Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Mendoza.
Hi Jesse, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a holistic household in a small town in Wisconsin. My mother would send my sister and me outside to play in the woods anytime the weather was nice and if it rained, she’d send us out with shampoo. We had a sweat lodge, a tepee, a ceramic studio and a river on our property. We also had gardens and fire pits and we ate wild berries, mint and violets and my parents would hunt to fill the freezer with venison for the year. We’d use all parts of the deer. We had deer toe rattles and the horns were either mounted or turned into jewelry. My mother made her wedding dress out of a deer hide. With this lifestyle, we were also taught that we were connected to the Earth and there is energy that flows through everything. Most of the grown ups I knew did Reiki and meditated and had rituals to celebrate the moon and the seasons. Of course as a child, I didn’t realize how amazing my life was or that it was different from everyone else’s, even in my hometown. I longed for experience, so I left my graduation party a little early, car packed and moved to Minneapolis. I attended the U of M and enjoyed it immensely. One of my favorite classes was “Ways of thinking about Health”. The class was on a Friday and as soon as we arrived to the first class, the professor sent us home to pack for the weekend. We met again in an hour to get on a bus and go up the White Earth reservation for the weekend. It was magical. He also assigned us a trip to the acupuncture school for a session and we took a longer trip to Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa. All of that experience and teaching stuck with me in a profound way. I also studied business and entrepreneurship at the U of M.
I was pregnant my junior year in college and graduated with an infant and a bachelors degree in English, Sociology and Management. I had worked since I was fifteen and had three different jobs at the same time in college. So, rejoining the workforce seemed like the obvious option to help support my little family. We got married and had another baby, then we got divorced. I moved a lot with my girls, but I always kept my job. I worked my way up a corporate ladder and after nine years I had made it to warehouse supervisor before they let me go. Thank goodness, I may have never left. By this time, I’d met my current partner and purchased a house. I had enough savings that I took some time doing things I wanted to do. I wrote a book, did a lot of art and enjoyed the kids, but my dwindling bank account urged me back into another logistics job, where it took no time at all to move from answering phones to becoming the warehouse manager. Unfortunately, the ugly truths of inequality for women in the workplace were in full display at this company and I quit after they refused to pay me even the same wage as the man before me or the man I trained in. That was just the last push though, thank you again. My neighbor and I had been dreaming up our business and this gave me more time to make it a reality.
I took a part time gig to help with bills, while we found the location and transformed the space into the storefront that it is now. We got our Reiki certifications and bought so much crystal inventory and I quit the part time job. We were ready to do this. We built it. It is lovely.
We had different ideas on how things should work and it not being profitable three and a half years in caused some stress and my business partner decided to leave. Thank you, it opened up so many doors and timing was just perfect. I brought in a whole bunch of healers and vendors that needed a place to work out of and it has transformed into an amazing community as well as a one stop shop for anyone wanting healing, clarity or crystals.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obviously, there were bumps in the road, but most of them created opportunities as well. If not opening doors, they helped me become clear on what I want and don’t want, which definitely helps clear the road to success. We had grand plans of serving loose leaf tea when we opened, but our contractors were not very good and they left our kitchen area unfinished and the dishwasher hasn’t worked since their plumber set it up. So, we couldn’t get the food and beverage license required to serve the tea. It was a set back, but really what people need after a Reiki session is water, lots of water. So we serve water instead. No license required. It is good to be adaptable and choose the battles that are important and sometimes, less costly.
There are more examples, but the outcome is similar. From a larger perspective, I really have no complaints. All of the side jobs I’ve worked to keep afloat also come with networking and new friendships, even if they are not where I want to be focusing.
As you know, we’re big fans of Healing House Energy Spa Inc. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Healing House Energy Spa offers healing, readings, classes and immersive events besides being a retail store for any metaphysical needs. We specialize in Reiki, Shamanism, Medical Intuition, Sound Healing, Psychic Development, Aromatherapy and helping people feel better. Each one of our practitioners is a skilled business owner, trained in their own processes. Healing House Energy Spa is the place that brings these experts all together for the clients to find and enjoy. Because each one is independent of the others, each provide unique experiences. Everyone does Reiki a little differently. You could have a session with each of our ten practitioners and they’d all be healing, but the experiences are completely distinctive. I am so proud to have such amazing healers here. There is no limit to the amount of healing and knowledge one can receive from Healing House Energy Spa. We even have a biweekly online class series available for those that do not live close to Plymouth MN. We call it Metaphysical Musings and it is available by subscription ($20/mo) or drop in rate ($15/class). And subscriptions get access to the recordings of the entire series. Each class is taught by a different expert on the subject and many of them include meditations or practices. For those that do live close, another great way to experience the most at once is attending our Healing Haven events every 3rd Saturday of the month. Many practitioners are available and offering discounted or different services than they normally do on these days.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I wore a spiked dog collar and leather or plastic pants in high school when I wasn’t in my cheer leading outfit.
Pricing:
- 30 Min Reiki Session $65
- 60 Min Reiki Session $120
- Intro Soul Reading $77
- Shamanic Healing $133
- Online Animal Communication $95
Contact Info:
- Website: www.healinghouseenergy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healinghouseenergy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healinghouseenergy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HHEnergySpa
- Other: https://pin.it/1AshREANo
