Your business is a reflection of you. If there is something you don’t like occurring within it, there is a solution to the problem within you.
Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their lives. Jeff Bezos worked in Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50’s.
How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?
As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristi Hrivnak.
Following the sale of her first business CrossFit Vortex, Kristi Hrivnak uncovered a unique gift in remote energy healing. In combining her sensitivity as an intuitive empath along with her previous knowledge in the mind-body connection Kristi helps people release emotional attachments, transcend mental limitations and cultivate inner peace & presence.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I had a very picturesque upbringing in a quiet suburb outside Toronto. Despite how loving and providing my parents were, I had trouble understanding and managing my emotions as an empath. I grew up feeling like the black sheep of the family, a story that has taken me years to fully own and accept as my biggest strength. Of course, at the time I had no idea what an empath was or that I was one. I just knew I had a massive fire and emotional energy inside that needed a way out. I didn’t realize these emotions I was feeling belonged not only to me but also to the people around me. I found outlets in individual sports like gymnastics and horseback riding. From a young age I was a high achiever with a sharp attention to detail, though deep down I always felt I fell short of my potential. Unbenownst to me, these early life experiences and the beliefs I formed about myself created the perfect basis for my life to unfold. In my late twenties, I embarked on a deep therapy journey to uncover exactly who I was, before I was molded and shaped by society into someone else.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Prior to starting my first business, I had a mentor ask me about my proposed opening date. I told him I planned to open within the next year and a half. Well, he definitely wasn’t pleased with that answer. To this day I remember the words he said after he told me I shouldn’t wait longer than six months. “Ready, FIRE, Aim.”. This quote moves into my awareness time and time again, reminding me that our logical mind will always have a lineup of reasons for why we shouldn’t start something. But the truth is, we will never be fully prepared for what’s coming. I learned to embody the wisdom in this quote. To this day when contemplating starting a new project, I always just start and figure out the rest later.
You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
Without a doubt, I am steadfast, balanced and non-attached.
Once I set my mind and heart on something, I hold the vision with dedication and faith. It’s not that I don’t experience resistance. In fact, most days I have stories running through my mind, and emotions stirring in my body that attempt to throw me off course. However, I have learned over time how to continue to walk the line towards a goal, without allowing myself to waver and crumble at the face of internal or external resistence.
Though being balanced may seem to contradict my ability to be steadfast, I am moreso speaking to my inner balance of logical and emotional energy. I weigh both aspects of myself evenly and honour them for what they bring to my life and my pursuits. I see my thoughts as the structure and direction of the project, while my emotions create the fuel that help propel the vision forward.
There is a delicate balance between being steadfast and knowing when to let go and walk away. Over the years I have learned when my internal guiding system is asking me to let something go, whether it’s a person, a belief, or a project. Much of the success I experience today required me to let go in ways I didn’t think possible. I have had to let go of dreams in order to birth new ones that were more aligned with my future. I used to perceive this non-attachment as cold or weak. However, over the years I have come to realize it is a strength that helps me move through life with less force, and instead trust the natural ebb and flow of life.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about ‘Second Chapters’. Can you tell our readers about your career experience before your Second Chapter?
When I was twenty-five I incorporated my first business: a CrossFit gym affiliate. For eight years I wore many hats. I was a coach, a sales rep, a manager, a custodian and a CEO. This experience taught me a lot about business and people, but not only that, it taught me about myself. The gym environment gave me a space to really come into myself. I learned my strengths and weaknesses. I developed self-awareness, and I overcame a lot of limiting beliefs around myself and how I view the world. This chapter in my life was extremely important in molding me into who I am today. My business provided me with the perfect environment to overcome myself and prime me for my second chapter.
And how did you “reinvent yourself” in your Second Chapter?
Our logical mind loves to answer the question “how”. In the past, my need to know “how” I was going to do something would inhibit that particular result coming to me. So, I suppose how I would answer this question, is I reinvented myself by surrendering the “how”. In softening my logical mind and embracing aspects like trust and intuition, I experienced the birth of a second chapter I wasn’t aware I was even interested in. Our calling lives in our heart, not our mind. I had to surrender to my heart and allow it to guide my next steps instead of letting my mind call all the shots. As I kept doing this more and more, my gift in energy healing was revealed. I learned that I am an empath, able to read and feel people’s mental and emotional energy on both conscious and unconscious levels. I trusted each step as it came to me, and over the course of about two years my second chapter revealed itself fully. I am a healer at my core and with this innate gift I help people release emotional attachments, transcend mental limitations, and cultivate a deep sense of inner peace and presence.
Can you tell us about the specific trigger that made you decide that you were going to “take the plunge” and make your huge transition?
People often wait for a big revelation or breakthrough moment in order to find the strength needed to make a change. However, in my life, these moments have been few and far between. In my experience change has generally been the result of an emotional weight becoming too heavy to bear any longer. That was the case for my transition. It wasn’t until I had lived enough days with a dull but deep sense of unfulfillment that I decided it was time to move on. From the point I had the first thought of selling my business to the moment in time that I actually sold it was several years. It was over those few years that this feeling of unrealized potential grew to a point that I was forced to listen to my inner compass and where it was guiding me.
