Amanda Gibby Peters is the voice and visionary of Simple Shui™ — a modern day, mission-driven, love-based practice of Feng Shui. Her beautiful and thoughtfully-decorated home, incredible personal style, and warm sense of humor are just the icing on the cool-girl cake. Amanda is one of those women who exude style, generosity, and creativity in every possible way. We know you will find inspiration in her journey and motivation in her unique suggestions for anyone struggling in their business. The following images were shot virtually in Amanda's home.
Welcome to The Golden Lens, Amanda! Tell us about yourself.
I am Amanda Gibby Peters and I am the founder and voice of Simple Shui, a modern-day, mission-driven, love-based practice of Feng Shui. And here are 5 things to know about my journey here:
One, I have been practicing shui for 15+ years now.
Two, I am insatiably curious and invest in myself every year, which means I am never not learning. What I bring with me to every conversation is multiple Feng Shui certifications; a year-long study in Earth Medicine, several writing workshops with New York Times bestselling authors, mastermind training with executive business coaches, and a Masters in Communication.
Three, I have been sought out by BIG companies to explain and teach shui, including ABC Carpet & Home, HBO Max, Netflix, Architectural Digest, and Amazon. I teach workshops around the world, develop curricula for life coaches and design schools, consult / practice / teach shui 24/7, and I’ve written and published a book!
"Feng Shui is about love. And for me, that LOVE is what makes this practice irresistible!"
Finally, and this is the most important, I truly believe in the power of shui to transform lives. Feng Shui is a practice that considers everyone and everything in your space. It’s where home improvement meets self-improvement. At its very juicy center, Feng Shui is about love. And for me, that LOVE is what makes this practice irresistible! Feng Shui is about love. And for me, that LOVE is what makes this practice irresistible!
Where do you live? Where would you love to live?
I am in Dallas, Texas currently. And I am dreaming of owning a home / having space in Santa Fe — maybe even starting out with an Airbnb there that is all shui’d up!
Do you know your human design type and/or astrological sign?
I happen to know both and I also know just enough about each to be dangerous. Haha!
I am a Projector, and my astrological line up is Capricorn Sun / Leo Rising / Pisces Moon.
Tell us about what you do and why it is your passion.
I am a Feng Shui practitioner and teacher and I love having this fluency because the wisdom of Feng Shui beautifully discerns how we can optimize our homes and surroundings so we can flourish in both our inner and outer journeys. I have been doing this long enough now that when I step into someone’s space, I immediately know what is working well for them and can more quickly sense where we have opportunities to trigger improvements. It is a little like teaching people how to deliberately curate and create space with optimism!
Virtual photoshoot with Amanda Gibby Peters, at her home in Dallas, Texas. Photo credit Lisa Haukom, The Goldenbrand Studio.
Were your parents entrepreneurs? Were you encouraged to follow your passions and dreams growing up or did you have to discover this for yourself?
My parents were young when they married, so they both worked jobs more out of necessity (to raise us) than passion. Since they didn’t finish college themselves, my brothers and I were always encouraged to apply for college and graduate with a 4-year degree. I followed their advice and fell in LOVE with learning in my university courses. I studied Political Science and went on to get a Masters in Communication. I loved school so much, in fact, that I really had my sights on becoming a professor.
I was married with young kids of my own when the big pivot from that life path happened — quite unexpectedly, too. We had just moved into a new home when “life” started unraveling in our marriage, our finances, and our overall happiness. In the middle of a really bad day, I grabbed a book and figured wherever it opened would be my lifeline. The pages fell open to two words: Feng Shui. I read a little bit about it, and I wasn’t impressed – haha! It said something like, “change your house and you will change your life,” and all I thought was, “We did just change homes!” Clearly, that should have been my BIG clue, right?
"In the middle of a really bad day, I grabbed a book and figured wherever it opened would be my lifeline. The pages fell open to two words: Feng Shui."
This provocation set me down a path to “disprove” Feng Shui. At the time, blogs were a really BIG deal, so I figured I would take an academic approach to Feng Shui and tell the world about it. Oh, my naiveté! Since I was very skeptical, I clearly had a different idea of how it would turn out.
