Rising Stars: Meet Amanda Gibby Peters

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Gibby Peters.

Hi, Amanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the creator and voice of Simple Shui – a modern-day, mission-driven, love-based practice of Feng Shui – and I have been studying, learning, teaching, writing about and sharing the wisdom of shui for almost 20 years.

And after mentioning that I am Feng Shui practitioner and author, the first question people have for me is: How did you get into Feng Shui?

I came to Feng Shui as a skeptic, and it all started after a few rough months in a new-to-us home. On the edge of a really bad day, I grabbed a book and decided whatever it opened to would be my “hand to higher ground.” Except, the book opened to Feng Shui and my first thoughts were it sounded dubious and a little too mystical for me.

However, I knew something was different about us in this new house. Since the move, our financial obligations had increased, leaving our resources without any elasticity. The stress was strangling and our marriage bore the marks.

So, I decided what could it hurt if I tried it out. I read my first Feng Shui book – and with our financial “cushion” threadbare, my focus was easy: money, money, money.

As I made changes, I remained skeptical, but the suggested home changes were becoming an addictive distraction because there was always something to do.

And within a few months, my husband had accepted a new job with a reassuring raise. We found a preschool with openings for our 3-year-old twins. And our home was feeling less like a stranger in our lives.

I had a full-stop moment. Was this all luck and coincidence, or was Feng Shui actually working?

It seemed every shui suggestion I followed was acknowledged with synchronicity, which left me wondering if I was maybe interpreting everything as a sign. So, I threw myself into one more round of changes in our somewhat still unpacked office.

After implementing a few ideas, I sent three “cold” emails to local PR companies. Within a week, those three responses turned into three interviews. A few weeks later, I had a part-time freelance gig I could do from home.

Feng Shui fully had my attention, so I retired the skeptic, became the student and here we are today!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?Hardly – haha!

When I first started dabbling in Feng Shui, I was just blogging about it. This was circa 2007 when bloggers *were* the influencers of our day. I still had my eyes on going back to school to get my Ph.D., in communications, so this was more of a side hustle (or hobby) for me. It was only after people and brands (like AOL and ABC Carpet & Home) were reaching out with questions and opportunities that I decided to turn my new “fluency” into a real business.

So, that first transition – from part-time blogger to certified practitioner – was absolutely challenging. Previously, people were coming to me with their curiosities about Feng Shui, and now I was offering them the opportunity to invest in that conversation. It took a couple of years of pitching and contributing articles everywhere, teaching workshops locally and investing in myself (business coaching and masterminds) before I had a decent client list. What I didn’t realize (at the time) was I needed to learn how to present the value of this wisdom – and that constantly had me out of my comfort zone, finding different ways to approach the Feng Shui conversation with different audiences.

I also have been doing this long enough that I have gone from one single platform (hello, Typepad!) to learning and adapting to all the social media platforms and identifying ways to engage those audiences.

Challenges still show up today, of course, but with more experience now in my bag, I know I will figure out whatever *it* is. And, I will forever be a big fan of micro-quitting – throwing in the towel for a couple of days, whenever I need to just walk away.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am also the voice of House Therapy, the Simple Shui podcast. And I launched my certification program last year, to teach others my Simple Shui process.

What I love about both is they’re extensions of what I have been doing my entire career – focusing in on how we can optimize your environment for your success (whatever that means for you!).

I am always investing in myself and learning from others, so each new offering I put out there carries a little more magic. And I say this often because it is what I hear the most from other, but my real superpower is I make the complicated simple, and I know to have a really good time doing it! I love helping people feel empowered, inspired, and supported to make positive changes in their homes.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I LOVE making up poems on the fly, usually to be funny. I have so many poems dedicated to our dog, but my most favorite is one I made up while watching Lord of the Rings with my family. I will still break out in giggles when I go back and read it.

Pricing:

• Book: Simple Shui for Every Day: 365 Ways to Feng Shui Your Life | $24.99 / https://amzn.to/3Aq1Wtq
• Course: Become Your Own Feng Shui Consultant (with monthly live Q & A sessions) | $1299 / https://simpleshui.com/online-course/
• 1:1 consultation | reach out for availability / investment / https://simpleshui.com/contact/

Contact Info:

• Website: Simple Shui | https://simpleshui.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandagibbypeters/
• Other: House Therapy podcast | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/house-therapy/id1634078000

Image Credits
Lisa Haukom | The Golden Brand Olivia Steuer