The Spirit Airlines Effect: A Lesson for Healers About Undercharging (Part 1)

The “Race to the Bottom” Is Everywhere

One thing we’ve talked about numerous times in the Life Changing Energy community is how we can use important lessons from other industries to avoid the mistakes of the past. 

And the lesson from Spirit Airlines?

The race to the bottom.

For years, Spirit built its business around being the cheapest option.

Cheapest flights.
Cheapest tickets.
Cheapest experience.

And eventually that model became unsustainable.

Now look what happened once the collapse started unfolding. Competition disappeared for lower flights so flight prices started going UP. Because when an industry stops obsessing over being the absolute cheapest thing available, pricing begins to normalize around value instead of desperation.

Watching the Spirit Airlines situation unfold recently immediately made me think about how deeply this same pattern affects healers too.

So in our 2-part blog series, I want to unpack this conversation a little deeper because this goes far beyond pricing.

It touches burnout, scarcity, boundaries, value, sustainability, and the future of the healing industry itself.

It’s a conversation we need to have ... and more often.

The Healing Industry Is Doing the Same Thing as Spirit Airlines Did

People undercharging.
People competing on price.
People afraid to raise rates.
People overextending themselves trying to offer more and more for less and less.

And the problem is bigger than most people realize.

When one practitioner drastically undercharges, it doesn’t just affect them.

It affects the entire industry.

It trains clients to expect more while paying less.
It lowers perceived value.
It creates burnout.
It creates resentment.
And it creates healers who cannot sustain their businesses long enough to truly master their craft.

Then everyone wonders why so many practitioners are exhausted, overwhelmed, financially stressed, or quietly walking away from healing work altogether.

This is the problem with the “race to the bottom.”

Unfortunately, most healers don’t even realize they’re participating in it.

Why Are Healers Charging Less Than a Hair Appointment?

I googled "Halo Hair Spa" recently just out of curiosity.

The LOWEST I saw for a one-hour service was around $125. And where I live, Michigan, is generally lower-priced than many other states. Think about that for a second.

People will gladly pay premium prices for:
Hair services.
Facials.
Lashes.
Nails.
Luxury wellness experiences.

…but healers still feel guilty charging appropriately for services that can deeply impact someone emotionally, energetically, spiritually, and physiologically.

That makes no sense.

Especially when many healers have invested thousands, sometimes tens of thousands,  into certifications, instruments, continuing education, trauma-informed training, mentorships, retreats, and years of personal healing work.

And yet some are still charging less than a haircut.

Why?

Because too many practitioners are watching what everyone else is charging instead of looking honestly at the value they provide.

Too many are pricing from fear.

Fear nobody will book.
Fear people will judge them.
Fear they’ll seem “less spiritual.”
Fear that struggling somehow makes the work more authentic.

Yet many healers still feel pressure to charge less and less in order to compete.

And the more this becomes normalized, the more difficult it becomes for practitioners to create sustainable businesses long term.

This conversation is not about greed.

It’s about sustainability.

Because industries built entirely around being “the cheapest” eventually start collapsing under the pressure of it.

I think the healing industry needs to pay attention before we continue repeating the same pattern.

Coming in Part 2…

In the next blog, I want to unpack WHY so many healers feel uncomfortable charging sustainable rates in the first place and what to do about it … because that conversation runs much deeper than money.