We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Onojafe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.
Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?
Maybe you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a 9-5 like I was? I, like so many of my clients, started my business because I was totally disillusioned with the Corporate world. I had this deep desire to find my purpose and I knew I was meant for more than clocking in and clocking out to a job that I didn’t love.
I remember reading the book The Big Leap and realising that in Corporate, as a tech management consultant, I was operating in my “zone of excellence” NOT my “zone of genius”. I know MANY people are in this same boat. Floating through their corporate careers feeling unfulfilled and burned out.
It’s GOT TO STOP.
Here is the primary thing I think Corporate America gets wrong…it tells people they need to be HOMOGENOUS to succeed. It tells them there’s ONE way to be and one way to act and one route to the top. It smothers their unique personality and erases identity so that we all start blending into each other, acting and thinking like a middle-aged white man.
I’m here for the unicorns out there. I’m here for the people that value their uniqueness, that are proud of their strengths and realise they don’t need to change or ‘fix’ anything about themselves to be successful…they just need to learn to amplify their power. What Astrology and Human Design have gifted me, is a deep love and respect for the things that make us unique. It’s given me a language to be able to SEE the beauty in you and the beauty in me and to know we’re not the same but we have something so valuable and so incredible that can support others.
I love personal development and the coaching industry I work in. AND, it’s time for a revolution in how we see and treat people. Not all business strategies work for everyone. Not all communication styles are the same. Not all leaders lead the same way. Corporate America doesn’t know how to honour the unicorn within you…but you can!
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 back background and context?
So great to meet you! I call all my people “cosmic explorers” and maybe you are too? That’s essentially what I do, explore identity and life purpose through the cosmic systems & wisdom. How does one describe themselves in a few paragraphs?! I’d rather give you my Astrology birth chart to dissect but that’s only one piece of the puzzle…I’m also mom of a toddler, a first born daughter, an expat living abroad in England, an avid SFF book reader (hello fellow ACOTAR girlies!), a lover of history, an incredibly ambitious business founder, a party-hoster, a cat mom and a Beyonce fan forever.
I’m an Astrologer, Identity Coach and Queen Activator known for my unique approach to leadership and growth. I use Astrology and Human Design to help ambitious people be truly seen in the world and to make BIG moves in alignment. I’m the founder of COSMIC QUEEN and the Cosmic Coach Academy where I train and certify coaches in cosmic systems of empowerment.
In my work and life, I stand for being radically YOU, the magnetic being that came here for a reason to live life on YOUR terms. My work is all about identity, courage and leadership. I believe we’re in the middle of a massive cultural identity crisis that is only getting worse through performative mediums like social media…don’t get me wrong, I LOVE social media and use it daily to connect to my people and share my content/offers…but I also see the damage that showing up without doing deep identity work can do. People don’t know who they are and they’re trying to BE someone special rather than realising they already are that incredible UNICORN.
If you’re skeptical of Astrology & Human Design, no worries, this may not be for you! But if you’re interested to explore more, I encourage you to dive in and learn more about yourself from an empowering practitioner. You are more than your birthchart and your birthchart can help to reveal the bigness, the magic of you and your purpose!
The Cosmic Queen motto is and always will be: “Reach for the stars.” It’s time to realise you are one.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons I had to learn in my business journey so far has been that I DO NOT have to do it all alone. I’ve got that ‘rugged individualist’ gene in me. I am at home with the struggle, I thrive on pressure and I’ll always deliver better quality work when I am nervous or anxious about the outcome. That might be great when giving a Ted Talk but…not a good state to operate in when you’re a busy mom with a business, trying to grow things daily!
I’m still on that journey but laying down the struggle has been a massive piece of the puzzle for me since the birth of my son in 2020. The first 1-2 years I was in constant survival mode. After a traumatic birth experience and difficulty breastfeeding which meant I was pumping AND breast-feeding every 3 hours for 9 months…your girl needed a BREAK! But I didn’t give myself one. I wanted to be superwoman. I wanted to ‘do it right’.
18 months on from that, I’m wiser now. I look back and realise that I did not have to do it alone. I regret not getting support in my business and with childcare sooner but at least I can now talk about this and support other moms out there with big ambitions! It’s so easy for us to ignore our needs, to power through. But maybe true power is in HONOURING our needs, in building the team and the village we dream of. My incredible Online Business Manager is such a gift! We are a dream team building Cosmic Queen to new heights together! This lesson in support has helped me build the foundation for our next quantum leap in business and I’m so grateful I slowed down enough to receive it.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Building reputation in your market is so key and it’s the thing that gets me so EXCITED when working with my clients! I specialise in brand and marketing using Astrology & Human Design because it WORKS. We each have a unique gift and energy that attracts our ideal clients to us. In Astrology, you want to look at the Midheaven point (also called the MC) to see what your particular leadership style and attraction energy is in your career!
Here’s how I used my Midheaven to grow my reputation within my coaching and personal growth industry:
1. I recognised that the MAIN reason people are attracted to my work is because it ACTIVATES them. My Midheaven is a fire sign (Sagittarius) and fire sign leaders are very magnetic when they are motivating people to take courageous action! The more I shared motivational and action-oriented content and shared my personal stories about the same, the more people were attracted to my work and brand.
2. I used my gift for teaching and amplified it by offering group courses and certifications. Sagittarius is a sign known for being the explorer, the teacher, the adventurer. In my Cosmic Leadership Archetypes that I developed (Sag Midheavens should create their own teaching tools and frameworks!), I call Sagittarius Midheaven “The Guide”. So I started to EMBODY my own archetype intentionally in my work. I already do this naturally but when I truly owned my teaching and mentoring natural gifts, I started getting clients! Discover your own Midheaven gifts and archetype and lean into it to attract your ideal audience.
3. Whenever I tell stories from my own life or my clients’, it helps to make my work and results more REAL. Everyone makes big claims these days online. So it’s essential to build TRUST with your community. They need to feel you heart, to know you are real. Nothing does that better than storytelling. Storytelling is a skill it’s important to nurture and I’ve found that people really feel connected to me and my work when I share the deeper meaning and what happens behind the scenes.
The days of cookie cutter business-building are gone. Now people value integrity, realness, authenticity. They want to feel you, they want to know you are passionate about what you do and that you embody what you teach. I encourage you to explore your own Cosmic Leadership Archetype by learning about the sign of your Midheaven in Astrology. You might discover a talent you didn’t realise you had! The more you amplify this talent, the more you will build your reputation in a positive and lasting way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cosmicqueenhq.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmicqueenhq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelonojafecoaching/?ref=page_internal
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@cosmicqueenhq
- TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@cosmicqueenhq
Image Credits
Weddings by Nicola & Glenn, Anita Jimenez Soler