Entrepreneurship and Feng Shui: The playbook for the Year of the Fire Horse

“Millionaires don’t use astrology, billionaires do.” This quote, which is often attributed to the legendary banker J.P. Morgan, is the perfect introduction to the lunar year, the Year of the Fire Horse. It’s a rare year, according to Chinese astrology, that is full of “wildfire energy” which magnifies both rapid growth and financial risks. And, put simply, the J.P. Morgan quote is about how the best entrepreneurs use every tool at their disposal — astrology, Feng Shui, or Qi Men Dun Jia — to gain an advantage.

Put another way, 2026 is “a high fire element year where there’s no water,” says Sofia Relosa, a Feng Shui, BaZi, and Qi Men Dun Jia consultant whose business has been booming for nine years now. I spoke to Ms. Relosa to shed some light — or positive energy if you will — on the role Chinese mysticism can play in the lives of entrepreneurs.

Before anything — and this is important to a Catholic like myself and millions of Filipinos — Feng Shui or the other arts in Chinese mysticism are not a religion. Ms. Relosa insists that it is not a belief system either, nor is it “the devil’s playground.” “You don’t have to believe in Feng Shui for it to work,” she says, making analogies to science. “It’s a tool that you use for your life,” she summarizes.

My conversation with her, which you can watch in full on the RJ Ledesma Podcast, offers fascinating advice on two fronts. First, if you’re open to Chinese mysticism, she offers her recommendations on how to tackle both the risks and opportunities that the Year of the Fire Horse has to offer. Second, as an entrepreneur herself, Ms. Relosa’s journey is a fascinating story about resilience and perseverance.

JUST A LITTLE PATIENCE
The outlook for 2026 in Chinese astrology mirrors actual world events. A declining global economy, geopolitical upheaval, and healthy growth for the Philippines are all, simultaneously, in the cards. Ms. Relosa explains that 2026 will be a year where both growth and risks are magnified.

Returning to how the Year of the Fire Horse is high in fire and no water, she said, “We have to act in accordance to what’s missing, which is water.”

For entrepreneurs, this means exercising a little patience. It means employing well-thought-out strategies and being intentional in business.

“Water is all about wisdom, thinking, reflecting,” she continued. “Since there is no water, people act with haste, without thinking, without incorporating wisdom into the things that they do. And a good example, because he is a personified fire horse, is Trump.

“In order to thrive, we have to do the opposite. This year a sort of patience is required. Patience to dive deep, do due diligence and research before moving forward.”

Ms. Relosa encourages entrepreneurs to hire consultants like herself to employ this kind of thinking. Trained under Joey Yap’s Mastery Academy in Singapore and Malaysia, she practices three disciplines: Feng Shui, which is about the flow of qi or energy in a space, BaZi or Chinese astrology, which acts like a “personal Feng Shui” and Qi Men Dun Jia, a powerful divinity tool employed in decision making.

QUICK LESSONS IN THE YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE
1. Many industries will thrive in 2026. Given that the Year of the Fire Horse will be fast-moving and volatile, what industries then will be successful? Ms. Relosa said business will grow in 2026, and names restaurants and aesthetics clinics in particular.

“Industries are actually thriving,” she explained. “Or if you’re not innovative enough, you might even see yourself experiencing a lot of competition in the fire industry.”

2. Innovate, but be consumer-centric. With so much creative energy in the Year of the Fire Horse, her message to entrepreneurs is to be nimble and innovate. She said, “[In a] fire year, everything is fast. You have to really innovate every now and then… You have to really change. If you’re resisting social media content, you’re going to have difficulty as a business owner. You have to be open to using AI and continuously change and adapt.”

At the same time she warned against innovation for its own sake. She reminded entrepreneurs that innovation should be rooted in consumer-centric values.

THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED
Ms. Relosa’s own entrepreneurial journey is one full of lessons in business, about passion and resilience. She began entrepreneurship in 2008 with a skincare business. After employing a Feng Shui consultant for her clinic with disappointing results, she began studying Feng Shui on her own. But she knew her religious family and her own husband would not approve. She proceeded anyway, enrolling in Joey Yap’s Mastery Academy in Singapore in secret at first.

Afterwards, she began her consultancy in 2017, and by promoting herself through vlogs, the business took off.

She tells entrepreneurs to “have the courage to be disliked.”

She said, “It’s okay to be disliked, for as long as it’s making you spark that intuitive guide in you… You have to listen to your intuition because this is where God speaks.”

It is this spark that entrepreneurs need to nurture. “Take care of it, value it,” she encouraged. “If there are nudges that keep you awake on sleepless nights, listen to it because there is something there.”

After nine years in the business, the fire of that spark burns brightly in Sofia Relosa. And the reason she continues is a genuine desire to help Filipino families with her consultancy. “Imagine if Feng Shui is freely accessible to everyone,” she says. “Filipinos in particular. We are going to be in a much better state.”

RJ Ledesma (www.rjledesma.com) is a Hall of Fame Awardee for Best Male Host at the Aliw Awards, a multi-awarded serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and business mentor, podcaster, an Honorary Consul, and editor-in-chief of The Business Manual. Mr. Ledesma can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. The RJ Ledesma Podcast is available on Facebook, Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Are there entrepreneurs you want Mr. Ledesma to interview? Let him know at ledesma.rj@gmail.com.