Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Soto.
Hi Amanda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey into mediumship was definitely not something I ever expected. I grew up in Mercedes, a small town in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border, in a very traditional Catholic family. Religion was a significant part of my upbringing—I attended church, completed CCD and confirmation, and even played flute in the church choir. As I got older, though, I began questioning some of what I had been taught and started exploring different ways of understanding spirituality. Graduate school and travel exposed me to different cultures, religions, and spiritual traditions, and for many years I considered myself somewhere between agnostic and atheist.
Professionally, my life took a very different path. I earned my master’s and Ph.D. and eventually returned to Texas to become a professor of music education at a local university. Around that same time, I reconnected with one of my best friends from college, who told me she was a medium. I was fascinated—and extremely skeptical! I had seen mediums on television, but I didn’t really understand mediumship or believe it was something an ordinary person could learn to develop. My friend began sharing her experiences with me and eventually became my first major mentor.
When COVID moved so much of the world online, my friend began offering her mediumship classes virtually, which suddenly made them accessible to me. I started taking classes, attending development circles, practicing, reading books, listening to podcasts, and immersing myself in this world that I hadn’t even known existed. What began as curiosity gradually became a serious commitment to developing my own abilities. I trained for years before I ever considered charging someone for a reading.
Before starting my business, I gave a tremendous number of free readings because I needed to know for myself that I could consistently make a connection and provide meaningful evidence. Eventually, I worked up the courage to step outside of my practice circles and participate in my first metaphysical fairs. From there, I began offering readings online and at events, but the business grew very slowly at first. One of the biggest turning points came when I began reading at Savage Mana in New Braunfels. Having a physical space where people could find me helped me build relationships, meet clients, learn about the business, and gradually establish my name in the community.
Today, I balance two worlds that might seem very different from the outside: I am a university professor and researcher, and I am also an evidential psychic medium. Interestingly, I have found that the two sides of my life complement one another. My academic background makes me naturally analytical and curious, and I bring that same desire for evidence, continued learning, and ethical practice into my mediumship.
What started as something I wasn’t even sure I believed in has become an incredibly meaningful part of my life. I now offer private readings, group demonstrations, events, classes, and mentorship while continuing my own training and development. I never take for granted the trust someone places in me when they sit across from me hoping to hear from someone they love.
More than anything, I see mediumship as service. I don’t consider myself the source of the information—I am simply the person in the middle, communicating what I receive from the spirit world and sharing it with the person in front of me. Being able to provide evidence that someone’s loved one is still connected to them, and sometimes bring a little comfort along the way, is something I consider both a privilege and an honor.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. I do want to acknowledge that I come from a place of privilege because I have a full-time career as a university professor and I don’t rely on my mediumship business as my sole source of income. That has taken some of the financial pressure off and has allowed me to build the business slowly and, more importantly, in a way that feels right to me. On the flip side of that, I don’t have as much time that I can devote in giving readings, reading at events. posting on social media, and on the marketing side of things.
What I didn’t realize when I started was just how many completely new skills I would have to learn. Being able to give a reading is only one small part of running this kind of business. I had to figure out how to build and maintain a website, use scheduling and payment software, market myself, track expenses, navigate taxes, purchase equipment and supplies for fairs and events, network, build relationships with metaphysical shops, and somehow get my name out there—all while maintaining a full-time career and family life.
The financial side can also be discouraging in the beginning. You can spend an entire day at a metaphysical fair and have very few readings—or none at all. There were times when I might make $20 or $50 at an event after paying much more than that for the booth fee, travel, food, supplies, and other expenses. You quickly learn that putting yourself out there doesn’t necessarily mean people are immediately going to show up. Building trust, relationships, and a clientele takes time.
There is also a very personal kind of fear that comes with stepping out publicly and saying, “I’m a medium.” It was one thing to practice with people in development circles or give free readings; it was another thing entirely to put my name on a website, charge for a reading, and have a stranger sit across from me expecting me to connect with someone they love. That required a tremendous amount of trust in myself and in the process.
And sometimes a connection simply doesn’t happen in the way I would want it to. I have always felt strongly about the ethical side of this work, so if I don’t feel that I am making a sufficient connection, I will stop the reading and refund the client’s money. There can be many reasons a reading doesn’t unfold as expected, but accepting that uncertainty—and being willing to say, “This isn’t working today”—has been an important part of becoming the kind of medium I want to be.
Another challenge, and something I didn’t expect, is that my mediumship itself is constantly changing. As I continue training and developing, the way I receive information changes. Something that once came very easily may suddenly become more difficult, while an entirely new way of receiving information begins to emerge. I’ve had to learn not to become too attached to one particular way of working and instead remain curious about where the development takes me.
A perfect example is animals. At first, I began having pets who had passed away come through during readings. Then, unexpectedly, I started receiving information from animals who were still living. That has led me into learning more about animal communication and pet mediumship—something I am currently developing but haven’t even officially added to my services yet.
I still consider myself relatively early in this journey. It has only been a few years, and I don’t think mediumship is something you ever completely “master.” The business continues to evolve, my mediumship continues to evolve, and I continue to evolve with it. Some parts have been frustrating, expensive, exhausting, and scary—but they have also taught me patience, humility, resilience, and the importance of continuing to learn.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Amanda Soto Medium is really built around three things: evidence, education, and service.
I specialize in evidential mediumship, which means that when I connect with someone who has passed, my goal is to provide specific information that helps the person receiving the reading recognize who I am communicating with. That might include personality traits, memories, relationships, physical characteristics, significant events, or other details that I wouldn’t otherwise know. For me, the evidence matters. I don’t want someone to simply leave a reading thinking, “That was nice.” I want them to have moments where they recognize their loved one in the information being shared.
