Working Well: Tammeron Karaim of Inner Lights Alchemy On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Teach and incorporate more about holistic health and wellness concepts as a daily health practice in the workplace by using the data from each staff member’s unique birth chart.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tammeron Karaim.
Tammeron is an award-winning business woman, author, shamanic storyteller, who loves empowering women to flourish and step into living a more fulfilling legacy to embrace pure joy. As a spiritual alchemist, astrologer, former radio host and star of the upcoming, “BURNING KARMA: Healing Our Core Mother Wounds COLLECTIVELY” podcast, she has guided hundred of thousands listeners for over 13 years to connect to their SOUL’S VOICE and own their TRUTH.
Two decades ago, she overcame deep depression and suicidal ideation to embrace her spiritual awakening, transforming from her own story from victim to victor.
She has a passion for encouraging women to gather together, especially around a roaring campfire, under the Full Moon.
Tammeron is a genuine foodie, loves volunteering, hiking, sharing her “secret” recipes of holistic remedies, and nature photography.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you better. Tell us about a formative experience that prompted you to change your relationship with work and how work shows up in your life.
Over 8 years ago back in 2014, I woke up one morning feeling super frustrated as I was getting ready to go to work in my brick-and-mortar retail business. I was a recently divorced, single mother and I had a vision of owning a health and wellness new age school, but I did not have a laid-out plan formulated. I was living in an apartment on top of my retail store area and my two boys were still in high school. Later that morning, I was preparing an organic vegan smoothie for a customer and I just told myself that I was tired of pushing my finger on the blender and not getting paid for the value of my knowledge.
I was running a retail organic take-out bar to bring customers in through the door, but my greatest passion was talking to customers one on one and helping them understand the core issue of their physical health problems. They hadn’t been taught to look at their emotional well-being. I had recently been certified as a Bach Flower Essence Practitioner and I knew I had powerful knowledge that needed to be shared with others. But my certification was outside of the box, at that time.
I decided I was ready to put my building up for sale and I was determined to figure out a way to take my knowledge and transform my business concept into an online business model.
I wanted to live a more balanced and fulfilling lifestyle where I could work from home part-time and still create time in my daily schedule to look after my health and emotional well-being.
I was a workaholic with no time for a healthy personal relationship. I was willing to take my own medicine and implement a healthier lifestyle.
My boys were living on campus at university and college so I took the risk and moved up to my rustic cabin in the woods in Northern, ON that was about 20 hours away by car. I set an intention with a personal goal to revamp my business within one year.
However, the universe had other plans for me. It took me 6 years and way much longer than expected, but I never gave up.
I realized I had a huge vision that needed me to learn other skillsets before I was ready to launch and promote myself. But this time around, I had a real plan and it needed a team of people.
I had to start by asking for support and help from my two boys who blossomed into beautiful young men and then my next step was to call in expert volunteers.
Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
I love this question because I have lived through the extreme ups and downs of emotional well-being. Over twenty years ago, I was severely depressed and feeling suicidal. I used safe and natural holistic remedies to alleviate my negative feelings and bounce back into stronger more positive emotional health. This is the reason why I became a certified practitioner due to the incredible results that I experienced in my life.
I believe that at the core of every person we all want to experience happiness in success in our lives. But what I learned about myself was determining my definition of success. Once I was able to have an honest conversation through a sacred journaling practice, I realized that my business model was not defined by how much money I was making or how many clients I was able to serve. It was honestly about becoming a healthy role model for my boys who are part of the millennial generation. My intuition told me that if I can create a business model that allows me to work more effectively from my own home without any distractions, then I can move the needle faster than having to waste time driving to a location, fighting traffic, dealing with the ups and downs of nasty weather conditions, etc.
My online business model measures wellness by whether or not I am living up to being a woman in business while I am living a balanced lifestyle that allows time for me to prepare healthy meals from home, adequate time for meditation and reflection, daily exercise and time spent outdoors. I cannot serve anyone else unless I have been able to serve myself first. It is not only an act of love and kindness towards myself but to everyone, I come in contact with every single day.
I spend half of the week working on my own entrepreneurial business bringing in new volunteers on a semi-annual basis. I spend a couple of days in my business as gatherer of information using my private detective skills to help understand the vibe in their business and appearing to work for someone else. I also have carved out time to volunteer in my local community, even if it is just 3–4 hours. The amount of time is minimum but a collaborative effort amongst more people volunteering is helping to make a difference and a significant impact.
A balanced life is happy life! The core essence is all about how we spend our time while here on the planet. Spend more time doing what you love!
Your time matters.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
I believe that everyone has unique talents and also weaknesses. One of my strong points as a leader in my business adventures is using my intuition and getting to know the members of my team so that I can honour the traits in their personalities. Taking time to treat each person the same way can create excellent conditions for the entire team with an opportunity to blossom.
