New York Post: NYP@WORK
November 13, 2006
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11132006/atwork/success_is_in_the_cards_atwork_vivian_manning_schaffel.htm

SUCCESS IS IN THE CARDS

When it comes to work advice, some New Yorkers skip the career coaches, and hitch their wagons to the stars.

When actor Michael J. Burg scored the biggest role of his career last winter, he attributed his success to some timely professional advice. But it wasn’t an agent or a career coach who set him on the right path — it was his trusty astrologer.

Burg had looked up star-reader Debbi Kempton-Smith on a whim, after reading a book she’d written that sparked his interest in astrology. In a two-hour-plus consultation, Kempton-Smith told the actor she foresaw a possible dry spell.

“Debbie told me that February would be completely dead work-wise unless I focused on contacting people I had met before instead of going on new auditions,” recalls Burg.

He took her advice, and credits it with landing him a prized role - acting with Tim Robbins in a forthcoming movie called "Noise."

Burg now consults Kempton-Smith regularly. And he isn't the only New Yorker turning to divination for career guidance, be it astrology, psychic readings or numerology. Kempton-Smith says she sees professionals from all walks of life who are making their way in the working world.

"I get a lot of nurses and secretaries, but I also see CEOs, politicians, you name it," says Kempton-Smith, a columnist for the British mag Tatler. And it's not just individuals - she regularly gets tapped by firms for predictions drawn from the date on which they were formed, including record companies and a major car manufacturer.

Madalyn Aslan, a psychic who's written many astrology books, counts advertising execs and CEOs among her devotees. Aslan combines her psychic abilities with palmistry and astrology to grasp her clients' career paths and discern opportune times to pitch business and make job jumps.

"So much of success in business depends on interpersonal dynamics and timing, and I help with that," says Aslan, a former New Yorker who now lives in California, but maintains many city clients. "My clients often see me to get information on decision makers they're doing business with. I can also nudge them toward the best dates to hold presentations or, if they're at a career crossroads, point them in the right direction."

Susan Miller, founder of Astrologyzone.com and astrology columnist for InStyle and CosmoGirl magazines, likewise offers timing tips to the decision makers in televison, publishing and politics who consult with her.

"Astrology is meant to help people choose the right time to act in their careers," she says. "I've read a lot of network executives wanting to know when to premiere new shows, and politicians who want to schedule debates and public appearances."

Given that star-reading isn't exactly standard business practice, psychics says many clients are hush-hush about their visits. "Some come and go as furtively as if they're visiting a low-rent bordello," says Kempton-Smith.

But others are happy to discuss the role such consultations play in their business lives, among them advertising guru Cindy Gallop, former president of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), who regularly turns to Aslan for career guidance.

Gallop first consulted with Aslan after she was sent to New York from London to open the first U.S. branch of BBH, and was having a rough time getting the project off the ground.

"I had gotten very depressed about our progress. I was skeptical about psychics, but after reading about Madalyn in the paper, I decided to see her, thinking, 'What do I have to lose?'"

She was immediately disarmed, when Aslan intuited that she'd come to New York for a reason related to communications, and that she was struggling with a project that was taking longer than she'd expected.

"She went on to say I'd be extremely successful because I'd build a strong team around me," Gallop recalls. "When I left the reading, I felt more positive than I had in a long time."

A Leg Up

Turns out Aslan was dead-on. "During the next eight years, BBH won agency of the year in one of the shortest time frames since opening,"says Gallop. "We grew to 130 people — and it was all due to the fantastic team around me."

Trading Spaces darling Genevieve Gorder says that years before she was on television, Aslan predicted she'd find success as a dramatic performer - an unlikely prediction for a designer.

"She told me that's where my true gift in the arts would shine. She absolutely saw what was in store for me."

Gorder, who's got a new furniture line in the works, now consults Aslan yearly, and whenever she feels she's at a crossroads.

"She provides me with specific things I can do to clear blockages in my career," she says. "There was a relationship she kept telling me I needed to mend, and when I finally did, a lot of opportunities came my way."

Alex Palermo, a Boston psychic with a wealth of New York clients, including finance and publishing execs, says Manhattanites tend to be more focused on career issues than others. He speculates that in this Darwinist honeycomb we call home, psychics and their spiritual kin offer one more way to try to get a leg up on the competition.

