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Meet Trang Pham-Nguyen and Maria Hill of The Happy Healing Shop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trang Pham-Nguyen and Maria Hill.

Trang and Maria, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
TRANG: It was January 2018 when I met Maria at work. She had joined the team I was working on as a temp, to help out with the high workload. One week, we had to run a conference, and it was during a downtime period where we started to talk to each other, more in-depth about our backgrounds and where we came from. I told her how my grandpa was a palm reader (when he was alive) and how it always fascinated me.

MARIA: That’s when I revealed to Trang I had psychic abilities and practiced Reiki. I grew up being able to see and sense spirits and people who have passed away but kept this to myself out of fear that people wouldn’t understand.

TRANG: The funny thing is that I got so excited about it and started asking her for a reading. I wanted to see what she could pick up on with the work environment around me. Keep in mind, the department we were working for was extremely toxic. It was Maria who pointed out to me that the way I was being treated was very wrong and abusive. We both went through a difficult time there, with me being abused by my boss and Maria being bullied by her teammates.

MARIA: It was a traumatic time for both of us. However, there’s a silver lining in all this. Looking back on this experience, it brought us together and allowed us to understand what it’s like to feel disempowered, and as a result, help heal our future clients from the experiences they’ve gone through. After I left that job, we still kept in touch to help each other get through that difficult period of time, and our friendship continued to blossom.

TRANG: I really pushed Maria to get out of her comfort zone to feel more comfortable with her intuitive gifts and thought it was something the world should know about! I mean, how many people do you meet in your lifetime amongst your friends can actually talk to spirits and connect with people who’ve passed away? What she saw as a weird gift to keep to herself, I saw it as an exciting superhuman power to share with other people who would see it as cool as I did!

She also has taught me so much about the metaphysical world and tools that can be used to help a person when they are going through a difficult time and want a greater sense of understanding. This was all new to me, and I knew more people needed to learn about this.

I suggested to her, “Hey, let’s have a psychic night where you can practice your abilities with a couple of my friends who I know would be interested? Since it’s free, there’s no pressure. Plus, they can give you any feedback to help you become better. Can’t hurt to try, right?”

MARIA: It was March 2019, when we had our first psychic night. Six wonderful women came out and I each gave them a tarot & oracle reading plus a mediumship reading. I was very humbled to hear that they were able to find some peace, closure, and guidance through the cards and after speaking to their loved ones. It had long been a dream of mine, to one day have the confidence to create a professional metaphysical practice, but I kept avoiding the possibility out of fear. I was so excited that we took the first step into this path. I am so thankful to Trang for her optimism, acceptance, and encouragement.

TRANG: What turned out to be a fun girl’s night was actually such a healing evening for them. It was an incredibly impactful night for us, as we realized this could be turned into something bigger. The ladies wanted to tip Maria for her time and energy. We were helping people and they wanted to pay us! We realized we could create a company that had a mission of facilitating healing in others. I told Maria, “We’re in business!”

And that’s how The Happy Healing Shop was created!

Now, we have a website to help people find clarity, healing, enjoyment through different tools and modalities. Most clients get tarot & oracle card readings or psychic mediumship readings. However, we also offer Reiki and are starting to expand into palm reading and numerology. We are hoping soon that we will add astrology too!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
TRANG: It’s not a perfectly smooth road, but we’re also not on a rocky unpaved trail where we’re starting to derail and drive off a cliff, you know?

MARIA: Yeah, it’s never easy is when you’re trying to build something quality, but that’s what makes it worth it in the end when you see all your hard work pay off. I think a major challenge we’ve encountered is trying to launch and grow this business, while we both are holding down full-time jobs. Because we are fairly new with just almost a year under our belt, we are not at the point where we can financially have The Happy Healing Shop as a full-time business yet.

TRANG: I think we’re both are pretty realistic and understand that growing a business takes a lot of patience, which is something I need to work on. Maria is definitely more calm about it! The only time we can work on The Happy Healing Shop is during evenings after work or on the weekends. At the same time, you also want to try to have a life as well. It’s not easy!

MARIA: We have to strategize and find ways to have a bigger outreach. It’s throwing ideas around and seeing how we can test them out, such as creating events online. And of course, people who don’t understand or are afraid about this type of work that we do can be really tough and draining. However, there have been so many people we have helped who have expressed their interest, gratefulness and the impact we’ve had on them, and that helps keep us going with our mission.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the The Happy Healing Shop story. Tell us more about the business.
MARIA: I’m the Creative Director and Graphic Designer, who created the branding, look, and image of The Happy Healing Shop. I specialize in tarot and oracle card readings, crystal healing, psychic mediumship, and Reiki. As a combination of my business skills from my previous jobs mixed with my intuitive skills, I’m able to offer life path consultations as well.

