I want to share a crazy story of how a spiritual adviser (colloquially referred to as a “psychic”) predicted I would leave my job and write a book.
In 2015, I was 24 years old and working at Fortune magazine. I was writing an article about corporate “intuitive counselors” — some charging as much as $10,000 per month — that advise CEOs and high-profile business clients. (You can read the full story here.)
“It’s well known that successful professionals have a coterie of advisers – investment advisers, leadership coaches, personal trainers – but for a small, but growing number, that network also includes so-called intuitive counselors and spiritual advisers – more commonly known as psychics. The late Apple chief Steve Jobs reportedly appointed a Zen master to serve as a corporate spiritual adviser.”
Though I, personally, had never sought out the services of a spiritual adviser, it was a fun story to report, and it gave a fascinating glimpse into a world I knew nothing about.
The interview process offered surprise after surprise. One astrologer whose clients include high-level execs at Google told me, “I think people would be astounded at the amount of entrepreneurs that consult people like me. Any entrepreneur that has been hugely successful either has a very well-developed intuition of their own, or consults people who do.”
At the time, I interviewed Colette Baron-Reid, who described herself as “an intuitive counselor.” Considered one of the leading practitioners in her unusual field, Colette says her clients include top executives in the real estate, energy, and entertainment industries. Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer included Colette in his book, A Curious Mind, which profiles leaders in various fields.
This all happened 8 years ago.
Fast forward to last week when I was searching for something in my email, and I accidentally came across the recording of the interview I did with Colette back in 2015. After listening to the interview, it was abundantly clear how skeptical I was of her profession. At the end, she asked me if she could do “a reading” for me. I agreed so long as I could potentially use it as material in the article.
As any bright-eyed, eager, anxious-about-the-future 24-year-old, I asked her what she could tell me about my career. Listening back to it eight years later, it’s chilling.
But at the time, I thought she was unbelievably off-base. I had just gotten my dream job at a prestigious business magazine, where I thought I would stay for the rest of my life.
Having recently left a dysfunctional startup environment, I loved corporate life. So when she said, “You’re not a corporate girl,” you can judge for yourself what I was thinking from my awkward laugh and the tone of my “interesting…” (I say “interesting” a total of 7 times.)
With Colette’s permission, I’ve published an audio snippet of that reading below:
Beyond the fact that she accurately senses that I would start working on “another body of work” while still at my job (The Profile) and that I would eventually write a book (Hidden Genius), the part that struck me most wasn’t any sort of ‘prediction.’
It was this:
“The biggest problem you have is not trusting that you have a voice — that you actually have something to say. That is beyond interviewing people or whatever. You really have something to say. That’s why I thought it was interesting that you’re only 24 and yet your finger is on the pulse of the zeitgeist, and you understand it in a much more complex way, which is beyond your years.”
“You need to just do it. You can’t wait until you think you’re ready. You just gotta do it. You gotta feel the fear and do it anyway.”
I wonder just how many entrepreneurs, CEOs, and regular people seek out spiritual counselors like Colette for this very reason: It’s an affirmation of your identity.
It’s the validation of things you already know but need an external push to pursue. It’s needing someone to tell you “trust your voice” until you look back at that fearful 24-year-old and think, “Damn. I wish it hadn’t taken me eight years to trust my own voice and pursue my dreams.”
✨ Pre-order my new book, HIDDEN GENIUS below:
Your opening story is really fascinating ...