Today we’d like to introduce you to Tess Palma-Martinez.
Hi Tess, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hi, thank you for having me back. I am happy to be here! I am a sound healer, meditation teacher and creator of the Spiritual Girls Club. I also work as a private chef for A-List celebrities in Los Angeles and New York.
I started my business, Completely Golden, in 2018 while attending Nutrition School. It began as a private cheffing business and evolved as I continued to grow and step into my personal power. All of my work is about helping people reach their authentic self and activate their intuition. Even when I am cooking, I am utilizing high-vibrational and deeply nourishing foods.
I teach and lead sound baths and meditation classes at studios on the Westside of LA and host a bi-monthly event for spiritual women (Spiritual Girls Club) to connect with themselves and others in the community. Creating space for people to heal is my life purpose and it is so beautiful to watch people blossom!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hahaha – smooth? Not so much, but it has been constant – perhaps like a rolling stone. I can look back and see a throughline that connects so many moments in my life. Thought of “If I hadn’t been here or reached out to that person, everything would be different.”
To elaborate: I owned a brick-and-mortar store called Forage + Sundry in the Hudson Valley of NY for four years. It was a house plant store where I also sold unique, artisan made kitchen and garden items. Florists would often ask to rent my table settings for styled shoots of dinner parties, and inevitably they would forget about the food portion of it and I would volunteer simply because I loved to cook. After I closed my store in 2018, I became very sick. I was bedridden for three months, living back with my mom – no job, no money, and couldn’t get out of bed. I was desperate for something to heal me and decided to enroll in Nutrition School. An attempt to heal myself after all else had failed.
A year later, during school (and after I had healed), I was hired by a florist to cook for their retreat. It was my first time cooking for that many people (15 people for 5 days), but I needed work and I was up for the challenge. I LOVED the experience and mostly loved cooking for everyone’s dietary restrictions. When I got home from the retreat, I kept getting this thought to reach out to a friend and ask if they knew anyone in the food industry in the Hudson Valley. It was a strange thought because this friend is an astrologer, but I asked anyway and he connected me with someone who ended up getting me a job as a private chef for a retired Hollywood producer. Interestingly, I had decided just before this job came through that I was moving to LA. I worked for the producer for one month before setting off across the country. But, I made such an impression on him that he connected me with my first celebrity client just 2 days after arriving in LA. Working as a private chef for celebrities allowed me to pay off nearly 6 figures of debt over the last two years!
However, at the turn of the year in 2022, I was rushed to the ER and had emergency surgery. I lost all my clients and was out of work for seven months. Again, I was faced with needing to heal myself. I turned to spirituality! Specifically, sound healing and meditation. I bought my first 2 singing bowls for the sole purpose of healing. It sparked something within me – a remembering of sorts, and I went through a massive spiritual awakening. I broke through many limiting beliefs and starting teaching sound healing meditation on my Instagram, and people began to watch, come back, share with their friends. I still was not. Making any money and was really struggling to make ends meet. LA is not an easy place to live if you do not have a stead income. I couldn’t find a job anywhere – I applied for months, looking for full-time or part-time and nothing. Until (and there is always an “until” in life), I got a part-time job a the front desk of a local meditation studio. Soon, I started teaching at a couple of studios on the Westside, and my confidence grew and grew.
I was now working with private mentorship clients, teaching classes, and working part-time, but was two weeks away from selling my belongings and heading back to NY. That’s when I got recruited for a private chef client – something I thought was in my past. Everything in my body said yes, and within an instant I went from distress to security. Now, I work 4 days a week as a private chef and the rest of my time teaching classes and working with private clients. Cheffing is something I am good at that affords me to pursue my passions without the stress of needing it to support me. Having a relaxed nervous system is so important for health and success!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The connection through all of my work, whether sound healing, meditation, or cheffing, is frequency.
Everything has an energetic frequency. This has been proven. If you’ve ever had an MRI done – they’re big, they’re loud – that is because the machine has to attune itself to each person’s individual frequency. It’s also filled with crystals, which is very fun.
Sound healing is my deep love. The bowls create a beautiful whirling note – each different, depending on their size. Sound frequency travels quickly through water, and because our bodies are mostly water, the frequency reaches deep into our cells. Our cells vibrate naturally but can become off balance depending on many external factors – stress, toxins, nutrition, the list keeps going. Sound healing frequency brings the cells back into a state of harmony. It helps them release toxins like mold, viruses, free radicals, etc., and then vibrate at their natural frequency.
I geek out on the science behind this if you can’t tell. But simply put, sound healing helps your body heal itself, plus it sounds beautiful!
My soundbaths are very popular because I offer a different approach. I say they are more medicinal than musical. A musical soundbath is really lovely, very relaxing and is still beneficial for your body. My medicinal soundbaths are focused more on deep healing and accessing your subconscious. The most common feedback I get from students is they were able to reach a deeper state of rest – really letting go of their conscious mind (thoughts, to-do lists, etc.).
I also use the highest quality singing bowls, called Crystal Tones Alchemy Bowls. They are 100% crystal rather than glass. They are infused with a variety of crystals and minerals, as well as metals – all of my bowls are infused with gold because, well… my business is Completely Golden!
I teach a number of classes at Unplug Meditation Studio on Wilshire in Santa Monica, CA.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I am a big fan of the Expanded Podcast by To Be Magnetic. I have been a TBM member since 2020 and has helped me grow immeasurably.
Pricing:
- Attending a Soundbath or Meditation class at Unplug in Santa Monica is about $25
- Private 60-minute Soundbath Meditation with me is $150
- Private Spiritual Mentorship with me is $333 per month
- Clarity Readings range from $88 to $111
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.completelygolden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/completelygolden/
