When Kelly invited me onto the Motivated By Kelly podcast, she asked me to come ready to talk about motivation. I told her I'd rather talk about what happens when motivation runs out — and you have to rely on something deeper.
That conversation turned into one of the most honest interviews I've done. We talked about my two decades in the Navy, the moment I realized I needed to build something of my own, and why crystal bracelet-making — of all things — became the vehicle for the kind of connection I'd been craving.
If you haven't listened yet, you can catch the full episode on Apple Podcasts. But here's a recap of what we covered and some things I didn't get to say on air.
The Military-to-Entrepreneur Pipeline Nobody Talks About
People hear "veteran entrepreneur" and picture someone who left the military with a business plan and a clear mission. That wasn't my story. I left the Navy after 20 years of service with a lot of skills — leadership, logistics, crisis management, team building — but no idea what to do with them in the civilian world.
What I did know was this: I was tired of environments where people performed instead of connected. Where "team building" meant trust falls and icebreakers that made everyone uncomfortable. Where wellness was a buzzword on a corporate slide deck, not something people actually experienced.
I wanted to create spaces where people could slow down, get their hands on something real, and leave feeling like they'd been seen. Not fixed. Not optimized. Just... seen.
That instinct is what led me to crystals, to bracelet-making, and eventually to My Healing Suite.
What We Talked About on the Podcast
Kelly is a great interviewer because she doesn't let you stay on the surface. Here's what we got into:
The Moment I Knew I Had to Build This
I shared the story of the first bracelet-making event I hosted — in my living room, with eight friends. I'd set out stones, printed little cards with crystal meanings, and put on some music. What I expected was a craft night. What happened was something I wasn't prepared for.
People started talking. Really talking. One friend held a piece of rose quartz and told us about her mother, who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Another friend chose black tourmaline and said she was finally leaving a relationship that had been draining her for years. By the end of the night, everyone had tears in their eyes and bracelets on their wrists.
That's when I knew this wasn't just a hobby. This was a need.
Why Crystals? Why Bracelets?
Kelly asked me this directly, and I think my answer surprised her. It's not really about the crystals. It's about what happens when you give someone permission to pause, choose something meaningful, and create something with their hands.
The crystals are a doorway. Each stone carries a traditional meaning — amethyst for calm, citrine for abundance, rose quartz for love — and choosing one forces you to ask yourself a question most people avoid: What do I actually need right now?
The bracelet is the artifact. It's the thing you wear home that reminds you of that answer. It's tangible. It's personal. And you made it yourself, which means it carries a different kind of weight than something you bought online.
Building a Business Around Experiences, Not Products
We talked a lot about the business model, too. My Healing Suite isn't a jewelry company. We're an experience company. We bring Sip & String™ parties to living rooms, corporate wellness activations to conference rooms, and bracelet bars to wedding receptions.
The business is built around showing up where people already gather and transforming that gathering into something memorable. That's a fundamentally different model than selling a product, and it comes with its own challenges — logistics, travel, staffing, inventory management for hundreds of stone varieties.
But it also comes with something most businesses don't get: you see the impact in real time. You watch someone's face change when they hold a stone that means something to them. You hear the conversations that happen around the bracelet bar. You get hugs at the end of the night.
That's not something you get from a Shopify dashboard.
What I Didn't Get to Say on Air
Podcasts have time limits. Here are a few things I was thinking about but didn't fully unpack:
The Veteran Community Needs More Wellness Spaces
Veterans are taught to be strong, to push through, to compartmentalize. Those skills keep you alive in certain environments. But they also make it really hard to slow down, to feel, to connect without armor on.
My Healing Suite was built by a veteran, and that perspective shapes everything we do. Our experiences are designed to be accessible — no prerequisite knowledge of crystals, chakras, or meditation required. You can be a total skeptic and still leave with a bracelet that means something to you, because the meaning comes from you, not from us.
Community Wellness Is Not Self-Care
I'm careful about the word "self-care" because it implies something you do alone. What we offer is community wellness — healing that happens in the context of other people. You make a bracelet next to someone who's going through something completely different from you, and somehow that shared creative space makes both of your experiences richer.
That's why our pop-up events and corporate team-building sessions work so well. It's not about teaching people to meditate or giving them a lecture on stress management. It's about creating a shared experience that naturally opens people up.
National Harbor Was the Right Home
We're based in National Harbor, Maryland — a community that draws visitors, tourists, and locals alike. It's a place where people come to celebrate, to explore, to step out of their routines. That energy is exactly what we need. People who walk into My Healing Suite are already in a mindset of openness. They're already looking for something different.
Listen to the Full Episode
If any of this resonates, I'd love for you to hear the full conversation. Kelly brought out stories I don't usually share publicly, and I think the episode gives a real sense of why this work matters so much to me.
Listen to the Motivated By Kelly episode on Apple Podcasts →
And if you want to experience what we talked about firsthand — come make a bracelet. Book a Sip & String party, bring your team for a corporate wellness event, or just stop by our National Harbor studio.
I'll be the one handing you the amethyst.
About My Healing Suite: My Healing Suite by Faith2Felicity is a veteran-owned and woman-owned wellness destination in National Harbor, Maryland. Founded by Toni Tomlin, we offer experiential wellness services including crystal bracelet-making workshops, aura photography, sound healing, corporate wellness events, and wedding bracelet bars. Our mission is to create spaces where people slow down, connect with intention, and leave feeling grounded, inspired, and truly seen.
