A Chronic Entrepreneur: Khadine Aharon
Khadine Aharon has always been an entrepreneur and she’s always been passionate about supporting others in living and feeling their best. Early on she founded her own massage therapy practice, however at age 25, she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia, which meant she could not longer continue providing the services she loved. Instead, she went on to study further in her mission to support, heal and empower others and 21 years on, she’s the founder of Embrace Empowerment – where she provides service sin energetic healing (such as Emotional Freedom Techniques) and colour therapy. Alongside this, Khadine is a public speaker and workshop facilitation, running workshops across Australia. Discover Khadine’s story below.
What’s your Chronic?
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia.
Where/when were you diagnosed?
I was diagnosed when I was 25, so 21 years ago.
What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
Being an entrepreneur means following my passion to support other people on their healing journeys while giving myself the opportunity to create the life I want for myself.
What came first, the chronic or the entrepreneurism?
At 25, I had a massage therapy practice. When I developed CFS and Fibromyalgia I lost everything I built pretty much overnight.
How did this path come to you?
I have always been interested in healing therapies and supporting people to create the life they want. This has always been my path. Even as a child I used to massage my family. When I could no longer massage I retrained in community services and completed a degree in social work.
My commitment to myself is to follow my intuition to guide my path. I stumbled across EFT online and knew I needed to learn all about it. I was so amazed at the results gained by using EFT; I knew it would become a main aspect of my business.
Did you go through any sort of 12-stages of grief with the diagnosis or take it in its stride? How did the process manifest itself? Did you immediately reassess your life?
Even after 20+ years of living with chronic illness I still go through different stages of grief. In the beginning I lost everything which was important to me. I had to change every aspect of my life. Yet at the end of the day I found myself. I am happier than I have ever been in my life.
Did you seek out or join organisations representing your chronic for support or did you find comfort and answers elsewhere? What would you recommend in hindsight?
In the early days I couldn’t find support. I learnt that I needed to become my own specialist, keep an open mind, explore natural therapies and follow my intuition.
How have you changed, if at all, in your relationships, decisions and values?
Every aspect of my life has changed. I’ve grown as a person on all levels. I appreciate life and the little things. I’ve learnt to be happy with who I am. I’m selective with the people I have close to me – life is precious, I want to spend my time with people who enrich it.
What is your life philosophy and has this changed?
My number one life philosophy is that ‘I am responsible for my own happiness’. When we take full responsibility for our own happiness, we choose to live an empowered life.
What do you wish you’d known before?
That everything will be okay.
Are you on any treatments? Why/why not?
I keep my health plan to herbs, acupuncture, eating healthy, spending time in nature and connecting to myself.
If I relied on mainstream medicine I’d still be stuck in bed. My health philosophy comes back to my life philosophy – I am responsible for my own happiness.
What advice do you have for others starting out on this journey?
Follow your intuition and allow yourself to be in flow – for all areas of your life.
What do you do on a ‘bad day’?
Nurture myself. Listen to my body. Practice EFT on myself. Float in the fresh water lake near me. Spend time connecting to nature.
How do you deal with stress?
Write a gratitude list. Nurture myself. Listen to my body. Practice EFT on myself. Float in the fresh water lake near me. Spend time connecting to nature. Spend time with friends.
What do you struggle with the most?
Having enough energy left over from working to socialise is what I struggle with the most.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of my persistence to continually move forward.
Who are your back up dancers?
My friends, shaman, naturopath and my open minded GP.
Best bits of being a Chronic Entrepreneur?
The freedom to do what I love.
Supporting others on their own healing journey.
Getting paid to teach and travel.
The flexibility to work my own hours.
Are you a 5-year planner or are you winging it?
I set short-term goals and do my best to take action, no matter how little, each day towards that goal. This puts less pressure on myself and little steps add up.
Dream weekend plans and have these changed?
My dream weekend away is in nature, a short walk away from natural water I can swim in. This could be with a partner or friends.
Ultimate dinner party guests?
My closest friends.
What advice would you give your younger self?
You are beautiful, loveable and perfect.
What’s next?
My current business focus is to travel around Australia teaching Emotional Freedom Techniques.
How can people find you? (on social media)
Website: http://embraceempowerment.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmbraceEmpowermentWithKhadine/
Let us know what you think below and share your story with us on Instagram tagging @achronicentrepreneur and using the hashtag #achronicentrepreneur.