An Interview With: Tammy Mastroberte

by Andrea Chervenak

Last year I discovered a wonderful online publication that I have found to be a great resource for inspiration and enlightenment.  I recently had the pleasure to speak with the publisher and founder of Elevated Existence, Tammy Mastroberte.  I think you will find her personal story, as well as her experiences as a publisher, quite compelling.  To learn more visit www.ElevatedExistence.com
 

1. Please tell us a little about yourself
Growing up in an Italian Catholic family, I’ve always had a belief in a higher power. In fact, my family has always been very devoted to the Blessed Mother. My grandmother Rose, on my mother’s side, passed on her devotion to my mother, who then passed it on to me and my sister. There were many nights when my mother fell asleep with the rosary beads in her hand, which explained the tray of broken sets next to her bed! To this day, reciting the rosary brings a sense of calm to me. But at the age of 22, the sudden death of my mother from a brain aneurysm three days after Christmas sent me on a quest to discover more. I wanted answers to life's big questions: Why did it happen? What is the meaning of it all? What happens after we die?

After eight years of searching, I began to uncover the purpose and synchronicity behind many of the events in my life, including the death of my mother, and decided to use my talent for writing and my 10 years of experience in the magazine publishing industry to be of service to others through the creation and publication of Elevated Existence Magazine. With a Bachelor's Degree in English Writing from William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., I have spent more than 11 years in the magazine publishing industry, starting at the age of 20 as an Editorial Assistant for two trade magazines during my senior year of college. After spending 10 years writing on a variety of subjects and industries, including interior design, architecture, business technology, retail and hospitality; I decided to focus on my passion for spiritual and self-improvement topics and share them with the world.

2.  Elevated Existence is a wonderful online magazine, can you share it's history - how you came to create it, and the goals you have for it.

I created Elevated Existence Magazine to offer the latest on spiritual and self-improvement topics and teachings with the hope of helping others who are also seeking answers, along with tools and inspiration to improve their lives. There are so many wonderful authors and spiritual teachers today, and I originally wanted to find a magazine I could work for that gathered the latest and the most useful spiritual and self-improvement teachings and put them all together in one format. But after searching, and creating a picture in my mind of what I was looking for, I realized it didn’t exist yet. That is when I decided to create Elevated Existence, which is actually a digital magazine published quarterly as a downloadable PDF, and a one-year subscription is only $10.

I began searching for answers after my mother’s death in 1999, and I believe what really catapulted me down my road to growth and spirituality was a reading from medium George Anderson, who is the author of two amazing books – “Lessons from the Light,” and “Walking in the Garden of Souls.”

After my mother’s death, George Anderson seemed to pop up everywhere – on the local news shows, through a special on Lifetime Television Network, and more. My mother knew who he was before her passing, and often commented on how she would love to get an appointment to connect with her mother and father. My sister convinced me that our mother was trying to send us a sign to make an appointment with Anderson because she died so suddenly and left so many loose ends. So I agreed … and it literally changed my life.

I can’t express enough the healing and the comfort I received from that one-hour session. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my mother came through, and that not only did life go on after death, but now my mother was with me in a way she could never have been when she was alive. I began to read everything I could about George Anderson, since at the time he was the only medium out in the public eye, and eventually I began to pursue all aspects of spirituality. One synchronistic event after another eventually led me to what I believe is my true purpose – the creation and publication of this magazine.

As to what the future holds, I think the sky is the limit. I would like to increase frequency from four issues a year to six, and maybe eventually go monthly. This year, our second year in publication, we launched our 1st Annual Spiritual Service Award and presented it to Louise Hay, so we will continue with that, and maybe even expand it into an event in the future. Other than that I don’t want to reveal any secrets!!

Also, we recently won two awards – a 2009 Folio: Magazine Bronze Eddie Award for Best Single Article in the Spiritual/Religious category, and a Certificate of Excellence in Design from the Art Director’s Club of New Jersey.

3.  Who are some of the people you have interviewed for the magazine?
I’ve had the honor to interview some amazing people in the spiritual and self-improvement category, as well as spiritual celebrities. Our second issue ever published featured an exclusive interview with Joe Vitale, of the bestselling book and movie “The Secret,” where he offered our readers free access to a special Webinar. I interviewed him again in 2009 for a feature called, “Attracting Money in Any Economy.”

