Today we’d like to introduce you to Chonteau McElvin.
Hi Chonteau, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My connection to nature began as a child. Lucky for me, I had a father who was a naturalist, and he taught me the importance of learning from nature. My parents were civil rights activist, very involved in the equal rights movement of the ’60s. This instilled in me a sense of community service, social justice, and Black pride. I also come from a lineage of people who loved the land and used plants for medicines. All of these aspects and more have shaped who I am, where I am today, how I offer my medicine to the community and what has heart and meaning.
My heart has always been in service, and therefore I became a social worker. Working in a broken system that perpetuates racism, classism, ageism, and all other isms and phobias you can imagine can leave one feeling broken themselves. However, it was my connection to earth-based spirituality, which is rooted in indigenous wisdom, that has been my healing balm and guiding light. Through the awakening and reclaiming of my own indigenous identity, along with years of study, both formal and informal, I have become a healer and leader in my community that I am very proud of.
Founding Soul Care University, an online wisdom and wellness center that centers around folk healing, was a logical next step for me after leaving my social work career. Soul Care U offers a vehicle for folk healing to be shared from a perspective that is does not negate informal education, but in fact, lifts it up. We are six years old, which means we are still a young toddler, figuring out our place in the world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
With all things true, we move through the seasons. There have been seasons of great beginnings, abundant expansions as well as times of retreat and death. In other words, without the challenges, we can not be reborn. Some of the challenges I have faced are my own self-doubts. As an introvert, it is not easy to get up in front of others and share my passions. I struggled with fitting into the mainstream because folk healing in our culture is not widely accepted. Folk healing traditions in our modern culture is not as good as traditions that come with certifications. My challenge was to believe that what I offered had value, and I did not need to fit into anyone else’s paradigm of business to be successful and fulfilled.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself a Folk Healer. One way I do this is to work with medicinal plants. I create blends and products that support one’s wellness in all layers of life. I am a plant medicine mentor, offering mentorship to others who want to build their knowledge and wisdom around plant medicine.
I also provide soul-preneur mentorship to other Folk Healers and Spiritual Arts Practitioners who are looking to build their practices. Soul-preneurship focuses on the heart of our businesses, building relationships and creating a practice that is rooted in ancient heart-centered models.
As a Folk Healer, I also provide a type of Life Coaching that is unique. I use my skills as a Social Worker, working in mental health for over 20 years, with ancient wisdom practices to create a safe place for healers to do their soul work. My goal is to support our healers with their soul work, so they can be more present with their clients. I provide various folk healing trainings for healers as well, so they can expand their knowledge base.
One of the beautiful things about identifying as a Folk Healers is I do not get caught up in my skills defining who I am. I have lots of tools, mindfulness, herbalism, breath work, ritualist, etc that I use to support my clients and community. I love the freedom and simplicity of showing up and meeting my clients where they are at.
I am most proud of the community I am cultivating. It is very important to me that the community that I serve is culturally diverse. Those who seek me out for coaching, products and mentorship reflect diversity in all areas. I mostly target my offerings to women, and currently, I am very excited that I attract women and transwomen from all walks of life. This excites me. What sets me apart from others is that I am me. We can all share the same offerings, but it would always be different because there is only one of us on the planet when I bring my unique self to any experience, that sets me apart.
How do you define success?
Success to me is fulfillment. Do I go to bed each night smiling to myself and do I wake up each morning ready to go? If I can answer yes more times than not, I am successful.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chonteaumcelvin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063585700004
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChonteausCreations?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=969669098