I also offer psychic readings for people who are looking for insight and guidance about what is happening in their lives. Mediumship and psychic work are different, and I think it is important to distinguish between the two. Mediumship focuses on communicating with those who have passed, while psychic work focuses more on the person sitting in front of me—their life, relationships, decisions, patterns, and possibilities.
My approach to psychic readings is also somewhat different because I don’t begin by using tarot or oracle cards. I start by connecting intuitively with the person and sharing the information I am receiving. Just as with my mediumship, I want to bring through evidence that helps the client recognize that I am connecting with them accurately. I may pick up on something happening in their life, a relationship, a situation they are navigating, or other information they can validate before we move more deeply into guidance. Toward the end of the reading, I may bring in tarot or oracle cards as an additional tool to explore or validate some of the information that has already come through, rather than relying on the cards to lead the reading.
My work has grown beyond individual readings as well. I offer private readings both online and in person, group mediumship demonstrations, private parties and events, and classes and mentorship for people who want to explore or develop their own intuitive and mediumistic abilities. Education is becoming an increasingly important part of my business because teaching is such a large part of who I am.
I think one of the things that sets me apart is that I don’t separate the professor and researcher in me from the medium. I have spent my professional life in higher education, and I naturally approach things with curiosity, critical thinking, and a desire to understand how and why something works. I bring that same mindset into mediumship. I am constantly training, practicing, studying with other mediums, reflecting on my readings, and asking how I can become better at what I do.
I also don’t view mediumship as a special “gift” that makes one person more spiritually gifted than another. That is actually what I believed when I first started—I thought mediums were simply born with an ability that I didn’t have. My own experience completely changed that perspective. I now believe many people have intuitive and mediumistic abilities that can be explored and developed with practice, patience, good teaching, and a willingness to trust themselves. That philosophy has become an important part of the classes and mentorship I offer.
Ethics are another major part of my brand. I am very aware that people often come to a medium when they are grieving, searching for answers, or feeling vulnerable. I take that responsibility seriously. I don’t believe in frightening people, making extreme predictions, or pretending to know something that I don’t. If I am not making a sufficient connection during a mediumship reading, I will stop the session and refund the client’s money. I would rather lose the income than try to force a reading that isn’t working.
What I am probably most proud of is that I have built this business in a way that still feels like me. I didn’t want to create a spiritual persona or become someone different when I started doing this work. I’m still a professor, researcher, wife, mother, teacher, skeptic, and lifelong learner—and I’m also a medium. I think there is room in the spiritual community for people who are curious and open-minded while still being grounded and analytical.
As the business continues to grow, I am especially excited about expanding the educational side of my work. I want to create spaces where people can learn about mediumship without feeling that they have to believe everything they hear or fit into a particular spiritual mold. My goal is to make mediumship feel approachable, ethical, and understandable while still honoring the extraordinary nature of the experience.
Ultimately, whether someone comes to me for a reading, attends a demonstration, takes one of my classes, or works with me through mentorship, I want them to feel respected and supported. Amanda Soto Medium isn’t about having all the answers. It is about connection, evidence, curiosity, continued learning, and hopefully helping people understand that there may be much more to our experience than what we can see right in front of us.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
One of the most important things I would want people to know is that I don’t believe intuition belongs only to psychics and mediums. I believe we all have intuitive abilities. We are souls having a human experience, and I believe we have the capacity to connect more deeply with ourselves, with the people we love, with those we have lost, and with something greater than ourselves—whether someone calls that spirit, the universe, consciousness, God, or something else entirely.
You don’t need a psychic or medium to have that connection. A good psychic or medium, in my opinion, should help validate and confirm what you may already be sensing, feeling, or experiencing. We can sometimes help you see something from another perspective or bring forward information that provides clarity, but we aren’t here to tell you exactly what your future will be or to make important life decisions for you.
That distinction is really important to me. I never want someone to give their power away to a reader. Mediumship and psychic work should be empowering, not something that creates dependency. You have free will. You know your life better than anyone else does, and ultimately, you are the person who gets to decide what comes next. A reading can be one source of insight or validation, but you still hold the power.
I also want people to know that they don’t necessarily need a medium in order to maintain a connection with someone they love who has died. Mediumship can provide beautiful evidence and validation, particularly when someone is grieving, but I believe our relationships with the people we love don’t simply disappear when they die. Pay attention to the moments, memories, dreams, signs, synchronicities, or feelings of connection that are meaningful to you. You don’t need someone else to tell you that those experiences matter.
My own mediumship journey has profoundly changed my life, but not only because I’ve learned how to communicate with spirit. It has required me to look inward as well. The more I have developed as a medium, the more I have realized how important it is to work on myself—to understand my own emotions, biases, fears, grief, and experiences and to stay grounded in who I am.
When someone sits across from me, particularly someone who is grieving, they are trusting me with something incredibly vulnerable. I may be sitting with a mother who has lost a child, someone who has lost a spouse or parent, or someone carrying grief they have never spoken about. Learning how to hold space for another human being is just as important to me as learning how to receive information from spirit. That responsibility has made me more conscious of the kind of person, and the kind of medium that I want to be.
And I am still learning. I hope I always will be.
If there is one thing I would want someone to take away from my story, it is that you are far more intuitive and connected than you may realize. Be curious. Pay attention. Learn to trust yourself. Ask questions. You don’t have to believe everything, and you don’t have to have all the answers. I certainly don’t.
Your life is yours. Your choices are yours. Your connection is yours. You hold the power.
I am also working on releasing a podcast very soon and am very excited about sharing more details about my personal journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amandasotomedium.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandasotomedium/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandasmedium
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmandaSotoMedium
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandasmedium
