00:29 Episode Preview

00:29 Opening

01:04 Introduction

01:47 Interview Begins with Vanessa Somuayina

02:09 Vanessa’s Journey into Tarot & YouTube

03:11 How Crystals and Coincidence Led to Tarot

04:58 How I Found Confidence Through My Creator Persona

06:41 Focus on the Present, Not the Past

07:41 Starting a Second Channel to Teach What I’ve Learned

09:42 Why Intuition Alone Isn’t Enough in Business

11:34 Easy Intuition Exercises for Beginners

12:43 Why Every Tower Moment Leads to a Star Moment

15:08 How to Become the CEO of Your Own Life

16:56 Tools to Overcome Self-Doubt and Build Confidence

19:31 How to Use Affirmations to Transform Your Mindset

22:10 How to Overcome Doubt and Become Your Best Self

23:38 Using Meditation & Yoga to Calm Your Mind

25:31 AD – Join our Tarot for Alchemy Course https://learntarot.mysticmondays.com/

27:37 Creating Tarot Decks with Meaning

30:52 How Intuition Guides the Creation of Tarot Decks & Art Direction

32:09 How to Pursue Multiple Passions Without Losing Focus

33:46 How to Stay Positive on Social Media & Avoid Negative Energy

36:03 How Consistency Drives Success in Building a Social Media Following

38:20 Vanessa’s Vision for Music and Community

39:42 The Evolving Meaning of Authenticity with Vanessa

42:49 Manifestation and Surrender

45:45 Fast Five Questions: Breaking Free from Astrological Labels

47:55 Collective Reading from The Pastel Journey Tarot Deck by Vanessa Somuayina

50:19 Closing Statements

51:39 End of Episode – Make Sure to Leave a Podcast Review!

52:26 End Card

Welcome to the GRACED Podcast! A space for everyday magic for your everyday life. We do this through rituals, aligning yourself to your soul’s purpose, and creating Alchemy to heal our mind, body, and spirits so that you can bring in more love and joy, manifest your desires, and believe in your dreams.

Listen and watch over at graceduong.com/podcast and on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok and all the places you can find me on social media.

Now let’s dive into today’s episode.

💖 Introduction

Grace: Welcome to the GRACED Podcast, a space where we talk about everyday magic for your everyday life.

Today’s guest is Vanessa Somuayina, a radiant YouTube star intuitive guide, and the self-published creator of several Oracle decks that have reached people all around the world. We are diving into the energy of the Star Tarot card. A card of hope, healing, and renewal. Vanessa shares her journey of building a spiritual business online, how she stays grounded while shining so brightly, and what it means to hold onto your light through dark times.

Now let’s dive into this episode.

✨ Interview Begins with Vanessa Somuayina

Grace: Hi, Vanessa. Welcome to the GRACED Podcast. So excited for you to be here.

Vanessa: Hey, Grace. I’m excited to be here as well.

Grace: Yeah. So today we’re here to talk about themes of the Star Tarot card and also you and your journey as a popular YouTuber and Tarot reader and businesswoman and all the things that you are.

✨ Vanessa’s Journey into Tarot & YouTube

Grace: So could you tell us more about your journey and what inspired you to be a Tarot content creator?

Vanessa: Yeah, so firstly, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. I feel very honored to be part of this space and also to share this time with you. What I would say inspired me to be a Tarot YouTuber is that I’ve always known that I wanted to somehow help and support people.

I wasn’t sure precisely how I was going to do that. And then I fell into Tarot as a craft, and from the moment I held my first Tarot deck in my hands, I became obsessed with it. And there was just something very magical about it that made me think. I want to upload my first video onto YouTube.

I think this is a way how I can connect with people, how I can uplift people and help people and somehow bring positive energy to this world. And from there on out, the rest is history.

✨ How Crystals and Coincidence Led to Tarot

Grace: Yeah, and what was exciting? For me was seeing on your channel that you’ve used Mystic Mondays Tarot in the past, so that’s been really cool to see.

And from your Tarot journey, for anyone that is looking to find themselves through Tarot, like what was that first, like initial like, wow, spirituality is part of my craft or path, or what was some of the signs that you were getting?

Vanessa: So the Mystic Mondays Tarot deck is hands down, one of my favorite decks ever.

It has been from the second I got my hands on it, and I think it is just such a timeless, beautiful deck. So I just wanna say I’m so grateful that you created something so magical and it resonates really deeply with me. I would say it’s one of the first text that I ever got, and I am so happy to be on this podcast with you today.

I would say what inspired me to go on this path or what was a telltale sign was something that in hindsight, you’re like, oh, of course this makes sense, but at the time, I’ve always been into crystals and spirituality, but Tarot was not really something that I was attuned to. It’s not really something that I knew about.

