This TikTok-famous psychic-to-the-stars lives in Tacoma: ‘Warrior Unicorn’ Travis Holp
Dressed in a fuchsia leopard-print shirt, Travis Holp beams at the camera. His eyes dance as he waves a large crystal like a wand.
“Hi, honey,” Holp says. “My name is Travis, I’m a medium and I have a message for you.”
Holp is a Tacoma-based psychic medium who offers mass readings online. In an Instagram video marked “Message for 8/19/2024,” he gives advice on letting go and surrendering to change.
The “social medium” goes by @traviswarriorunicorn on Instagram and TikTok, where he’s amassed about 294,000 and 471,000 followers, respectively. He’s known as a “celebrity-loved” spiritual guide and has delivered readings to Sharna Burgess from “Dancing with the Stars” and pop singer Aubrey O’Day.
He’s appeared in publications such as US Weekly and Entertainment Tonight. He hopes to someday connect with Britney Spears.
The News Tribune spoke with Holp on Aug. 9 inside his Tacoma home’s office, his face lit by the hot-pink hues of a “Warrior Unicorn” neon sign.
Holp grew up in Ohio, and his family owned a pizza place. He said he hadn’t intended to become a professional medium but ultimately left a 17-year-career in cosmetics to pursue his psychic talents.
He’d given friends Tarot-card readings but never posted about it online, afraid of what others would think.
“And then one day I just get on TikTok, and I start doing a little Tarot reading — ‘here’s a message for the day’ — and then my TikTok account exploded,” he told The News Tribune.
Holp is serious about his craft. A student of the spiritual, he said he’s taken classes at the Arthur Findlay College in the U.K., which Holp describes as “an actual college for mediumship.” Metaphysical books line the walls of his office.
Holp compares his psychic abilities to his journey as a queer person. He always knew growing up in the Midwest that he didn’t like girls — that he was different.
“Same thing with Spirit,” Holp explained. “… I thought everybody was gay when I was growing up. I was like, ‘What do you mean not everybody likes boys?’ ‘What do you mean not everybody sees their loved ones that are deceased? Like, that’s not normal?’”
As a kid, Holp had trouble sleeping alone because he’d sometimes wake up and hear people in the room or feel a presence, he said. An interest in the otherworldly runs in the family; he and his grandmother used to play with the Ouija board. Holp said that she also loved Tarot and carried crystals.
Today Holp nurtures psychic gifts in others. Some spiritually inclined clients will book a session because they’re seeking validation.
For Holp, it’s nice to be able to share that connection and help them understand what they’re experiencing.
“That’s been amazing to pay that forward, because there’s no handbook that shows up when you discover this about yourself, right?” Holp said. “There’s no Hogwarts owl. There’s no handbook that magically appears on your coffee table. I’m so thankful, though, for social media now, because a lot of people are able to see something go, ‘Oh my gosh. Maybe that’s me.’”
Moving to Washington
Holp said he made his way to Washington about seven years ago, spending time in Kent before moving to Tacoma.
He highlighted some of his favorite Grit City haunts, including the metaphysical mom-and-pop shop Crescent Moon Gifts. He’s also a fan of the Tacoma Boys produce market and Lauda stationery store downtown.
It’s in the “very witchy” Pacific Northwest that Holp said he had his spiritual renaissance. He chose to get sober from alcohol in 2020 after waking up on the floor following a three-day bender.
“I heard this voice in my head that said, ‘Travis, if you don’t quit drinking, you’re going to die,’” Holp said. “And so, I decided to quit drinking in that moment.”
From there, Holp started meditating, which he said helped him hone his natural gifts.
Holp showcases such abilities during live events. Once, he said, he saw an image of a sunflower tattoo while speaking with a young lady in the audience: “And she takes off her sweater, and she goes, ‘This is the sunflower tattoo that I got for my [late] friend.’”
But like any professional, Holp doesn’t work around the clock.
“Listen, I do have boundaries,” he said. “Spirit will come through sometimes — I’m like, ‘No no, we’re off today. We’re not doing it. We’re off.’”
In his free time, Holp said he likes reading, playing Nintendo Switch, watching the “Golden Girls” and hanging out with friends. He also enjoys communing with nature, sometimes heading to Owen Beach to decompress after heavy healing sessions with clients.
Receiving messages
The way that Holp receives mystic messages from beyond differs based on manner of death, he said.
If a person had succumbed to disease like cancer, he said he’ll feel a sort of cold pressure. If they had dementia or Alzheimer’s, he’ll feel “really kind of swirly” in his head. Fatal accidents and overdoses make Holp sweaty — then like he’s almost being pulled out of his shirt.
Holp emphasized the importance of working ethically as a psychic. It’s off-limits to tell someone when they’ll die or whether their spouse is having an affair, he said.
Misconceptions hover around this line of work, he added: “I think sometimes people hear ‘psychic’ or ‘medium,’ and it’s like we’re the Magic 8 Ball, and we have all the answers, and we’re going to tell you how your future is going to be.
“I believe we have free will. I believe that psychics and mediums, we can connect into energy,” Holp continued. “We can see kind of where someone is, maybe where some of their healing is — and how they can move forward.”
Client reviews on Holp’s website and social media praise him for his “spot-on” readings. Yet Holp said he’ll sometimes hear from mean-spirited commenters and skeptics.
Dating back to his childhood in Ohio, Holp said, people have told him he’s an abomination or going to Hell.
“Growing up as a queer person really set me up for some amazing resiliency in this,” he said. “I don’t deal with skeptics; I let them be where they are. They’re on their own journey.”
What’s next?
Holp has lots to look forward to coming up, including live readings. He’ll relay messages-from-beyond to random audience members on Oct. 5 at the Theatre on the Square in Tacoma.
The social-media star is also working on a book, fulfilling a dream he’s had since he was young. Its title? “Are You There, Spirit? It’s Me Travis: Lessons From Your Psychic Medium Gay Uncle.”
Holp revealed what the departed want the living to know: Those who have passed on are still with us in spirit. Everything will work out in the end, he said.
“And most everything that we make a big deal out of is actually not that big of a deal,” Holp added. “In the grand scheme of things, we are whole and complete exactly as we are.
“We came from love, and we will return to that love.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
