Meet Kirem Marnett

We were lucky to catch up with Kirem Marnett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kirem, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

As a third-generation healer who reads energy for a living, I’ve had to learn through experience that true resilience is born in the moments when we stop fighting the redirect and start listening to our soul’s guidance.

Most people think resilience is about bouncing back, but through my Soul Signs work, I’ve discovered it’s actually about bouncing *forward* – into a version of yourself you couldn’t have imagined from where you were standing before everything shifted, changed or fell apart.

In Chinese Medicine, which forms the foundation of my training, we learn that bamboo is strong not because it’s rigid, but because it bends without breaking. This became viscerally real for me when I lost everything I’d built – twice – in the span of three years.

In early 2020, I was at what many would call the height of success. My acupuncture practice was thriving, I’d just produced the Lightwork Awards gala honoring Nashville’s healing arts community, and I had a beautiful brick-and-mortar space. Then the pandemic hit, and like many healers, I watched a decade of building crumble in a matter of weeks.

But here’s what I know now that I didn’t know then: sometimes the universe closes doors not as punishment, but as protection from a path that’s become too small for your soul’s evolution.

When my dear friend and fellow intuitive Suzie Kerr Wright offered me shelter in her office to rebuild in 2021, I thought I was getting back on track. Then she passed away suddenly at the end of that year. This second loss could have broken me. Instead, it broke me open.

In my grief, I discovered something profound: resilience isn’t about *not* feeling the pain. It’s about letting the pain carve out space for something new to be born.

2024 became what I call my “year of stillness,” anchored by the biblical meditation “Be still and know that I am God.” This wasn’t passive waiting – it was active surrender. Every day, I sat with my circumstances, not trying to fix or force anything, but asking: “What is this teaching me about my true calling?”

This is where my resilience really comes from: the willingness to be spiritually composted. To let the old version of myself decompose so the nutrients could feed what was meant to grow next.

Through this journey, my Soul Signs system evolved from a simple reading tool into what I now understand as a spiritual technology! When we understand our personal Soul Signs – our unique Yin and Yang energies translated through nature and mythology – we gain access to an internal compass that doesn’t waver, even when everything external is shifting.

My own Soul Signs Couplet started with the Peach and Crane. The Peach represents the soft, vulnerable Yin energy that knows how to be sweet even after being bruised. The Crane represents the Yang energy that can stand on one leg in the storm, maintaining dignity and grace even in uncertainty. Together, they taught me that resilience isn’t choosing strength over vulnerability – it’s the interdependence of both.

But here’s the key: inherited resilience must be activated through your own initiations. You can’t borrow someone else’s strength; you have to alchemize your own. The closures, the losses, the grief – they weren’t detours from my path. They were the path. Each sacred collapse stripped away what wasn’t essential, revealing the core of my calling: helping others transform their shadows into light, their wounds into wisdom, through Soul Signs.

My resilience comes from knowing that my wounds have become my qualifications. The very experiences that could have ended my practice have instead become the foundation for its rebirth, stronger and more authentic than before.

As I officially relaunched Peach & Crane as my virtual practice online this year, my resilience is sourced from a new understanding: I’m not building a practice, I’m building a legacy of transformation. Every Soul Signs reading, every group offering, every client who learns to embrace both their Yin and Yang – this is the power of resilience rippling outward.

As I often share with my clients: “You’re not broken and in need of fixing. You’re breaking open to let more light in.” True resilience is about trusting the bounce forward – especially when you can’t yet see where you’ll land. And that’s exactly what I’m here for – to help others discover the resilience that’s been waiting to guide you through your greatest transformation all along.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

This journey through resilience brought me full circle to an unexpected realization. Before I was a healer, I spent years in the corporate world in both public relations and marketing. I thought I’d left that world behind when I pursued my calling as an acupuncturist. But here’s what 2025 is teaching me: those experiences weren’t a detour either – they were essential preparation for something bigger than rebuilding my own practice. While I’ll always hold sacred space for individual transformation (those personal Soul Signs readings remain the heart of my work), I’m discovering that Soul Signs is actually poised perfectly as an organizational transformation technology.

