Debra Stangl, whose journey from disillusioned divorce attorney to visionary founder of Sedona Soul Adventures embodies the profound shifts possible when we embrace the concept that “Nothing Is Wrong.” As one of 2025’s most influential spiritual entrepreneurs, Stangl has redefined what it means to build a mission-driven enterprise that transforms lives while scaling impact. Her unique integration of ancient wisdom, customized healing, and business acumen positions her at the vanguard of a new era in wellness – one where authenticity and outcomes reign supreme.

This profile will explore her formative journey from divorce attorney to global transformational leader; the philosophy and processes that underpin Sedona Soul Adventures; her pioneering work in research and development; her leadership style and organizational culture; and her vision for scaling soul-centered transformation to the world.

From Courtrooms to Canyons: Debra’s Transformational Origin Story

Every transformational journey has a powerful catalyst, and for Debra Stangl, that moment arrived amidst the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona, in January 1999. After two decades practicing divorce law in Omaha, Nebraska, Debra faced burnout on every front: physically exhausted, $50,000 in debt, 40 pounds overweight, and trapped in an unhappy marriage. Though she had long felt a spiritual calling – praying and meditating daily for guidance – she resisted the message that kept coming through: leave your law practice.

Unable to ignore her high self’s ultimatum any longer, Debra surrendered in a deeply mystical healing session with one of Sedona’s Master Practitioners. In that moment, her High Self appeared to her in a vision as the Egyptian Goddess Isis, wrapped her wings around Debra, and delivered a life-or-death message: abandon the practice or risk dying as her mother did.

NEW PARAGRAPH Upon returning home from Sedona, the urgency of this revelation propelled her to make the decision to leave her law practice and to ask the universe for help. Within eight hours, the first sign appeared — a former client refinanced her mortgage through his business, reducing, her monthly payment in half and providing $50,000 in cash. This immediate response offered both financial relief and spiritual validation, fueling Debra’s resolve to leave lawyering behind. She spent six months closing her office and over the next three years, she embarked upon her own personal healing, journeying to Sedona repeatedly for a month at a time, participating one-on-one healing sessions with master practitioners – the very modalities she would later weave into the fabric of Sedona Soul Adventures.

The Sedona Proven Process: Custom Alchemy for Modern Souls

Unlike conventional retreats, SSA’s methodology rejects templated solutions. Stangl’s insight – forged through her own healing – was simple yet radical: Group settings often fail to unlock deep transformation because vulnerability requires psychological safety. As she states: “Most people don’t feel safe enough to explore their deepest secrets and their deepest wounds in front of strangers”

Founded in 2002, Sedona Soul Adventures (SSA) emerged from Debra’s conviction that personalized one-on-one experiences catalyze deeper, longer-lasting transformation than conventional group retreats. Starting with ten master practitioners, Debra served as the first Soul Guide and Retreat Coordinator, designing customized itineraries that aligned with each client’s energetic, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Today, SSA boasts over fifty practitioners, a dedicated staff of eleven employees, and accolades from The Today Show, USA Today, The Washington Post, and Forbes. Named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. for 2019 and again in 2024, and recognized by GuideDoc (“Best Marriage Retreat in the US”) and, “Best of Sedona – Retreats” SSA’s impact is measured not just in media features but in the thousands of lives and relationships transformed.

The Four-Step Custom Retreat Process

1. Discovery & Assessment: Before arrival, Debra and her team conduct in-depth consultations – both questionnaire-based and via personal conversation – to begin the process of mapping out each client’s blocks, challenges, and aspirations.
2. Curated Practitioner Matching: Clients receive a handpicked sequence of sessions with master practitioners across modalities such as energy healing, holotropic breathwork, sound therapy, shamanic journeying, and integration coaching.
3. Immersive On-Site Experience: Over several days of retreat, participants engage in a tailored progression – from clearing and release to activation and embodiment – supported by Sedona’s potent vortex energies.
4. Integration & Support: Post-retreat, clients receive carefully designed follow-up tools, digital exercises, and community resources to reinforce breakthroughs and ensure sustainable growth.