The thing is… every adjustment and change I made in our home pulled me into another round of changes. And even though nothing changed immediately, the most notable shift was the house was starting to feel like our home. After several months, there were some BIG changes happening — and I realized that I could continue being the skeptic, or I could open myself up to this wisdom differently and become its student. And, of course, that is what I did. And here we are today!
How does environment impact your work?
Studies repeatedly show that the buildings we’re in are always affecting our brains and our bodies. Behavioral scientists have proven that the spaces we live and dwell affect our thoughts, and most of us know our thoughts are fertilizer for our feelings. Take that a step further, and how we feel dictates our moods, moods drive our behaviors, and behaviors mix with the decisions we make. And our decisions determine so much of what we experience and the outcomes in our lives. So…
Our surroundings matter.
If you think of a tree or plant you have outside, if it is struggling or withering, you don’t blame it. Instead, you often ask about its environment — is it getting too much sun, too little water, not enough fertilizer, right? We are the same. When we get curious about the environment we’re growing in, we discover so much potential at our fingertips for improvement and opportunity!
Photography credit: Goldenbrand Photography
What's something that you're still working on when it comes to understanding
yourself and how to work with your natural areas of genius?
Balancing my intuition and intellect.
In my consults and assessments, I am super comfortable trusting my intuition for reading a home or space. However, when it comes to working with clients, they often desire a logical answer — and I am always trying to come up with ways to explain “why” something works. I would really LOVE to move more into not needing to understand everything, if that makes sense, and “being okay” with asking my clients to trust that too.
Did you always feel connected to your intuition or was it something you had to learn to trust and use in your business?
I have always been intuitive, but more easily trusting that inner wisdom was earned through all the times I ignored it. Eventually, I learned the “proof” would eventually catch up if I just trusted my still small voice.
With business, it is a little trickier. I feel like I am often pulled between listening to my intuition (invest here, stay the course, spend your time on this, etc.) and doing the “responsible” / more lucrative / most obvious next thing. That said, age and experience help tremendously. I can look back now over my career and see that whenever I have intuitively invested in myself, it has always paid off generously.
One of the best examples of this: For years, I would wake up early to write blog posts that “no one” was reading. Fast forward to today, and I have a resource-rich library of posts, tips and content that others can dive into… and that I can now source for Instagram (a platform that is always hungry, am I right? Haha!). And believe-you-me, I am always thanking that earlier version of me for trusting that loving shove and showing up to write all those mornings!
"I have always been intuitive, but more easily trusting that inner wisdom was earned through all the times I ignored it."
Virtual photoshoot with Amanda Gibby Peters, at her home in Dallas, Texas. Photo credit Lisa Haukom, The Goldenbrand Studio.
How do you strike a balance between intuition and strategy (intellect)? Maybe this is something you are working toward?
I am always in negotiations with myself — and rarely is it balanced. Haha! This truly is an ongoing process and like anything, the path is not linear. I can be swayed and seduced (and sometimes distracted) by the potential of new approaches to the algorithms, marketing and avenues for reaching more people. On my better days, though, I am much quicker to stop and run any idea or possibility through my own filter and genius.
Were you always a founder? Did you have a game plan or did you just go for it? What would you like us to know about your journey to this moment?
Simple Shui wasn’t premeditated. I happened to write an article for an online publication where I referred to Feng Shui as “simple shui.” A few months later, I was revamping my site and I wanted a new name. I was literally down to the last few minutes of my deadline for getting all the assets and “new” name to the graphic design team. So, I said, “let’s go with Simple Shui for now and we’ll see what happens.”
Within a few months of the launch, I was OBSESSED with the name. So, I owe that genius to divine intervention and the muses in house that day!
For most of my career, I have consulted with clients, contributed content, developed curriculum, shown up to answer Qs about Feng Shui, and put myself in spaces where I can learn about other energetic languages and practices.
And what I know for sure is that because of this collective effort, those experiences have merged and allowed this moment I am in now… which is being respected and valued as a Feng Shui expert. So, none of this was intentional in the beginning, but now it is a space I am so grateful to find myself in and hold!
In the moments where I felt in a freefall, I would find the next obvious thing to do and use that to get me back on my feet.
What are you most proud of?
Our daughters have become “grab the life by its lapels” women — something they are entirely responsible for, for sure. I am so proud of them. I am proud that we were in the mix as it was happening, and I am proud that we are on this new precipice. They are heading off to film school in the fall, and I find myself thinking, “WOW!” all the time at their confidence, courage, and conviction.
