Meet Sophie Howell-miller

We were lucky to catch up with Sophie Howell-miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sophie, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Growing up, my parents faced several different trials. My mother suffered from bipolar depression as a result of some deep losses and hardships. As a young child my mother had trouble getting out of bed to face the day. This confused me and I held a deep sadness around her inability to enjoy life, convicted for many years that I could change her. Eventually, my parents relationship was strained, and my dad started having severe health challenges. My parents starting using substances to numb their confusion and pain, and as a result, in their drunken states they began to bring physical violence into our home. Having the police stop by was a common occurrence. At the same time, I had a very magical upbringing. My mother was a landscape architect and we had a gorgeous flower garden and fish pond, where butterflies and wildlife flocked to enjoy. My two sisters and I had wild imaginations and played fairies, building our own bamboo huts and bridges and catching salamanders. We grew up very fast, dealing with adult themes early on. Eventually, both our parents required separate in-patient treatment for their behaviors. Then my parents got divorced and we three girls lived with different family members, settling for over a year with one of my dad’s sisters. It was a tough time in life. I learned a lot about mental health, and I believe my mom suffering the way she did early on developed the real go-getter capable attitude I have towards life, as all three of us girls became very capable very quickly. I am grateful for the whole process, as it forged me into the woman I am today.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I love following my passions. I am a artist in all that I do, and an eternal student. I bring my full self to the table. Due to my upbringing, I have always been interested in psychology, art therapy, and mental health, as well as the natural world and community. I am passionate about women’s work. Although I spent the last 5 years running a retreat center on 145 acres, which was a wild and powerful experience I will always cherish, I am now pursuing other aspects of my curiosities.

I believe in a world of connection. I create wearable art in the form of headdresses to elevate the divine joy and radical expression of individuals and communities. To bring people together in the name of celebration and reconnect communities with the ancient tradition of adornment during rites of passage. To provide an experience of tangibly connecting with an empowered state of being. To make accessible a truly special experience meant previously only for “real performers,” so that all people can feel as special and unique as they innately are. I believe in the radical expression of your favorite self.

SpiritCrowns is my unique costume party rental company that offers high-end, individually curated headdresses for endless entertainment at your event, delivering an opportunity to connect with the profound expression of your personal higher calling, the community around you, and the radical sense of self that drives you to feeling the utmost empowered. Whimsical, joyful, and inviting–SpiritCrowns make every occasion a goddess celebration situation.

In addition to SpiritCrowns, I have been offering Language of Empowerment Coaching. This laser therapeutic modality reveals how our subconscious beliefs, shaped by the language we use, directly impact our emotional and physical health. By identifying and transforming self-limiting patterns—often rooted in shame, guilt, or fear—individuals rewire their inner narrative, shifting from struggle to empowerment through intentional language and deep emotional resonance. This process not only fosters resilience and well-being but also aligns them with a future self that embodies health, ease, and abundance, making transformation not just possible, but inevitable.

I have just written four scientific articles for the European Scientific Journal on various aspects of life and how this modality has had a significant impact on research participants. I have walked through my own self-sabotaging patterns and live in freedom and love most of the time. Once I found this modality, I knew this was next-level. I offer Language of Empowerment coaching sessions that support my clients to find their inner compass and break free from anxiety, getting to the root of the issue and rewiring their belief systems towards truth and ease.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I would say the most powerful skill I have embodied has been radical responsibility for everything that comes across my path. I was in a major victim mindset for many years, and so I had to keep calling in reasons to be a victim. Now that I have set an internal locus of control, I can find gratitude for every obstacle that comes through because it is calling me to expansion. I learned from my mother what a broken record of trauma narrative looks like, holding on to blame and expecting life to offer you something different in return, instead of facing those fears or pain and removing the judgment. It keeps me in higher brain function and open to possibility.

Secondly, realizing the power of sisterhood and connection in community. I have a passion for bringing people together for valuable experiences. And, as soon as a space is safe enough, healing begins to spontaneously happen. Women (and men too!) gathering to create safe spaces to share and process, remove the shame, and witness one another is the most powerful thing in the world, I could study it for the rest of my life! That is why I created my retreat series called Witness Sisterhood in honor of this reflective and presence process.

Lastly, my ability to listen to those around me and notice what they are carrying, what their strengths are, what they are sensitive to, whether it is those that work for me, those I work for, my son, my husband, my friends, and respond accordingly. I love incorporating the individual talents of the people around me into what the next quest is in our lives. I am known for inviting my friends into their next level of human-ing and watching them grow into it. I can see the potential in someone and call it forth. I also think this is due to my upbringing and my desire for people to grow in love for themselves and confidence in what their purpose is.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I believe that every inherent weakness is also a strength. Looking at our shadows, or weaknesses, is pivotal in order to do truly live in our strengths, the answer is not simply about choosing between focusing on strengths or working on weaknesses—it is about aligning with one’s true self and dissolving subconscious barriers that prevent authentic self-expression. Often, what we consider a “weakness” is not an inherent flaw, but a conditioned belief system or emotional block that has prevented full expression of our innate potential.

When we go all in on our strengths, we are operating in a state of flow, alignment, and self-trust. We are moving with the natural energy of who we are, expanding into greater levels of mastery and contribution. When we try to “fix” our weaknesses, we must ask: Is this an actual limitation, or is it an artificial construct from an old belief system? If it is the latter, we can transform that belief system so that the so-called “weakness” naturally dissolves rather than requiring forceful effort. From working with clients, it seems that what one has shied away from or avoidant of tends to be the area of greatest awareness, passion, and purpose.

Thus from my perspective, instead of an inherent weakness—it is a subconscious decree they made at some point, often due to an earlier experience where they felt unheard, judged, or unsafe when expressing themselves. Imagine someone has a fear of speaking in front of groups. Instead of forcing effort into being “well-rounded” by grinding through speaking courses, I would work to support someone in dissolving the limiting decree that made them believe they weren’t capable of powerful speech in the first place.

Once that subconscious decree is shifted, they may find that public speaking becomes a natural extension of their true self, rather than an area requiring struggle. They may even discover it as a latent strength they never knew they had.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.spiritcrowns.com
• Instagram: @spiritcrowns

Image Credits

Zach Mahone, Sophie Howell