Here’s what other startup leaders have said about high performance coaching with me…
Working with Rachel was imperative and life-changing to helping me navigate the challenges of startup life so that I could wake up every day with drive and passion.
— Eric, Executive in Los Angeles
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
As an executive for a fast-growing startup, I found myself dealing with immense stress and being pulled in all different areas of the business – especially when scaling with a lean-start-up mentality. Working with Rachel was imperative and life-changing to help me navigate the challenges of a startup—from hiring employees, to strategy, to business development, to fundraising—so that I could wake up every day with drive and passion.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
Rachel helped me develop life-long frameworks and templates to manage my time and priorities both in my work and personal life. She takes a very holistic approach and has the natural curiosity to drive improvement in your life. Things that used to stress me at work turned into non-issues, I was able to rebalance work and personal life and I also upskilled as a manager.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
Rachel has an amazing way of simplifying difficult situations into a straight-forward, easy way to think about things. Problems that I thought were initially overwhelming, evolved into stress-free, trivial issues after Rachel helped me diagnose the situation. She’s so great at re-shifting your mindset and crafting (both verbal and mental) reframes to successfully navigate difficult work and personal situations.
Did you have any hesitations at first?
I was initially hesitant due to the time commitments and financial investment, but after my time with Rachel, I realized it’s beyond merely career advice, but rather, holistic advice that helps you become a leader in all areas of your life.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering high performance coaching?
Try it! Having a third party perspective, especially with a strong coach like Rachel, will only improve your day to day.
Healing shame from the root has completely expanded my tolerance for how good life can be and has profoundly changed my career trajectory. I feel energized, grateful, and abundant in my work these days.
— Hannah, Founder & Consultant in Orlando
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
My work has a high emotional load, and I was panicked that it was getting too heavy for me. I was waking up every day with a sense of dread. At the time, there was a perfect storm with several things pushing my buttons at once. I’d just started a new role, the world was in shambles, and I struggled to end the day with my sanity intact. It felt like all the terrible things happening in the world and in my job were my responsibility and mine alone. I couldn’t escape the anxiety loop or stop hyper-focusing on what more I needed to do.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
Healthy boundaries come pretty naturally to me in my personal life. In working with Rachel, I was able to make the necessary connections and apply the lessons I’ve unpacked in my personal life over the years to my professional life—and to make the much-needed transfer of creating boundaries at work. I stopped worrying that I’d have to leave the field I was in because of the shame I felt, afraid that I was too fragile or sensitive to handle its emotional intensity. My line of work became sustainable. I actually went on to start my own consulting business, which has given me new space and emotional capacity. I’m taking on projects that are aligned with a more heart-centered form of advocacy, working with dream clients, and earning exponentially more than I used while working half the amount of hours. Working with Rachel made this possible. Healing shame from the root has completely changed my understanding of how good life can get, how much capacity I have, and my career trajectory overall.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
Rachel is very, very good at what she does. I really appreciate her ability to make connections in real time, mirror my words back to me, and build trust while challenging me to push past discomfort to find deeper healing.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering high performance coaching?
Your impact is exponentially higher when you’re operating from a place of inner calm and confidence. The biggest compliment has been having colleagues and friends tell me they want to run their careers ‘the Hannah way,’ meaning in integrity and alignment. I’ve actually gone back and worked with Rachel a second time to help me integrate the wild amount of change that’s happened over the last few years as I’ve built my consulting business.I’m so glad I chose not to keep going the way I was, because my new concept of being enough and doing enough at work is of way higher benefit to me, my clients, and the movement we're fighting for.
Rachel called me on my shit. It's night and day in my business after working with her. I now feel more in control, even though I try to control less.
