could just talk to me for 15 minutes. We could figure out what your game plan needs to be. And sometimes just the phone call could really help you get clarity as to where you need to go. Don't be shy. I welcome you. I want you to ask me questions. I am here for all of you. So just remember, you can find me on ZenandProfits.com or MariaFontana.com. .com very easily, or I'm all over Facebook, so not that hard.

And we'll, we'll put the links up after. And Carol Lee is saying hello. And yes, Lynn, we're gonna put the link.

Anything I could share with you?

Uh, Robin is asking— oh, she's learning to make bracelets. Nice. She wants to sell them and donate the percentage. Okay, well, that's a very nice answer. What do you do first?

So we— I would suggest hop on a call with me because we could figure out— it all depends on what your vision is. How big do you want this business? Like, what is it going to look like to you? How many are you going to produce? Do you want to sell them online? Do you want to sell them at Etsy? Do you want to sell them in a Shopify store? Do you want to sell them locally at, you know, local events or local holistic events or whatever those, you know, whatever resonates with what you're selling? So you're saying they're more professional looking, so maybe you might want to sell them to corporate women who have had cancer or have a loved one that had cancer, or because, you know, there's so many marketing strategies that you could sell with love and integrity. So I'd love to call you. Don't be shy, just book a call with me. We can figure it out. I can give you some tips and tools and anything I have that I can help you get going. It just depends on what you want, so it's hard for me to gauge just talking to you because everyone's needs are different and everyone's vision of a business is different too. So you let me know because it's very personalized and I'll be happy to answer that for you.

I hope that was— and congrats on making the bracelets. I mean, just doing something that you love is a meditation in itself and can be very healing. So congrats on that.

Picture of your bracelets under this, on in this thread, that way. Yeah, what you're doing and maybe some of our audiences will be interested in what you do. That's called collaborating. Yeah, awesome talking to you.

Yeah, well, yes, definitely that. No, that's amazing. Um, so I'm gonna wrap it up here in a few minutes, but is there anything else that you wanted to share, um, with the audience? Um, I guess, you know, what's— hmm. In regards to starting a business, I guess, are you seeing any trends?

The trends are this. The trend is to really be yourself. People who zig when everyone else is zagging. Do not do what you see everybody else doing online. Just do not do that because you will fail. That is my first, you know, opinion. The second thing is really you have to follow again your intuition, and it has to resonate with you. You know, here's an example. If you are a hairdresser and you like working alone and you really can't stand being a team player and you don't like camaraderie and you don't like gossip, well then guess what? Are you gonna go work for a high-level salon that's got 50 operators, 50 stylists, it's corporate-run? You're gonna go work for Ulta? Or are you going to go open up your own private little studio that you could do your own thing and be your own in your own space? Yeah, you see what I'm saying? You have to honor you. It has— so when I start working with you, we, we go backwards. I figure out what do you want your life to look like? Okay, how many hours a week you want to work? What's your family life like? What are your obligations? What feels good to you? Because it's not just about a business, it's about your life. And then we do the math and we figure out backwards if you need to replace your job. This is the part people like, I cannot believe I was making such little money. I— and, and when you start doing the math and I said, okay, this is— we figure out what you need to make, how many clients you need to see, and you go backwards and do all the strategy part of it. It's like, oh, so it's like, right, people just forget about the math. They forget about the whole— what has happened is people forget about the business part of it where you need a plan. Yes, we want to share our gifts. Yes, we want to do all these great things, but you have to have a plan, and that plan has to be customized to you, your lifestyle, what you want. Do you like going on vacation 2 months out of the year? Do you want to work only on the computer? Do you— you know, again, it's so personalized that it's not cookie cutter. And you, I know, can vouch for that because you've been Follow me long enough that you know nothing cookie cutter is going to work, and there's a million ways to market, a million ways to strategize. It has to be customized to you.

Definitely. And, and, um, you know, and collaborate and support other women that are, you know, in the same space. Uh, there is no competition. The only, you know, you're, you're basically judging, you know, yourself if you're doing that. So absolutely. I welcome, and I always, you know, if I'm looking for new guests for my show, so I always throw that out there. I'm part of a lot of, you know, networking environments because someone, you know, if I come across you and someone says I need this certain type, I know the perfect person, her name's Maria, right?

Thank you, and likewise. And the truth is, guys, in business and in real business, collaborating and referring are the two most powerful ethically correct, with integrity marketing tools you will ever find.

Definitely, you know.