Testimonials & Transformational Metrics

The proof of SSA’s efficacy is found in the stories of healed hearts and ignited passions:

• Marital Restoration: Thousands of couples on the brink of divorce have rediscovered love and renewed intimacy.
• Career Reorientation: Attorneys, executives, Oscar winners, Super Bowl winners, housewives and creatives credit bespoke retreats with clarity to pivot into purpose-driven ventures.
• Personal Breakthroughs: From releasing deep-seated trauma to achieving physical wellness goals, SSA’s tailored approach consistently yields measurable outcomes. 

The Pillars of SSA’s Approach:

1. Soul-Guided Customization:
   Every retreat begins with an in-depth consultation with a “Soul Guide” who identifies core wounds, blocks, and aspirations. For couples, sessions blend joint and individual work, addressing personal healing as the foundation for relational repair.
2. Master Practitioners Network:
   Over 50 healers – from energy workers to yoga instructors – offer modalities like Inner Journey Breath, emotional clearing, sound healing, and sacred ceremonies. Each session is private (1:1 or 2:1), ensuring tailored interventions.
3. Sedona’s Energetic Amplifier:
   The region’s vortexes act as catalysts, accelerating breakthroughs. As Stangl notes, “The energy here helps intentions manifest with extraordinary clarity”.

Science Meets Spirituality:

Personalized approaches yield deeper results than group work alone. SSA’s method leverages neuroplasticity – rewiring limiting beliefs through targeted practices like breathwork, which Stangl credits for her own 40-pound weight release in 5 weeks without dieting.

Impact: Stories of Radical Rebirth

SSA’s 5-star Trustpilot ratings and industry accolades – including “Best Marriage Retreat in the U.S.” (2017 – 2025) and “Best of Sedona-Retreats” (2020 – 2024) – underscore its efficacy. But the real proof lies in client transformations:

• Carrie, a former nurse paralyzed by fear, released trauma from her mother’s suicide attempt during an emotional clearing session. She now travels solo with her son and trains as an energy healer.
• Sarah, a Chicago executive, restructured her life around purpose after shedding “core wounds she didn’t know she carried”.

Stangl’s own life mirrors these shifts: After her book’s release, she transitioned from “happily single” to marrying her soul partner – proof that her “9 Stepping Stones” transcend theory.

The book outlines 9 Stepping Stones – practical, actionable processes – for applying “Nothing Is Wrong” to every life domain:

1. Your Work: Shift from “unfulfilling job” to discovering purpose-driven contribution.
2. Your Money: Release scarcity mindsets, invite abundance (as Stangl did with her $50k miracle).
3. Your Body: Cultivate self-love over criticism (Stangl released 40 lbs in 5 weeks sans dieting by changing her relationship with her body).
4. Love Relationships: Heal patterns, attract or renew soul-level partnerships (Stangl transitioned from unhappy marriage to finding her “spiritual partner”).
5. Self-Concept: Rewrite limiting self-narratives.
6. Relationships with Others: Resolve conflicts through compassion.
7. Worldview: Shift from fear to empowered optimism.
8. Spiritual Connection: Deepen intuition and trust.
9. Life Purpose: Align actions with soul calling 

Readers report liberation: “How wonderfully liberating!… Going back to excerpts… were beautiful reminders that my life was ok, things were manageable, and everything is just as it should be”. The book’s success spawned a Companion Course (9 videos + workbook) and cemented Stangl as a thought leader beyond Sedona’s red rocks.

Visionary Leadership: Debra’s Relational Approach

Debra’s leadership defies hierarchical norms. Rooted in vulnerability, compassion, and collaboration, she blends feminine intuition with grounded decisiveness, walking alongside her team rather than dictating from afar. Every week, Debra participates in at least one master-level healing session, ensuring that her vision remains anchored in the lived experience of transformation.

• Culture of Soul & Synergy

Under Debra’s guidance, SSA’s culture encourages team members to bring their full selves – spiritual gifts, intuitive insights, and professional skills – to the table. She encourages and subsidizes team members to do sessions with Practitioners, so that everyone on her team is “walking the talk”.

• Mentorship & Empowerment

Passionate about spiritual entrepreneurship, Debra a conscious business incubator through certification programs in Soul Coaching, Inner Journey Breath and Core Wound Healing. She champions the integration of emotional intelligence and intuition in business, advising emerging spiritual business people to identify and transform their limiting beliefs – often the most significant barrier to success.

