Positive Awakening

When Stephanie Wu Ho was working on Wall Street as a vice president, she often experienced headaches, a racing heart, sore throats, and insomnia. She was worried, but her doctor said she was healthy.

“I asked the doctor what I could do,” says Ho. “He suggested Prozac and that if I didn’t want to take it, I had to help myself.” Ho, who was concerned about the drug’s side effects, sought other options and when another doctor suggested hypnosis, she looked into it. To her relief, it helped.

The more research she did on hypnosis, the more interested she became. Ho even went to a National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) convention to learn hypnosis and become a certified hypnotist. After logging some more time on Wall Street, she quit. “The money was good, but I enjoyed helping people with hypnotism more,” she says. “I continued learning and became a certified hypnotist instructor, certified NLP master and instructor, power of thought and Chinese Zen expert, and life and career coach.”

Now, Ho helps people change their lives. Hypnotism, she explains, can aid people with a host of debilitating issues, including chronic pain, phobias, and addiction. In her practice, she treats individuals along with groups at corporations. “I can help them relax and de-stress,” she says. On a recent trip to Beijing, she hypnotized her entire audience. She is also director of the Society for Naturopathic Medicine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness about naturopathic medicine and improving health conditions around the world.

And she gives back in other ways. As one of the newest members of the NYIT Alumni Association board, she finds opportunities to engage alumni (including during her trip to Beijing) and support the next generation of professionals.

When she is home in New York, Ho mentors NYIT students from China and prepares them for interviews. “I instruct them on body language, how to walk, shake hands, keep their heads up, look people in the eyes. … When they go back to China, they say it’s very easy for them to get a job.”

And while Ho is often the expert in the room, she’s also continuing to learn new things. Three years ago, the former Wall Street executive added actress to her list of accomplishments; she’s since performed in television shows and commercials. “My motto is: Enjoy life.”