Today we’d like to introduce you to Gloria Parker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Gloria. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
OK, I was the first female bartender in Atlanta back in the 60’s… did that twenty-six years, then the dreams started that lead me to a spiritual life and lifestyle where I started the Metaphysical paper called, “Aquarius, A Sign of the Times.
I published from June, 1993 through February, 2014, it’s been 22 years of service and love for this amazing community.
Has it been a smooth road?
The dreams started after my bar career finished and it was humbling, scary, confusing and disturbing. I had a bad childhood with zero resources, so I was a single mom and no-one to count on but me.
I had learned something about metaphysics and knew one of the lessons was to trust. Trust yourself, trust the universe and it was interesting because most of the teachings that I was learning I already knew, I was already living the principles of love and life.
I believed:
What goes around, comes around.
Nothing happens by accident.
Surround yourself with positive people and positive energy, etc.
Love is the real religion.
All my beliefs were never questioned or compromised, so just learning a whole new business was a challenge that I could have never imagined. You see, I didn’t go to school and didn’t have an education, I went to the best college, the name was hard Knocks. I had never read a newspaper or any printed material in my whole life.
I can read but it’s not my favorite thing to do, I didn’t learn from reading, I was more hands on and learned from experience and from others. I usually jump in and swim or sink kinda gal. I have been a pioneer all my life and usually started businesses that I had no experience in.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Aquarius, A Sign of the Times story. Tell us more about the business.
In 1989, I started a Metaphysical Bookstore, called Sun Glo, I was never in business before, prior to this I was a bartender for 22 years. I was actually the first bartender in Atlanta in the mid 60’s… and knew nothing about business. I had just started my spiritual journey and retail made good sense to me, you buy products, sell at a profit, pay the bills and hope there is money left for you… so, that’s what I did. I could write a book on starting a business in retail but my story is different because, I’m a 7 life path and had “spirit” directing my decisions.
I think I was contacted by you because of my next business, the Aquarius Newspaper.
Aquarius, how it started, is quite a story, It was brought in from a series of dreams that kept me up at night, over a nine month period of time. I had never read a paper, I never even knew the publisher was the owner, I never knew any part of this industry. Oh, and when I started the Aquarius I didn’t have any money… that part is a very interesting story.
After 22 years, let’s just say, the paper was a huge success. The paper was a 54-60 page monthly publication that had a big following on line as well.
We printed 40,000 copies and every paper was on line with a current search archive that pulled up every article by author.
I don’t talk about my twenty-two years as publisher of Aquarius because I’m so disappointed in my decision to sell it and who I sold it to.
I can talk about my mission, my journey and the reason I feel I was lead to sell the paper, But in my world, everything happens as it should in perfect divine order and it is what it is. I learned from the experience and now I’m on to what’s next?
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I try very hard not to talk bad about the dead and the new owner of Aquarius is dead to me. I believe in karma and no bad deed goes unpunished. It’s just not up to me.
Well, I’ve moved on to radio. I do a blog radio show called, “The Psychic Bartender Show”. It’s a great show that I’ve been doing for over two years now.
I didn’t get dreams like when the paper came through but this also was/is a mission. It’s based on Numerology, and I love numbers. If you feel like it, go to my website: gloriaparker.com hit radio show and all the archives are there. Spirits message so far is they want me to help people have the confidence to move forward and be happier in their lives. That’s a job I will gladly take on.
I’ll end with this, I believe (good print) will be around awhile, people still like to browse through papers, magazines, holding it with their favorite beverage. The millenniums not so much.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1035 Green Street, Roswell GA 30075
- Website: www.gloriaparker.com
- Phone: 678-524-9607
- Email: gloriaparker@gmail.com
- Facebook: Gloria Parker – Helo Distributor
- Twitter: @askgloriaparker
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
