Astrologer Chani Nicholas Wants You to Live Out Your Life's Purpose

Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who've made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to women who are game-changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.

To say 2020 put us to the test in every way imaginable is an understatement. Many uncertainties and challenges surfaced, forcing us to ultimately slow down, look inward, and adopt alternative forms of healing, like meditation and astrology. For seasoned astrologer Chani Nicholas, the heaviness of the past year came as no surprise (thanks to the Saturn Pluto conjunction). Thus, she spent 2020 further dissecting astrology’s complexities to share with her burgeoning, loyal community.

If you’re familiar with astrology, chances are you’ve come across Nicholas, an L.A.-based New York Times best-selling author and exceptionally talented astrologer. Nicholas has been a counseling astrologer for over 20 years after being introduced to the practice through family at the young age of 12 and has been guiding people to find—and live—their life’s purpose through understanding their birth chart and providing context to society’s rhythms.

She has evolved her business beyond traditional one-on-one chart readings by building a community of over one million monthly readers on her website, where she weaves current events, activism, social responsibility, and politics into her practice. In January 2020, Nicholas published her first book, You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical-Self Acceptance, where she makes the study and practice of astrology accessible and ultimately empowering to her readers. This year, Nicholas further expanded her community reach through the launch of her app Chani, offering users a personalized daily understanding of their birth chart along with meditations, podcasts, and workshops. Through her various platforms, Nicholas’s mission is to make astrology teachings and learnings truly digestible to eventually become a healing tool.

Before Nicholas discovered that her passion for astrology could indeed become a career, she worked in various industries, from bartender and waitress to community organizer and yoga therapist. Head to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to subscribe to Second Life and to hear how Nicholas found the courage—and specific tools—to make her passion her business, how she has evolved astrology across multiple platforms, and what we can be mindful of continuing into the new year.

Next up, Meet Grace Mahary: Model, Activist, and Certified Sommelier