Psychics and Social Media: Nancy Mello, Animal Communicator
Social media always wants to give answers. Answers to what you should have for dinner, what top you should buy, and then some answers to questions you didn't even know you had. So when I rescued a dog with some health issues, my TikTok algorithm had lined up hours worth of videos from dog trainers, animal nutritionists, vet techs, Bunny the talking dog, and finally, Nancy Mello.
Nancy Mello is an animal communicator, psychic medium, and clairvoyant. In layman's terms, she can connect with people and pets that have passed, and give you clarity on your past, present, and future. The first video of hers that popped up on FYP was one of her many success stories in finding lost pets:
After scrolling through her page of videos upon videos of found pets, I was amazed and perplexed all at the same time. However, I kept scrolling, still searching for answers to my new dog's health problems.
One day, weeks after the vet's treatment, I remembered Nancy's videos, and I booked an appointment on a whim. She got back to me the same day, and we scheduled a session. On the day of the session, I was a hopeful skeptic. Thirty minutes later, I was a full-blown, tell-everyone-I-know believer. I feel like every turned skeptic ever when I say this, but she really knew things no one else could possibly know. A week later, after following Nancy's instructions and insights, my new dog Bo was finally his healthy and happy self.
Having found the answers to my questions (and prayers) all because of a video on TikTok, I suddenly felt a lot less guilty about my weekly screen time reports. It also made me wonder about my whim. Tarot card readings can't be fact checked, and I don't think Twitter has ever verified a psychic, so what made me choose to book a session with Nancy? Maybe it was out of exasperation, having tried everything else. Maybe it was intuition?
All I based my decision on was her social media, and being completely new to this world, my intuition wasn't a good enough answer, so I wanted to learn more about Nancy and her relationship with social media. She kindly agreed to jump on a call with me.
Nancy shared with me her turbulent journey towards accepting herself and her gifts when no one around her would. From a young age, her not-so-imaginary friends and conversations with her deceased grandmother resulted in social isolation, psychiatric evaluations, and a cocktail of medications that would be illegal to give a child today.
When she turned 18, she was able to have autonomy over her own mental health care, but the effects of over a decade of mistreatment lingered. It wasn't until a couple years later that she had an epiphany - if she could use her abilities to help just one person, it would all have been worth it. Within 24 hours of her watershed moment she had created a website under a pseudonym, and she began using her organizing background (women's studies/political science major) to reach people through word of mouth.
Social media is an integral part of nearly every business's marketing strategy, so I asked Nancy if social media was a natural next step following the creation of her website:
"So, no. Pretty early on I knew what I needed to do. About a year in, I realized I needed to change my ways. I was getting clients, but I needed to do more. I just decided to go as is, as 'Nancy Mello," she said. "I took off my mask."
"I started to do Instagram, thinking about who I was trying to reach, and again, it's never been about the money for me, it's been about reaching more people and helping more people, so on Instagram I could reach another demographic that really needed those questions answered, that really needed that 'you're going to get through this tough time.'"
It's been less than a year since she started putting her energy into Instagram, and she's already amassed a whopping 15.7k followers, while her Facebook page has over 27k likes. She attributes this accomplishment to authenticity and connection - two major themes of our conversation.
"It's because I started working with others, connecting with other reputable people, psychics, and animal intuitives that I trust. Connecting with like-minded people, whether you like crystals, or candles, or tarot cards" she said.
Tapping into a community of like-minded people has allowed her to reach a receptive audience and build a network of people in the industry she trusts. "Generally, when someone's looking for a psychic, you have to prove yourself a little bit," she said. She also told me that a good tell for if someone is the real deal is if they have this sort of network, and are happy to refer you to someone they feel can better help you with your specific situation or question.
With that, we began talking about authenticity on social media, and especially in the spiritual niche. Her approach to posting is a lot different than what people would expect from a psychic.
"Just like on TikTok, I don't care, I go for it. I'm not doing this for the money, I'm doing this to help people, and I'd rather people see me as me," she said. If she's listening to the Spice Girls, she's going to dance to one of their songs in a TikTok. If she's thinking about the role she plays in her community, she'll post a quote about helping others:
I asked Nancy if the nature of what she does, connecting so deeply with her clients, is the reason her social media presence is so personal: "It's immensely personal, but the same thing with TikTok, it's [her content] never planned out."
Her answer made me catch myself - I was still thinking with the social media strategy, brand management side of my brain and kind of missing the whole point to what originally drew me to book a session: uninhibited authenticity.
"Generally, I don't put much thought into it, I really don't, and that sounds horrible. I go with my gut, I go with my instinct - and that's what works. I'm not curating anything." Even when she's not feeling sure of her self, she'll tell her audience:
We talked about the persona a lot of spiritual people like to present on social media- preaching positivity and light in a breathy, sing song voice. "I'm not into that. That's not me. That's what people think people want," she said.
We also talked about how that curated persona that caters to the audiences expectations is often a scam. One of her story highlights on Instagram is dedicated to helping people avoid that:
This brought me to my favorite part of the interview when she turned her camera to show me a picture hanging right next to her desk: a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci depicting "fortune tellers" taking money from a man {drawing cuts out man holding out his palm on the right}:
"I have this next to me to remind me every single day to be authentic and genuine, because there have been people for hundreds of thousands of years that have been taking advantage of others like this."
Discussions of social media early on always involved a lot of distrust. The cautionary remarks "don't believe everything you read online," and "don't talk to strangers online," come to mind. Similarly, as shown in Leonardo da Vinci's drawing, psychic, seemingly mystical abilities have been questioned for thousands of years. The intersection of these two things that are shrouded in dubiety is fascinating to me. How could this possibly a work? A psychic, who we're told not to believe, on social media, which we are also told not to believe.
It shouldn't work, but it does. It works because Nancy's presentation of self online is completely authentic, and I think authenticity is something that humans have an innate ability to pick up on (having 215 five star reviews doesn't hurt, either).
Executive Editor
A
passionate writer with experience in editing, content creation, and
social media marketing. A lover of animals, helping others improve their
writing, and 2000's pop culture.
Reviewed by Adrienne Lucas
on
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Rating:
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