Meet Katie Cataldi of Tree of Life Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Cataldi.

Hi Katie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Dublin, Ohio and was your typical type A, perfectionist kid who was overscheduled and trying to find myself. I originally wanted to be a veterinarian but had a change of heart my senior year and decided I would become a science teacher instead. After I graduated from Wittenberg University, I taught middle school science for 19 years, started a family, and was doing everything for everyone but myself. Like so many women, I was taught to sacrifice myself for my family and my job. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was on the wrong path, and my soul reacted by getting sick and I unfortunately had many health challenges in my 20s and 30s. I have suffered through 9 surgeries (including two small bowel resections, two knee replacements, and a spinal fusion), dozens of chronic health conditions (such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease), and mental health challenges. Traditional medicine saved my life and served me well, but I still was not healthy, and doctors often ran out of ideas on how to help me. I refused to accept that I would be in severe pain the rest of my life, so I began discovering alternative medicine in 2010. I tried just about every option on the market, and I finally began to get relief. I gradually adjusted where I taught over this timeframe and left public school in 2015 to teach in a private school which allowed me a much better work/life balance. I finally had time to start taking care of myself and began doing yoga. In 2019 I began working with my first energy medicine practitioner and began learning how to heal myself. This then led to my dark night of the soul and spiritual awakening in early 2020. I lost my job in the spring of 2020 which turned out to be a huge blessing because I then had the time to begin my formal studies in energy medicine and begin healing others. I opened Tree of Life Wellness in the spring of 2021. I taught online the following fall for the next three years which was the perfect way to give me time and energy to dedicate to my growing new business. I took a huge leap of faith in the spring of 2025 and retired from teaching to pursue my business full time, and I am now living my dream! I am currently a Reiki Master teacher/practitioner, sound healing practitioner, Master Crystal surgery teacher/practitioner, and a mindfulness coach. I am now using my teaching gifts to teach the healing arts, so those early years were a pivotal part of my path.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been smooth parts to the road and other parts that were a bit bumpy. The year I lost my job and stayed home during covid teaching my own children, we didn’t have a lot of money. Asking my husband for the money to start learning the healing arts seemed like the wrong thing. However, at this point in my life, I had already had several “heart magnet” moments where my head said no, but my heart pulled me towards something I needed. My husband knew that these moments were often scary, but ultimately those choices always were the right ones. I knew I had to use the gift of this time off to start my new path and I made a prayer that in 5 years I would be a full-time alternative medicine practitioner (a goal that I was able to meet). A few months after I opened my business, I got a job offer out of the blue from a school that was 45 minutes from my home. I thought it was a sign from the universe that I should take the job, but later found out this was a test that I failed. I was lied to about the position I was supposed to teach, and I almost quit the night before when I realized I was teaching a new grade level, with no textbooks, no support, and a budget that wasn’t going to allow me to do the hands-on teaching that I was known for. But I refused to abandon these children, and I stayed the entire year. This building had a lot of poverty and challenges, and those were the most challenging students I had ever taught. As a result, I had very little time and energy to devote to my business and I put it to the side, only working on a handful of people. However, it led me to realize that my years in the classroom were over, and I found my online teaching job which served me well for the three years after this job. Then in January of 2024, after years of feeling good, my health began to have challenges again. Early on I wondered why this happened. I had taken the right path, I was pursing my soul’s highest divine destiny, so why did I have multiple health challenges? I had learned that many of my health challenges in the past were trying to help me quit teaching, learn how to heal myself, and find my true path as an alternative medicine practitioner. With the help of my mentors, I realized that the universe was helping me go through a rapid period of intense healing, removing anything that was of a lower vibrational frequency that couldn’t come with me where I was going. This made 2024 one of the most challenging years of my life, but when it was over in 2025, I was so grateful to have all those issues resolved. Now in 2026, I am living my most healthy, happy, and abundant life.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Tree of Life Wellness is a place of healing first and foremost. I offer one-on-one energy healing sessions where I use a combination of Crystal surgery, Reiki, and Sound healing to support my clients. I help my clients with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing and help them establish heathy routines. I am currently the only crystal surgery practitioner in Columbus and one of a small number of sound healing practitioners, so those two things set me apart from many other practitioners. I also am certified in everything I offer and have gone through rigorous training, which is another thing that sets me apart. I teach Reiki and perform attunements to students who wish to learn, which is where I recommend most people begin. I am honored to be the assistant to the world-renowned Vivien Schapera who created crystal surgery and I am currently in charge of the bulk of the teaching duties for her. I also plan on beginning to host sound baths, group classes, and group events this year which I am excited about! In addition, after a life changing spiritual trip to Egypt in February this past year, I am also beginning to host spiritual healing tours around the world. This upcoming November I am hosting my first trip to Egypt with my dear friend/official tour guide. I am most proud of making a difference in my client’s lives. I live for the moments when someone says, “you’ve saved my life”. It is an honor to be trusted to do this work, and I love seeing my client’s lives change for the better. I would want your readers to know that while there are many fakes out there, there are also many real practitioners. Traditional medicine often doesn’t treat the root cause of our illness because it is buried deep in our subconscious mind and in our bodies. I urge you to try energy medicine if you are struggling and haven’t found relief with Western medicine.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Finding the right teacher/practitioner makes all the difference! I recommend asking to see their certificates, understanding that there is no governing board that regulates this. Then see who gave their certificate and whether their teacher is credible. Many teachers will list their graduates on their website where you can check to see that they have completed their training. I unfortunately had to learn this the hard way. One of my teachers said that a well-known woman was her teacher, but I didn’t check this. After completing my training, which was less than what I had hoped for, I realized that she was not listed on this teacher’s website and never got a certificate. Unfortunately, many people read a book from someone well known and then say they are trained in that modality or worse yet, have no training at all. One of my energy medicine practitioners early on created many healing services on her own with no training. This woman helped me a lot, but she also did a lot of damage, and I now prefer to work with trained professionals. Reading testimonials is also helpful or asking for a reference. Real practitioners can get real results, more than just a nice relaxing session.

Pricing:

• $95 an hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://treeoflifewellness.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treeoflifewellnessohio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067654994901
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@treeoflifewellness8714
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tree-of-life-wellness-dublin?osq=tree+of+life+wellness