I just stumbled across it on accident one night when I was just like browsing the internet and I decided to order a bunch of decks, and from there on out I became obsessed with it. But I guess starting off really loving crystals and spirituality and all of the different spiritual practices that people still engage with throughout the world, I think that could have been a telltale sign, but to me, I think it was in a sense faded, but also a coincidence that I found myself doing Tarot specifically.

✨ How I Found Confidence Through My Creator Persona

Grace: Yeah. And I remember one of our like earlier conversations offline, you mentioned how you turn her on. So when you’re doing like a YouTube video, do you have like an alter ego persona, like how Beyonce has Sasha Fierce.

Vanessa: I would say Vanessa Somuayina is definitely my stage persona, if you will. Not that she is an entirely different being, but I think it just allows me to step into a version of myself that is far more confident than just Vanessa who comes with her own baggage, and traumas, and insecurities and things that may hold her back.

So I think it’s more like that espresso shot to really step into, wow, this is me and I’m unafraid to express that and I can do so confidently. I guess for me it would be more like a matcha, but for most people, maybe an espresso shot. Yeah. So she is part of what I would say allowed me to build an audience and such an amazing platform and gave me the confidence to start a second channel and to do my online courses and teachings.

I think I just needed that version of myself to come out.

Grace: What does Somuayina mean?

Vanessa: That’s a really great question. Actually, Somuayina means I’ll never be alone, so it’s not my last name, actually, it’s my middle name that my mom gave me. My mom is Nigerian, so I’ve always held that really close to my heart. I never shared it with anyone as a kid growing up. But then when I started my journey as a creator, I thought the meaning is actually so deep and I wanna use this.

✨ Focus on the Present, Not the Past

Grace: I love that. I feel like that’s such a beautiful ancestral presence that comes with your energy and how you’re able to give online. And so how much of your ancestry has played a part in you crafting Vanessa Somuayina?

Vanessa: I think it’s actually not been a huge part of that. I would say Vanessa Somuayina is very much rooted in now in the present and more looking forward rather than dealing with the history. Not that there’s anything wrong with that or that I’m opposed to it. I’ve just always been more interested in, okay, where can I go as a creator? Where can I go as a young woman moving forward based on the fact that my ancestors did work really hard to enable me to have this comfortable life, as did everyone’s ancestors. I mean, we live in the most comfortable day and age of the human experience.

✨ Starting a Second Channel to Teach What I’ve Learned

Grace: Yeah. Yeah. I love that answer because I feel like the past few months I’ve been doing a lot of ancestral healing and so much of it can get really heavy, really fast, and sometimes it’s just easier to not to deflate any of what our ancestors have done and et cetera, et cetera. But there’s so much history that can keep you from moving forward. And you mentioned that you’re starting a new channel, and I feel like a lot of that has to do with teaching people how to live their dream lives and manifestation. And so what are some important rules or techniques that you have for creating this dream version of yourself?

Vanessa: So how I feel about this second channel, which is called Psychic CEO, it’s almost like an upgrade from Vanessa Somuayina. So I feel as though Vanessa Somuayina prepared me for Psychic CEO. It prepared me to step into the CEO role of also teaching other people.

If you wanna do something, you can, because I remember that I told my best friend years ago when we were teenagers, I said to her, I wanna become a YouTuber. And of course, the likelihood is really small of you being able to be a full-time YouTuber, but I still made it happen.

And through that, and also building my business from the ground up with no financial aid with $300 to my name and publishing my own decks. I felt like this is the perfect time because now I actually have something to say. I actually have something to share even with my online courses.

I’m not creating online courses on how you can create an online course, but I’ve actually had a real brick and mortar business. Where I had my jewelry, my crystals, my decks in a physical warehouse in Switzerland. I’ve employed people, I’ve created these products. So I actually have some experience, some blood, sweat, and tears that I wanna share. So for one, people don’t make the same mistakes that perhaps I made. And then for two, it also gives them inspiration that anything is possible.

✨ Why Intuition Alone Isn’t Enough in Business

Grace: I love that. And I feel like also with creating a business, a lot of it does happen to be intuitive and having to make these decisions. And I feel like why a lot of people are drawn to Tarot is because they may struggle with making certain decisions for themselves. And so how do you integrate intuition with creating a business and also stepping into this role as CEO?

Vanessa: So I feel as though integrating intuition has to happen in a way that there’s this balance. So you’re not either becoming so superstitious that you’re constantly preparing for an action you’re never taking. If you start to feel as though, okay, I have to intuitively feel ready. I have to get a sign from the universe, from the gods. I have to meditate. I have to do my singing bowls, I have to have my apple cider vinegar shot. Like by the time you’ve done all of that, the moment may have come and gone and you may be too exhausted to even take action.

So I would use Tarot as a tool to actually give me more confidence in, okay, just make the decision. You can course correct later, and this is the guidance that your cards are giving you right now. If you’re a little undecided, if you’re at a crossroads and you really can’t tell, should I take path A or path B, that that helps you to actually make a decision.

