Children of the Sun by Billy Thorpe
In late 2024, I began the process of starting my own small/local home-based & online intuitive healing arts business, Rebel Resilience LLC, in Bloomington, Indiana. Having worked as an LMT (licensed massage therapist) for 14 years or so now in various settings (chiropractors, gyms, spas, home/away), I finally took the plunge of beginning to professionally share aspects of other, more intuitive/ettheric (and less physical!) modalities of healing with others. Many of these modalities I've studied for years on my own out of fascination and for self-actualization/help/improvement; others are newer (to me) approaches I'm incorporating. I have a background not only in massage therapy, but also took a brief foray into social work (earning my MSW/LSW, although not having made it to LCSW clinical licensure whereby I could have independently diagnosed and treated behavioral health disorders, before experiencing serious burnout myself).
I identify as an Empath, INFJ, and Starseed, among other labels, knowing that I am ultimately HERE for a greater purpose of helping/assisting/facilitating others Seeking/Ascending on the Spiritual Path, the Journey of the Wounded Healer. I had already collected years of healing arts implements not only from my career in therapeutic massage, but also in my more 'woo woo' interests; I had little overhead equipment costs. I was able to achieve getting my LLC through LegalZoom, offered for free actually through an NBA-sponsored grant (ironic or fortuitous, since I work on local college basketball players as part of my paying massage therapy job). I secured a free website from The Free Website Guys (TFWG), as they liked my sales pitch enough to spend over the total of a full-day's 8hr work-shift developing the bare bones of my BlueHost website; I pay minimal monthly maintenance so they make changes to it, tweaking it here and there as needed, and to make sure it stays up and functional.
I received free guidance from local community college's Ivy Tech Small Business Development Center, networked with other healing arts professionals, small business consultants through the City of Bloomington, and other area women/minority-led/owned businesses.Additionally, I secured a mentor from the SBA's S.C.O.R.E. program, a guy who worked in marketing for previous Fortune 500 Companies who now volunteers his time to help small entrepreneurial startups. Not a bad start!
I tried to remember to take time to pate myself on the back, because with each success, I knew I had more to do to even (legitimately) start/open/launch a small business, including securing general liability insurance and opening business banking accounts. As with the previously owned equipment, I did not have the large overhead cost of renting commercial space because my partner (also a healing arts practitioner) and I had a now-empty extra room in our home, which I decided I could set up and utilize as both a Healing Room (with an interior closet converted into a small office), and as a space for offering some online/remote services (minus massage therapy, obviously!).
I continue to seek to network, narrow my target population/client, think about market segmentation, and how to connect with folks who might like and benefit from my experience, expertise, and services. Fear stopped me for years: fear of not having a business background, fear of doing something wrong tax-wise or whatever, fear of failing or of being seen as an 'imposter.' It was only when I neared age 45 that I was ready to take it all on, in a more serious manner. I intend to use this blog platform to reach more folks, share articles from others with similar interests (including wellness and the environment...not just spirituality). If you feel that you might benefit from meeting with me (either in person or virtually), my contact information is below. I look forward to connecting!
Angela 'Angie' K. Cornett, LMT, LSW
Owner, Rebel Resilience, LLC
(812) 606-2368
angela.cornett1979@gmail.com
