Journal

Glasshouse meets: Louise Androlia

Glasshouse meets: Louise Androlia

Life coach, tarot reader, writer, speaker, artist and most recently, jewellery designer, Louise Androlia is a woman of many – and often overlapping – creative talents.

After falling seriously ill in her early twenties, she decided to seek out alternative measures to deal with her pain, leading her to craft both a unique career and approach to self-care. A staunch advocate of always “being yourself and looking after your body”, Louise now offers tarot services and spiritual coaching to clients. She also writes a column, speaks at events and creates artwork and jewellery; “I’m really stubborn and don’t want to do anything I don’t enjoy, so I just think about what I like creatively and how that can work out as a job. I’ve never put myself into a specific job description.”

“I started casting spells and making potions when I was three years old- I was just that kind of child. I used to go around the garden collecting bugs and nature.
“I started casting spells and making potions when I was three years old- I was just that kind of child. I used to go around the garden collecting bugs and nature.”

Whilst the Louise we meet exudes confidence, acceptance and stability in her body, it’s not always been that way. When the chronic pain condition took hold, stealing away years of productivity, she turned to diet to heal her and refused all medication. Feeling frustrated and suffering anxiety, she also started speaking to a specialist, “an amazing woman who taught me everything on processing feelings and emotions”. After much determination, she eventually broke free of her illness and was able to start building her life again; “I just went into overload mode about what to do. I really wanted to immerse myself into the world.”

“I’m really stubborn and don’t want to do anything I don’t enjoy, so I just think about what I like creatively and how that can work out as a job. I’ve never put myself into a specific job description.”
“I’m really stubborn and don’t want to do anything I don’t enjoy, so I just think about what I like creatively and how that can work out as a job. I’ve never put myself into a specific job description.”

This journey back into the world started with a foray into lingerie design, setting up her own label in 2007 and working at a latex specialist brand, although she admits always feeling that she would “eventually come round to a psychic thing, it’s in my family. I actually think everyone is psychic but it’s just that some people are more aware of it than others.”

So what exactly is that ‘psychic thing’ she’s come back round to? “When people ask me what I do now, I say life coaching and tarot reading. But what I really do is shove people back into their bodies- but that doesn’t sound so great on a business card!” Coming from a family who she accredits “always encouraging me to be free in terms of believing what I wanted and never telling me otherwise”, her interest in the alternative started at a young age. “I started casting spells and making potions when I was three years old- I was just that kind of child. I used to go around the garden collecting bugs and nature. I was obsessed with anything witchy.”

“When people ask me what I do now, I say life coaching and tarot reading. But what I really do is shove people back into their bodies- but that doesn’t sound so great on a business card!”

In adulthood, she channels that awareness into her work, taking people as they come and largely through intuition, with a feeling she knows what someone needs as soon as they sit in front of her. “I feel I can talk about the most bonkers, spiritual idea and you will understand it on some level. Because it makes so much genuine sense to me I can explain it well. When people come to see me, they’ve already committed to shifting something and making a change whether it’s conscious or not. I’m not trying to get someone to believe anything but instead teaching them a set of tools and ways to think that works for me, and then helping them to build their own toolbox.”

“I believe people are always simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary.”

As a woman so giving and inspirational herself, we wonder who she considers as her muse? “I feel I resonate with Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan… The only time I’ve ever been star struck is when I was at Disneyland!” With her bright copper hair, porcelain skin and pillar-box lips, it’s easy to see how the bold and graphic style of cartoons has influenced her look; “I draw in my eyebrows, and always mascara and bright red lipstick. But skin-wise, I don’t wear a lot of foundation or anything. I’m actually trying to shift everything to natural beauty products; so far I’ve fixed all my skincare using a brand called Tropic. I’m so careful with what I eat and put inside my body, so it just doesn’t make sense for me to be rubbing chemicals into my skin or using products that test on animals.” When it comes to hair, Louise is fairly open to anything; “I’ve had it platinum, jet black, red, blue, and now vivid orange. I think I’ve found my favourite though- this just feels like it’s my hair colour!”

“The only time I’ve ever been star struck is when I was at Disneyland!”

With a contagious energy and positivity, Louise is one lady that we are glad to have met, and can definitely learn a thing or two from. You can read her blog or have a look her tarotscopes here. Keep your eyes on the journal for more of her insights and guidance over the coming months!

Photography: Jessica Maccormick, follow her instagram @roadstory_ Interview: Olivia Crighton