Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Sellars.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
Thank you for the opportunity!
I started my first business when I was 5, selling dandelions to my neighbors in my trailer park in the Metro Detroit area.
By age 7, I had my first Independent Contractor. I would take my best friend around door to door and have her do gymnastics shows for the neighbors so we could go to Chuck E. Cheese.
Basically, it was clear from an early age that I was an entrepreneur.
My brain has always thought from a business perspective. I never really knew what kind of business I would build, but I always knew traditional work was not in store for me.
In a moment of fate, at my HS graduation rehearsal, I opened the booklet that had been placed on our chair and found NPTI in Florida. This would be the place where my Wellnesspreneur career began over 16 years ago.
I received both my Personal Training Certification and Massage License from NPTI.
When I was 19, just three months after I got my massage license, I rented space and began to build my business too (in a place where I knew no one).
Over the years, I have taken over 2,000 hours of educational training in the Wellness field. I also hold certificates in Energy Work Techniques, Meditation, Coaching, Yoga, Skin-Care, and Sound Healing.
I absolutely love both business and the Wellness field and have been blessed to be fully self-employed for the last 13 years!
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
The biggest challenge I had to overcome was my mindset.
Like many people, I didn’t think I was worthy of success. I didn’t think I deserved to make money. I didn’t think what I did was enough. I didn’t think who I was was enough.
I had a really poor thought loop that was constantly blaring through my mind. No matter how badly I thought I wanted it, I kept getting in my own way.
Instead of taking action, I would make excuses.
“It’s just the way I am”.
That was a big one that was holding me back. How could I ever make progress and move forward if I was always accepting and claiming this as my truth?
How many times have you said that about yourself? Don’t worry! You are not alone.
Learning to overcome my mindset was not easy. I had so many deeply rooted beliefs that I was holding on to.
For one, like I already mentioned, I grew up in a trailer park, and you know how many jokes are made about things like that. How could someone like me be worthy of any type of success?
Another was that I felt stupid because I was a poor student who barely graduated high school.
Another was that the traumatic things that happened to me early in life defined who I was to become later.
My anxiety was really running the show and the thoughts I had were crippling.
Taking control of my mindset changed everything.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
Helping people to break up with their self-limiting belief systems is my jam.
My coaching programs help reset past programming that is impacting your future. I’ve been studying and applying the tools for almost half of my life!
I mentioned earlier that I knew as a kid a career as an entrepreneur was in my future, but I didn’t exactly know what type of business I would own.
Lucky me, it was the Wellness Industry and I started practicing energy work in 2010.
Thoughts are energy.
That is why my coaching programs include more than just talking and throwing information at people.
Energy work sessions are also embedded into my course. They are an integral part of our work together.
Would you go your whole life without ever washing your hands?
No.
Why not though?
Because you know that even when you look down at your hands and don’t see anything on them they are covered in different bacteria and viruses.
It’s the whole reason we sold out of hand sanitizer in 2020 right!?
Even though you can’t see anything on your hands you know you need to wash them.
To me, that’s the easiest way to describe why energy work is important. Science has proven we have an energetic body (the biomagnetic field around us).
We have different energetic crud that is lurking from all different times in our lives.
Once we clear that heavy, stuck energy out of there we can really begin to shift our lives.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Never stop growing yourself.
No matter what you are doing in business, you have to always stay working on you.
You are the only person you have to spend your entire life with.
Read that again.
Getting to know yourself is getting to grow yourself in so many ways.
Every day we repeat the same patterns over and over in our day-to-day actions and interactions.
So much of life is auto-pilot.
Tune in.
Once you learn to do this, you can start to observe and become aware of the thought patterns that are holding you back.
Remember, you are good enough, you do belong, and money loves you!
Now, go to a mirror look yourself in the eyes and give yourself a high-five and tell yourself I love you and what a great f’ing job you are doing!
Starting this practice can be weird at first, but do it every day for a week, month, and year and observe the shifts.
The more you grow yourself, the better your life will bloom.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Success to me means that most days I can set my work schedule around my sleep.
I have never been a morning person. Sure, I worked in the mornings in the past, but I was always tired.
My natural sleep rhythm doesn’t have me going to sleep until 12-2 am every night. I do some of my best creative work during that time.
When I wake up between 8-9, I read, take a walk, stretch, get all my emails for day done, write, meditate and then go into the office to see clients.
Trying to conform to everyone else’s schedule had me feeling stuck. I prefer to ease into the day.
So, once I could officially set my day around how I like to get up, start, and end my day, I said “this is what success is”.
And for you, it could be the total opposite.
Success to you may look like being out of your house by 5:30 am and home by lunch.
Whatever it is for you, the point is that you can create that reality of what a successful schedule looks like to you…of course, making sure there is plenty of time for you penciled in there.
What’s next for you?
It’s so crazy to me that I have been in this industry for almost 16 years!
That sounds like so long, but honestly, I feel like I am just getting started and I am really excited about everything that is coming up.
One of the things that I am most excited (and nervous) about are the upcoming speaking engagements I have lined up for next year. This is something I have been wanting to create as a reality in my life for a while and it is finally happening!
2023 is about to bring so much growth. With my coaching programs, Reiki Trainings, retreats, and the podcast I am launching, there is a lot to be grateful for in the year to come.
Stay tuned, and you might want to grab your sunglasses because its about to be lit!
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
If you feel moved, inspired and are ready to shake things up in your life, take my deets.
I would love to set some time up to chat with you and see if my programs and services are a good fit.
You can email me at:
maria@mariasellars.com
Find me on Instagram:
@OrlandoEnergyWorker
Find me on LinkedIn:
Maria Sellars
Visit my website:
www.MariaSellars.com