Intrigued by the art of numerology in the 1990s, Blair Gorman wondered why, in the golden age of the internet, numerologists were still performing calculations by hand. Numerology–the calculation and analysis of numbers (such as a person's date of birth) and their special significance in that person’s life–seemed to him like the perfect thing for a computer to be doing. With his background in programming, Blair wrote software that would change the way people interacted with numerology forever.
Numerology as a practice has been around for thousands of years, and Blair shares a couple theories as to its origins.
“It’s been said that the oldest writing in history was actually based on numerology. It was found on the back of a tortoise shell by an ancient Chinese river.”
Another account suggests that Pythagoras brought numerology into the public consciousness.
“I like to say that numerology is to numbers like astrology is to stars. Each number has a certain energy or vibration associated with it, and we’ve determined those numbers quite simply through the digits of your date of birth and those from the name that you’re given at birth, as well as your current name.”
Numerology helps people in two specific ways: character analysis and predictions. “Character analysis really helps you find out more about yourself; people can use it for guidance. Sometimes it really helps people to find their true calling. There's something in numerology, for example, called the soul urge. That's what the soul yearns to do, and quite often, we don't know what it is. Numerology helps us with that.”
Numerology can also help identify regular cycles in a person’s life. “There are long term cycles that go throughout our lives called the pinnacles. And there's yearly cycles, there's monthly cycles, and even daily cycles. By analyzing those in compound, not just by themselves, you can get some really interesting predictive information.”
Though astrology has been a wildly popular practice for decades, numerology is rising in the public eye thanks to brands like Numerologist and the advent of social media.
Numerologist experienced a massive boom when star of The Fast and the Furious franchise Tyrese Gibson shared a series of unsponsored Instagram posts to his 16 million followers. “He actually changed the link in his Instagram bio to Numerologist.com, and you can only have one link. He was just so impressed with what he saw. And I think that is the magic of social media. When something's really good, when people are really blown away, then they tend to share, and that’s been phenomenal.”
After Gibson’s post, other movie stars and influencers took to social media to sing Numerologist’s praises, and Google even used the New Zealand-based site as a case study for the Asia-Pacific region.
Blair’s passion for user experience shines through from the moment guests enter Numerologist.com and take advantage of the free MeSL report using Blair’s own patented technology. The MeSL is similar to a VSL (video sales letter), except that it is completely personalized to each individual. After entering their date of birth and name, users are audibly greeted by name with an instantly-generated, voice-narrated MeSL, recreating the experience of a face-to-face numerology reading.
Numerologist’s mobile-centric Daily Future Forecast allows users to access a comprehensive reading using thousands of number combinations at the press of a button.
Blair’s penchant to improve user experience is ever evolving. Innovative concepts, such as an augmented reality app, are always on his mind–even ones that are too advanced to enact right away.
“My role is, I suppose you call it, the ‘mad scientist.’ Testing and measuring and trying all sorts of crazy things. A lot of them pan out. Unfortunately, a lot of them don’t. I think if everything you do pans out, you’re probably not being experimental enough.”
Playing alongside Blair’s mad scientist is chief numerologist Roy Kirkland, who’s been practicing the art for decades and whom Blair calls a “walking encyclopedia” of all things numerology.
The success of the brand led to the creation of Cosmic Media, with Numerologist being the inaugural brand attracting other spirituality companies into the fold. Blair says of this partnership, “There are so many benefits, but one is the fact that great people are kind of hard to find. To share resources like that has been awesome. To find, for example, copywriters; quite often that's a very lengthy process. We've already got them as part of the team; you know, specialties.”
He also mentions the benefit of sharing assets and intellectual property between companies, including his MeSL patent, the coveted license of which is only available within the Cosmic family.
Blair credits his success–and the success of entrepreneurs in general–to persistence and tenacity. “I joke, ‘I think I was just too dumb to give up.’ People, when they start out in business, expect overnight successes. And sure, there are unicorns out there, and they achieve that. But most people I know in the industry, none of us did that. It was really just grinding, growing slowly over the years, and just sticking at it. A lot of people want to wake up tomorrow hugely successful. With most people that I know that have gotten success, it has been probably over a decade or more, rather than over months or even a couple of years. There's that old saying:
"instant success after a decade of hard work.”
Those who are interested in exploring numerology are encouraged to try the free MeSL reading on the Numerologist.com home page. “That takes you by the hand and explains the key numbers within numerology: your Life Path, your Soul Urge, your Expression. Dip your toe in the water, and if you like what you see you can take it further. Otherwise, just enjoy the free experience.” Like any project with Blair Gorman at the helm, it’s without a doubt an experience unlike any other.
