Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Graham.
Hi Rachel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
A major theme of my story is healing, teaching, and supporting others. These 8 critical moments are what got me started and how I got to where I am today.
1: YOGA – When I was 16, I became a yoga teacher and from a young age I was exposed to a different type of community, mindset, and way of looking at life. I felt the pull to teach and support others.
2: PARIS – When I was 18, I decided to take a gap year and live in Paris before heading to college. It was an amazing experience but when I returned back to Baltimore, I felt incredibly sad and out of place. I was trying to rediscover Baltimore but I kept comparing it to Paris. I wasn’t taking care of my body and practicing yoga – let alone teaching anymore. I felt lonely and that unhappiness manifested as gut issues and chronic cystic acne.
3. HEALING – I went to college at UMD – struggled with acne & fitting in at first. Over time, I began to heal – it took me 3 years to heal my gut issues and skin but once I did it, I knew I had to share what worked and help others along the way.
4. HEALTH COACHING – I was passionate about sharing what I had learned on Instagram and built up a following. Businesses wanted to work with me and people were interested in my story. At the time I was working a 9-5 marketing job AND posting on Instagram whenever I could. Eventually, I realized I needed to follow my passion so I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and became a health coach.
5. LIFE COACHING – After working with several women I realized that all of them had a common issue: STRESS. And that stress was at the root of their skin problems. This stress was connected to all areas of life – relationships, money, career, lack of confidence & belonging. I realized that if I wanted to help people, I needed to get to the root of the problem so I shifted into life coaching.
6. 2020 – Despite the challenges in 2020, I had a lot to celebrate as my business was taking off and I was able to support more people. I had just about everything (health, love, money) except friendship. At times, I felt lonely without close friends to call or confide in.
7. AUSTIN – Matt (my bf) and I moved to Austin in January 2021 thinking that it would be better and we’d love it. We didn’t lol. It was challenging meeting people and we ended up missing Baltimore. Moving showed us how much we loved Baltimore and all the amazing things here. So we moved back in August with the intention that we weren’t going to take this city for granted anymore.
8. COMMUNITY – As soon as we got back, I organized the first Baltimore Women’s Circle gathering. I knew I wasn’t the only one craving friendship & community – so many people want it but don’t know how to find it! Since August this community has grown to over 140 people and we’ve expanded out of my home.
I recently led a women’s circle in the yoga studio where I first started teaching over 10 years ago. Full circle moment!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Haha – many struggles! The beautiful thing is that every struggle has turned into something beautiful.
The loneliness I felt coming home from Paris taught me how valuable & important genuine friendship and community are. I don’t think a lot of people realize how important the in-person community is! It impacts our overall happiness AND well-being. It’s no wonder that the healthiest places in the world are community-based. Online communities are great but it’s just not the same.
The painful cystic acne I struggled with also led to challenges with confidence, self-esteem, and self-loathing to a certain degree. I remember crying on the bathroom floor feeling ugly and making excuses not to go out with friends because I felt so embarrassed. Ultimately it taught me how to love myself.
I had to learn how to love & care for my body rather than being angry with it. That lesson prepared me to receive and give love to others. I wouldn’t have been able to create and lead the Baltimore Women’s Circle if I hadn’t learned to love myself first.
Creating a business comes with struggles as well. I struggled with balance – I put all my energy into my business and sacrificed friendship. At times, I felt so alone and wished I could just talk to people who “got it.”
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a life coach, the founder of the Baltimore Women’s Circle, a yoga instructor, and a retreat leader. I primarily work with millennial women who feel stuck and want to either attract their dream partner, change careers, make more money, and/or become the most confident, radiant versions of themselves.
I play with the science and spiritual “woo woo” sides of healing and manifestation. Oftentimes people can get stuck in the “awareness” stage of talk therapy/coaching. They know what their problem is but they don’t know HOW to fix it – the more they talk about it, the more stuck they get in the problem.
What sets me apart from others is that I take a trauma-informed approach to coaching and I help my clients get to the ROOT of whatever they’re struggling with so they can get past the awareness stage and actually change their lives. This involves understanding how the brain and nervous system work so they can rewire their subconscious beliefs, shift from stress to create empowerment, and feel supported & capable to take action in their lives.
I am really proud of the incredible results my clients get. That’s why I do this – I want people to feel good, live lives they love, and share their own gifts with the world.
If you’re looking for more community & friendship – the Baltimore Women’s Circle meets every other week and we’d love to have you. Anyone who identifies as a woman is welcome to join – we love seeing a variety of ages as it gives us the opportunity to share our wisdom, discover new ways of connecting, and consider who we want to be. Here’s the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/387146106408421/.
If you’re interested in working with me, the best place to connect with me is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelgraham.co/. I work with women 1:1 in my VIP mentorship and in groups. Here is more info: www.rachelgraham.co/aura.
I have a yoga & manifestation retreat coming up in Costa Rica: www.rachelgraham.co/retreat.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risks are a part of life – there is no growth without them. Intentional risks are one of the major keys to creating a life you love. The first big risk I took was after college. I was unhappy at my second marketing job and decided to invest $5K into becoming a life coach – that was a lot for me at the time but I had to bet on myself and the possibility that I could make it as a coach.
The next risk was quitting my marketing job even though I didn’t have any clients. I needed more time to build out my offerings though so I freelanced and taught yoga on the side. When 2020 hit, I lost my main income which was teaching yoga. I was coaching a little here and there but needed help, so I invested in a business coach. This was the biggest & scariest investment thus far – I took the risk though and invested $9K into this coach with no proof that it would work. I made back the investment in a month!
Since that point, I’ve made bigger investments and risked rejection as I put myself out there. I take the risk of no one showing up to my training and events. It’s just part of the process – being in the “arena” as Brene Brown puts it. I don’t take risks just to take them. I make sure they’re intentional and they align with my goals and who I’m choosing to become. I see them now as me just acting as my future self would.
If I remained comfortable and didn’t take risks then I would never create anything new or grow. I’d just keep repeating the same patterns and manifesting the same life & overall results. I love my life but I’m here to do more.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@rachelgraham.co
- Website: www.rachelgraham.co/aura
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelgraham.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/387146106408421/
