People want to know you! Tell your story. Don’t be afraid to be real, raw, and vulnerable. When you express your personal experiences, people can connect with you on a deeper level. All of a sudden it creates a sense of oneness and unity that instantly dissolves the illusion of ego. From this place, you can create a more genuine atmosphere through leading by example. Even when it’s business, people are still people. Whether you are working one-on-one with someone or have a team, others will develop a deeper sense of trust and commitment to you when they can relate to you. Building genuine personal relationships will always bring success because it is our primal nature to connect, and to connect deeply.
As a part of my series about strong female leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alison Shine, Intuitive Medium at Keen.com
Alison is an award-winning Intuitive, Medium, and Spiritual Development Teacher who uses her gifts to facilitate a connection between the physical and spiritual realms. From a young age, she has had the ability to receive intuitive awareness and spirit communication from the other side. With over a decade of development training and 3,500+ professional readings performed to date, she delivers compassionate guidance in a non-judgmental space of healing. After receiving her BSW in counseling, she spent many valuable years as a behavioral therapist. In January 2016, Alison was awarded as the site-wide winner of Keen.com’s Seasons of Gratitude Contest based on anonymous client submission of most life changing advisor.
Alison works directly alongside her spirit guides to deliver detailed messages about life events, path, and purpose. As an Evidentiary Medium, she conducts in-person and live distance readings to connect others with their loved ones on the other side. With a purpose in teaching others how to grow their own abilities, Alison became a spiritual development teacher. Her personal mindfulness practice commits to daily meditation, yoga, and writing.
Thank you for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Absolutely! I’m so happy to be here. It’s interesting because I feel like I’ve always been headed down the career path I am on. It almost feels like it chose me, instead of me choosing it. When I was little, I was especially sensitive and would have deep knowings about other people and situations. I began having dreams that included messages from departed loved ones from around the age of 6. I was fascinated with TV shows about Mediums like Lisa Williams and John Edward giving audience readings. I’ve always felt it was my purpose to bring healing messages to others, too.
One day in 2011, I decided to log onto Keen.com as a user looking for insight. I received several readings from different advisors who all surprisingly told me I would become a professional Intuitive Medium one day. I felt so inspired, intrigued, and empowered by the readings that I decided ‘“Why not?”. I had just graduated from college and realized I could bridge my counseling background with my natural spiritual abilities. I applied to become an advisor and 9 years later here I am!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your role working with Keen.com?
When I look back on my experiences with Keen there have been a lot of interesting coincidences that led me here. In 2015, I was only giving readings part-time. At the time, I also worked as a full-time behavioral development therapist for the school system and trained service dogs on the side. I was on the fence between multiple careers and needed direction. Later that year, Keen hosted a site wide contest for users to submit their success stories and vote for their favorite advisor. Immediately, I had this deep, intuitive knowing that I would be picked. As the universe would have it, one of my clients submitted an entry and it ended up winning first place. It was the sign that I needed to truly trust and believe in my gift, my passion, and my dream.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Sometimes “mistakes” end up being an incredible vessel of understanding when growth is needed! This was definitely the case for me. When I first started giving readings, I had a lot of fears that held me back from giving more readings. Sharing your intuitive impressions about someone else’s life can feel scary. I didn’t want to say something wrong or be judged and as a result, I didn’t log on often. My funniest mistake was actually listening to that fear! I was holding myself back from reaching more people simply because it was unknown territory. However, the more I showed up and the more leaps of faith I took, the easier it became. The words would come more effortlessly and I became confident in my abilities. I learned that the fear often happens right before the leap, but after that, it all flows naturally.
What do you think makes Keen.com? Can you share a story?
What’s so incredible about Keen is that they have a spiritual advisor for everyone. Truly! No matter what type of insight you are looking for there is someone who can help give you clarity. The diversity and range is unique and allows for a deeply personal, customized experience. There’s even a cool quiz you get to do at the beginning that helps match you with the perfect advisor tailored to your needs.
Another one of my favorite things about Keen is their chat feature! Similar to texting, you can connect with an advisor and have a written conversation in your own private window. This allows you to receive quick and easy guidance from whenever, wherever. I have a lot of clients who prefer to chat when they are on the go, in a busy area, or simply if they prefer to not talk. This option also gives you a transcript of your reading, so you can refer to it time and time again.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
My lifelong project is to continue delivering healing messages through my one-on-one readings! I am also growing a mediumship development program that teaches others how to communicate with and receive messages from the other side. There are a lot of people out there who have these sensitivities but don’t even know it. You might even be one of them! Whenever I talk to someone who is interested in spirituality, they often have their own stories of uncanny coincidences, dreams about loved ones, and intuitive gut feelings. All of these experiences are significant and can indicate that you have a unique gift!
My style of reading incorporates a lot of spiritual teachings and I always make sure to highlight others’ intuitive gifts. My goal in this is to empower others so they may recognize their own connection with spirit. We all have the ability to receive higher insights and deliver healing messages to others. I always think back to the Keen advisors that motivated me in this direction and want to give back what I gained from that life-changing experience.
What advice would you give to other female thought-leaders or experts to help their team to thrive?
Be your own boss! It’s so important for female leaders to express their voices. No one fully understands your unique gifts like you do. So, steer clear of any past storylines that tell you it’s not possible to achieve something. Be you, and take a leap of faith. Authenticity and action are an especially powerful combination. When you find your own independence, it activates a sense of visceral empowerment. That is the ultimate goal. It’s not about proving your worth to others by working hard. It’s about living from your truth and not being afraid to keep moving forward despite the road-blocks. You can create your own career experience and inspire others to do the same.