But I think a thing about business that sometimes is in conflict with spirituality and intuition is that business is fast. You are not as likely gonna succeed if every decision is mulled over for a really long time because your competition will have already taken the action, move the step forward. Meanwhile, you’re still thinking about it, so I think it is like the combination of both.

✨ Easy Intuition Exercises for Beginners

Grace: Yeah. And so for anyone who is brand new to developing their intuition, what would you say to them or what advice would you give to them?

Vanessa: So for one, what I have been coming up with are different intuition exercises. So I have been putting them out within my online memberships and courses. It’s like an intuition bootcamp and training. So I’ve been basically trialing it with my members who have loved it, and I think I will also bring it to YouTube so it will be publicly accessible, where you can basically use your intuition in order to uncover the different card options that I have available.

And then see, did you intuitively pick the card that I asked you to pick, or if you picked a different card. What might that mean for you at this moment? What is your intuition drawing you towards? Because on one hand there are coincidences, and then on the other hand, these coincidences might be meaningful. These might be synchronicities where you see a reoccurring pattern and a reoccurring symbol that shows up for you that may have a deeper implication.

✨ Why Every Tower Moment Leads to a Star Moment

Grace: Yeah. And so, so much of the star is about stepping into this confidence and being seen and being visible. And there’s a saying that after the Tower comes the Star, and as a business person there happens to be many things that happen that are out of our control and I have stories about that for me anyway.

But I love to hear about stories where, have you had anything happen where you’re like, oh my god, like this is a Tower moment. But it really led to a catalyst where you’re breaking through into a Star moment.

Vanessa: Hmm. I think all the time. I think Tower moments always inevitably lead to Star moments.

So long as you don’t give up, there is no other option than it leading eventually to a Star moment because nothing lasts forever. The good times don’t last forever, but the Tower moments, and the struggles, and destruction doesn’t last forever either.

And I’ve had many, many of these moments and I think what I have done topically is obviously cruise through it, but that’s where I would say the intuition and the confidence of taking action is built when you go through these Tower moments and you trust that it is either leading you towards your next building block. Or it’s just showing you, look, this is an area that you maybe have neglected and needs a little bit more TLC.

For me, there have been multiple Tower moments. I would say the most pivotal one of the past couple months is perhaps that my warehouse did flood two times. And that was the catalyst as I was already playing with the idea of becoming location independent. That was for me, my Tower moment that showed me right now, I think your resources, your time and energy is best invested in what you’re really good at, which is creating digital content courses, which is being present with people rather than managing a warehouse. And logistics can be outsourced. That’s not your field of expertise. You learned a lot when it came to that, but now it’s time to take on a different role. Now it’s time to pivot and to be flexible in your business, especially when you own a small business.

It’s going to change in so many ways, on so many occasions, and I think being flexible is one of the most valuable skills that you can have.

✨ How to Become the CEO of Your Own Life

Grace: Yeah, and when it comes to being flexible. Now that you’ve created a second channel, is it a decision that you have mulled over over time? Or is it something that you’re like, Hey, I really wanna teach people how to step into this Psychic CEO, and what does it mean for you to be a psychic CEO? Like what is the vision for yourself?

Vanessa: So I would say I have wanted for a while to branch out into something that is perhaps a little less niche, but that allows me to use the skills that I have gained and learned from Tarot. So I just like with starting a Tarot channel, I wasn’t quite sure how that would come about.

Somehow naturally as I was actually creating my membership, it’s called Psychic CEO. What came to mind to me was I have all of this really valuable content that’s just for my members. I actually want to also put this out publicly as well, and that prompted me to create the Psychic CEO YouTube channel because for me it’s really important to share what I have to say with as many people as possible to impact as many lives positively as possible.

And that’s where that came about. And I just started it a couple weeks ago, and it’s been received really well. I believe it’s already at 20,000 subscribers in just a few weeks. And that makes me really proud and it shows me, all right, these are messages that people need to hear. And the whole point of the channel is to empower people to believe in themselves and to believe that they are the CEOs of their own lives and that they create their own destiny. And just giving actual tools that you can use and mindset shifts. That you can apply to do that.

✨ Tools to Overcome Self-Doubt and Build Confidence

Grace: Yeah, so for anybody struggling with confidence and may experience self-doubt, if I can do this, or whatever it is that might be going on with the stories that we tell ourselves, which is totally natural by the way, for anybody out there who might be struggling with that.

You mentioned tools and what would be some tools? That you would recommend to people who are struggling with something like this?

Vanessa: I would say probably some of the most valuable tools that you can have. First and foremost is honesty. Be honest with yourself. If you’re feeling insecure about something, whether it’s your body, whether it’s your accomplishments, whether it’s your love life, are you really trying your hardest?