Research, Development & Technological Innovation

In contrast to conventional wellness providers, SSA invests deeply in research and development – melding ancient wisdom with modern science. Through client outcome tracking, Debra’s team refines retreat sequences that optimize energy shifts. They also explore how modalities like sound healing and energy medicine affect brainwave states and nervous system regulation.

Data-Driven Transformation

By systematically gathering feedback and analyzing retreat results, SSA identifies which combinations of modalities yield the most profound shifts. This iterative process underpins specialized programs for trauma resilience, relationship renewal, and spiritual activation.

Digital Extensions

Recognizing the demand for accessible support, Debra’s husband, Richard Kepple, spearheaded the creation of online sessions, virtual integration. These digital offerings democratize access to SSA’s methodologies, extending Sedona’s energetic essence to clients unable to travel in person.

Scaling the Soul-Centered Mission in 2025 and Beyond

Having defined a blueprint for personalized spiritual retreats, Debra’s vision now turns global. In 2025, she is set to co-author a new book on conscious relationships with her husband, Richard Kepple (“How To Have A High-Vibe Relationship”), and expand international sacred journeys to Egypt, Peru, and Bali. Concurrently, she’s launching a spiritual entrepreneur empowerment incubator and accelerating development of digital transformation platforms.

• The Next Frontier: Accessible Transformation

Debra is piloting hybrid group retreats that blend intimate SSA-style sessions with community learning, maintaining personalization at scale.

• Writing the Blueprint for Soul-Centered Business

Through upcoming workshops, keynote speaking, and her evolving incubator program, Debra will codify her relational leadership and intuitive decision-making frameworks.

Stangl’s entrepreneurial genius lies in balancing mysticism with scalability. While SSA began with 10 practitioners, it now employs 11 staff and 50+ healers, serving thousands worldwide 7. Key innovations include:

• At-Home Retreats: Virtual intensives launched during the pandemic deliver “the same transformational results” as in-person experiences.
• Sacred Travel: Group pilgrimages to Egypt and Peru and Bali fuse adventure with energy work, allowing clients to access ley-line energies like those that catalyzed Stangl’s awakening.
• Digital Ecosystem: Podcasts (Soul Sync, Meeting the Masters), free chakra meditations, and the bestselling book The Journey to Happy and the upcoming book “How To Have A High-Vibe Relationship” extend SSA’s reach.

“We’re developing AI-driven tools for personalized transformation,” Stangl reveals, “but technology must enhance – not replace – the human touch”.

The Future: Blueprinting Conscious Leadership

As spiritual entrepreneurship surges, Stangl stands apart by embodying her teachings. Her upcoming book chakra meditations, and the bestselling book The Journey to Happy and the upcoming book “How To Have A High-Vibe Relationship” on conscious relationships, co-authored with her husband, Richard Kepple, distills SSA’s couples work into actionable wisdom.

“Your intuition isn’t irrational – it’s your competitive edge. Lead with it”.

Her legacy? Proving that soul-centered businesses can thrive financially while healing the world. From $50,000 in debt to Inc. 5000 recognition, SSA’s growth defies industry norms – and redefines what’s possible.

A Legacy of Transformation
Debra Stangl’s inclusion among 2025’s top spiritual entrepreneurs is no accident. In a world starved for authenticity, purpose, and deep connection, Debra Stangl exemplifies what it means to lead from the soul. Her journey – from a stressed-out divorce attorney in Omaha to the top spiritual entrepreneur of 2025 – illuminates the power of surrender, trust, and aligned action. As the Founding Catalyst of Sedona Soul Adventures, Debra continues to craft individualized pathways for thousands to discover their happiest, most purposeful selves. For those seeking not just change, but profound metamorphosis, her message is clear: Nothing is wrong, and everything is possible.

She represents a new archetype: the leader who transforms personal pain into universal medicine. By insisting that “Nothing Is Wrong” – that our struggles are gateways, not failures – she empowers others to rewrite their stories. As thousands continue to pilgrimage to Sedona (or join online), they validate her greatest insight: True transformation begins when we’re seen, honored, and guided as unique souls – not problems to be fixed. In a world hungry for authenticity, Stangl’s alchemy of custom healing and conscious business isn’t just successful – it’s essential.