We recently connected with Rachel Kelly and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, appreciate you joining us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

The best investment I ever made in my coaching business was hiring my mentor. My mentor not only took me on my own deep healing journey but she taught me a powerful healing method that helps to truly rewire the nervous system, reparent your inner child and process deep stored childhood pain that I now use with all my clients. When building a business from a trauma informed way, it is essential to invest in the right type of support in order for you to feel safe to expand. I’m so grateful I took a leap of faith and hired my mentor as the more I heal and expand, the more I’m able to help my clients to do the same.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hello! I am Rachel Kelly, founder of Rachel Kelly Coaching, a business that helps individuals heal their nervous system, process stored trauma, build internal safety and expand in order to create their dream lives! My background is in Clinical Social Work. I got my Masters in NYC and then worked in the traditional therapy field for 7 years. I moved to San Diego CA in August of 2019 as my soul was calling to live by the beach and that is where I quit my last two therapy jobs, burned my licensure papers and decided to pivot into the online coaching world. Ever since, I have been happier than ever working for myself and getting to help my clients in a way that feels truly effective and aligned.

I have a variety of different services starting with my signature 1:1 deep healing program INSIGHT which consists of weekly sessions and daily messaging support. I also run a group specifically for women who struggle with anxious attachment called Come Home To Yourself. Lastly, I run a men’s healing group with my co-leader Anna called Real Men Heal. In all these programs, the focus is on processing stored pain somatically out of the body and helping to rewire the nervous system so you can get out of survival mode and into safety and expansion! My business was largely inspired from my own deep healing journey where I learned that talk therapy only took me so far as I was still stuck with chronic anxiety. This is because we can’t talk the trauma out of us we have to feel it to heal it!

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot of my career was leaving the traditional therapy field and starting my online coaching business. I was overworked, underpaid and working in a highly traumatized system. I gained a lot of valuable experience and learned a lot but ultimately I felt burnt out, resentful and knew that my plan to start a private practice to create more freedom still felt limiting to me. I then discovered the online coaching world, hired a mentor and ultimately decided to leave behind my “original plan” of getting my LCSW and doing private practice.

I burned my licensure papers I had been collecting for years and fully committed to Rachel Kelly Coaching where I’m able to create a lifestyle that feels much more aligned while also helping my clients in a way that feels more authentic and aligned.

I also made a huge pivot in life when I left everyone I knew, including my family and closest friends, in NY where I’m from originally to move to San Diego, CA. This move was terrifying and also one of the best decisions I ever made. My goal is to eventually create a bicoastal lifestyle where I live in NY part of the year and CA the rest.

Leaving my traditional therapy jobs, burning my licensure papers and moving cross country were the most scary decisions Ive ever made but the most worthwhile. Truly a dream come true!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have built my audience on social media by showing up as my most authentic self, showing up consistently and sharing what feels most aligned from my heart. We get so caught up in pleasing the algorithm on Instagram and all the external numbers but when you refocus on your WHY and hold the faith, you attract followers that truly appreciate you for who you are. I love how I’m able to connect deeply with my online community and share free support that helps people on their healing journeys.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rachelkellycoaching.com
• Instagram: @Rachel_Kelly_Coaching
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.kelly.334/

Image Credits
Photos taken by photographer Dee Martinez @dee_martinezzz