Because when we are trying our hardest. Usually there’s nothing to feel ashamed or fearful about because we know that we’re already doing the best that we possibly can. But when we’re in the moment, it’s hard to realize it. Or when we feel like we’re struggling with so many different things, it can feel overwhelming.

Like if you’re dealing with relationships that are holding you back, you still find comfort in the known of those relationships. However, what you’re missing out on that you maybe aren’t seeing or aren’t realizing, which is a topic I covered in one of my latest videos, which has the title, how to Open Your Eyes so You Can See.

And in this video I explained the concept of how you have your salience network, which allows you to see things that are important to you, but at the same time, it can completely leave you blind, basically. To not see things that your brain does not deem as important. And if you’re constantly stressed out, like if you’re in relationships that are unhealthy or just in fight or flight mode because you have so much anxiety, for whatever reason.

Your salience network is functioning properly. It’s out of whack. It’s out of balance. So the way to get back into balance is to first and foremost, even notice that you are responding from a place of fear rather than love, creativity, and inspiration. And to then actually remove yourself from those situations and put the focus back onto yourself and your wellbeing and what you truly want.

And then also incorporating different practices, whether that’s meditation, whether that’s journaling, whether that’s making sure that you do your affirmations correctly, so they’re actually as powerful as they can be. So the channel or the teachings are basically a mixture of science-based research as well as practical ways that you can apply that.

✨ How to Use Affirmations to Transform Your Mindset

Grace: Yeah, it reminds me when I put, like the car, I actually manifested on my vision board and it was a red Kia Soul. And so out in the world I would just keep seeing red Kia Souls and I feel like that’s an example of what you were talking about. If you constantly look for something, then you’re constantly seeing it, but maybe you’re not seeing like the blue Kia Souls or whatever, right? Because you’re looking for the red one.

And I feel like that relates to evidence of, let’s say someone is looking for evidence of how they’re powerless versus evidence of how they’re powerful. So maybe you might get a troll on social media or you might get stuck in traffic and someone like yells at you or whatever or someone brushes up against you and in the coffee shop.

And I feel like that’s an example of what we look for in the world to prove what we believe about ourselves. And so, something that you mentioned was using affirmations correctly. So what does that mean? And if anybody does experience like negative self-talk or anything like that, how can we reverse the ways that we look at ourselves and what we tell ourselves to be true?

Vanessa: Hmm. Yeah, I really like that question, and for us to delve into that. So I would say using affirmations correctly is to remember that you become that which you believe that you are, and you are the creator. You’re never separate from your creation. However, you have to bear in mind that language has some very strong implication about whether you are actually that person or there’s distance between you and who you truly want to be or the life you really want to live.

So for example, if you are constantly saying, I will be successful, or I will find a partner, I will find a wife, a husband, or I will get a promotion, that implies that there’s still distance. That implies that you are still in the process of it.

And that’s where you have been. So that’s an affirmation that is actually going to be completely useless. You have to believe that you already are what you’re trying to become, basically, because faith, as they say, is the evidence of the things not yet seen. So you have to have faith in what you’re becoming ahead of time. You have to feel the emotion ahead of time. You can’t wait for it to happen to then feel happy, to then feel proud, to then feel loved. You have to already become it.

✨ How to Overcome Doubt and Become Your Best Self

Grace: Yeah. And so when you were starting off with zero subscribers, what were some of the things that you embodied to then become who you are today?

Were you like, oh, like that version of myself, future Vanessa has so-and-so traits, or did you start incorporating some of those things into your present day to then make that become a reality? And what were some of those emotions that you were generating for yourself?

Vanessa: That’s a really great question. I think thinking back there were of course doubts that I had about myself and my capabilities, and also to a degree feeling like I don’t know if this is the type of pressure that I want.

Essentially feeling like people are counting on me to somehow give them insight or guidance. But I think the part of me that wanted to do something that was different and that wanted to become this person that has their own path, their own way, I think that was always stronger than the doubts and the fears.

And so I just have always buried myself, so to say in the work, and rather than overthinking it, I just do it. When I feel like I’m starting to overthink, I stop myself from it and I just do it and remind myself that I put in the work, I show up and this is time to shine basically.

✨ Using Meditation & Yoga to Calm Your Mind

Grace: Yeah, and I feel like so much of what you said is also about connecting to your body because I feel like, especially like I can so relate to overthinking and just being like, oh my God, there’s this and there’s that and you know, like all of these thoughts in my head and I feel like a really good way to release some of those thoughts are through the body. So I was wondering, do you have any practices where you incorporate body work or you know, what can get you through overthinking?

Vanessa: I have throughout the journey actually completed a yoga teacher training.

So I would say at the start of building the channel, I was doing a yoga teacher training on the side as well. And that incorporated a lot of meditation, obviously a lot of actual yoga, a lot of other practices such as breath work and so on. And I think that was very helpful. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think it was part of the ability to create the success in the community.

