We recently connected with Kate Troyer and have shared our conversation below.
Kate, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Wow— what an impactful question. I believe our society puts pressure on us to “find our purpose” and unfortunately it is most often tied to what we do as a career choice. While I feel extremely blessed to do what I do and have so passion for my business and feel it is part of my purpose. I think it is dangerous when we attach our purpose to just one thing, one career, one skill set.
In my opinion and what I have found to ring true in my life over and over again is that, our true purpose is know ourselves well enough that we can show up daily as the best and most authentic version of ourselves. And we we are able to do that, it permeates through every aspect of our life, including our career.
When we are able to show up from a place a true knowing, we never really know or grasp the kind of impact we make on others. It is possible that our purpose one day may be that the waitress at a restaurant heard us speaking to a friend and that conversation changed the she thought about something and impacted her to operate different in life— which is something we will never even be aware of. While the next day our purpose may lie in how we are able to better someone’s life through our business and the following day it could be being kind and having a conversation with someone who we didn’t know was feeling lonely and unapproachable.
I say all this to note that our purpose is actually weaved into our daily life and most often, we never truly get to see the huge impact we make that ripples throughout existence. That to me is our true purpose and it’s not something that can ever be taken away from us.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I became a certified Feng Shui practitioner almost 3 years ago and now consider myself a Feng Shui Lifestylist. While most people think that Feng Shui is about furniture placement (and it is to a very basic degree). What I have found in my own personal life and through working with clients is that this practice is about a life transformation that starts at home.
To me Feng Shui can be summarized in this way— your home is your mirror, an extension of you. So anything that has gone on in your life, is presently happening or you expect to show up in your future is weaved seamlessly into the blueprint of your space. Understanding that concept, not only changes the way that you look at your home and business but it also helps you to dig deeper into a more personal aspect of your life. When we can change things in the physical it affects us at a personal level.
Understanding that your home is a place that is here to support us and make our lives easier, is life changing realization for my clients. Most often I would consider my 1:1 sessions like a mix of design and therapy. It’s a powerful combination to curate the change you want to see in your life moving forward and also a place where we can heal from past experiences that we’ve unknowingly brought into the fabric of our everyday life.
When I first added Feng Shui to my design consulting business that I had had for 3 years prior, I assumed I would only work with local clients face to face. However, my growth on social media platforms like tiktok allowed me to see that there were clients all over the world that could benefit from my services and knowledge— now 80% of my business comes from 1;1 virtual clients and digital resources that I have available on my website.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Belief in self, tenacity and trusting my knowing (or gut). There were many times throughout my journey that it was challenging, and if I did not have the tenacity to dig in and follow my own intuition no matter what my physical reality looked like and no matter who was or wasn’t supporting me. I wouldn’t have the amazing business that I have today.
The truth is, most people don’t believe in you— whether that’s because of the person you once were or because they simply, don’t want to see you get hurt from disappointment of something not working out for you. Most people are afraid to follow their gut and so their “support” often looks like projecting their own fears onto you.
For me, staying true to the path I knew I was meant to walk down brought with it a lot of solitude, and many emotional days and nights and while that isn’t always easy. It forced me into to trusting my own stillness and intuition— something that has served me personally, professionally and also has allowed me the blessing of being able to sit with clients in similar situations and hold space and support for them as I have actually been through the majority of things I end up working through with my clients.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
That so many people have no idea what the heck Feng Shui even is. It wasn’t something I anticipated in the beginning yet it has allowed me to become very creative and intentional with how I speak about it. I saw that Feng Shui wasn’t “popular” beacuase most people couldn’t understand it. Which led me down a rabbit hole of how i could make my practice different. I believe this is a life transforming practice and I want as many people who need it to be able to understand and work with it in a practical way, think of it as wellness for your home.
The way i am resolving it is I always look for every opportunity I can to speak about it and educate people on what it is and how it can benefit them. That was difficult at first but now I find I am always attracting people and opportunities that allow me to bring this message to the masses. TikTok has actually been a game changer for me, reaching millions of people a year with my message and knowledge of this ancient art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.homesliceliving.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fengshui.kate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homesliceliving/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxBljRcYUyBrpprd0OSfPvA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/homeslice-living-chagrin-falls
- Other: TikTok (50k followers) and where I am most active. https://www.tiktok.com/@fengshui.kate
Image Credits
Photos of rooms only | Homeslice Living Photos of me in home | Liza Smalcer Photo of me in black | Cara Pointer