And…
I am proud (and incredibly grateful) that I didn’t give up on myself professionally (micro-quitting — I highly recommend it!). As I look into the forecast and sense how much growth and potential is at my fingertips, I feel a replenished sense of accomplishment in reflection on the work I was doing when no one was watching, the posts that felt like no one was reading, and the open-palmed approach I took for years at the beginning.
And yet, I kept showing up.
I said YES more than NO.
And in the moments where I felt in a freefall, I would find the next obvious thing to do and use that to get me back on my feet.
And HERE WE ARE!
If you could send your younger self a tweet, what would it say?
Don’t take yourself off the TO DO list. I don’t care how busy or urgent something seems at the moment — most of the time, it can wait until you’ve prioritized you for the day.
We always hear older women talk about how they wish they’d worn sunscreen earlier in life, and I feel this falls in that same category. One of the hardest things I am learning to re-teach myself is putting myself first and making fun a necessity. So, a question I will ask myself a lot is “What would twenty-something Amanda do?” and then do my best to live up to her standards of fun and self-indulgence!
Where do you find inspiration and motivation on the days you are not feeling it?
I let myself wander — whether that’s journaling, jumping around (from one task to another) at my interest’s whim, giving myself an hour to read or listen to a podcast, walking around a garden store (one of my favorite ways to take a deep breath!) or taking the day off. I have enough creative practice muscle to know that stepping away makes it not only easier to come back, the ideas and work feel more efficient when I do.
(Also, this is where micro-quitting has come in handy for me — haha!)
Best advice for someone struggling to trust themselves in their business?
Read memoirs instead of self-help books. I find immense comfort and encouragement in knowing we all feel and face doubts; we are all more resilient than we give ourselves credit for; and none of us really know how things will turn out — but in other people’s stories, we discover the journey often unfolds better than we expect! So, if you’re struggling to trust yourself, a few of my favorite memoir-ish books:
The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp
The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Decoded by Jay Z
Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
What's next for Simple Shui?
I am about to begin a new and exciting chapter because I am finally — after 15 years — opening the doors for my first certification program!
I’ve also given my “group consult” 6-week courses a makeover and they are now self-study courses available for purchase (in July!), which elates me so much! Two of the biggest challenges with teaching these courses were offering enough seats for everyone who wanted to sign up and being able to cater to everyone’s schedules so they could attend live. So, we’ve packaged all the videos and handouts and resources into a downloadable course and you will now be able to learn my professional Feng Shui approach (and apply it in your home!) but at the convenience of your own schedule!
And best of all, my podcast House Therapy launches in July — finally!
What did you enjoy most about our virtual photoshoot?
What I enjoyed most was spending time with you, Lisa! Having you and my girls on the other side of the camera made the whole day feel effortless and fun. (The hype that day was REAL!)
I also adored the mood boarding and photo inspo you captured for me prior to the shoot — it was a great and welcome relief to have your creative instincts and genius giving me direction.
What surprised me the most is how the virtual shoot works – and thank goodness it does! It was super simple to book my time with you and know all I had to do was show up because you would be directing the rest of it from your end.
I LOVE the way all the color in our home was captured, too. The color here is one of my favorite features of our home, and even though the photo shoot was of me, our house is definitely part of our family and deserved its best sides to be captured too! And you did such an exquisite job showing her off!
What surprised me the most is how the virtual shoot works – and thank goodness it does! It was super simple to book my time with you and know all I had to do was show up because you would be directing the rest of it from your end.
From start to finish, it was a lovely and flawless process – and I know I will carry the images and energy we captured that day with me for years to come! So, a thousand thanks and we should do it all again SOON! xo
FOLLOW AMANDA
Amanda Gibby Peters is the voice and visionary of SimpleShui™ — a modern-day, mission-driven, love-based practice of Feng Shui. She’s been teaching Feng Shui techniques and tips for over a decade, witnessing the breathtaking transformations of the lives of her readers and clients. Her work has been featured on Architectural Digest, Food52, Lonny, and Amazon. She is based in Dallas with an international clientele, where she lives with her husband, twin daughters, and their rescue dog, Ruby.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
We think you'll love this post next:
Comentários