What did you do to discover that you had a new skillset inside of you that you haven’t been maximizing? How did you find that and how did you ultimately overcome the barriers to help manifest those powers?
The surrender I mentioned previously is what revealed my new skillset to me. So, if there was one thing I consciously did to discover these hidden aspects of me, it was to trust the path in front of me. I stopped relying on my mind to calculate the next step and instead let my body and my heart lead me to the next step. A complete inner revolution occurred within me. I had to cultivate balance within myself that I hadn’t previously known. I taught myself how to use the mind as tool while letting my heart and my body lead the way. Our body holds an immense amount of wisdom when it comes to our calling and hidden gifts. The main barrier in the way of accessing its wisdom is the mind. Daily and consistent practice of meditation and surrender is what allowed me to overcome the aspects of myself that were preventing my gifts from being realized.
How are things going with this new initiative? We would love to hear some specific examples or stories.
Everyday my life is full of surprises. I never know what miracles will occur. This may be anything from shifts in perception or revelations, to physical body healings and emotional breakthroughs. I never know what to expect as a I journey with people deep into their mind, body and soul. I have learned things about myself that I never knew I craved so deeply. Namely that being in the unknown and embracing the spontaneity in life thrills my soul. Helping people transform in the way that I am keeps me on my toes. Everyday my life feels like an adventure.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My therapist David Fairweather. I do not believe I would be the person I am today without him. When posed with a similar question in the past I have always said I am grateful for my parents because they gave me life, a wonderful upbringing and my story. But I am grateful for my therapist because he is the one who taught me how to own my life and transcend my story.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started in this new direction?
The most fascinating moments I have had since becoming a remote energy healer occur when a client experiences an instantaneous healing. I will always be amazed when the energy work I do resolves someones migraine in a matter of seconds. I have witnessed a client regain 95% range of shoulder motion after living with chronic pain that had been housed in the body for years. One time I had a client feel the actual moment I released a bout of repressed anger from her body which left her feeling euphoric and free. There is such a deep link between our mind and body and in my role of clearing emotional energy, I continue to witness these amazing moments of that inner connection in realtime.
Did you ever struggle with believing in yourself? If so, how did you overcome that limiting belief about yourself? Can you share a story or example?
I struggle to believe in myself everyday. I feel this is a normal part of the human psyche. We will always have access to doubt just like we will always have access to belief. I have trained myself to accept both of these energies as a part of me and learned how to walk the path to my goals having both. I understand the universal truth that as a human being we hold everything in us. We hold belief. We hold doubt. Beyond this, I know I can choose to walk through life in the direction I desire and the more steps I take, the less these energies have any influence on the path I am walking. They are just there. I give them permission to exist yet they do not impact my ability to continue to move in the direction of my goals.
In my own work I usually encourage my clients to ask for support before they embark on something new. How did you create your support system before you moved to your new chapter?
I generally like to be very clear within myself as to my decision before I involve other people. As an empath, I can shift into any perspective and any energy very easily, so talking to others will often create more confusion than clarity as I literally become their perspective, even if it is not truly how I feel. There are three people in my life who I trust will reflect back to me what I need to hear in any given moment. They are my Dad and my two brothers. Beyond my therapist, they are the first people I told about my decision to sell my business, but by that point I had already gotten very clear within myself that it was the right path.
Starting a new chapter usually means getting out of your comfort zone, how did you do that? Can you share a story or example of that?
My first chapter taught me how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. In fact, that is one of the catchphrases CrossFitters use to describe the great discomfort we put ourselves through physically on a daily basis. I taught my body how to continue on a course even while enduring pain, fear, and the unknown. Mastering and understanding my physical body has helped immensely in terms of moving through any sort of emotional or mental discomfort.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my organization” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
Stop bending for people. Set your standard and those who are meant to be clients will be.
Do not abandon your emotional body. Emotions are messengers trying to give you important insights and guidance.
Anytime you think you are stuck, it’s time to untangle a belief system in the mind.
Rest when your heart tells you to rest. You will always come back stronger this way.
Your business is a reflection of you. If there is something you don’t like occurring within it, there is a solution to the problem within you.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Each human being developing a strong foundation of emotional intelligence will change the world as we know it. Too many people are neglecting the importance and wisdom of their emotional body, yet it is running their reactions and responses to everything in life, whether they are aware of it or not. Suppression and denial of the emotional body is what most people were taught is the way to live life, but this creates dis-ease in the mind, body and soul. When you experience any emotion, turn inward — understand and process the emotion within you. Allow it be felt, experienced and released before responding to the world.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. 🙂
This has been the most difficult question for me to answer. No specific name comes to mind. I enjoy speaking with people who like to go deep right away. I’m not a fan of small talk. I want to understand the depths of a person’s soul. I want to talk about questions that don’t necessarily have answers or perhaps contemplate the point of existence. My soul craves those conversations and they expand me in everyway.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
