Here is the interview with Vic from Drop The Spotlight with paranormal investigators and researchers Amy Bruni (“Kindred Spirits”) and Katrina Weidman (“Portals to Hell“), paranormal explorer Chelsea Laden (“Destination Fear“) and psychic medium Cindy Kaza (“The Holzer Files”).
- Operator – Again, if you’d like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad, and I will access your line. Again, that is star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Vic Pena (sp) from Drop the Spotlight. Vic, your line is open.
- Vic Pena – Awesome, perfect. Good morning, ladies. Hope you all are doing really well today. You all are–I love your all shows. You all are wonder women in the paranormal. You guys are amazing with the things you guys do and see and get to us through your shows. So, here’s my question for all of y’all. Prior to visiting a haunted location, is there a ritual you do to get into the mindset of visiting that location?
- Katrina Weidman – This is Katrina. For me, I don’t necessarily have a ritual in any kind of, you know, magical or religious sense. It’s more about, you know, if it’s a place where I’m going in knowing what’s happened beforehand, it’s that I have my research, I have everything lined up, knowing who I’m going to meet with, that kind of stuff. But, I think more on an energetic level, it’s really making sure I’m not in any kind of negative headspace. And I know even if you don’t believe in the paranormal, you’ve experienced that in your life. There’s negative people, negative situations that can really infiltrate every area of your existing–or–I’m sorry–existence. And so, for me, it’s really making sure I’m in that right frame of mind because I have noticed that that–I mean, not only is that anybody who has a job, but also when you’re working in, I think, the paranormal field, specifically, it can really have an outcome on your work.
- Amy Bruni – This is Amy. People always ask, you know, “What do you do to prep?” And kind of like what Katrina was saying, one thing is just being ready with research and things so I–so we know like how we’re going to gear our investigation. You know, you need that information ahead of time. But, as far as a way to protect myself–you know, many people like to carry a religious medal, or they say a prayer, or they rely on crystals. And I always tell people to go into a space just yourself, knowing that you are strong enough. And, again, kind of what Katrina said–make sure you’re in a good headspace. But, if you’re relying on something to protect you, and if, at some point, you forget that, or it gets taken away from you, suddenly you fear weaker, and you are put into that headspace of, “Oh, I don’t have my normal protection.” Where if you go in knowing that you’re strong enough and you’re of sound mind and you’ve got a strong heart, that should be enough for you. And so, that’s what I always tell people is just pump themselves to go in and be confident in yourself. And is enough to protect you.
- Cindy Kaza – This is Cindy. I totally agree with Amy and Katrina. Although I don’t have any knowledge of what I’m walking into. So, for me, it’s a little bit different because I don’t know the case. I’m going in blind through the baseline. So, I always walk in, you know, trying to be in the best headspace I can be in while being open because I have to allow myself to be open to have the experience. But, I never walk into a case in fear. That’s not how I operate. And I think that’s really important because once you walk in being in fear, then that can really shift a lot of things. So, I just always trust that I’m safe and I’m protected. If something feels weird, then I acknowledge it, and I do things to take care of myself. But, I think it’s really important to be in a good headspace and be positive and to not walk in fear.
- Chelsea Laden – And then, for me–this is Chelsea. Although I’m not going into locations blind like Cindy is, the unique part about our show, Destination Fear, is that I actually don’t know where we’re going until the very night before we arrive. So, like Amy and Katrina mentioned, you know, I try to get in the right mind set, be in a good headspace. And during that 24 hours, I really do try to study the information that I was given, obviously being prepared and also, you know, just be aware how I feel too. The dangerous part about that is I really have to trust the information that I’ve been given because, within 24 hours, you can only so much research. So, it’s kind of unique how we all have different ways that we approach the location. But, there’s a lot of similarities too.
Next Question:
- Operator – If anyone else would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one on your telephone keypad, and I will access your line. We have a question from the line of Vic Pena from Drop the Spotlight. Vic, your line is open.
- Vic Pena – Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you, all y’all, for answering these questions for us and being out there and trendsetting, opening the doors for our new generation of women to see paranormal and to answer their own questions. So, one question for all of y’all–what kind of expectations do you think the next woman researcher to know–that wants to be involved in paranormal and be like you?