Moving on from that, I would say I have always been reasonably health conscious. I’ve been plant-based for 12 years or something at this point, but as of recently, I would say I like to challenge myself in more intense ways, such as running, but then also stretching and the yoga. I think the breath work is great.

Just today when I felt overwhelmed, I sat down and I did a meditation. So I basically give my body the medicine that it needs, when it needs it, because I spent a lot of time yesterday working out at the gym, I knew the medicine that I needed today to calm myself was to not overwork myself, but instead to create stillness, to meditate.

And I journal almost every day and also singing and music is a great way for me to get into my body and ground myself.

✨ Creating Tarot Decks with Meaning

Grace: Yeah. That’s amazing. So you are the creator of multiple Tarot and Oracle decks, and I often have a lot of Tarot and Oracle creators on the show. So I’d love to hear about your journey of creating your decks and do you plan on creating anymore?

Vanessa: So I have at this point created I believe decks. I have one more that is ready to launch whenever I’m ready. I have another one that’s in the works, so there are more decks in the pipeline, and it has been, I would say, a journey that I’m really thankful for because it taught me a lot of resilience and confidence because I essentially did not know what I was doing whatsoever. So it was a big risk to do so, and to show myself that I actually can do something like this by myself.

It was, I would say a huge lesson for myself. And then to be able to give these decks to an audience that appreciates, that connects with them so deeply, and for every deck to have its own identity from the Wild Muse Oracle, which is. A deck that is filled with very empowered, beautiful women inside and out to the Gentle Heart Tarot, which was my first ever deck that I published.

And the reason why it’s called The Gentle Heart Tarot and it’s all in pinks, is because that is so authentic to me. I love pinks, I love girly colors, I love the pastels, that has always been my thing. And the reason why I called it Gentle Heart Tarot Deck is because. It’s for everyone who has ever felt as though their soft heart, their kindness, or their empathy was a weakness. It’s for anyone who has felt like they’ve been taken advantage of so often because of that, and like being emotional and feeling so deeply is actually something that is a negative trait almost, and it’s to remind myself and my gorgeous old tribe here on the internet, it’s actually such a beautiful thing to have a gentle heart.

It’s actually so rare for people to even have this strength and the courage to make themselves vulnerable enough to be hurt because a lot of people will just build up walls or will just shield their heart in an attempt to avoid ever getting hurt. So having a gentle heart is actually your biggest strength. It’s not a weakness. That’s the meaning of that deck, for example.

✨ How Intuition Guides the Creation of Tarot Decks & Art Direction

Grace: That’s beautiful. I love that. And so I noticed that these decks have different styles, and so how do you direct that and also do you find different illustrators? Are you the one doing the artwork as well?

Vanessa: So I would say that is where intuition comes in. For example, I did a guest deck, which means Below The Surface Oracle Deck. And I felt very inspired at that time by oceanic animals and did a lot of research about them, created a manuscript, and then as I did with all of my decks, I found an artist to create the artworks. So I have worked with lots of different artists for that, and I write the guidebooks, I create the decks, the concept, I put it together. I pick all of the finishes and direct the artwork as well.

Grace: That’s beautiful. And I also feel like you have a really high like aesthetic, like you have a really great eye for design and that can be seen with your products, like your decks, but also your YouTube channel I feel like has a really great eye for design as well.

And did you always have a love for like the arts or anything like that? I feel like you have a lot of Venusian energy for some reason.

Vanessa: I love that. It’s funny because I think I’ve always been a very particular person about my belongings, my things, the way I like anything. But I have to say I never saw myself as a aesthetic person.

So to have people on the internet say, oh, you’re aesthetic. And to me it’s almost like wild to hear that because that’s where I always felt I maybe struggled or didn’t have direction. But I would say Tarot and just being a creator has allowed me to step more into my creativity because I’ve always been a very creative person. Even as a child, I love to paint and to do music and so on, but I think I didn’t have a very clear direction and identity and now it’s really all coming together.

Grace: Yeah, and I feel like creating something within a niche field does solidify this identity that. You are sharing with other people, but do you also like have other passions? Like do you consider yourself to be multi-passionate or have other interests that you’d like to share eventually or not?

Vanessa: Yeah, for sure. I felt like doing Tarot on YouTube was actually niching myself down a lot, which at first felt like it was a loss. Like you have to pick a niche if you really want to grow something.

And learning to pick a niche in order to grow something also did teach me that if you are for everyone in the end, you’re also for no one. So it is important that you are known for something on the internet because that’s just how this fear seems to be working. However. As already mentioned, I do have other interests such as, for example, the entire topic around manifestation and creating a life that you are really happy with.

I also mentioned briefly that I love music a few times already, so I am looking to create a first song as well, and to release that. But I think everything just had to come at the perfect time, if that makes sense. And I think you can have a lot of passions, but sometimes you have to pick when you deeply pursue a passion.