What advice would you give to other female entrepreneurs about the best way to manage their business, no matter what the size?
People want to know you! Tell your story. Don’t be afraid to be real, raw, and vulnerable. When you express your personal experiences, people can connect with you on a deeper level. All of a sudden it creates a sense of oneness and unity that instantly dissolves the illusion of ego. From this place, you can create a more genuine atmosphere through leading by example. Even when it’s business, people are still people. Whether you are working one-on-one with someone or have a team, others will develop a deeper sense of trust and commitment to you when they can relate to you. Building genuine personal relationships will always bring success because it is our primal nature to connect, and to connect deeply.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Hands down. My mother. I can remember being little and coming to her about “conversations I was having with my angels.” Instead of entertaining the thought as a fanciful game, she took my experiences seriously. She would tell me stories of her own spiritual childhood memories which made me feel validated and supported. I always felt listened to. It was like having an immediate open-hearted audience that valued my intuitive impressions. This ended up nurturing a beautiful foundation for me to share guidance with others.
Besides nurturing my spiritual gifts, my mother changed the way I view success. I was given the gift of a front-row seat to her success story as an entrepreneur. She went after her dream career as an interior designer despite others’ opinions about the odds of success in this field. She took bold leaps, visualized her goals, and believed in herself. Fast forward to the present day and she has manifested a reality where her talents are featured on the biggest mainstream interior design channel. I was given a real-life example early on to witness a dream career in motion. I guess you could say I’ve seen it happen, so I knew it could be a reality for me.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I believe that my skills and expertise give me a platform to teach others the truth of our spiritual nature. Which is that our souls do go on after life. It’s not uncommon for me to give readings where others are left shocked by the uncanny evidence and validation that came through. Sometimes it takes being “wow-ed” by a spiritual advisor to really open up to the possibility that there is more around us than just this physical world. More and more people are now coming to the understanding that our Universe is made up of energy and that we can tap into that information using our other senses. My aim is to continue educating others about the power within them as an infinite soul inside a human body. Once my clients start to tap into the spiritual guidance around them, and learn how to listen to their own intuition, things start falling into place in their life effortlessly.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Go At Your Own Pace. It took me a while to learn to have patience with myself. Everyone has such a unique and distinct growth process. So, it is truly impossible to compare yourself to others. Whenever I found myself “pushing” to work harder, I would feel even more stuck. I’m not your typical “9–5” type of gal. So, I had to discover that I work best when I created my own schedule. Once you feel aligned with your own flow, the motivation comes from a natural source. Your work will always end up being better than you could have imagined. Alignment first, then action. Always.
- Pretend Like No One’s Watching. I learned how to foster my own confidence by not caring what other people think so much. It doesn’t mean disregarding professionalism. In short, it is releasing the ego mindset of wanting to be “right, more, bigger, and better”. Sometimes, when you let go of the thought of having an audience to perform for, you remember that it’s all about helping others. Remind yourself often of your higher purpose because it will keep you aligned with what’s most important.
- Follow What Feels Good. I’m a big fan of learning to decipher what feels positive/negative in all situations. It gives you greater awareness to see the intricacies of what elements you’d like to shift in your life. Awareness is different from decision in the sense that one observes and one reacts. So, your emotional guidance system is your best compass.
- Lead With Your Heart. The mind will keep its eye on the price, but the heart will always guide you home. It can be a tricky balance to make decisions that are logical yet soul-level, too. When you feel something on a heart-centered level, that is most often your intuition speaking to you. Whenever I listen to my gut feeling about something, I always look back and can see the validation.
- Understand Your Worth. This is a big one. Especially, in the field of self-development and spirituality. It’s a common belief to see making money and spirituality as two separate things and that somehow combining the two is negative. The truth is — everything is energy. Your time, your efforts, your words, your actions. It is all energy that you give to others. So, it’s not really about what you do that defines your worth, but the worth that is already within you. Remember to keep your standards high because you are deserving of it all.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
To me, one of the most powerful and life-changing forces in the world is meditation. Meditation movements have been linked to improvements in the health and wellbeing of people around the globe. Finding moments of peace in your mind and in your environment at least once a day is life-changing. It offers your brain and body and reduction in stress hormones which can allow you to make more clear, aligned choices. The ideal “movement” is something that sticks rather than an event in time. Meditation has been here for ages throughout history for a reason. It is healing, impactful, and beneficial to all people, of all walks of life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion.” -Rumi
Rumi was a famous Persian poet born in 1207 who delivered an incredible wealth of wisdom in his writing. In modern-day times, I see this statement as: “Don’t be afraid of your greatness.”
You are not here to play it safe. You are not here to make others feel comfortable. You are not here to stay where you’re at. You are here to expand and grow and evolve. Life itself, including nature, teaches us that expansion is our natural state of evolution. Always remember, you are limitless.
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Reid Tracy, CEO of Hay House Publishing, Inc.
I would love to give him a reading! Thanks to Hay House, I grew up soaking in the wisdom of leaders like Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, and Jerry & Esther Hicks. I intuitively feel that a lot of powerful messages would come through for him. I would love to share my insights with those who helped foster my spiritual growth. After all, through gratitude all things are possible.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
On Keen.com — https://bit.ly/2Vpzvbk
On Instagram — _alisonshine