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A trip to my dentist inspired this blog post.
TLDR: I quit my tarot business because of the hustle and grind culture of social media.
Picture it. May 2020. My collection agency employer permanently laid me off as a data entry clerk because of the COVID pandemic. My best friend at the time suggested I start a tarot reading account on Instagram.
"But I hate Instagram. I don't see the point of it," I grumbled.
"There are tarot readers on there that make a good living. It could bring you the same thing. You've been reading tarot on and off for how long now?", he suggested as he took one of my chips.
"17 years," looking down at my soft-shell taco with just beef and cheese and ketchup.
"There's people on here that have been reading less than you. You would do well," he took a sip of pop.
I continued eating my Taco Bell lunch with my bestie. And then we went into his car and made out like we always did when we met up.
When I got home from my afternoon lunch rendezvous with my best male friend, I pulled out my tarot cards and searched for a spread on starting my own tarot business. The reading suggested there was potential for this to be a long-term sure thing. It would be a way of "sticking it to the man" and being self-sufficient. All I needed was a plan of action.
I let the reading simmer for a few months. In October 2020, I bought my website (the first mistake in my entrepreneur journey). I created tarotbysammybrite on Instagram and started posting random tarot readings. By December 2020, I registered for an LLC because a few friends said I could get sued for a faulty reading or a reading that didn't come true (second mistake in my journey).
By January 8, 2021, I was ready for launch. My website was perfectly ready. I had my socials set up. And so I announced I was ready to take payment via Venmo and Cash App, as well as PayPal on social media. And that announcement ended in *crickets*. Despite building up to 100 followers on tarotbysammybrite, no one wanted to buy my readings.
None of my posts went viral. No one knew I existed. I fought with the algorithm (mainly Instagram) every single day for five years.
Eventually, I got sick and tired of it. My passion for tarot was also waning, getting lost in fighting with the algorithm for clientele. Most of my business came from local people when I offered private, in-person readings. I rarely made money from strangers online. I also lacked support for my readings from strangers online. I didn't have the community I was told I had to build in order to succeed as a successful tarot reader. I tried building community, but for some reason, me and people don't get along despite me being a Libra rising. It's probably because my Libra rising sits near the 12th house, near my 12th house Venus.
I got sick and tired of seeing other readers who had less experience than me brag on social media about how their books were always full of clients and they were "eternally grateful" for them. Of course, most of these tarot readers were in their early to late 20s, where I was in my late thirties to almost forty years old. I remember being that young, naive tarot reader in her 20s. The only thing is, when I was twenty-something, we didn't have social media and YouTube was in its very early stages. I didn't have access to high-speed internet. I had to stick to websites and e-mail readings. While I did fairly okay, I had to stop my practice after a mental health crisis when I was 25. I had to focus on my mental health first and put away my cards. But that's for another story at another time.
I'm tired of competing with baby tarot readers. I'm tired of competing with content creators who just read tarot to get views and an ego boost. I'm tired of hustling and nothing panning out. Everything I tried failed. From my tarot spread book, Saturday Morning Tarot, to doing a local metaphysics fair in Flint at Totem Books. It all failed. I wasn't seeing the stability that YouTube tarot readers claimed to have. They all had husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/partners who worked while they lived in lavish surroundings. They didn't have to worry about aging parents, where their next meal came from, or how they were going to make ends meet.
There were some things I could have done. Like to show my face and voice more, I suppose. But I hate being in front of the camera. I am highly sensitive to anonymous people bullying online. I had enough bullying in my school days. And also, I have stalkers online. I didn't want them to find me and bother me, despite my best efforts to block them from every platform.
I also could have leaned into educational content more, showing what I know. People love learning about your hobby or skill, or job. And I have a lot of information. Just a lot of it isn't popular or in touch with today's tarot readers. Today's tarot readers are more focused on the psychology. I grew up as a tarot reader, doing fortune-telling. That's where most of my studies are. People frown upon that kind of tarot reading now.
But to be honest, I'm just over social media. People follow to unfollow all the damn time. It messes with your self-worth. I tried combating the follow to unfollow people. But eventually, I just gave up on my author account.
I'm also over the fakeness of creators and readers. A lot of them talk with a vocal fry and talk about being authentic. When they weren't authentic at all. And some readers and content creators were less than helpful. They all gatekept social media secrets. You had to pay hefty fees in order to learn their secrets. Or to be included in their inner circle of approved readers.
I also felt like I never really fit in the spiritual community since my mental health breakdown in 2010. I had to let go of a lot of spiritual beliefs because they were causing me more harm than good (like believing you can talk to dead people). I have always felt disconnected from the spiritual community and never regained my spiritual self back from my mental breakdown. I tried. But heavy logic succumbed to me. And it's for my protection. I wish people would realize the New Age spiritual community does more harm than good. But you can't convince everyone, and maybe they need to believe until something forces them to look otherwise. To each their own. But there are a lot of unethical people in this community. I have been a victim of many of them, unfortunately. And I may have played a part in that as well when I was a fresh-faced reader in my twenties and thirties.
I have never felt welcomed by my spiritual community here in Michigan, nor have I felt like a part of it. They all wanted something from me. Either my money or free readings or both. I also felt like a lot of other readers were jealous of me or hated me because I just read tarot cards and said I am not psychic. I wasn't scamming people. And I took away their business.
I just get a lot of icky feelings about the spiritual community. Not just in Michigan, but even on the internet. And I never intended to become a content factory or a content creator. I wasn't going to fake having a perfect life for the cameras. I would not pretend that tarot solved all my problems (in fact; I think it gave me more problems!).
I also refused to sell "magical" jewelry, crystals, and workshops. I never aligned with that business model that most successful tarot readers and astrologers use. They make little from private readings. The money is in ebooks, courses, workshops, and selling "magical" items. I don't believe in crystals (it's a psychology trick like Dumbo and his magic feather). I'm rarely a jewelry person. I wear only necklaces or bracelets on rare occasions. And I don't believe in magic. #sorrynotsorry. And workshops: I don't have a following and community. Who would pay for it?!
So that, in a nutshell, is why I quit my tarot business and I am never returning to do tarot readings for profit. I'm only doing tarot readings for friends and family, and they can either spend a day with me, buy me lunch or dinner, or tip me so I can buy some McDonald's or a pizza. I am currently job hunting and writing my first novel. I am focusing more on my writing when I am not job hunting. I will also occasionally throw a card down for myself. But I'm rarely up at 4:30 AM doing tarot readings on the energy of the day or finding out what my purpose for today is. I'm glad to have my sleep back. I'm glad I am not worried about the algorithm paying my bills. I'm glad I don't have people relying on me for their life choices.
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