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons was our March 2009 cover story on spirituality and business, and musician/actress Olivia Newton-John who revealed her spiritual side in our September 2009 cover story.

Most recently, I had the privilege to interview Louise Hay, bestselling author of “You Can Heal Your Life,” and founder of Hay House Inc., one of the largest self-improvement publishers today. She was the recipient of our 1st Annual Spiritual Service Aware and our cover story interview for the December 2010 issue, which also featured an interview with Dr. David Simon, co-founder of The Chopra Center about the connection between emotions and disease in the body.

4.  Do you have a favorite interview/story?
I’ve never written a story or conducted an interview for Elevated Existence that I didn’t like, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. I truly enjoyed interviewing Russell Simmons because he has such an amazing perspective on business and giving back to others, and he is so down-to-earth and humble. He even gave me his cell phone number in case we got cut off in the middle of the interview – which we did!

I’m so blessed to be able to pick the brains of such incredible teachers like Louise Hay and Dr. Judith Orloff, author of “Emotional Freedom,” and to be able to pass on the information I learn to our readers.

We also publish a Healing Corner section in the magazine where we feature articles on Reiki, Sound Therapy, healing with essential oils, biofeedback and more, and I continue to be fascinated by the amazing ways the body can heal itself.

5. Can you share some of the lessons or things you have learned via an interview you conducted, or article you have written, that has had an impact on you personally.

It’s only been a year and a half since we launched our first issue, and there are so many things I have learned through both the content of the magazine and the experience of creating and publishing it.

I’ve discovered the incredible synchronicity that is present in each and every one of our lives if we just look for it and pay attention, and I’ve learned that if we are on the right path, the Universe will provide us with everything we need to succeed – we just need to ask for the highest good, believe it will happen and recognize it when it does.

Additionally, through producing the magazine, I have met some incredible people who have truly touched my life. One of them is Dr. Laurie Ann Levin, author of the book, “God, The Universe and Where I Fit In.” Levin, who has contributed articles to Elevated Existence, is a psychologist and psychic/medium, as well as the founder and CEO of Moonview Sanctuary in Santa Monica, Calif. She has made it her mission in life to help others understand how to tap into their connection to the Divine. Levin taught me to seek guidance from those on “the other side” whether calling upon spirit guides, angels or ancestors, and to understand they are there to help – all we need to do is ask and then expect and look for the answer.

Also, I continue to learn so much about healing and the amazing role our thoughts and emotions play in our overall health. Dr. Judith Orloff, Dr. David Simon, Caroline Myss and Louise Hay are doing wonderful work in this area, and I continue to learn so much from them. Also, one of our contributing editors, T Love, who is a Reiki Master and Certified Sound Therapist practicing in New Jersey has opened my eyes to the power of energy healing and vibrational medicine. We are actually premiering a new column based on her radio show Energy Awareness on BlogTalkRadio.com, where we will feature one of her guests each issue.

Overall, I believe what has changed the most for me is my awareness has expanded. I am so much more aware – of myself, my actions, my reactions – and can see the Universe working on my behalf, even when things are not going the way I may have planned. I’ve learned to trust in God, or Source, and to recognize the signs and synchronicities around me, which are all meant to keep me on my path and let me know there is truly order to what may seem like random chaos.

Tammy Mastroberte is the founder, publisher and editorial director of Elevated Existence Magazine, a digital, spiritual publication with a self-improvement focus. With more than 11 years of magazine publishing experience, and a Bachelor's Degree in English Writing, she started Elevated Existence eight years after the sudden death of her mother, in order to share her passion for spiritual and self-improvement teachings with the world. After debuting in June 2008 with Deepak Chopra on the cover, the magazine continues to feature leading spiritual authors and celebrities, including Dr. Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay and Olivia Newton-John. Mastroberte is also an expert voice on the wellness Website, Intent.com, featuring blogs from both celebrities and expert authors in the spiritual and self-help field. For more information or to download the first issue free, visit the magazine's Web site, www.elevatedexistence.com