We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Bearbower. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.

Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Being burned out is nothing new to nonprofit sector and seven years into founding my nonprofit, I found myself exhausted.

While I wasn’t ready to leave, I knew something needed to change. I decided to take a leave of absence from my role leading the nonprofit organization that I loved, nurtured and poured everything into over the last almost decade of my life.

While taking a leave of absence from any job can feel risky, taking that leave when you have only 2 employees is not something to take lightly.

But, what I decided to do with that time was maybe the biggest risk of them all — I decided to go and hike the 2000+ mile trail from Mexico to Canada known as the Pacific Crest Trail.

I’m the type of person who believes in a high risk, high reward mindset. And the months I spent hiking on the PCT have made me a better human and leader.

Rachel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Rachel Bearbower is the founder and CEO of Small Shop Strategies, a nonprofit consultancy focused on teaching Executive Directors how to detangle their systems, so they can focus their time + energy on building relationships and raising more for their causes.

In just the last 3 years, Rachel has built a community where over a hundred Executive Directors collaborate with other EDs while learning how to boldly fundraise, tell better stories and become even more impactful changemakers.

Rachel has worked with hundreds of organizations and presented to thousands through Bloomerang, Network for Good, We Are For Good, Nonprofit Storytelling Conference and many other organizations.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Rest is not something that is earned or deserved. Rest is an essential part of running a business.

But rest is not valued when you work inside of a nonprofit and I’m on a mission to change that!

I’ve worked with hundreds of Executive Directors who struggle to find the time for everything on their to-do list. As an ED who has been in their shoes, I understand where they are and the emotional load they carry trying to “wear all the hats” and do it all.

Using my experiences as a burned-out ED, I have dedicated my work and business to unlearning the hustle culture and the “at all costs” mentality of working yourself to the bone that was ingrained in the nonprofit sector.

I have created some simple systems to keep myself in check and reclaim more time back in my day. Now I teach those systems to nonprofit changemakers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

🚀 Fun fact – “Rocket engines work entirely from propellant carried within.” You just gotta ignite that fuse, my friend. You’re half way to flyin’!

Here are my two truths:

1 ➜ You must believe in being your own biggest fan, finding the power from within and sometimes , even when it’s hard diffing deep and propelling yourself.

And also….

2 ➜ Being resilient, healing from trauma, and navigating your way over difficult hurdles does not happen in a silo.

You need people around you to connect, inspire, problem solve and create shared experiences.

And this took me a long time to really understand.

We are most resilient when in community.

I strive to surround myself with a community of smart, driven, like-minded women who could hold space for me when I needed it, tell me to get over myself and give me that little confidence boost.

Not sure if it was me or the universe, but I also knew that gathering in-person was going to be a top priority for me this year.

If this feels true for you when you get critical feedback from a manager or board member. Or maybe you don’t quite nail that major ask.

When things get tough, our instinct is to turn inward, put a million pounds of pressure on our shoulders and make ourselves believe that we have to figure things out all on our own.

You also must know that feeling when a problem that felt so big on your own, but after a conversation with a friend, it became so simple to solve…

This is why we gather.

This is why we need community.

This is how we create sustained impact.

You don’t have to do this world-changing work by yourself.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.smallshopstrategies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallshopstrategies/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbearbower/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@smallshopstrategies