And that doesn’t mean you’ll never pursue another one. It just means right now, perhaps you’re going very deep in one area that you’re passionate about.

✨ How to Stay Positive on Social Media & Avoid Negative Energy

Grace: Yeah. And I also find that, like for me in the past when I’ve tried to do something, and usually when it doesn’t stick is because I’m not particularly passionate about it.

And so I find that something that does stick is when I actually really care about that topic and wanna see it through and all of that. And so with the Star card, I feel like there’s so much about being visible, being seen, and with artists and creative people and all of that. I think social media is so great in being able to spread ideas and your work and all of that.

On the other hand, there’s the other side of social media where you might encounter trolls. You might encounter judgment and criticism and you know, unnecessary negativity. And I think in some lives some people might have experienced being burned at the stake or perhaps being targeted for Shining, not even in past lives, maybe in this life, right? You might encounter some jealousy or something like that.

So how do you navigate that? Because I do find sometimes with social media, it can be quite polarizing in terms of what you’re attracting if you’re putting yourself out there. But I suppose it also depends.

Vanessa: Yeah, personally I have been really lucky to have not had a lot of negative experiences when it comes to that, and the entire community is extremely positive, extremely warm, extremely kind from what I have experienced, and I’m really truly grateful for that. And personally, I don’t engage in anything that is negative on social media. I don’t engage in any discussions or any entertaining of something that is off topic. And the only topics that are discussed on social media on my channels are self-development, self-love, improving oneself, building, growing, furthering your personal life, your career.

So anything that is not in line with that is not something that I would put my energy into.

Grace: Yeah, that’s great to be selective about what you pay attention to, because I feel like if you’re feeding energy into something, that tends to be what you get back thing.

Vanessa: Yeah.

✨ How Consistency Drives Success in Building a Social Media Following

Grace: Yeah, so I know sometimes consistency is really for whatever reason, difficult for some people. And so part of, I think social media and the tactics out there that are relevant they always say consistency is really important. Would you agree with that? And what were some tips for you to stay consistent?

Vanessa: For sure. I think consistency is key, as boring as it sounds and as often as we’ve already heard this, but I would say in order to do anything very well, you must be consistent. If social media is just fun to you, then I don’t see a need to be consistent. However, if you want to build a following or make it a full-time job, obviously you’ll have to become very good at it, which means you have to be consistent and you have to be very inspirational amongst already inspirational people, or you have to be very clear to showcase why people should follow you or listen to you amongst other people who have been putting in the work for years who have been doing this consistently. So it’s really just also about reading the room and understanding.

Sure, consistency may be challenging, but there are people out here who are doing it regardless of whether there’s rain or sunshine outside. There’s people doing it regardless of whether they want to or not. And if this is something you wanna take seriously, that’s who you’re up against. So, there’s not really a choice.

Grace: Yeah. And I also feel like it’s really about consistently believing in yourself and consistently putting in the time to put your dreams out there. And so when you told your best friend that you wanted to be a YouTuber, what were your big dreams for being a YouTuber and has that fulfilled itself and come true or are there still things you’re building for yourself? Like what does the big dreams of Vanessa Somuayina look like?

Vanessa: I think in some ways it’s been like the first stepping stone. It’s been one of the things on my list that I wanted to accomplish and I did. And I would say this is definitely by far not the end, but it was a great start, if you will.

However, I still think there are things for me to do on YouTube and off YouTube, so it’s really never finished.

✨ Vanessa’s Vision for Music and Community

Grace: Yeah. And so what are some of the things you wanna do off YouTube? Because we all know you as a YouTube star. What are some ambitions or dreams of yours that you’d like to fulfill?

Vanessa: So music is definitely one of them, which I am very dedicated towards.

And aside from that, I would say continuing to create content and tools for people who truly want to grow, who perhaps need a community or need a space because where they are right now, there’s nothing like it. Which is why I have, for example, free mini courses and they all come with community access because I want people to have a space that they can go to and talk to other like-minded individuals because not everyone has a friend, a family, a colleague, a lover, someone whom they can confide in.

Some people have no one, and to me it’s really important to foster a sense of community and to foster a sense of self-belief and I will do that through music. I will continue to do that through Tarot as well as the Psychic CEO channel. And for me, on and off YouTube, it’s not really like I have one life where I’m a YouTuber or a creator or to making music as well.

It’s all just my existence. There isn’t even time besides that to be another person, if that makes sense.

✨ The Evolving Meaning of Authenticity

Grace: Yeah. I feel like what I’m hearing from you is that it’s all about just being yourself at the end of the day, which means you’re a lot of things. You’re not just a YouTuber, and even if you are a YouTuber. That doesn’t mean you don’t do offline things, like you’re not eating your meals on camera, although some people do, right?