— Aman, founder in Houston
The nature of my business is pretty insane. I've never been anxious, until the past few years. We've been facing nonstop fire drills since 2017, like figure-it-out-or-die. I reached out to Rachel because I had a first class ticket to burnout, and I'm young with a long way to go. I knew that if I didn't change my approach, I wouldn't have as long as I'd like. I also wanted to identify my blind spots as a leader, and put better systems in place internally. We're bootstrapped and had many previous behaviors that didn't scale. It's night and day after working with Rachel. The most valuable thing she did was call me on my sh*t. There were areas where I expected more of my team than I was personally giving, which I cleaned up. I've become a lot more balanced, riding the highs and lows better, and I'm more consistent for my team. I'm 100% better equipped to protect us all from burning out. Counter-intuitively, I feel more in control, even though I try to control less. I highly recommend coaching with Rachel; I think everyone can benefit. Leadership is lonely. Tough and unrelenting situations bring out the worst in anyone, and it's good to have a place to work through that, especially with someone like Rachel, who genuinely cares. We survived another crazy year, and we've nearly doubled our revenue since.
With Rachel's help, I cleared mindset hurdles that used to hold me back from greater growth in my business.
— Kayla, Entrepreneur & Project Expert
What was going on in your life around the time you decided to work with me?
I had recently landed a big contract for my business and was generally experiencing quite a bit of growth and positive change with my work. Because of my heightened responsibilities, I became very aware of my mental roadblocks and how they had held me back in the past. I wanted to clear head space to allow myself to grow and lead my business with confidence.
What happened during the time that we worked together?
Rachel helped me find my truth and my confidence in every challenge I faced, and encouraged me at every step of the way. We’d talk about my challenges and she would listen first, then offer strategies to relieve me of those mental roadblocks.
What was the most valuable part of working together?
I truly felt supported, heard, and validated. Rachel's energy is amazing, I instantly felt at ease and safe to share with her. And, she has a way of listening and then taking action. She is not a passive coach, which is a breath of fresh air!
What results did you get?
After working with Rachel I feel a new sense of calm and confidence. The anxiety I previously experienced no longer manifests in ways that seriously limit me physically or emotionally. And now, if I do feel the anxiety come on, I have tools I can use to mitigate it.
How do you feel now?
I feel stronger, more secure in myself, and ready for my next phase of personal and professional growth.
What would you say to anyone who's thinking about working with me?
If you are ready for big changes, then Rachel is the coach for you. Come prepared to tackle your biggest mental hurdles. She will face them head on and with confidence right along with you. She's truly a partner in your success.
I feel more confident in what I'm doing, even as we grow and things get complicated and complex.
— Zack, Founder in SF
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
The company was heading into something of an inflection point. We were seeing a lot of growth, which is obviously a good thing, but it brings a lot of complications and challenges. And as a first-time founder and entrepreneur, I was going to be facing a lot of things that I was not prepared for yet. I was really starting to feel the pressure with the amount of work that was piling up, and all the new tasks and responsibilities. I was trying to figure out how I could best manage that, especially as somebody who tends to procrastinate and struggles with prioritization.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
I definitely feel more confident in my role and what I'm doing, even as we grow and as things get complicated and complex. And I continue to wade into uncharted waters, but I feel better and more well-equipped, even just emotionally to handle that. I feel less anxiety about the mounting list of things that I have. That list hasn't gone away, but I’m more confident in how I approach it.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
Addressing things head on and being like, what is giving you anxiety? What's distracting you from doing your job the best you can? Then just really digging into that. Sometimes I'll say something as a throwaway and Rachel will be like, whoa, whoa, whoa. We need to pull that out. It’s being willing to dig into the things that I’m worried about and accept that shortcomings don’t make me a bad leader, they’re just things to address or find new systems for. That’s been really, really, really helpful for me. It’s made me a much more calm leader.
What hesitations did you have, if any?
I had a lot of doubt. You know, first and foremost, that we wouldn't be a good fit. It feels a little bit like dating. You’re going to meet this person. Are you going to connect? I was also worried that it would be a time suck. But I’m really glad I gave it a shot.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering high perfromance coaching?