The sacred collapse I experienced? Executives and conscious leaders are facing their own versions every day – both personal and professional, as well as organizational. The difference is they’re trying to navigate them while leading teams, managing stakeholders, maintaining bottom lines and balancing family and personal relationships, too. We spend the majority of our lives at work – what if those hours could become evolutionary rather than exhausting? What if the conference room could become as transformational as the therapy or healing room? Business owners and executives are leaders not just of companies but of consciousness and culture. When they invest in understanding their energetic blueprint through Soul Signs, they’re not just building better businesses; they’re pioneering what an enlightened workplace can be, proving that we can evolve ourselves and our businesses simultaneously. And to me, that’s how we change the world: one awakened workplace at a time.

At Peach & Crane, I’m pivoting to provide intuitive insight to executives and conscious leaders that helps them better manage their teams, create harmony and flow in the workplace, and produce better outcomes. Think of me as an organizational energy strategist who happens to read the invisible dynamics that make or break company culture.

My work centers around the Soul Signs system – my proprietary method that translates personal and collective energy patterns into archetypal symbols drawn from nature and mythology. While this might sound esoteric, the applications are profoundly practical: I’ve helped managers understand why certain team members clash, guided C-level executives through succession planning by reading the energetic readiness of potential leaders, and shown entrepreneurs how to leverage their natural leadership style instead of fighting against it.

Traditional personality assessments give you categories. Soul Signs gives you a living map of energy dynamics. By revealing each person’s unique Yin and Yang expressions – what I call their Soul Sign Couplet – leaders gain insight into:

– The hidden gifts within challenging team members
– Why certain partnerships thrive while others implode
– How to assign roles based on energetic alignment, not just skill sets
– The shadow patterns sabotaging team performance

When a conscious leader comes to me, we typically begin with their individual Soul Signs reading. This isn’t about telling them who they are – they already know that. It’s about revealing the energetic blueprint they’re operating from, including the shadows they might not see.

Take a recent conscious leader and mother I worked with whose reading revealed she’d been living in what we identified as the shadow of the Dove Soul Sign – maintaining external peace at the cost of her own harmony. She was, in her words, “absorbing all the disharmony” to keep everyone else comfortable. Her Wolf Soul Sign made her an excellent leader, but also a perpetual sacred giver, and this over-functioning pattern was depleting her while stunting her team’s development. Through our shadow work sessions, she learned to practice restraint – what one of her Soul Sign allies, Snake, teaches – observing situations before jumping in to solve them. Her transformation was remarkable: within the span of a month, she shifted from doing everything herself to empowering her team to step up. She told me recently: “I finally understand that my job isn’t to do everything – it’s to create space for everyone to shine.”

What excites me most about this work is that it bridges worlds that rarely speak to each other. I’m bringing third-generation intuitive healing wisdom and Chinese Medicine principles into boardrooms and Zoom calls with executives who might never set foot in a traditional healing space.

As someone with a Master’s in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, I understand energy flow isn’t just a metaphor – it’s the actual current running through our bodies, as well as organizations. When leaders learn to read and work with these currents instead of against them, everything shifts. Decisions become clearer. Teams naturally harmonize. Innovation flows without force. In a business world increasingly recognizing that emotional intelligence and intuition are competitive advantages, this work is no longer alternative; it’s essential.

One aspect that sets my work apart is the frank discussion of shadows in leadership. Every strength casts a shadow, and in corporate environments, these shadows often run companies unconsciously. The controlling CEO might be operating from a past wound of never feeling safe. The micromanaging director might be compensating for a shadow belief about trust.

I don’t just identify these patterns – I provide practical integration tools. Through what I call “Corporate Shadow Work,” leaders learn to transform these unconscious patterns into conscious resources. The controller becomes the visionary protector. The micromanager becomes the detail-oriented quality assurance expert.

We’re at a tipping point in business consciousness. The old models of pushing, forcing, and grinding are giving way to flow, alignment, and energetic intelligence. Leaders who understand this aren’t just succeeding – they’re thriving while their competitors burn out.

If you’re an executive sensing there’s an invisible layer to your business challenges, or a conscious leader ready to leverage energy dynamics for breakthrough results, consider this: Every revolutionary business breakthrough started with someone willing to see what others couldn’t. Today’s invisible edge isn’t just in AI or blockchain – it’s in understanding the energy dynamics that have always driven success, but we’re only now learning to map and master.

