Meet Jenny Calabro | Heart Centered Witch & Oracle

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenny Calabro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenny, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
As someone who had previously worked in a major industry but now has my own small business the biggest struggle at the beginning was to find a work life balance. Before starting my business Fantasma Witch I worked as an artist in animation, the demands as an artist were quite high but there was always set hours & days for work. This gave me guidelines for when I was working vs when I turned off my computer & made time for me. But now that I have a small business, which is primarily done from my home, the lines between my time & work time quickly became blurred. It was not just the fact that I was at home which made it difficult, but it was also because I was doing work that I deeply love & enjoy. While I had loved being an artist, it was easy to switch my brain between “this drawing is for work and this drawing is just for fun”. But so much of what I do now for work blends with things I enjoy in the day to day such as reading or researching topics, writing about topics that I’m excited about or creating content online based on topics that I enjoy. After the first few months of making my business Fantasma Witch my full time job, I realized that I needed to get clear with myself on what activities would be considered strictly business, no matter how much I enjoyed doing it, and what could be considered time just for me (even if there might be a little cross over). I began by implementing hour & day restrictions so that I wouldn’t slip into working or making more content for my business instead of relaxing. I would select 2 days in my week that are “no work” days & aim to only start work after I had made time for myself in the morning & wrapping up before dinner in the evenings. Essentially, I began using a one to ten scale on “How much of this could be considered work vs how much of this is just for me?” For example, if I have a book that I am reading I ask myself if the book is to help me further develop my skills for my business or simply to learn something new because I enjoy the topic. Another example is making videos on Tiktok, some of my videos are avenues to promote the work I do while other videos are because I enjoy making them, such as telling stories of recent ghost sightings. If I find that the videos I am working on falls too much into the work side of things, I will wait until my personal specified work days/ times to make them.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
For me I really pride myself on being a trauma informed practitioner who provides people with empathetic guidance to gain newfound clarity and inspiration in a deeply personal way. Fantasma Witch services include pet communication, tarot reading, palm reading, mediumship & a variety of classes (just to name a few things). While I have been offering services & working professionally for over 8 years, I have been doing many of these practices since early childhood. As someone who struggles with diagnosed anxiety & PTSD, it’s important that I hold space for my clients providing the guidance they need without activating or disregulating their nervous system so that they can get the most from their session & receive whatever comes through for them. I have found that some folks, albeit excited, can be quite scared to hear what I might see in the cards or in their palms. Not to mention I have been on the receiving end of having a reading that was deeply activating to my nervous system due to how the information was presented. While there is no “right or wrong” way to do this kind of work (so long as you are doing it genuinely) I take great joy in being able to hold space for my sitters in a kind, patient, calming & nurturing way. Everyone has their own personal shadows from within all while trying to navigate the world, it’s definitely not all “love & light” so it’s important that I provide a safe space for folks to receive guidance with both the heavier aspects as well as the lighter ones in a way that they can feel heard as well as safe. It’s wonderful when my sitter can say that even though it may have been a hard topic to discuss it’s exactly what they needed & that they feel better no matter what the path ahead may hold. To be honest, the way I provide my offerings for others comes from a long winding path of deep healing & personal experience. I have spent many years educating myself on the things I personally struggle with as well as working on healing and maintaining them such as anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, imposter syndrome, invisible disability with chronic pain/ illness, regulating the nervous system, etc. Through all my personal studies as well as my experience learning how to heal from trained professionals, I am able to implement my own growth & learning into my work for the benefit of others (all done ethically within my scope of practice).

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First I would check to see if there is a Magic Market Pop Up event happening to shop an amazing assortment of witchy small businesses, vegan food & readers! However on an average day, for breakfast I would stop by Cafe de Olla located in Burbank for Nopalitos con juevos & a hot cup of cafe de olla! While in Burbank I would peruse the awesome antique shops such as Catnip Coalition to say hello to the shop cats, see the adoptable kittens, and browse trendy antiques! Then over to Pasadena for Vromans Book Store, I could spend hours browsing books! For lunch in Pasadena either Rice & Nori for the best onigiri or to Paper & Rice which has the best Vietnamese rice paper rolls & right next door is Cha Redefine for their tasty Da-Hong-Pao Chappuccino tea! Then off to the Descanso Gardens for a beautiful walk in nature! Lastly a stop at The Heritage Square Museum to check out the beautifully haunted victorian homes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First to my heart, my other half, my husband Cole! He has always supported me on my journey both as an artist & now as a small business owner. He even assists me with market vending events and honestly does a much better job promoting me & my services than I do, haha! He is my rock & my inspiration!

And to my magical friend & fellow artist Ollie Lai Shetler who has been an amazing friend to me whether or not I was a fulltime artist or a fulltime witch.

Website: https://fantasmawitch.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantasmawitch/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fantasmawitch

Image Credits
Kelly Larkin