I feel like what I’m hearing from you is also, it’s just about being authentic, and I think that is part of manifesting your dream life is being able to be authentic in all of these different moments, whether you’re on YouTube or off YouTube or on camera or off camera, and in ways that feel good for you and what does authenticity mean to you and how would you define it?

Vanessa: That’s a really good question. I’m not sure I can claim to know how to define authenticity because I feel like I am finding my own authenticity as time goes by more deeply.

I feel like who I was five years ago looking at it now, of course it looks inauthentic because I know who I’ve become since then. I know how I feel about myself now, and looking back at who I was, for example, five years ago. There are certain things that I would never do in the same way. Certain things I would never allow that I perhaps allowed or tolerated. Does that mean that I wasn’t authentic? No, for Vanessa, at that point, that was her authenticity. That was her reality at that point. That was what she felt was the right thing to do.

So I’m not sure what authenticity really is per definition as I think it has so much to do with what feels right. In the moment, and that can change so quickly. You may make a decision today that you look back on next week and you think, that wasn’t me. That was maybe me acting out of insecurity, or me acting out of fear, me acting out of a place of need. And did that make you inauthentic at the moment, just because that’s not who you want to be?

Challenging to define that, I think.

Grace: Yeah. I actually think that was a great authentic answer because not every answer has to be like a cookie cutter definition of always knowing what the answer is, right?

And I think that’s really true. We don’t always have to know what authentic means to us in the moment. I feel like what I’m hearing from you is you are giving yourself permission to change, which is authentic. And I think a lot of the times when we put these frameworks on ourselves, it can feel really confining to stay stuck in a version of ourselves that may not feel authentic anymore because you’re just growing out of a space for you to evolve. And evolution is part of history. It’s part of human history. You know, human evolution, like we’re always constantly changing.

And I think something that is brilliant about the human mind is that we are able to create things. We’re able to imagine things, and I think part of imagination is imagining the next version of yourself. And if we don’t give ourselves permission to grow, then how are we going to evolve into the next version of ourselves?

✨ Manifestation and Surrender

Grace: And I find that sometimes when I’m manifesting something and it comes and I’m like, oh, that wasn’t what I thought it would be. Or maybe you’ve already outgrown that thing and you’re ready to manifest whatever next thing it is.

So since you are now teaching people how to manifest their dream lives and teaching tools and practices and things, so what does manifestation mean to you and how people can attain certain goals for themselves that feel authentic? Because I think part of what I’m also hearing you say is. You’re taking a lot of action towards something.

And then I hear sometimes in manifestation it’s also about surrender. So like part of it is about taking aligned action and part of it is about the receptivity of working with the universe. And so how do you find the balance between taking this aligned action but also allowing the universe to give you things you’ve been asking for?

Vanessa: Yeah, I really love what you brought up about surrender, and I think manifestation can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For me, personally, what I believe at this point, and what I also aspire to make very clear, is that even in surrender, it is you actually taking action.

For me, surrendering means if the universe makes you bump your head and shows you, Hey, actually this is not the path for you. There’s a different path that you’re meant to take. You may not go from A to B, you may go from A to D to Z and then to B. But on those hit stops, there are important lessons for you to learn. So when you get to D, you don’t lose B, you actually pivot from D.

So personally I find the notion of surrendering to be okay with being redirected. And that sometimes meaning that things will suck and you still have to work through them. And manifestation to me means believing ahead of time before you’ve seen the evidence of your hard work, before you’ve seen that it is going to happen.

But. Just knowing that if you set your mind to it, it can be yours. And reminding yourself that remaining authentic to why you want these things and to your vision, to your manifestations is important because your vision and the things you want to manifest are unique to you. This vision was given to you for a reason.

I’m going to want to manifest something completely differently for my personal life, for my professional life, for my health, for my relationship with my friends and my family than anyone else, we all have a very unique vision of what our manifestation is. No one’s manifestation is identical with the next persons, and to trust that whatever it is, don’t feel embarrassed about it.

Don’t feel like it’s too lavish, outlandish, or even too basic. That was given to you for a reason and to trust that you want these things for a reason and to go after them relentlessly.

✨ Fast Five Questions & Breaking Free from Astrological Labels

Grace: Yeah. I love that. All righty. So we’re gonna wrap the interview up with some Fast Five Questions. So what is your Sun, Moon and Rising?

Vanessa: So I have displayed that in the past, and then in between, I took it off my channel as well, just to keep the mystery alive. But my Sun is Cancer, my Moon is in Sagittarius, and my Rising is in Gemini.

Grace: Oh. Does that resonate with you?

Vanessa: In many ways it did not, which is also why I refrain from sharing. Because in so many ways it made me feel a little cheated by the universe ’cause I felt like that is not me. But I think whenever you feel in a sense, like something triggers you, that’s when it’s actually your biggest teacher. That’s when it’s actually holding up a mirror to you.

