How to Make Working at a Shop Work For You

So I was watching an episode of Christiana's Psychic Cafe and she was interviewing one of my favorite Tarot business gurus, Theresa Reed (you might know her as the Tarot Lady). She was talking about how she encourages other readers to get away from "metaphysical pimps" and be able to set out on their own. Now I hear you saying, "What is a metaphysical pimp?!" and imagining Jay Z reading your Tarot cards at the 40/40 club. That's not it (unfortunately). What she meant was occult/holistic/wellness shop or center owners who take advantage of readers and other practitioners who are trying to start their own professional practices with their own following. Now, when you are starting your own tarot business, not everyone is up for going at it alone. Many people enjoy working at a shop and that's just fine, but you need to be weary of where you going to work. But you may also think to yourself, "Wait, aren't these shops where I'm going to find my customers?! How could anything be bad about that?" Yes, but this isn't the whole and only truth. When you are a holistic or spiritual practitioner, it can be hard to find clients at first. Trying to get yourself out there is made a bit easier when you aline yourself with like minded people who are into the same things as you are. Also, obviously, people who shop in these kind of places are your customers so you might think "JACKPOT!" when you get hired to work at a shop.

But slow down just a minute.

Don't just work for a place, you need to have the place work for you too. If you do your research, you could be working a great place in which you will thrive. If you don't, you could be heading for a dead end and a lot of disappointment.  

Here are some key points you may want to consider and look out for. 

Money: I know this is a touchy subject and especially with spiritual peeps. But the true of the matter is just because you love Tarot/Reiki/Qigong, etc. and just want to help everyone doesn't mean you don't need to eat. You want to make sure that they are paying you a fair rate and getting the money that you deserve for the work your doing. From what I've experienced and heard from others, is that most places give a 70/30 split, with the practitioner taking home 70% of all their earnings. Now sometimes the owner will just charge a fee for you to read there for a day but rarely will they do both. Do what you feel comfortable and don't feel bad about negotiating. Depending on how comfortable you feel with the owner and how much you like the place, you might decide to take less than 70% or pay a higher fee, and that's ok. I know their have been times when I took less money because the opportunity was too good to pass up or just because I really liked the person I was working for that day. Like previously stated, it's all about what your comfortable with. Which leads me to my next point. 

The owner and the business itself:
So their are some really awesome owners out there who love what they do and are always looking forward to help other practitioners. They are interested in your success as well as the success of their own business so they try and foster a positive relationship with the people who work with them. They are people who understand that when running a business, the happier the employees, the better the business does. These are the kind of people you want to work for. They make reading at their places fun and make it easy to succeed. When people hear you are associated with "so and so" person who owns this shop, you are automatically thought of as probably being pretty good at what you do. That is an ideal situation. But their is always another side to things. Their are metaphysical business owners who have horrible business practices and bad gossip spreads faster than good news any day. Anyone who has ever worked anywhere knows that most companies and business have dress codes, a code of conduct, and things like that. Why? Because when you work somewhere, you are a representative of that business. The opposite applies. Beware of the company you keep. Once people see that you associate with someone who does bad business, they will assume you do bad business too, even if your the world's nicest, most honest person. Don't let these "pimps" sully your good reputation with customers and your community. 

Co-workers and drama: 
Quick story. Once I wanted to participate in this particular festival. I contacted the organizer and asked if I could be a tarot reader and so forth. She emails me back and says she needs to ask the other tarot reader who does the festival, because one time she hired a second tarot reader, and the regular tarot reader got very angry and became verbally abusive towards the second tarot reader. That was the last time she heard from me. You let people who are technically working for you verbally abuse each other? Wow. That's horrible and not a situation I would like to be in. Even though that was not a shop situation, you can see how things can quickly spiral out of control when you have more than one practitioner in place. When you read at a shop, you want to make sure everyone is being treated fairly. If a particular reader gets to read on the really busy days because he/she has been there the longest and you have to start on let's say, Tuesdays, that's something you have to decide whether you are comfortable with. If you find instead of trying to give the customers a great experience there is just back biting and bad mouthing going on, you might want to leave that place and never look back. Now, there is an upside to this (there is always a silver lining). Your co-workers and other practitioners could actually help you with customer relations. If someone gets a client who is hard for then to read, they might say, "You know what? You might like (insert your name here), she reads tarot and you might connect with her better! Her card is at the front desk" or a Reiki practitioner is asked if she/her knows any readers while at a party and they remember you! That's a win for everyone. So co-workers can also foster a sense of community that you may be looking for.  

The community: 
If you live somewhere where you feel isolated as a spiritual practitioner, working out of a shop or center might be refreshing for you. You might love being around people who think like you too. You may make friends and have an awesome time. But on the other hand, like any type of group, people can get clich-y. People who already have their own groups might be reluctant to welcome others in. Get a feel for the people and see if you will fit in there well.

Your still for someone else: 
If your goal is to be independent. remember that as long as you work at the shop, you are still someone's employee. One nice thing about spiritual work is that a lot of the time you can make your own schedule and most owners will work with you. But some owners will only want you to be there certain times and may have strict schedules. Make sure you discuss this before you agree to work for anyone. Also, some owners might not encourage you to promote yourself outside of reading at their shop. They might feel like if you get clients who come to you outside the shop, you are stealing them. Check with the owner about how they feel about you promoting yourself.  

Customers and Code of Ethics: 
Does the shop have a code of ethics? Does it jive with yours? Are you allowed to refuse customers if you do not feel comfortable reading for them? Find out what the owners do and how they operate and you can decide from there how you feel about working there and if you feel like you can uphold your style of spirituality.

So, you have some questions to ask and decisions to make! And remember, you are the only person who can decide what best for you! Align your self with people who will help your light shine brighter!

"Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan the flames". -Rumi