Our story started in different parts of the world and connected in Nedlands, Western Australia in the 1980’s. Simon was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Julie was born in Yorkshire, England. We are a married couple of more than 30 years, proud parents of two adult children and three grandchildren.
“I have always had music & dance in my life and proud to identify as an African. In the 70’s and 80’s there were very few Africans in WA, so in 1981 , a small group of diverse, enthusiastic Africans founded “The African Cultural Group of WA.” . For many years, we proudly & voluntarily showcased our African culture and diversity, revealing our souls and sharing our energy with the West Australia people.
We produced a number of African plays & musicals, stage events and functions bringing together Australians and people from the African continent. We were all self taught, though we were successful to receive government funding bringing Artists from Southern & Western Africa to teach us their traditional dance & music.
Under the umbrella of the African Cultural Group, “MATA” a women’s group voluntarily settled African refugees helping them to adjust to their new lives in Australia.
Since my arrival in Australia in the 70’s, I’ve had a diverse employment in manufacturing, building, mining and the hospitality industry. During the early 90’s I followed my passion for learning and did three years study towards a Bachelor of Education in Primary Studies at Edith Cowan University with a heavy emphasis on the Arts.
We were fortunate to have the opportunity to live and work in Kenya in 1996. So we left our life in Australia behind, bundled up our two children and started the next chapter of our journey. We lived in Kenya for nearly five years and during that time, we had many opportunities to soak up the African culture and travel throughout Mama Africa with our children Simon
“My University years were both exciting and challenging, moving from a country town to the big city, but this is where I really started to love learning. It was after I finished my Psychology studies, that I met the love of my life, Simon and as they say, the rest is history. We were married in 1986 and I sat my final Social Work exams six months pregnant with our first child.
The Department of Immigration offered me a permanent Social Work position in 1987, so I left our daughter in Simon’s capable hands and started my career as a public servant. Our second child, a son, joined our family four years later and I was fortunate to take maternity leave to care for our new son and his sister, who had just started Kindy.
As a Social Worker I worked with many culturally and linguistically diverse people and different ethnic communities, and eventually moved into the visa operational program area. After a number of years & persistent job applications, I was offered an Overseas Posting as Second Secretary Immigration in Nairobi, Kenya. Julie
“On our return to Perth in 2000, life seemed quite dull so we injected it with some excitement and put into place plans to pursue a long time dream to open a licensed African Restaurant in Perth.
I completed Hospitality studies before working in various cafes, restaurants and the Crown Casino to gain experience before becoming a restaurant owner, of “The African Mesob Cafe Restaurant” in Northbridge, WA.
They say that every experience contains lessons and we can honestly say, with our hands on our hearts, that our 12 months restaurant experience brought many life lessons for us both, most of which we never wish to re-experience again. Simon
In 2006 I had a work based accident and was put on a six month graduated return to work. My body recovered, I took long service leave and taking a leap of faith, I resigned from my secure, well paid permanent position to join the uncertainty of being self employed, first as a Restaurant owner and then as a Registered Migration Consultant.
Eight years later, the night before Mothers Day, 2014 I had another fall – breaking my arm, fracturing my wrist and damaging my nerves which resulted in wrist palsy. Applying his first aid skills, our son grabbed the nearest splint which just happened to be a wooden “Relax” sign from our bedroom dressing table. The Specialists told me that the nerve damage causing my wrist palsy may take several years to repair and may never completely heal. After four months of Physio and exercises, I was still unable to lift my fingers at all and I continued to live with chronic nerve pain.
Fortunately, being right handed I was still able to work and about six months after the accident, one of my Visa Clients, a Dan Level Ten Black Belt (Martial Arts) suggested that I listen 528Htz. I went to sleep that night with the recording in my ear & woke up just after 4.00am with fireworks going crazy in my arm. In the morning, there was a slight twitch in two of my fingers. It was then, that I realised that it was time for me to take take back control of my health and explore alternatives to mainstream solutions.
Whilst the Specialists did a great job putting in a titanium plate & screws, the real recuperation began when I was forced me to slow down and start to accept responsibility for my emotional healing.
For the past 40 years I had either been studying or working full time and it seems that I had ignored a number of messages telling me that life couldn’t continue the same way. I knew deep down that I was not caring for my emotional health but I wasn’t listening. After two serious falls (thankfully it wasn’t anything worse) my body was forcing me to stop and listen!
I believe that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear and in early 2015, I came across Reiki. Convincing my beautiful sister-in-law to travel with me to Ubud, Bali we completed our Reiki I & II training and enjoyed a relaxing girls trip away away from our lives in Perth. My Reiki journey continued, I connected with a Reiki community in Perth and over the years Reiki has been a constant support and energetic connection in my life.
By this time Simon was also keen to find out more about my new love and was also attuned to Reiki I & II. Julie
“Being attuned to Reiki opened our eyes and minds to the benefits of meditation, energy healing and also our universal consciousness. Our journey was now on steroids.
It just seemed natural for us to explore more about the power of our minds. So in 2017, we both studied Hypnosis and NLP becoming qualified as Clinical Hypnotherapists, NLP Coach Practitioners and Psychotherapists. With our backgrounds in Education, Psychology and Social Work this new knowledge just seemed to fit together so easily.
This seemed to open up our minds & heart even wider and we continued expanding our awareness, consciousness & knowledge, training and learning about other complimentary modalities. What started as our own personal journey, became a passion to share and help other people empower themselves.
In 2019, we flew to England where we visited family in Yorkshire and spent time exploring Ancient Stones and Circles in the area with Archaeologists, Anthropologists, Dowsers and other people from Megalithomania.
We rented accommodation in Glastonbury, completed our Reiki Holy Fire III Masters with William Lee Rand and soaked up the ancient energies of Avalon.
Even though this was my first time in Somerset, I felt as though I had returned home.
We are not quite sure which path our journey will take us over the next few years – but we’re excited to share our passion and love of Hypnotherapy with you.
We look forward to meeting you and hearing about your journey.
Sending you love and blessings.
Julie & Simon.
Hypnotherapist
Julie Teshome is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Neuro-linguistic Programming Practitioner and Psychotherapist.
Hypnotherapist
Simon Teshome is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Neuro-linguistic Programming Practitioner and Psychotherapist.