Your Soul Signs aren’t just personal insight. They’re your competitive advantage in a world that’s finally ready for leaders who lead from both power and soul.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back through my journey from corporate PR to Chinese Medicine to spiritual entrepreneurship, three qualities stand out as non-negotiable for anyone walking the path of the conscious leader or sacred entrepreneur:

1. SPIRITUAL SURRENDER AS STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

The first and most crucial quality is the willingness to surrender to your spiritual gifts – especially when they’re inconvenient, unmarketable, or terrifying.

When I started seeing spirit animals during meditation over ten years ago, I was an established acupuncturist with a medical degree. The last thing I wanted was to become “that psychic lady.” But here’s what I learned: our greatest resistance points toward our greatest power. The very gifts we try to hide are usually the ones the world needs most from us.

In business terms, this is your unique value proposition – but it comes from soul, not strategy. When I finally surrendered to my clairvoyant abilities and integrated them into my practice, everything changed. Not because I added a service, but because I stopped fragmenting myself. Wholeness is the ultimate competitive advantage.

My advice for developing this: Start by asking yourself: What ability do I have that I’ve been downplaying because it doesn’t fit the professional mold? What knowing do I possess that I can’t explain in a resume? That’s your gold. Start sharing it with three trusted people. Watch what happens.

2. SHADOW LITERACY AS LEADERSHIP TOOL

The second essential quality is what I call “shadow literacy” – the ability to read and transform the unconscious patterns running your life and business.

Most of us think our shadows are weaknesses to hide. But shadows aren’t character flaws; they’re unintegrated power. Every shadow contains a gift waiting to be alchemized. My own empath shadow, for instance, wasn’t something to eliminate – it was intuitive and emotional intelligence that needed boundaries and strategic application.

This is especially critical for leaders and entrepreneurs. Your shadows don’t just affect you; they create your company culture, influence your team dynamics, and shape your business decisions. The CEO who can’t delegate isn’t just controlling – they’re blocking their company’s evolution. The founder who over-functions isn’t helpful – they’re preventing their team from stepping into their power.

My advice for developing this: Notice where you’re exhausted or resentful in your business. That’s usually where a shadow pattern is running the show. Then ask: What would I have to trust to let this go? What would others have to step into if I stepped back? The answer reveals both the shadow and its gift. Consider working with someone who specializes in shadow work – this isn’t territory you have to navigate alone.

3. BRIDGE-BUILDING BETWEEN WORLDS

The third critical quality is the ability to build bridges between seemingly opposite worlds. For me, this meant bridging corporate and spiritual, medical and mystical, practical and magical.

We’re living in a time of breaking free from rigid roles and their limitations. You’ve been told to be either businessperson or healer, strategic or intuitive, profitable or purposeful. But the leaders who will shape the future are those who refuse to choose. They’re the ones bringing soul into the boardroom and strategy into spiritual practice.

This isn’t about diluting either world – it’s about finding the sacred interface where both become more powerful. My corporate background wasn’t a past life to transcend; it was preparation for bringing spiritual technology to executives. My medical training wasn’t separate from my intuitive gifts; it gave me the framework to explain energy in terms skeptics could understand and a language to make it accessible.

My advice for developing this: Look at your “past lives” – the careers, experiences, or interests you think you’ve outgrown. Now look at what you’re doing now. Where’s the bridge? How can your previous experience serve your current calling? Stop seeing your journey as disconnected chapters and start seeing it as an integrated story. You’re not just pivoting; you’re spiraling upward, bringing all your wisdom with you.

HONOR YOUR UNIQUE MEDICINE

If I could tell my younger self – or anyone early in their journey – one thing, it would be this: The very things that make you feel like you don’t fit in are usually the exact medicine the world needs from you.

I spent years trying to be a “normal” acupuncturist, then a “serious” entrepreneur, then a “legitimate” spiritual teacher. But my power came when I accepted that I’m none of those things and yet, all of those things. I’m a third-generation healer with a corporate background who reads energy for entrepreneurs, executives and conscious leaders and translates shadows into business strategy. There’s no certification for that. No established path. And that’s precisely the point.