I’ve gained a lot of benefit from doing this that I didn't expect. I think the fact that I’m more calm serves to make everybody feel a little bit more calm, even though I'm not the only one with mounting responsibilities as the company grows. The idea that it's okay to prioritize and not get everything done every day... I think that when a team member sees that I send them an email and say, hey, I'm not going to get to this. I have too many other things to do. That's also license for them to say that too.
I can’t recommend working with Rachel enough. It’s been invaluable.
— Rodrigo, Executive Director in DC
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
Oh, no thank you, I don't want to go back to that time! I'm better in the present. But I mean, at that time, the organization that I worked with was super downstaffed and I was having my own crisis from having too much on my plate. I couldn’t possibly do it all. That was leading to extreme burnout that I couldn't see a way out of because so much of the advice, if you try to read about burnout, is like, “take a break.” But it's like, how do you get there? The same reasons that drove me to this state of burnout in the first place, kept me from being able to see how I could take a break. I wanted to take a break. I just felt like I couldn’t, you know? It was honestly desperation.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
I joked about not wanting to go back to the past because things are so much better now. The biggest thing is understanding that boundaries are worth it and part of the job. It helped me to see that the habits I’d developed that led to burnout, actually served me well during a time of crisis. But once the organization got through that, those habits were no longer relevant. Coaching helped me to realize that it’s okay to slow down now. It’s actually good for the org.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
It’s a luxury to be introspective about work life. You can of course get a therapist; therapy is a great tool. But I felt like there was something missing, because I've done therapy and it helped a lot. But this still is different in that it is focused on work life. We're able to get into the weeds of work in a different way. For example, we would do somatic exercises on what it feels like in that moment when you open your inbox and you see all the unread emails. Examining those micro moments of work life and saying, OK, what can we do to make that different? It hits a different part of the Venn diagram between work and personal. And we could also get into, what does that mean for the organization? What is it like with the other staff? But still through the lens of me and my individual leadership.
What hesitations did you have, if any?
I'd never worked with a coach in this way before. I'd had a management coach, but it was very squarely focused on organizational needs, not my needs as a leader. Initially I didn’t really know what to expect or what to ask for. I realized I could bring topics from traditional management coaching, like issues with my team, and we’d take a more introspective look together to resolve issues for all of us at once.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering high performance coaching?
I just can't recommend working with Rachel enough. It’s been invaluable. It’s really helped me a lot as a leader and frankly, being able to stay in the job. When I started coaching, we talked about - am I going to burn out so much that I just have to suddenly quit because I can't take it anymore? Which is obviously dangerous for the organization. But I thought I was heading there against my will. Now I feel much more confident in the job and that worst case scenario is off the table.
I can't recommend working with Rachel enough. More and more since working together, I feel like the sky's the limit.
— Ruby, Head of Product in New York
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
I was struggling to balance work and life and was looking for support with my growth, solving problems and becoming a better leader.
What happened during the time that we worked together?
So many things! Rachel quickly identified patterns that were holding me back, giving me visibility into how they're hurting my ability to be a confident and capable leader, and in such a compassionate way. She helped me to work through challenges that got right to the core of these patterns, which helped me to become more straightforward at work in a way that my team has loved.
I had truly valuable homework assignments I was excited to do that felt tailored to what I was ready for at a given time, that pushed me to keep exploring and utilize what I was learning.
I learned about new somatic techniques to lean on as I continue this practice, which have been valuable both inside and outside of work.
I also started experiencing regular bursts of inspiration and have felt way more awake to possibility!
What was the most valuable part of working together?
I used to have a very critical and self-limiting mindset. Working with Rachel gave me tools both to self-reflect and clear these thinking patterns, and I now experience myself differently. I have longer and more frequent stretches of feeling self-possessed and ready for anything. I use the tools I learned in coaching on a daily basis to give space to what I’m feeling and it’s been SO FABULOUS.
