Kate Mantello is a spiritual entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author of ‘Rock On – The Crystal Healing Handbook for Spiritual Rebels’ and the Founder and CEO of Crystal & Co and Evolve Healing Institute, a world-class online training institute for energy healing practitioners.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Living life in a conventional hamster wheel never appealed to me. Within a year of finishing high school, I had travelled through most of SE Asia and landed my first full-time job as an ESL teacher in Indonesia.
After 5 years living in Indonesia, I returned to Australia and got a job as a travel agent, which I hated! I craved more meaning and spiritual fulfillment in my work. Fortunately, a spine injury meant I was forced to permanently quit my desk-job, so I became an energy healing practitioner.
My area of specialization is crystal healing and after several years of practicing from home, I began offering crystal healing workshops. This quickly grew into developing my own trademarked healing modality and practitioner training courses. In August 2016, my courses were professionally certified in 26 countries and in January 2017 they went online.
With access to a global market, business quickly exploded and I went from a one-woman show (emailing courses via PDF!), to the founder and CEO of one of the world’s most successful online crystal healing training institutes. To date, my organisation, Evolve Healing Institute, has delivered over 20,000 online courses and trained over 1000 crystal healing practitioners all around the world.
This has led to lots of amazing opportunities including speaking at some of Australia’s largest wellness events and launching Crystal & Co (an online crystal product store), with my hubby. I am also super excited that my debut book, ‘ROCK ON – The Crystal Healing Handbook for Spiritual Rebels’, has just been released through Rockpool Publishing.
My book is the culmination of over a decade on the frontlines of crystal healing and provides readers with a unique and down-to-earth perspective that is often lacking in the spiritual healing industry.
2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
Most of my days start with loudly cursing (but silently adoring) the crow of my silkie rooster. Then its action-stations, as hubby and I get up and fall into our unspoken roles of:
Hubs – coffees
Me – kid’s lunches
After I drop the kids at school, I head to the gym for an hour. Physical fitness and healthy lifestyle are very important to me, so I make sure the health investment happens first.
Once I’m home, a candle is lit, the chill music is played and I’m on the computer answering emails, writing my next book, creating new course content, or hosting a zoom meeting. I also have a YouTube channel, so I might be filming or editing videos too.
Lunch is often taken on my rainforest deck with hubby (it’s pretty awesome – I ain’t gonna lie). Hubby does school pick-up, so I work until 4-6pm, depending who is on dinner duty that night. Hopping into bed with a cup of earl grey tea at around 8pm is one of my favourite moments in my day!
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
As my businesses are online, lifestyle flexibility is one of the best perks of the role. I have worked poolside at resorts, on my phone at the grocery store and in my pyjamas from bed. Once you experience the freedom and flexibility of a laptop lifestyle, it is difficult to imagine working any other way. However, I do miss the friendships that come with working at a physical workplace.
Because I already had an established online business before covid, it has been work-as-usual since the pandemic started. We have been able to easily work around lockdowns, home-schooling, and travel restrictions, so for this I feel very blessed and grateful.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I think what constitutes the ideal work-life balance is very different from person-to-person depending on what they value most in life.
For me, the perfect work-life balance means that my outer work reflects my inner values, and I am actively contributing positivity and healing to others, while still being fully present for myself and the loved ones in my life. I am head-over-heels in love with what I do and consider it more of a calling than ‘work’, although it wasn’t always so cruisy.
As a start-up, I was doing everything: admin, customer relations, coaching, SEO, social media, content creation, accounting, etc (plus raising 2 kids). But, as the business grew, I was able to outsource tasks and implement automation software, which has been a total game-changer.
I now work half the hours I used to, but the quality of my products and content has grown significantly, as has my income. Automation for my online businesses also means I have more time to write!
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
Prior to COVID, I was in the excellent habit of hardly ever engaging in social media, and dedicating time each day to positive mindset practice.
However, in the last 12 months it has been difficult to disengage from the negative social commentary and remain focused on my work and positivity, when the world is in such a state of suffering.
Like everyone, I have had my moments of darkness, but as a lifelong optimist, I have pushed myself to find the silver lining and opportunity in these challenging circumstances. Admittedly, it has been harder than usual.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts, or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
I love books and podcasts that leave me feeling inspired, motivated, excited, or empowered. I try to read at least one book a month and some of my faves include Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins, The Kybalion by the Three Initiates, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and How Would Love Respond by Kurek Ashley.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Despite having several online businesses, I try to avoid technology as much as possible! I still write my appointments in a paper diary and only use my phone on an as-need basis. Having said that, I can’t live without a ‘Cleanse’ crystal-infused candle burning on my desk and a voice recorder app on my phone that I use to quickly record my ideas when I’m on the go.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Definitely Tony Robbins! I have read several of his books, listened to hundreds of his talks, watched dozens of his interviews, and attended his 4 day program ‘Unleash the Power Within’ in 2019. The man is practically super-human!
I would love to know how a person can be so super successful, run so many companies, be all over the world at once AND have a home life. For me, Tony Robbins best exemplifies a person who is living in a state of life mastery.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Unlike a lot of other successful business-people, I don’t have a university degree. I am not a tech-head. I have no prior business training or experience. I never strive for power or wealth. I have got to where I am solely on the strength of my determination, passion, and dedication to honouring my higher-self.
Through this process, I have learned that there is a spirituality in business that is not often spoken about. It is through my journey as an entrepreneur and business-owner that I have truly found myself and learned the power of authentic passion paired with heartfelt contribution.
I encourage anyone searching for their calling to look within. Find the brightest light inside yourself, then figure out a way to share it with the world. It doesn’t matter if your light is the ability to draw funny cartoons or bake the world’s best GF bread – if it burns brightly inside you and makes your soul sing, then the world needs to experience it.
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