We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Elery a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
Like all good rebel stories begin, I started my career in traditional healthcare working as an Occupational Therapist. I graduated with my Master’s Degree in 2016 and practiced for 3.5 years until right before Covid made its way into the picture. I had worked in all settings: outpatient, inpatient, acute care, long-term care — I’d seen it all, and decided early-on that it was not what I saw myself doing for the duration of my life.
I ended up taking a temporary job at OrangeTheory after abruptly quitting my job, working as a fitness instructor with years under my belt as a Crossfit competitor and coach at my local gyms. As soon as I found my rhythm there, I got furloughed. What started as 2 weeks ended up being nearly 8 months. During that time, it was hard to wrap my mind around the whirlwind of the previous year; first, quitting my job and then being forced into unemployment by an epidemic virus spreading across the country. Strange times, indeed.
As the pace of life started to normalize, I realized I had some serious soul searching to do. I wasn’t sure where I’d go next with my career, or what I wanted to do. Long story short, I ended up packing up my life to what I could fit in my Jeep and moving to Colorado for an opportunity to work with adaptive populations in the gym. I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between discharge and living life for those with neurodegenerative or neuro-specific diagnoses such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, post CVA/stroke, etc. Unfortunately, with the lasting impacts of Covid still weighing heavily on American’s and specifically on immuno-compromised populations, this venture didn’t turn out to be what I’d envisioned it to be with barriers in perception of safety as well as insurance red tape.
Surviving financially in Denver was my next brainstorm. My rent just nearly tripled from what it was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I had the linger of 120,000 dollars in student loan debt still knocking on my door. So what did I do? Started my own business. Why? Because there was no other option but to do things my way once I realized I couldn’t go back to complying with ways of operation that I didn’t think were helping people to the best of ability. I got certified as a Nutritionist and started blending my skills I’d learned about behavior modification and habits/change as well as goal-setting as an OT, and started working with people on developing healthy lifestyles that led them closer to how they wanted to look and feel. I’m now 3 years in and have worked with over 250 people, and I absolutely love what I do. It is challenging, rewarding, forever evolving and necessary. I get to help people the way I think serves them best, and the results show for it. Happy insides lead to happy outsides.
To further my ventures as an entrepreneur, I am the co-founder of a biotech start-up company focused on tailoring health to individuals across the country through personal genetics, lab markers and lifestyle insights. We design personalized supplementation and reports for health optimization. I am super excited to pursue this venture and hit the ground running within the next year or two!
You ask — are you happy I ended up where I did for my first job. Absolutely. I learned about the importance of health from getting a direct, hands-on, inside look. I also saw where things fall through the cracks and couldn’t unsee it. When you can’t unsee the truth, you make hard choices. But my hard choice didn’t feel hard: it felt right. And when something feels right, I’m willing to stand on the front-lines in advocacy and doing what I believe is.
Sometimes I don’t know how I ended up here. It’s like I blinked and woke up in a space I can’t imagine not being in, yet the route in getting here happened through a bunch of messy, non-calculated trials and errors. It hasn’t been an easy road but it was and is the only one I want to ever be on.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
If I’m completely honest, I got into healthcare because everyone else in my sphere told me to. Like most 17 year olds, I hadn’t a single clue what I wanted to do when I grew up. In an attempt to figure it out, I let everyone else make decisions about what I’d be good at for me. First, my father. Then my college advisor. I desperately sought out help as everyone was choosing majors and career paths so confidently, feeling like I was on an island and never got the memo that I was supposed to have it all figured out by now. She mentioned the career field of Occupational Therapy because in our conversation, she highlighted that I had a heart for serving others and I wanted to be in the medical field (thanks dad for nominating job security as the most important factor of finding a job).
So I followed the path. I took the classes, got into school, and walked the road that led to graduation and completion. I checked the boxes and did the “next thing” until there wasn’t any more “nexts” except work the job. I talked about my journey a bit in the previous question, but I landed here almost 9 years later as an entrepreneur who couldn’t imagine going back into a traditional career setting. I love growing and learning and stretching my abilities. And I love helping people the way I believe is most impactful with no red tape.
Currently, I offer nutrition and lifestyle coaching that focuses specifically on learning how to align expectations with reality; we cannot stay the same and expect to go somewhere new. My goal is to help people recognize what keeps them from being where they want to be and help them develop an actionable plan to move closer towards where they want to go. It is a completely individualized process designed to help people achieve results that enable living healthier, confident and empowered lives.
Most people don’t actually know what they want. They want a result – but they don’t understand what it will require in order to have that result. I always say, the solutions are simple; but they aren’t easy. My job is to help people identify what their values and priorities are in relation to their health and their goals because these changes happen from the inside out. You have to change how you think, how you act, and how you live if you want to grow into an evolved version of self. It’s a big ask – and I don’t think people understand that that’s what’s happening when they’re asking how to live healthier lifestyles. The changes that often need to happen aren’t small – and it takes a while for people to understand that.
What sets me apart from others is walking the talk myself. I do what I tell my clients to do. I trust and believe in my ability to get people what they want: if they do the work. I believe I am an example of the work – and live my life to a standard that strikes balance and enjoyment, but also discipline and routine. It is very important to me to lead with education and make sure that my clients understand why we are doing what we are, and to be able to wrap their arms around the bigger picture of it all: which is to live freely. I don’t think a lot of people view their quality of health as freedom. I believe many look at it as burdensome….restrictive….not fun….or obsessive if you are invested in optimizing it. And I believe that’s a shame. Coming from a girl who never passes up a good cookie and has an ice cream bar everyday, my pursuit is to show people they really can have it all.
I am most proud of myself for never giving up. I *semi* quit my business 3 times in the first year and if I’m honest, I don’t know why I started again. But I’m so glad I did because I can’t imagine this not being what I do for a living. I absolutely love it and look forward to continuing to learn and grow as a professional in this space.
Something that is really important to me is to make sure that my clients feel leveled with. I am not above – I am looking eye to eye, providing insight that I know because I’ve walked the same roads. I didn’t learn what I know from diving into textbook after textbook. I learned from doing a lot of things the hard way. Now, I want to save people the time and the headache while also giving them the support and accountability they need to make changes that are difficult and uncomfortable. It’s a very vulnerable process to let someone into – and I don’t take it lightly. I think my clients really feel that and know I will always put what is best for them before anything else.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Listening. All people want the same things: to be seen, heard, and understood.
People come to me with their deepest pains wrapped around their body, their trauma and their experiences — putting their trust in me to give them the answers they’ve been looking for as to why they aren’t where they want to be or why they’re not happier with how they look or feel.
I’ve learned that listening and developing a plan with my clients, making sure that we are all on the same page, is far more impactful than me simply telling them what to do and how to live. Work with and alongside, not above.
I also think building trust with my clients is extremely important. This is one of the most vulnerable things someone can invest in: sharing their pain, weaknesses, indulgences, and essentially, their perceived flaws and insecurities with you. People need to know that I am a safe place to share with, and that I am using all of this information to help them – never for harm, shame or guilt.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Personal experiences and results.
I have built my business off of referrals solely. I have not done any outsourced marketing or anything other than my personal social media to highlight my business, which is incredible. With great gratitude, I have been recommended by happy clients who achieved amazing outcomes in our work together and given others hope that it, too, can work for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.relery.com
- Instagram: relery
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelelery/