What results did you get?
I’ve brought more boldness into different spaces at work, improved my communication and cleared out the shame from some old experiences that I’d been hanging onto. I feel more peace around uncomfortable feelings, which allows me to process them and shift back into motivation. I set boundaries with work and save energy for non-work things. I’ve got tools to remain steadfast in my personal development and am so excited for what the future holds.
How do you feel now?
Might sound corny, but I actually feel a little more in tune with the universe - maybe more specifically, more aware of the part of myself that's open to possibility, synchronicity and my ability to allow great things to happen to me. It's definitely a practice for me, because it’s a significant shift, but more and more since working together I feel the sky’s the limit in my career!
What would you say to anyone who's thinking about high performance coaching?
I can't recommend Rachel enough! She is so brilliant, and works quickly and gets right to the root of issues in such a kind and connected way. She has such a vast knowledge of different practices and techniques for working through issues and getting to our truest selves. It was and IS such an awesome experience to have Rachel's support and guidance as I grow!
I believe this work is key to truly succeeding in life. The work [Rachel and I] have done together has changed my life, my family and my business for the best.
— Jiggs, founder in LA
Rachel has provided a really comfortable space to deepen into my true essence. We get to the root of things that I hadn't touched in years in therapy, because of how open and connected I feel in session. It's like talking to myself. I'm exploring the type of CEO, husband and father I want to be, and it's had a big-time impact on my leadership. I'm building self-love and seeing how I used to believe that I can't relax until I've achieved X, or I'm not worthy until the business has done Y. That just isn't true. The journey we're on is spiritual, not superficial, and I believe this work is key to truly succeeding in life. The work we've done together has changed my life, my family and my business for the best.
Rachel offers a really unique blend of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ work. I haven’t found many coaches who can integrate the spiritual with the material like her.
— Lisa, innovation strategist & founder in NY
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
I’d just had my 40th birthday, and I knew that I no longer wanted to be a freelance consultant by the time I was 50. I wanted to transform my work from being project-based into a more self-generating platform where I have more of a voice, but I was trapped in patterns of perfectionism.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
Now I'm pursuing a graduate degree in sustainability, and I started up a project that was accepted to the Harvard Innovation Lab. I'm confidently stepping into the spotlight and unapologetically occupying space. Writing and publishing, once daunting, is now a liberating practice, allowing me to test ideas and connect with people. Rachel's guidance has not only transformed my career but reignited my passion and energy. I am confident in my ability to realize my vision of becoming an expert in sustainability, with a new business model.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
Rachel helped me embrace being in process and to recognize my own value and potential. Through our sessions, I gained tools to channel my authentic self into my work. Rachel empowered me to merge seemingly disparate aspects of myself – the businesswoman and the free spirit. She offers a really unique blend of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ work. I haven’t found many coaches who can integrate the spiritual with the material like her.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering high performance coaching?
Choosing a coach who sees you, allowing vulnerability without the need to perform, is paramount. It's important to find someone who understands how to integrate internal and external work, like Rachel did for me.
I went from being a poster child for hustle culture ... to a state of calm, slowness and flow, even though I still work in a high stress environment.
— Priyanka, product marketing exec
In a year of working with Rachel, I went from being a poster child for hustle culture—do more, work more, sleep when you're dead—to a state of calm, slowness and flow, even though I still work in a high-stress environment. It's not that I don't have stress or I never over-work any more. I do! But I can guide myself back into balance. I think long-term, in season and years of life, rather than in weeks or months, and I prioritize things that align with my vision for the future. This year my family and I moved to a new city for the adventure. I gave a talk at one of the top conferences in my industry. I had plenty of quality time with my kids. I used to feel I had no control over my time! Now I'm present and enjoying my life, or course correcting if I'm not. Rachel 'taught me to fish' rather than handing me solutions, and while it didn't take a year to learn, I kept going because I enjoyed our time. She's a great coach who will accept you as a whole person, but push you where you need. Our sessions were always a highlight in my calendar.