Your journey won’t look like mine or anyone else’s. But if you’re willing to surrender to your gifts, integrate your shadows, and bridge the worlds you’re called to bridge, you’ll create something that’s never existed before. Something only you can create.

I know some of you reading this feel that rumble in your soul – the knowing that you’re meant for something beyond the traditional path. But you’re scared. Scared of losing credibility, scared of financial instability, scared of being seen as “too much” or “too weird.”

Here’s what I know after losing my practice twice and rebuilding from sacred collapse: The thing you’re most afraid of losing is usually the thing that’s keeping you small. The credibility I was clinging to was preventing me from stepping into my actual authority. The stability I thought I needed was actually stagnation under limited beliefs.

This doesn’t mean be reckless. It means be honest. What’s the cost of not honoring your true calling? What’s the price of staying split between who you are and who you think you should be?

I spent years waiting for permission to be all of who I am. Waiting for the market to be ready, for my credentials to be enough, for someone to say “yes, you can be both corporate and mystical, both practical and magical.” But here’s what I learned after my sacred collapse: Permission never comes from outside. It comes from deciding that your wholeness is non-negotiable. That decision – that single moment of choosing yourself completely – changes everything. Not eventually. Immediately.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal clients are who I call “cycle breakers” – conscious leaders who are successful but may still be carrying patterns that no longer serve them. They’re typically 35-65, established in their careers, and standing at a threshold they can feel but can’t quite name.

More specifically, they fall into three overlapping categories:

THE SPIRITUAL EMPATH AT CAPACITY

This client has been the family healer, the office therapist, the friend everyone calls in crisis. They’re typically women (though not exclusively) who’ve spent decades being the “strong one,” the bridge-builder, the peacekeeper. They have profound intuitive gifts but have learned to hide them in professional settings.

They find me when they’re empathically exhausted or near to it – a bone-deep depletion that comes from giving from an empty well. They’re ready to learn that their empathic abilities aren’t a burden to manage but an intelligence system that needs proper boundaries and strategic application. They want to understand why they attract certain dynamics repeatedly and how to transform their sensitivity from liability to leadership tool.

These clients light up when they discover their Soul Signs because, often for the first time, someone is reflecting back to them that their way of being in the world isn’t wrong – it’s just been missing an instruction manual. They’re ready to stop apologizing for their depth and start leveraging it.

THE CONSCIOUS EXECUTIVE

This is the CEO, entrepreneur or business leader who’s achieved everything they were “supposed to” achieve, but feels like they’re running their business on outdated software. They’re brilliant strategists who secretly know their biggest business challenges aren’t strategic – they’re energetic.

They come to me because they’re tired of team dynamics that drain them, exhausted from carrying the emotional weight of their organization, and ready to understand why certain patterns keep repeating despite their best efforts. They don’t need another consultant or coach telling them what to do. They need someone who can read the invisible currents running their company and translate that into actionable intelligence.

These leaders aren’t looking for “woo-woo” – they’re looking for results. But they’re evolved enough to know that the next level of results requires a different level of seeing. They’re ready to discover that their shadows aren’t weaknesses but untapped power sources. They want to know their Soul Signs not for spiritual entertainment, but because they understand that self-awareness at this depth is the ultimate competitive advantage.

THE LEGACY BUILDER IN TRANSITION

This is the accomplished professional – often in their 50s, 60s or beyond – who’s asking “what’s next?” with a different urgency than before. They’ve built the career, raised the family, achieved the goals, but something is calling them toward a deeper purpose. They’re not interested in retirement; they’re interested in renaissance.

They come to me because they sense they have wisdom to offer but aren’t sure how to package it. They know they’re meant to mentor, guide, or create something meaningful, but they need help seeing the thread that connects all their experiences. Their Soul Signs reading often reveals that what they thought were random career chapters were actually perfect preparation for their true calling.

These clients are my wisdom keepers who are ready to become wisdom sharers. They’re not trying to prove themselves anymore; they’re trying to provide themselves in service of something larger.