"In New York, your job has as much spiritual significance as your personal life, because everything else tends to revolve around it," says Palermo, who combines his clairvoyant abilities with the tarot to advise his clients.

Prophet Moves

While many who consult with astrologers and paranormalists are looking to build careers, there are "seekers" who look to the planets strictly as a means to line their pockets.

"Many people use astrology as a means to an end," says Bob Johnson, author of "Corporate Magick: Mystical Tools for Business Success," a guide to using practices like astrology, wicca and santereria as business tools. As an example he cites a management consultant at one of the "Big A" firms who used astrology to guide his presentations.

"He did some detective work and found out the sign of the person he was presenting to, then constructed the presentation using the timing and characteristics - down to the color scheme - that would most appeal to the decision-maker."

Aslan gets inquiries along these lines, but she says she discourages her clients from viewing her as some sort of cosmic cash machine.

"Sure, people come to me for stock tips and what have you, and I try and steer them in the best direction. But it's not what I'm about. The path to fulfillment and happiness is what's important.

"A good psychic is like super-express therapy. I do believe in free will," affirms Aslan. "A few things are ultimately destined, but people always have choices. I'm here to help them figure out that they do."

Clothing designer Emmett McCarthy, Project Runway alum and owner of EMc2, a Lower East Side boutique, says his consultations with Aslan provide him with insightful feedback in a quickie-therapy sort of way.

"New Yorkers get too caught up in their daily lives to step back and gain perspective. [Psychic advice] can be used as a positive tool to get career feedback," he says. "Everyone needs someone to assuage their fears and validate their feelings, whether it's through friends, family, a career coach or a psychic advisor."

Alyssa Morris, a Park Slope real estate agent, describes her readings with Palermo the same way.

"They're like therapy, except you don't have to do any talking," she says.

Stranger than Fiction

Skeptical? That's understandable enough, but I leave you with my own psychic job encounter, which took place 10 years ago, when I was living in Boston, busting my hump at three part-time jobs, desperate to land a gig where I could make a name for myself in music.

On a whim I went to see Palermo at his psychic salon, the Tremont Street Tearoom. He began to channel my next business opportunity in vivid detail. "You are going to meet a powerful man - I'm getting the first initial of 'M' — very soon," he said, gesturing maniacally through a cloud of clove smoke. "Stay in touch with him, because he's going to give you the career opportunity of a lifetime."

The following week, a friend invited me to a record-label dinner where, lo and behold, I sat next to a very successful businessman named Mike. By the time the check came, Mike had slid me his card.

Make of it what you will - but six months later, I had a corner office at his company.

Chart blanche

We consulted with esteemed psychic Madalyn Aslan to give you a glimpse into your boss' psyche.

• Aries: Be honest and forthright, they respect hard work. Don't slack, patience is not their virtue.
• Taurus: Unflappable Taureans value conscientiousness. Dot your i's, cross your T's, and by all means don't test them — bulls are known to charge when cornered.
• Gemini: Witty Geminis are open to hearing new ideas, but be ready to deal with sudden changes of thought.
• Cancer: Cancers love team members, especially those that make them money. But steer clear of them when they get quiet.
• Leo: Leos are loyal, love to be praised and hate to be ignored. Cross them and risk a serious browbeating.
• Virgo: Kind-hearted Virgos are meticulous and appreciate attention to detail. The bad? They have a sharp, sarcastic tongue.
• Libra: Libras carefully consider all sides of every situation. Behave inappropriately in public and you're asking for a demotion.
• Scorpio: Scorpios are calm in a crisis. But if you don't deliver, don't bother with excuses — they see through anything.
• Sagittarius: Lighthearted and social, your Sag boss values your out-of-the-box solutions. Just be prepared to hear the same jokes time and again.
• Capricorn: These ambitious folks appreciate efforts that go above and beyond. But you'll find yourself under the bus if they catch you dissing them.
• Aquarius: Cerebral Aquarians are big-picture visionaries who value ethical practices. Just don't be pedantic or try and cheat the system.
• Pisces: Empathetic and creative, Piscean folks always appreciate an earnest effort, especially if it pinches pennies. They hate to be pressed for persnickety details.
  
  

Vivian Manning-Schaffel is a freelance writer who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

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