I now think in a more sophisticated way… which has helped me to manage the team, and help us grow.
— Mattias, CTO in Sweden
What inspired you to seek high performance coaching?
I was stepping into a new role at my company and our CEO wanted to support me in that after having had a great experience with leadership coaching himself. We decided to just try it and see if it was useful.
What’s changed since working with Rachel?
I now think in a more sophisticated way about leadership; I take a different angle to the challenges or tasks that I'm facing, which has helped me to manage the team, and help us grow—both me personally, and the company as a whole.
What was the best part about working with Rachel?
It was really easy to open up and feel comfortable and safe with her. She helped me to feel good about myself and the progress with the team, and ultimately to be more satisfied and happy with myself and everything in my life.
What would you say to someone else in your shoes considering coaching?
I would definitely recommend it. There are many tricky situations in leadership that can be overwhelming if you’re on your own, and beyond that, a great coach helps you to realize your potential and broaden your worldview. Working with Rachel helped me to break out of my narrow focus on the tech part and come up with new ideas, too.
With Rachel's help, I was able to... create more room to rest. At the same time, I got promoted. I feel so much happier now—but I got happy first, and the results followed.
— Kristen, marketing exec in SF
Before coaching, I felt like I was on the elevator in that scene in “Elf" where Buddy’s pressing all the buttons. Basically, I was stuck doing busy work and never making it to the “top floor” where work was meaningful. I was burned out, not performing my best and could barely get out of bed in the morning to walk the dog. Coaching with Rachel really changed the way I felt as I showed up for work. We flipped my internal narratives, identified concrete ways I could be more impactful and communicate my value, and released the grip of my to-do list. It used to haunt me constantly, but with Rachel’s help, I was able to put it aside and create more room to rest. At the same time, I got promoted and negotiated for more money. I feel so much happier now—but I got happy first, and the results followed. Recently, I went out for a new role on a dream team and got it. I credit our work for giving me the confidence to do that. The elevator scene is history.
Rachel has a great talent for advising on the complex situations that arise working in technology.
— Matt, founder in the UK
Rachel helped me understand how to maximize the value I get out of my career. She has a great talent for advising on the complex situations that arise working in technology. Her practical process was very enjoyable and useful, and helped deliver on the outcomes we set out to achieve together.
I went from being in very high doubt to feeling grounded and trusting myself, which is such a freakish shift.
— Molly, founder in New York
My big fear in starting a company was always that I'd become a workaholic, but it turns out I can work harder than I ever expected without feeling drained. I can listen to myself and follow my instincts. I used to get tense about little things. Like if someone so much as reported an issue with the app, I'd be frustrated. Now it rolls off my back. It also helps that we cleared some of my limiting beliefs about money. I used to have worries there that I don't even think about any more. I'm really happy that we took such a broad spectrum approach, because I've done work coaching and I've done therapy—but seeing how the patterns are all one in the same, and the energy and blocks are connected, has been amazing. I'm feeling the shifts in other parts of my life. I have so much appreciation for Rachel.
Working with Rachel is absolutely worth the investment!
— Nicci, senior marketing manager in Melbourne
Life is about choices and six months ago I was faced with a choice - install air conditioning in my apartment or engage Rachel as a coach. I chose Rachel and do not regret it for a moment! I am more confident every moment I am at work and I am stepping up more and adding so much value to my company. And I am happy with where I am at. When I started with Rachel, I thought I would end up in a new job , and previously I would have thought the fact that I’m still in my current role is a failure. But the changes I’ve experienced in coaching have been very much about me and how I approach things.
I am bolder, more honest, more authoritative and more discerning with my time. I am a faster writer and I really have a sense of my value now. And this has been noticed with my colleagues and leadership team commenting that I am on fire - and it feels fantastic.