Elaheh Farmand (she/her)
Iranian Vocalist and Grief Alchemist
Human Design: 1/4 Projector
Astrology: Sagittarius (sun), Sagittarius (rising), Libra (moon)
Most people read the word grief and think eek, that’s heavy. Whether you are like me (a cryer by design) or someone who it takes a lot to cry, grief is usually associated with, well, crying. While that’s part of grief, it is so much more.
Due to Westernization of programming, we are still learning how to articulate the magnitude that is grief. Mostly because we aren’t really taught to process it, let alone experience its layers. Layers that include the kind of depth needed for agency, for action, for the kind of let’s go energy many of us need right now.
And that is what Elaheh does well. She curates a space where grief can be felt, experienced, and alchemized into our innate power.
Her Story
Music always lived intimately close to her family. Born in Tehran, Iran, Elaheh spent 11 years of her life there before moving to the States. Her Maman (Mom in Persian) sang folk songs in her melancholy alto voice, yearning for a singing life she was not allowed to live. In hopes of passing on the love of music, she signed Elaheh up for Santur class (a traditional stringed instrument, often described as a Persian hammered dulcimer). Elaheh quickly picked up the skill, surprising her teacher including the skill of memorizing sounds, which she carried with her to the United States when she enrolled in orchestra in middle and high school.
Elaheh grew up in a political family in Iran, so her lineage is one of activists, revolutionaries, and changemakers. Their ultimate goal was liberation. Injustices always bothered her, but she didn’t become politically aware or active until around 2019, shortly before the pandemic, influenced by a dear teacher and community member who she considers family, Professor Faramarz Farbod. His teachings and insights changed her life and broadened her perspective. Today, she doesn’t feel contained within one label or loyal to a limited two-party system, but ultimately stands for people before profits. She believes in an egalitarian society where each of us has access to basic needs and can also live out our passions and creative pursuits. Elaheh desires a society in which we all thrive rather than constantly struggle to survive.
Today, Elaheh’s chants are rooted in ancient memory and channeled through deep intuition, in service of one mission: to help each of us remember our innate agency and power through the oldest technology we have… the human voice.
What Wasn’t Working
When Elaheh and I began working together, she had the gifts, the passion, and an incredible devotion to collective liberation. However, she didn’t have clear language for what she was offering or who it was for (let alone how it connects to her purpose.) She also had creative ideas, along with a drive to take action, but needed to tie everything together in a clear business (rooted in her purpose).
She had set up a Patreon months earlier. It was one of those “this makes logical sense” decisions, which quickly turned into, “I don’t know if this platform is for me.” She was posting on TikTok and building a following, but didn’t know exactly how to translate that into something sustainable. She wanted to do purpose-driven work, but the gap between “I have these gifts” and “I am building a business around these gifts” felt enormous.
She sometimes questioned her legitimacy. What she was doing: offering sound healing in her local community, which was receiving incredible feedback, yet she still wasn’t standing on solid ground when sharing what she does. She had the self-awareness to acknowledge when she was comparing herself to “real musicians” with formal training. She wasn’t sure if what she offered was enough, let alone if anyone would pay for it.
The external structure didn’t match the internal evolution.
As she deepened her fascination with metaphysics, astrology, and all the best things about the “woo,” she knew it was the right time. (Shoutout to the Year of the Horse.) She was ready to close the gap between who she had become and how her life and work were created, structured, and brought to light.
What We Did Together
Over three months, we built the foundation for Elaheh to claim her work, articulate her offering, and step into the role of Grief Alchemist.
Month 1: Excavation
We audited what existed (Patreon, TikTok, live performances) and named what wasn’t working. We explored her Human Design (1/4 Projector, Splenic authority, 25-51 Channel of Initiation) and connected it to how she naturally operates, what she feels called to create, and how she desires to serve. We began excavating what she genuinely wanted versus what she’d been conditioned to want and what she was intuitively led toward versus what was solely logical.
