Kelli Virtanen, Mansfield Mother, Wellness Coach, Author

New Zealander Kelli Virtanen, or Kelli Vee as she is known professionally, moved to Mansfield 20 years ago and has been here ever since. In that time, besides riding the highs and lows of parenting, she has studied extensively in the wellness field and established an international business. If you have ever wondered what a healer does and how she spends her days, read on …

What brought you to Mansfield?

Like most Kiwis, I only intended to come to Melbourne for a holiday, but I liked it so much I stayed. Six months later, I met the man I married.

My husband has fond memories of camping at The Pines every holiday as a child, so we decided to move to the area. Twenty years ago, we purchased some acreage in Mansfield, and built our family home. We love our lifestyle here with our beautiful daughters.

Tell us a bit about your studies.

I commuted to Melbourne to train as a kinesiologist and then a remedial massage therapist. Since then, I’ve studied another 10 modalities (methods for treating a patient). I now train others to become practitioners in energy healing, massage and trauma release. I’ve worked with therapists in America, Canada and Hong Kong.

How do you use this training?

I assist clients of all ages to improve their emotional wellness. This can involve anything from personal goals, fertility, stress management, health issues, anxiety, bullying, to PTSD. I’ve written five modalities. I also coach other female entrepreneurs and am creating a system to help therapists scale their business.

Your work sounds similar to counselling. What are the differences?

I tackle similar issues to counselling, but I use different techniques. While therapy often involves reliving difficult experiences, this concept is content free, which is refreshing for the client. I can change the way the body responds to a negative memory so it will no longer have a negative charge to it. With kinesiology, through non-invasive muscle testing, we determine the location of stresses and imbalances in the body’s systems. Once detected, we can rebalance and recalibrate the body back to optimum functioning.

Kelli Virtanen, photo by Paula Brennen

Tell us about your books.

I always wanted to share my knowledge about how energy affects us and how we can become the best version of ourselves.

I channelled the first book, Spiritual Awakening, in nine hours.

The second, Soul Detox, teaches you to be more aware of what you let into your life and how to remove that which no longer serves you. It gives tools and tricks to streamline yourself to invite success, happiness and flow into all areas of your life.

Both books reached the Amazon number one bestseller list. An amazing feeling.

In a few months, I’ll release my third book about how my gift of being psychic and a natural born medium has shaped my life. I share amazing stories about the miracle healings and synchronicities I’ve experienced on my journey as an intuitive. It will allow readers to see life through the eyes of a psychic.

What does a typical day look like?

Each day is different. I tailor my work for each client, so it’s not a cookie cutter approach. On a regular week, I work two days from my home in Mansfield and three in Epping. Even though I live in a small community, technology enables me to maintain international clients and I travel frequently. I am very blessed to have this lifestyle in both a country town and big cities.

What are some of the highlights of your career?

Earlier this year, I received two awards in Mumbai – one for women in leadership, and the other for the top 100 healing influencers. It’s nice to be recognized for my work and contribution to the world.

I ran my business in Alexandra for four years, as the town needed a good healing practitioner. Leaving was very emotional, but I still have clients who drive hundreds of kilometres to see me, which is beautiful.

How do you juggle running a business with family life?

The balance between family and work needs constant tweaking. My husband is amazing and very supportive of my work. He’s a talented carpenter; I admire his gift for creating beautiful spaces for his clients.

Now our girls are older, they sometimes travel with me when I’m on the job, so they experience my world and meet my clients and students. They know that I love helping people and join me in greeting clients or working with my students.

What’s next for you?

I’m creating more healing courses and already have my fourth book in the pipeline. I plan to bring equine reiki practitioner training to the area, so I can run classes at home with our horses. I’ll travel more, but most of all, I’ll have the absolute pleasure of spending time at home with my husband and beautiful girls.

You can follow Kelli on:
Email: kelli@kellivee.com
Website: www.kellivee.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelli.virtanen
Insta: kellivee888

Next time: the last ten of my entries in Writers Victoria’s flash fiction competition, Flash Fiction – Stripping the Words Bare, Part 3
Next interview: Bob Romanes, Teacher A1 Mine Settlement