TRANG: I run the operations and marketing aspect of the business (ie. expenses & sales from sessions and events, coordinating, scheduling, some of social media). I’ve been studying palmistry and now have been getting into numerology as well. I tend to lean more towards the analytical side of the mystical arts whereas Maria tends to lean more towards the interpretive intuitive side. I’m also a Reiki practitioner.

MARIA: I think we’re both proud of building a business from scratch, but more so how it stemmed from a period of difficulty that brought us together, and in turn, we can help heal others. We’ve talked to each other about how when we were kids, we always wanted to help and teach people, but we never knew how it was going to happen or how was going to come to us. Now, we have a business and with the new generations being very open-minded and the world becoming more spiritually aware and less religious, I think we’re in a good place.

TRANG: And what sets us apart is that we’re trying to build a community. We’re not just a place where people worry, they come to us, get their session, leave, and go home. We are a place where people can connect with others who are going through the same thing. Our style of readings also is to empower people, instead of instilling fear. We want to be able to bring people comfort, closure, clarity, and guidance in a safe and comfortable environment. Even though we are physically based in LA, we are trying to make our business digital as well so we can reach people all over the world and grow our online community.

MARIA: Also, our branding and look are very different from the stereotypical dark or earthy styles you usually see in shops. It’s modern. It’s clean, with bright uplifting colors, and that’s how we want to present our business and the work that we do. The mystical and healing arts can be a peaceful and happy place for anyone to come to. Also, we are two very normal people who work in everyday office jobs, and I think that attracts clients as well because they can relate to us.

TRANG: Our website blog and YouTube channel is the biggest resource we offer to teach people who are new and just discovering what the spiritual world and mystical arts is all about! We have videos that explain what reiki, psychic mediumship, tarot cards are, and how they work.

My absolute favorite thing that I tell people to check out is called “Lessons Of Wisdom From Grandpa Loan” YouTube series. There, you will see me and Maria chat to my grandpa in the afterlife on different topics such as what is the meaning of life, why bad things happen to people, why Trump is in power, why periods sync up, and more! It’s quite fascinating and we are always amazed at what grandpa says. It’s interesting to see his perspective as someone in the afterlife and how insightful it is.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
TRANG: To be honest, I think we’re very lucky, not in the sense that we will win the lottery tomorrow, but in the fact that we got to meet each other and have such a supportive friendship and business partnership, the best pairing you could ask for. Also, my grandpa is like a wise Buddha which is funny because, in a way, he’s our consultant. To help with our decision-making, he advises and always reinforces that whatever we do, our focus should be about the community. He also told us we’re both protected and inspired by our spirit team with the work we are doing with The Happy Healing Shop.

Pricing:

  • TAROT CARD READING ($25/15 mins or $45/30 mins): With a personalized tarot reading, we can help you to gain insight into any aspect of life including: career, relationships, love, health, emotional healing, happiness, wealth, and prosperity.
  • PSYCHIC MEDIUMSHIP READING ($90/45 mins): Psychic Medium Maria Hill uses a variety of spiritual gifts to tap into and convey messages and insight from the other side – whether it’s a friend, loved one or a spirit guide you would like to connect with.
  • PAST LIVES TAROT READING ($50/30 mins): This reading reveals information about past lives that are most influencing your current life. Insights into why you gravitate towards certain people or interests and even certain fears you may have carried into this life, can help you to find peace and healing & guidance for living this life prosperously.
  • MINI SPIRIT GUIDE READING ($40/20 mins): Get an opportunity to speak with your personal spirit guides for advice and insight into your life. Find out the eye-opening answers they have for you and areas of your life they see for growth, improvement, and development.
  • LIFE-PATH DISCOVERY CONSULTATION ($120/1 hour): Get clarity in areas of your life and inner-being with this reading and coaching from Maria. Find ways to understand yourself and life’s purpose, seek areas for growth, and opportunity, and see where you can release negative energy roadblocks, and more.
  • REIKI HEALING ($35/20 minutes or $75/45 mins): A safe and powerful healing modality, Reiki can help you to clear energetic blockages, find emotional healing, strengthen the physical and energetic bodies, and encourage overall well-being. This can be done remotely or in person at our select events. Choose from a mini energy pick up session or a full restorative session.

Contact Info:

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