Meet Mimi Truong of IGZOLTED in Century City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mimi Truong.

Mimi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I left my corporate job at a reputable talent agency in 2013 because I wasn’t fulfilled and I knew I wasn’t living up to my full potential. While I knew my work didn’t give me purpose, I didn’t know what would either. So I went on a journey in search of what’s next.

The comfort of a regular paycheck, the benefits and the camaraderie were hard to walk away from, but I felt a pull to walk into the unknown.

Eight months later, without more clarity, my husband suggested that I turn a passion and hobby into a career as an astrologer. Needless to say, it was an unconventional proposition given that he’s  the corporate type. Having nothing else to lose, I gave myself four months to offer free astrology readings to friends as a way to practice my craft.  Coincidentally, a few weeks later, I was offered a part-time job that helped me transition out from having a regular paycheck to my building my own business.  I wasn’t actively looking for work at that point, but things happened at the perfect moment.

By the beginning of 2014, I knew I was ready to continue on this path, but I wasn’t sure how much to charge as I didn’t feel I had enough experience to put a price tag on my services so I worked on a donation basis for the rest of the year.  While astrology is powerful, I was craving for more.  I knew coaching is an important component to how I wanted to serve my clients, in helping them address their problems, stress points and decision making.  Adding coaching allows my clients to take the insight found in their chart to move them into action. Seeing clients taking steps forward is always rewarding!

Until the middle of 2018, I have been working from home, seeing clients over my dining table and kicking my husband out of the house whenever I have an appointment.  At that point, I knew I needed a professional space to see clients and for my husband to enjoy his home on evenings and weekends! Today, I see clients in my office in an unlikely city to find an astrologer – Century City.

I get asked all the time how and where I learn astrology. It all began when I was nine years old. My dad took me to the local library, and I came across a book on astronomy and one on astrology. I got hooked as soon as I discovered that I can learn about someone’s personality through the 12 zodiac signs.

I spent the next two years of my life reading astrology book after another from my local library. I am self-taught and learning from professional astrologers who have been doing this work for decades.  I am a member of the Organization of Professional Astrologers (OPA) and they are so committed to developing the next generation of astrologers.  The learning never stops and being my own boss doing what I love is a dream!

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?
I say that entrepreneurship is a spiritual journey. And as Gary Vaynerchuck says, “you gotta love eating sh*t to be an entrepreneur,” of course metaphorically speaking! Refining the craft and becoming a subject matter expert while learning how to develop the business side and generating income quickly is a challenge to do all at once.

Nothing moved fast enough. At some point, I had to learn that everything had to have its own timing. Balancing doing the work and then handling the administrative work and strategizing for the long game. Also, no one teaches you what it really takes to run your own business unless you grew up watching someone run a successful business, but that’s also not a guaranteed success. The secret sauce is simply getting in the trenches.

I was lucky my mother ran her own business since I was young, but doing it yourself is not the same thing. Unless you have savings set aside (and I would highly recommend that if you are to start your own business to have a year’s worth of savings, that’s a game changer for your sanity level), you’ve got to figure out what sells and how to sell. I got lucky that I got consistent referrals in the beginning.

However, after two years, I realized that a referral-based only business is not sustainable for me (though I can’t speak for others). I had to learn to advocate for myself and enroll people I meet to get a reading from me or buy a coaching package. Creating a system and a sales cycle is a huge learning curve.  For an introvert like myself, this is not always the easiest thing to do. One of the greatest growing pains I had to breakthrough is to believe that I was worthy of being hired as an astrologer or coach.

It took me an entire year to feel comfortable actively asking people for the sale. Then, it comes to managing business finances. I don’t have a finance background, so that felt like the Twilight Zone! There’s always room to grow, and I’m getting more comfortable with looking at the numbers to empower me in where I’ve got to go next.

Image Credit:
Noelle Williams Photography, Jacqueline Koh Photography

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