If team members are given projects to work on while focused on their area of expertise, then any task can be completed more effectively. Plus, I also believe that if anyone has a unique talent, they are also capable of passing on their knowledge to someone else. This was a tactic that I used when I volunteered in my local community many years ago as the first female ‘Akela” Scout Leader.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
The leaders have to embrace the courage to be the model and begin to implement new health and wellness practices. They must be willing to take their own medicine so that they create a sense of equality along with other members of the team. If they are uncomfortable with this idea, I would suggest outsourcing certified experts who can guide everyone.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank wellbeing as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
I ask for permission to review their astrological birth chart so that I can look for their potential strengths and weaknesses in their personality. As a certified astrologer and Health Coach, I am highly qualified to unveil information that gives me insight into how I can support them to blossom while working with me and my team. I also begin by asking for initial positions as a volunteer for 1–3 months before I am willing to offer them a paid position based on commission. I want to see if they are able to tap into what I see as their own potential and if they have the passion to follow through with allowing me to be their guide as a leader. If the position ends even during this initial period, at least the volunteers walk away with powerful knowledge to help them manifest a new job position that is aligned with their heart.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
Teach and incorporate more about holistic health and wellness concepts as a daily health practice in the workplace by using the data from each staff member’s unique birth chart.
Mental Wellness-Learn the importance of connecting with your intellectual mind and how you logically work with information. This is a key signature placement of the planet Mercury.
Emotional Wellness-Learn the importance of how to use holistic remedies such as Bach Flower Essences, High-Grade Essential Oils and Herbs to re-balance any negative emotions that could be triggered by daily life. Some examples would be the death of a family member, friend or co-worker. Everyone processes emotional trauma differently and will also respond according to their timeframe. No two people are alike and so they will need to be treated differently so that they can heal and feel supported within the workplace. This is a key signature placement of the Moon that can offer how each person processes their emotions.
Social Wellness-Teach how to reach out for help and ask for what you need from your leaders and co-workers. Understand the hierarchy within the organization and who can reach out in confidence if needed. Always make time to volunteer or support others; even if it is only for a small amount of time. Usually, most people intuitively know what they need but they may just need a sounding board to give themselves a voice without feeling ashamed. Problems are normal and finding solutions can bring a whole team together. We are currently in the energy of the ‘Age of Aquarius’ which represents community, humanitarianism, empathy and compassion. I predict more people are seeking to be treated as equals as we move forward in this next generation.
Physical Wellness-Encourage staff members to take a healthy break for at least 30 minutes. Go outside for a brisk walk every day for at least 20 minutes (except under extreme weather conditions)
Financial Wellness-Learn money management skills and remember to continue to educate yourself in new ways. There are many free educational tutorials available at your fingertips. Social media can be a blessing for free education, if used properly.
Can you please tell us more about a couple of specific ways workplaces would benefit from investing in your ideas above to improve employee wellness?
I would suggest purchasing a personalized digital alchemy guidebook for each potential employee! It includes specific information that uncovers unique signatures about your blended personality that are uncovered from your astrological birth chart. We are all more than just our Sun Sign and this additional information can help anyone feel validated for their unique personality. Plus, upgrade to the use the pre-designed daily/monthly templates to help your employees live a healthier lifestyle so that each person can follow along using specific holistic remedies that are geared for their own well-being. They can work slowly by integrating one new concept at a time each month. By the end of one whole calendar year, your workplace might be a much happier and a more functional place to work.
There is a huge opportunity to incorporate a 4 day work week @ 4 hours a day. Employees might work better in less time with a huge incentive to also have more time for loved ones, families and their friends.
A win-win scenario!
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
Educate your team to learn more ways to manage every day life plus emotional stress triggered by unexpected challenges by using holistic remedies rather than choosing unhealthy addictive behaviour patterns that are commercialized through mainstream media.
Offer weekly group support so that they can begin to implement a new lifestyle that is very different from their parent’s generation. Keep the focus on asking for what you need to be referred to as a superpower and not a something to feel ashamed of. We all have the same needs and desires to live a happy and fulfilled life.
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What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
It is answered in the video below:
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
Astrology is an ancient science that is being recognized more and more to help people embrace their uniqueness and abilities. At the same time safe and natural solutions are on the rise all around the world. Many people want change to happen. Once the information is gathered, anyone can begin to implement small steps to learn how to live a healthier life and create a new lifestyle model for this next generation. Allow this generation learn from our past mistakes and give them permission to be different.
Why would we want to repeat a pattern of 40 hour work week and only have 2 weeks of each year for vacation. This is an old work model that needs to be replaced. We have tools to work smarter, not harder. The world is now in a different level of consciousness and many people are recognizing that we are multidimensional beings and we can adapt by making decisions and living more from our heart and creating a level of inner peace on the planet, This is the core of our massive spiritual awakening that we are currently alive in. The easiest way to move forward is to accept and surrender into our new reality and use a daily spiritual practice as our guidance system. We are going experience so much more LOVE and happiness than ever before.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
Feel free to follow me on Linkedin or Instagram to connect to the daily astrological energies and follow my intuitive wisdom and guidance. I post ‘a Daily Owl Note’ that is co-ordinated to the energy of the planets that represent each day of the week in a message to spend at least 22 minutes a day that is very focused.
Plus I curate a weekly video on my YouTube channel: Inner Lights Alchemy TV to help you understand the emotional story that is being played out in the astrological sky and some fantastic tips and holistic remedies to implement in your daily lifestyle.
This is the ‘Age of Aquarius’ and my motto to share is your time here on the planet matters!
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success A Success From Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Working Well: Tammeron Karaim of Inner Lights Alchemy On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.