THE COMMON THREAD: READY FOR THE REAL WORK

Regardless of which category they fall into, my ideal clients share certain qualities:

**They’re intellectually sophisticated but spiritually hungry.** They’ve done therapy, read the books, maybe even worked with coaches, but they know something deeper is being asked of them.

**They’re willing to look at their shadows.** They understand that the things that trigger them most are usually their greatest teachers. They’re ready to stop pointing fingers and start looking in mirrors.

**They value integration over information.** They don’t want another personality test or assessment. They want a living practice that transforms how they show up in the world.

**They’re tired of splitting themselves.** Whether it’s professional vs. personal, spiritual vs. strategic, or emotional vs. logical, they’re exhausted from maintaining false divisions and ready to show up whole.

**They have resources to invest.** This isn’t about wealth, but about readiness. My ideal clients understand that transformation requires investment – of money, yes, but more importantly of time, attention, and commitment to the process.

THE CLIENTS I’M NOT FOR

I’m not the right fit for someone looking for quick fixes or surface solutions. If you want someone to tell you everything is fine as it is, or to spiritually bypass your real challenges with positive affirmations, I’m not your person.

I’m also not for those who want to stay comfortable. My work is loving but honest. I’ll hold space for your shadows with infinite compassion, but I’ll also call you forward into your power because once I see what you’re capable of, I can’t unsee it. This work is for those ready to be lovingly disrupted and then elevated into the next level of their highest self.

THE MOMENT OF RECOGNITION

My ideal client often finds me when they’re in transition and at what I call a “choice point” – standing between who they’ve been and who they’re becoming. They might be:

– An empath who’s finally ready to stop saving everyone else and start saving themselves
– An executive whose company is successful but whose soul feels bankrupt
– A leader who realizes their next promotion isn’t upward but inward
– A cycle breaker ready to stop inherited patterns with them
– A successful professional sensing that their “retirement” is actually a graduation into their real work

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE READY

The readiness I look for isn’t about having it all together – it’s about being willing to let it all fall apart if that’s what transformation requires. My ideal clients have arrived at soul-level readiness – they’re not just uncomfortable with where they are; they’re more uncomfortable with staying there than they are with changing.

They come to me not because they need fixing, but because they’re ready for alchemy. They understand that we’re not trying to eliminate their shadows but transform them into gifts. They’re not trying to become someone different; they’re ready to become who they’ve always been meant to be.

THE INVITATION

If you’re reading this and feeling a resonance – that slight quickening of your pulse, that whisper of “maybe this is what I’ve been looking for” – trust that. My ideal clients often tell me they “just knew” when they found my work. Not because I was the perfect solution, but because they recognized themselves in the invitation.

The truth is, I don’t find my ideal clients. They find me. Usually at exactly the right moment, when they’re ready to stop managing their exhaustion and start transforming it. When they’re ready to stop breaking themselves against old patterns and start breaking through to new possibilities.

If you’re a leader ready to lead from wholeness, an empath ready to embrace your power, an executive ready to execute your soul blueprint, or a cycle breaker ready to break through – trust that recognition you’re feeling. That quickening in your chest isn’t coincidence. It just might be your soul recognizing the medicine it’s been seeking.

To explore working together, visit www.peachandcrane.com where you can book a first Soul Signs reading, sign up for live or virtual events, learn about special shadow work or other packages, and explore executive coaching options. I offer virtual sessions globally via Zoom, making this work accessible wherever you are. You can also connect with me on Instagram @soulsignsbykirem, LinkedIn @kiremmarnett, or reach out directly at [email protected]. As a special gift for Bold Journey readers, use code BOLDJOURNEY for a $20 gift toward your first session when you mention this article. I look forward to helping you discover the Soul Signs that have been guiding you all along!

Photo caption: Kirem Marnett, MAOM standing with the Angel Oak in Charleston, SC – a 500-year-old reminder that resilience is an art form. Like this ancient tree, we don’t grow strong by avoiding storms; we grow strong by learning to bend without breaking, by sending our roots deeper with every challenge. Just like she experienced in the “sacred collapses” on her own journey, every hurricane that tried to destroy this tree only taught it new ways to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.peachandcrane.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulsignsbykirem/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiremmarnett
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kirempossible

Image Credits

Alan Marnett