- Amy Bruni – That’s a good question. This is Amy. You know, people always ask how to kind of pursue this. And it really is–it is a very intense hobby. And it’s rare for it to actually become a living. I pinch myself on a regular basis. You know, how am I doing this and–as my career, which is amazing? But, I always intended it to be this, you know–something that I–when I–back in the day when I was a project manager years ago, I would go look for ghosts on the weekends. I would read everything I could find. I was part of a paranormal team. So, I always tell people, you know, do it for the love of it first. And if it becomes more, that’s amazing. But, always, you know, do it for the love of it. Make sure you’re reading up, not just on the paranormal, but make sure you’re reading books on psychology and sociology and history, just things that will benefit you as you get into the field more and have to really start interacting with people. But, I mean, that’s the biggest thing that I tell people is–I say as long as you’re going into it for the love of it and that–you will always be happy because you’re doing what you love. But, yeah, beyond that, it’s an interesting field because we–I’m sure like these ladies can attest, we meet people constantly who are kind of like weekend warriors, and they have forged these amazing relationships. They’re part of teams. And I love watching it. And I almost miss those days. So, if you can get into it that far, it’s a really great field, and it’s a lot of fun.
- Katrina Weidman – This is Katrina. And I–oh sorry–yeah, and I agree with Amy. And I’ll add to that as–in–a couple years ago, I was emailed by a dad who was very upset because his daughter wanted to get into the field, and that’s not what upset him. He was very encouraging and supporting of that. But, I guess they had some sort of like career day at her school. And she was maybe 13 or 14. And the teacher said to her, when she–when the student disclosed that she wanted to be a paranormal investigator, the teacher said to her, “That’s not a real job, and you need to find something else.” And he was so upset by that answer. And he asked me–he was like, “Can you please just like tell me like is there something that will take her nowhere? What can she do?” And it upset me because I’m like–that’s a ridiculous, very close minded answer for somebody to give because, kind of touching on what Amy was talking about, you know, I think we’ve all met psychologists and scientists who maybe–they don’t make their living from working in the paranormal, but they certainly work within the paranormal range as well. They do is as a part of their work. There are different universities who definitely have departments that study the supernatural or things within the fringe sciences. And then, there’s also, you know–you can’t discount that we don’t know the next 20 years. So, maybe when this young woman was out of college and grew up, there might be more opportunities for her, or maybe she could start something herself. Duke University, very famously, had a parapsychology department for a long time. So, you know, there–I just find it really interesting that that one teacher was hellbent on saying, “You know what? That’s stupid. Don’t do it. There’s no future in that,” when it just maybe there’s not a direct future as far as making money from being a paranormal investigator. But, again, who knows? But, there’s all these other careers that support that work that you can work in.
- Cindy Kaza – This is Cindy. Katrina and Amy, I agree with you. It’s so important–the topic. And I agree that, you know, doing this for the love of doing it, having a love for the work is really key and important because, you know, success–it can come and go. TV can come and go. But, if you have that love for what you’re doing, I feel like you’ll always be in the field. And I always tell people that come to me and say, “Well, how do I do what you do, how do I get here, what next?” And I always say–look–you know, diversify in your field. You know, I’ve been doing live events for a long time. I’ve done–I’m now doing TV. But then, I think about teaching. And it’s about finding ways to keep yourself engaged in what you love in so many ways where you can make it sustainable. And also, because, you know, I think when TV comes and goes, sometimes that’s a tough wave. But, how can you maintain, you know–keep yourself whole through that whole ride? And that’s really where I’m at is looking at, you know–and what I would tell people is look at what you can do to keep yourself whole through the whole ride. So, when the TV does end, what do you have after that? And education is super important too in the field of mediumship for me and for people. What I would tell them–study mediumship. But, also in other ways too–so, I think there’s a lot to it. And I think being grounded is super important, and that’s the advice I would really give somebody who wanted to do this is maintain, you know–maintain your emotions, try to be grounded, and stay focused.
- Chelsea Laden – That’s awesome. And this is Chelsea. And, you know, for me, it all comes down to, like every other decision in life, what you want to get out of something with a big why in what you’re doing. You know, you have Cindy who has the gift that you can actually use to, you know, make a difference in people’s lives. And, you know, if you want to use your experiences and your expertise to help scared and compromised families from spiritual issues like Amy and Katrina or you want to do it, you know, more as a hobby, something you do outside of your professional life, a personal challenge to, you know, face fears of something you never thought you could do, there are really so many roads, like everyone else mentioned, that you can take. And, you know, that’s what’s really so cool about it. You know, like Amy said, regardless of how you approach it, do it for the love of it, and like Katrina mentioned, don’t be derailed by others’ opinion of what you’re doing. And I really just–I love those points, and I think that those are two–like those are just great points to hang onto with anything in life.
