From the moment she received her first reading at 12 years old, Chani Nicholas was captivated by the power of astrology. Even as a child, she was floored by the accuracy of the reading and understanding it brought her.
Now decades later, astrology shapes her everyday life—and even the timing of her business decisions. Nicholas is the co-founder of CHANI, an astrology app with a focus on mindfulness and self-discovery. Since its launch in 2020 (on the day of the Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter), CHANI has garnered nearly 1.5 million downloads. Nicholas also hosts a weekly podcast called Astrology of the Week Ahead, and has published a book titled You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Acceptance. Behind the horoscopes and birth charts is indeed a business, but one that Nicholas has ensured is community-driven, human-centred, politically aware, and vehemently against AI.
One of CHANI’s guiding principles is that astrology has to be accessible. The app features not only daily horoscopes and detailed birth chart information, but also guided meditations and affirmations, encouraging users to reflect on the information they receive. “If you can’t use what I’m saying in your daily life, then I’m not doing my job,” Nicholas says. “I try to articulate the astrology in a way that feels like it’s really down to earth. It’s just a conversation.”
Last week in Toronto, she had one of these conversations live on stage at the Hot Docs Curious Minds Festival with actress Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, providing her a reading of her birth chart for the first time. Nicholas shares that a birth chart can provide incredibly specific and clear information about a person, their career, and the moment of time they’re in. “If astrology works, you should be able to read your chart and feel witnessed and feel seen.”
With CHANI, Nicholas has not only built an app, but a community. What started as Nicholas writing horoscopes and teaching courses online grew into a full-blown tech company that she now runs with her wife and co-founder, Sonya Passi. The company was built without any VC funding—instead, they grew with the support of their community.
“What we actually wanted was a sustainable model that was connected to community that we grew through engendering trust with the people that were engaging with the astrology,” Nicholas says. “And from that we kept growing.”
Even as CHANI continues to grow, maintaining the humanity behind the business is essential for Nicholas—for her, that means taking a stand against AI. The CHANI app does not use any AI. Every horoscope, every reading, every podcast recording, and every transcription is created by a human.
“We are a tech company that refuses AI,” Nicholas says. “We do not want to replace human brilliance and ingenuity and creativity with robots. We believe that astrology speaks to the soul of your life. So why would you want something without a soul to speak to your soul’s purpose?”
Centring human work also means caring for and compensating said humans. Nicholas is particularly proud of the extensive set of benefits CHANI offers their employees, which she describes as “unfortunately unique”. In addition to a salary floor of $80K, employees at CHANI receive paid menstrual leave, vacation and wealth-building stipends, and a four-day work week. “We try to create a workspace that is hopefully equitable and also fun and creative and human-centred,” Nicholas says. The company also runs a program in partnership with the organization FreeFrom, founded and run by Passi, and donates 5% of its revenue to survivors of gender based violence.
For Nicholas, astrology is intrinsically linked to our current political moment. Recently, she was outspoken in her support for Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral election. She worked with community organizers, rallying and canvassing in support of the Democratic candidate, and even hosted a “Hot Girls Halloween” party ahead of the election. The day after his win, she was quick to acknowledge the full moon in Taurus, happening in Mamdani’s 10th house of career and public reputation.
“Astrology reflects the moment,” she says. “It’s a mirror to your soul, my soul, and our collective situation. So I think leaving what people call politics out of an astrological understanding of the moment is being consciously selective.”
Before the American presidential election last year, Nicholas forewarned of a game-changing year ahead—that 2025 would bring with it a new situation. 2026, she says, furthers that situation. But before things get murky, she shares that the beginning of the new year is an excellent time to get things done. “I really want everyone to use the first two weeks of January, because they’re phenomenal moments to work with. February gets complicated,” she says.
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