Month 2: Clarity
Grief emerged as the centerpoint of her work. From the start, she knew “sound healing” didn’t capture her unique approach. Right before month 3, Elaheh had a massive aha moment: It’s grief! Shortly after, she and I were laughing over how obvious this centerpoint was, given her history and what she’d been lit up by, aligned with her liberatory work. This gave her a way to differentiate herself and language that finally felt like her. We closed Patreon. We drafted an invitational page for a new offering: personalized sound healing for grief transmutation. We designed her business card with the title “Vocalist | Grief Alchemist.”
“I’m just also now realizing that we have arrived at what you committed to helping deliver for me. And you’ve done it. We’ve done it together… This is even a step above what I thought could happen. ‘Cause it’s like, ooh, grief alchemy, let’s go.”
Month 3: Launch
She launched her 1:1 Sound Healing Session with a sliding scale. We mapped the customer journey from TikTok to Linktree to booking. We refined the logistics (Calendly, Stripe, session flow). She performed at the Zoellner Center and walked away saying, “I can confidently say that I feel like I belong on that stage, whatever stage that is.”
The business card with “Grief Alchemist” on it became its own proof of concept. While in Massachusetts during her tour, she walked into a vinyl shop, handed the owner her card, and struck up a conversation. He was a former grief counselor. His wife worked in grief too. A kind of connection that happens when your work is legible to the world.
Throughout, we moved non-linearly, following what was alive, grounding insight into action, and always pointing her back to her own authority.
Results and Outcomes
Tangible:
- Defined and launched a new offering: Personalized Sound Healing for Grief Transmutation
- Positioned herself as a Grief Alchemist with clear messaging and positioning
- Business card designed with branding (color palette, fonts, visual direction)
- Invitational page written and live
- Patreon closed with clear communication; energy redirected to aligned offering
- Booking flow set up (Calendly, Stripe, sliding scale structure)
- Multiple live performances with growing recognition and repeat invitations
Intangible:
- Confidence in articulating what she does and who she serves
- Release of the “I’m not a real musician” narrative
- Trust in her own authority as her primary compass
- Evidence practice: actively gathering and recognizing proof of her impact
- Ownership of her lineage, her voice, and her right to take up space
A different relationship with money.
Elaheh came in as an anti-capitalist with real ambivalence around income. By the end of the container, something had shifted surrounding her relationship with money. “Moving the guilt from having it or desiring to feel abundant… the more I have – because I know who I am and what my values are – the more I can be generous and give.” She designed her sliding scale pricing structure from that exact place.
“I have the right to be here. I have agency, I have experience, I have personal experience, I have lineage experience… there was no part of me that’s like, ‘but who are you to.’ I’m like, no, let’s do this.”
What She Does Now
Elaheh Roya offers sound healing for grief transmutation through intimate 1:1 sessions, live performances, free offerings on social media, and recorded albums.
Using intuition and deep listening, she channels chants unique to each healing journey. She sits with your energy, reflects on what you’ve shared, allows the sound to come through, and trusts her voice to meet you where you are.
Ways to experience her work:
- 1:1 Sound Healing Sessions: A personalized Zoom session
- Live Sound Healing: In-person performances and collaborations
- Free Mini Sound Healings: Short offerings shared on TikTok and Instagram
- Albums: Full-length recordings available on Bandcamp and Spotify
Find her:
- TikTok: @elahehroya
- Instagram: @medicinechants
- Bandcamp: elahehroya.bandcamp.com
- Email: elaheh@healing-chants.com
Vision Made Reality
This is only the beginning for Elaheh (and the end to questioning what she does).
In a reflection at the close of our container, Elaheh shared:
- Gratitude for the thoughtfulness of the process — every document, folder, recording, transcription, reflection, and clarifying question
- How she appreciated the challenging questions had her brain “shooting off into space”
- That sitting with her gifts and the things she wants to improve or learn was valuable
- That the investment was worth every penny and she “would not have wanted to work with any other coach”
- That she sees me as “extremely unique and a gem”
- How her relationship with money has shifted (she no longer feels guilty about it and has a healthier understanding of worth, giving, and receiving)
- That my lens of “radical dismantling the system within” helped her
If you’re sitting on gifts you haven’t fully claimed, if there is something about your work that feels hard to explain, incomplete, difficult to offer, in a transition or somewhere along the lines of: I know I’m meant for more… know that you got a friend in me (Toy Story reference).
If this resonates, let’s talk. Learn more about working together here.