We had the good fortune of connecting with Nadia Ahrens, LICSW and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Nadia, what do you want people to remember about you?
I want people to remember my strength and vulnerability. My mission in life is to help women heal from whatever life throws their way, so they can find their soul’s purpose. In 2016, my eight year old son unexpectedly died. Early on in my grief, I’d sit in his room and cry for hours. One day when I was on the floor (we all have had ‘on the floor’ moments), deep in pain, I didn’t want to go on. The pain was too great. I thought “Maybe I’ll just live a passively suicidal life waiting to die”. In that next moment, my 98 year old grandmother popped into my mind. “Sh*t. I have her genes. I’ll likely be here a long time”, was my next thought. In that moment, I realized I had a CHOICE. Either live a victimized life waiting to die, or transform the sh*t out of the worst experience I’ll EVER experience.” I chose the latter. Every day I choose to transform, heal, and grow. This is my purpose and my legacy, to help women heal so they can become more spiritually aligned and find their soul’s purpose through the same steps I took to get myself up off the floor of my son’s room.
What should our readers know about your business?
Like many people, I struggled with the age-old question: What am I supposed to do with my life? I tried a variety of different jobs (restaurants, offices, fashion houses, international backpacking -not really a job, but still) and nothing spoke to me (except the wanderlust of traveling. I will forever have the travel bug!). So, I did some soul-searching and realized that no matter where I went in the world and no matter what I did, people were ALWAYS coming to me with their problems. And that’s when the light bulb went off, THIS is what I was born to do – help others! Yippee! After college and graduate school, I focused on psycho-spiritual modalities and fell in love with hypnotherapy, which is a beautiful combination of the mind, body, and soul. If you’ve ever asked yourself: What’s my purpose? Why am I here? Why can’t I figure out this repeating pattern in my life? Hypnotherapy is the way to go! I’ve been practicing the art of helping others for nearly twenty years and I love every minute of it. We are all human. We all struggle. We all have trauma and tragedy, myself included. When my son unexpectedly died, my life fell apart, I was shattered and a huge piece of me died that day as well. As I laid on the floor of his bedroom in tears and not wanting to go on and live, it became clear: I can live a passively suicidal, victim life, waiting to die, or I can transform the shit out of the worst possible experience of my life. Because my grandmother is over 100 (and I’ve got her genes), I chose to transform because the other option, was NOT an option. I share this story to teach you that you can transform from anything and everything. We are all here to learn, grow, and evolve into the best and shiniest version of ourselves. There is a SOUL PURPOSE for every experience in life. Your soul chose to come to earth to evolve and grow through life experiences. It is up to our human potential to see these teachings, learn from them and evolve.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Aside from the obligatory Pike’s Place Market, I’d show my bff all of the natural beauty Seattle has to offer. Discovery Park is one of my favorite spots. It’s a “city” park that’s situated on these amazing bluffs overlooking Puget Sound. Discovery Park also has trails to a beach and lighthouse and also a green, lush forest filled with moss and ferns. Next, we’d head to Ballard or Fremont for some lunch at one of the delicious foodie restaurants! We’d also head on over to the Burke Museum, which is an awe-inspiring science museum! They have live exhibits of biologists and archeologists working on specimens and bones. It’s super cool! Next up, we’ll road trip it out to Chelan, so we can kick it on the lake and go wine tasting. On our way back, we’ll stop offin Leavenworth for some German food and possibly a nice hike!
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people to thank for their support. First and foremost are my support system, my family and friends, who are my lifeline and have my back on every level. I’d also love to give a shout out to my former business coach, Jessica Butts, who believed in me, my story, and empowered me to step into my shine. And as always, my pit-crew, Staci Danford, Denise Perkins & Kelli Thompson, who are my ride or die business mastermind sisters!
Website: www.nadiaahrens.com
Instagram: nadiaahrens
Linkedin: Nadia Ahrens
Twitter: nadiaahrens
Facebook: Nadia Ahrens, MSW, Transformational Coaching
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Image Credits
Jason G. Lewis