And, and I love Christine because, I mean, like me, she shows up. And we— I always say you could see the light in our eyeballs when we're talking to you online. I am talking directly to you, and so is she. We feel your energy, and we're sharing our good with you because we want to see you really move forward, whatever that may look like to you personally or professionally. Yeah. So don't be hard on yourself and remember, meet yourself where you're at and just start from there.

And your journey starts with one step. It's not 10,000. I got to do them all right now. No, whoa, whoa. I think a lot of us think, okay, well, I should be an overnight success by now. Or, you know, look at that person online. How come they're— you know what? It's a smoke show.

Listen, it's a bunch of bullshit. Don't believe any of it. I've seen enough people who claim to be like high-end, and I'm like, like, guys, focus on yourself. And, you know, again, I know I'm getting off the subject, but be very mindful of social media. I would only spend my time— I only spend 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at night on business. But once you follow me a while, it looks like I'm always on there. I'm not. I have everything very strategically planned out. I only spend time where it nourishes my soul. I am not in 50 million groups unless it nourishes my soul or nourishes my business where I can give back and they give back to me. Robin's laughing. Yeah, don't do it. It's an energy sucker and it's gonna derail you. It's gonna derail your alignment, it's gonna derail your energy, and it's gonna make you feel like you're an imposter and not good enough, which is quite frankly the number one problem Every single person that comes to me, it's funny when we start deep diving, everyone's like, they feel like they're not good enough, they feel like an imposter, and it's because the damn social media blasting. So it's your job to take good care of yourself and stay away from it to, you know, to a point. Be, be rational, make a schedule. Like, you know what, what am I using this for? It's got to be for good the way we're using it right now. Not a force for stressing yourself out.

No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I've learned all of that along the way too.

And you know, yeah, and it's probably why I'm probably the one of the few last men standing in your social media circle, because I do see what's going on. I make sure, like, it's not about gimme gimme gimme gimme, and it's just not that way. It doesn't work like that, guys.

No. And you know what, your first gut feeling, instinct feel, when you— we all have it, if you go with that. I mean, I can look at someone's picture and I'm like, uh-uh, within 5 seconds. Nope, not for me, next. I, I just— and I would always dismiss it, but now I'm like, you know what, heck, I love this. It's like a game. It's like, well, Anyways, I know it is.

I just saw a flash of light go by. I don't know if you guys— you probably don't— if you could— if I didn't show in there, but I just saw like a little light go by. I was like, oh, angels are with us. We're, we're energetically surrounded.

Hmm. Oh yeah, totally. Um, so I am— it looks like I don't have any more questions.

And does anyone else have questions?

If no, if not Then I am going to wish everyone a wonderful evening. And thank you again, Maria, for coming on. If you're on the replay, please ask if you have anything. Please ask if you're looking for something. Please ask.

Absolutely.

And I'll hold on.

I'm going to add this. And listen, if anyone wants a free copy of my book, Love and Light, or Business Is a Spiritual Thing, I have two. I'll send you the digital download. Just comment below. Make sure you put hashtag live, hashtag replay for Christine, and I will make sure I send that right over to— I'll send it right to your Messenger inbox tomorrow. Don't be shy.

Beautiful, Christine.

Very important, guys, clean up your list.

If you look at some— honestly, if you look at someone and you're like, uh-uh, you know what, it's, it's, it's online. It's not You know what, if they're meant to be in your life, they would be in your life for a reason. And sometimes this first season, and I'd say more times it's for a lesson, any type of relationship you're in is going to be a mirror of something that is going on here.

So it stings when you have to address that.

Oh, so especially if you're highly sensitive, I've, I've learned that again, the hard way. Thanks for the information. And it looks like Robin is looking for a copy, of course. Amazing.

I'll make sure I send that out afterwards, and I'll make sure I get into your inbox. If by some crazy reason I don't get to, make sure you just hunt me down and make sure I get those to you.

All right, well, I want to wish everyone a beautiful evening. And Maria, it was I've learned, I learned a lot. I'm sure everyone else did as well. Thank you. Please comment and share this out if you found this valuable or even share this out with someone who is maybe a little shy and they're not sure. But hey, sharing is caring as always. That's right. And hey guys, I want to wish you, you know, an amazing week. This is what, our first week of January really?

Yeah.

Don't get hung up on any resolutions. Just find an intention and a feeling and go with it.

And hey, no resolutions. Intentions, feelings, that's it. And let it go, let it go, let it go. Make believe it's August 10th. No one gives a shit. Just, just do that.

And please remember everyone, yes, love you all. Love and light, love and light. And healing begins where the ego ends, guys. Take care.

Thank you so much, guys. I'll see you.