Grace: I love that. I love that you basically claim that is not you. And so you made a new definition for yourself, right? And like what you choose to identify with. Because I do feel sometimes it can be really confining to be like, oh, I’m only this Sun sign. Or you know, I only have these characteristics. But I feel like as multifaceted people, we have so many things within us. So yeah, you do that.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Vanessa: I would say to her, believe in yourself and never let anyone make you doubt who you are.

Grace: How would you define everyday magic?

Vanessa: Making an oat milk, matcha, in the morning, going for a walk on a sunny day, talking to my mom on the phone. Magic!

Grace: That’s a great segue into our next question. What are your favorite rituals?

Vanessa: So I love meditation and also obviously working with Tarot and Oracle cards. I would say another ritual I personally really love is to spend time out in nature to ground myself there and movement overall, moving my body, not for vanity reasons, but for feeling free.

Grace: What are you looking forward to in the near future?

Vanessa: I’m looking forward to manifesting and making some of my visions come to life.

✨ Collective Reading from The Pastel Journey Tarot Deck by Vanessa Somuayina

Grace: Amazing. So let’s end the interview with a collective reading from Vanessa using one of your gorgeous decks.

Vanessa: Let’s do it. I already had this deck prepared, which is the Pastel Journey Tarot, which I absolutely love, and it’s been, I would say, one of the fas of everyone because the depictions are really cute, it’s very contemporary, and like kawaii inspired.

Let’s see what the universe has to say the collective. Okay, we have the Five of Wands.

All right! Don’t be afraid to fight back. Don’t be afraid when the world or the universe says no, you don’t need to accept it. Nothing wants to stand before something that is relentless and you have to keep going. Even when the going gets tough, that’s how you get all of the things that you desire.

And anything worthwhile. Well, you may just have to put a little bit of that competitive energy forward and don’t feel as though because something isn’t easy or you’re not able to play the piano on first try doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be an amazing pianist, right? Like. You just have to put in the effort and with that, there are times where you feel like everything is just a challenge, and that’s how you go from being a beginner at a skill to becoming an expert. It’s gonna challenge you. It’s going to make you sometimes feel like throwing in the towel like we had here in the Five of Wands.

And then I’m also receiving the Justice card.

For our gorgeous viewers and listeners, as you can see, we’ve got a scale, we’ve got a sword. It’s the Justice card, and also master number 11. That is in numerology, a number of a master teacher, so understanding that it’s a mixture between being a student, but also being a teacher in a sense of teaching yourself patience, being a student by going through the hardship of learning something new.

But then also, once you’ve learned it, teaching yourself, Hey, you see when you stuck through it, when you were disciplined, when you didn’t give up, look how you came out the other side. And also just finding the balance between consuming content and knowledge and then practicing it as well, and not being afraid to stand up for what’s right to speak up.

Speak your truth.

✨ Closing Statements

Grace: Yeah. I feel like those were really great cards to pull to encapsulate this episode for the Star Tarot card. And also I feel like speaks to your journey because you know, starting out, you don’t always know what. You know, you have to grow into your expertise. So it was really cool seeing you pull the cards and do that.

And I think for anyone looking to be inspired for their own journey, to not be afraid, if you are the beginner and if you don’t know how to do something, you really can’t get better unless you practice. And I feel like what I’m also interpreting from you pulling the Justice card is rewriting contracts because maybe at that point in life.

You know, you’re like, oh, can I do this? I don’t have any experience in this, or whatever, whatever. And just telling yourselves the stories of all the reasons why we can’t do something. Whereas maybe you can rewrite that whole script and just tell yourself, Hey, I can do this and you know, future me has already done this and these are all the benefits that I’m gonna get from going down that avenue that I’ve been dreaming about.

So, yeah. That’s super cool. Thank you so much.

Vanessa: Thank you. I really enjoyed spending this time with you, and I appreciate all of your really thoughtful questions, and it was a blast being here.

Grace: Yeah, likewise. All right. Thanks so much, Vanessa. Until next time, bye.

Vanessa: Thank you, Grace. Thank you, beautiful audience. Bye!

💖 End of Episode – Make Sure to Leave a Podcast Review!

Grace: Thanks so much for tuning in to today’s episode with Vanessa Somuayina. This was such a luminous and inspiring conversation that felt like a breath of cosmic fresh air. Vanessa reminded us how powerful it is to believe in yourself. Even when you’re healing in the dark, here’s a journaling prompt to reflect on:

what keeps your inner light alive, when life feels dim? What are you hopeful for right now?

Drop your insights in the comments, a podcast review on Apple Podcast or Spotify, or send me a message. I always love hearing from you.

Until next time, loves! Keep shining and don’t be afraid to let your magic be seen.

Sending you Grace, today and every day.

Follow Mystic Mondays

Instagram

TikTok

YouTube

Facebook

X (formerly known as Twitter)

Pinterest

LinkedIn

Tumblr

Snapchat