Today we’d like to introduce you to Rochelle.
Hi Rochelle, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It’s been a winding road.
At the core, my work is about helping people come home to themselves — at work, in leadership, in spaces that often ask us to be strategic instead of honest.
I mostly work with changemakers — leaders who are exhausted and quietly burning out.
Before launching my company, The RESET, I spent years working in education and nonprofits. I trained environmental educators to talk about race without falling apart. I coached AmeriCorps members leading college access programs for students who looked a lot like me. I spoke to entire campuses — usually white faculty — about privilege, power, and why good intentions aren’t enough. At one point, I supervised a 54-person team and helped students win over $300,000 in scholarships. I learned to hold it all — spreadsheets in one hand, my nervous system in the other.
Eventually, I became certified in the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and that changed everything. It gave me language. A framework. A mirror that told the truth about where we are and how we grow. From there, I started coaching executives at places like H&M and Minnesota Public Radio, helping them have harder conversations, stay present, and lead with more courage.
I’ve designed leadership programs, facilitated healing circles, and created workshops that felt more like ceremonies. One of my favorites was designing content for the World Wildlife Fund — eight sessions where they slowed down, got real, and remembered what they were fighting for.
Now through The RESET, I host leadership retreats, coaching, and group programs for people who are ready to lead differently — with clarity, courage, and rest.
Here’s what I believe:
The mission will never matter more than the people.
Culture truly eats strategy for breakfast.
And burnout isn’t a personal failure — it’s the cost of brilliance in a system that refuses to slow down.
My work is about changing that.
Helping people pause.
Helping leaders tell the truth.
And reminding all of us that liberation isn’t just for after work — it’s how we show up at work, too.
That’s how I got here. And that’s the work I’m committed to now.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. It’s been a bumpy, beautiful mess of a road.
In high school, I thought I had it all figured out. I was going to be an investigative journalist or maybe a documentary filmmaker, the kind who wins Peabodys and changes the world. I was on the local news, interviewing celebrities like Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, even Tim McGraw. It all looked very impressive for a teenager.
And then came the big break: an internship at CBS News. Three weeks in, I quit.
Not because it was hard. I can do hard things. I quit because my soul couldn’t take the superficiality. The soundbites. The rush to cover everything but say nothing. I remember thinking, This can’t be it. There has to be more.
So I pivoted. Studied sociology. Taught English to Burmese refugees. Dreamed of working for a big nonprofit doing “real” work. But this was 2009, and the economy was in freefall. So instead of changing the world, I moved to South Korea to teach English and ended up backpacking around the globe for a year, collecting stories, listening, learning. (And yes, that’s a whole other story.)
When I came back, I landed my dream nonprofit job. Well, technically I was the second choice. Their first pick turned it down. Character-building moment number one. My starting salary? $27,000. And I felt rich. I lived in LA, calculated every dollar, got my dad to co-sign on a $2,000 Honda hatchback, and lived well below my means. I was 24 and thought, This is it. I’m on my way.
I met and married my husband, David. Had my first daughter. And on the very last day of maternity leave, I got the call: our entire department was laid off.
At first, I thought it was a mistake. I had built my identity around that job, traveling the state, delivering climate justice presentations to 90,000 students, training hundreds in advocacy, public speaking, community organizing.
Suddenly I was a brand-new mom, battling postpartum depression, out of work, in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
For the next ten years, I pinballed between leadership roles in higher education, nonprofits, consulting firms. Somewhere in there, I had a miscarriage, devastating and gutting, then had my second daughter, Mae. I was tired. I mean bone-deep tired. Tired of performing, tired of overdelivering, tired of trying to squeeze myself into spaces that weren’t made for people like me.
So I did what tired, soul-searching, truth-telling women have done for centuries. I bet on myself. I started my own consultancy.
In the middle of all that exhaustion, I said yes to a year-long yoga studies immersion. It was the first time in a long time that I got quiet enough to really listen to myself. In a supportive community, I tapped into my heart’s deepest longing. And what surfaced surprised me: I finally admitted to myself that I’m bisexual. It was liberating and painful all at once. Coming out to myself, and then to David, required a level of honesty I had never practiced before. But we’re a truer version of ourselves because of it.
And here’s the part I can’t leave out. I live four blocks from where George Floyd was murdered. I watched my city burn in 2020, and I live daily with the reminder that the work of protecting Black lives is unfinished, urgent, and personal.
The road has not been smooth. It’s been heartbreak and miracles, wrong turns and small wins. But every stumble taught me how to build something more honest, work that centers rest, liberation, and the radical belief that we deserve to come home to ourselves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Reset?
The Reset is a space where leaders remember who they are — beyond the urgency, the emails, the endless to-do lists. We exist to disrupt the burnout cycle and offer something far more radical: a return to your body, your values, your own steady rhythm.
Our signature program, The Reset Lab, is an intimate, transformative experience for small groups (up to 10 people) or leadership teams. It is not another workshop to squeeze onto an already overflowing calendar. It is a living, breathing process that prioritizes transformation over information. In a world that demands speed and perfection, The Reset Lab invites leaders to move at the pace of their nervous systems, not the urgency of the world.
At the heart of our work is the R.E.S.E.T. Method, a compassionate framework that guides participants through five key practices:
• Rest & Recharge — Because before you can change anything outside, you have to hear yourself again inside.
• Explore Your Values — A return to the question: Does this even feel like mine?
• Simplify Your Life — Clearing the physical, digital, and emotional clutter that fogs your clarity.
• Embrace Boundaries — Moving at the speed of trust, honoring the wisdom of your body and your limits.
• Tell the Truth — The truth you have been too polite, too scared, or too exhausted to name, spoken not to harm, but to heal.
This is not a checklist. It is a compass. A way of remembering yourself, again and again.
We specialize in working with brilliant, burnt-out leaders who have been holding everything together for far too long. Through a blend of somatic practices, deep reflection, and real dialogue, we help you move from reaction to choice, from survival to sustainable leadership.
In addition to The Reset Lab, we also offer 1:1 Reset Coaching, for those who prefer a more personalized, private space to explore these practices and reclaim their own rhythm and aliveness.
What sets us apart? We believe rest is not a luxury. It is strategy. We believe truth is not optional. It is liberation. And we believe that leaders who are deeply connected to themselves create workplaces, families, and communities that are healthier, more just, and more alive.
What we are most proud of is simple: every participant who has told us, “I finally feel like myself again.”
You do not have to wait for the perfect time to reset. You do not have to earn it. The time is now.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
When it comes to networking and finding mentors, my best advice is: Do not be afraid to look like an amateur. In fact, hold onto that beginner’s mind for as long as you can. Curiosity, humility, and openness are your greatest assets — not your polished resume or perfect elevator pitch.
We live in a world that pressures us to know everything, to have it all figured out. But the truth is, the most transformative connections I have made — the ones that shifted my career and my life — happened because I was willing to ask real questions, to not pretend I knew more than I did, to stay open to learning.
Beginner’s mind is powerful. It keeps you honest. It keeps you humble. It keeps you human.
That said, I’ve also learned (sometimes the hard way) that you need to be careful whose advice you take. Not every opinion is worthy of shaping your path. If someone is burnt out, moving through life in fear or scarcity, or projecting their own limitations onto you, their advice may have more to do with their own wounds than with your potential.
When you are seeking mentors or building a network, pay attention to the energy behind the words. Does this person seem grounded? Are they aligned with the kind of life you want to create — not just professionally, but personally, spiritually, emotionally? Are they moving through the world with integrity, spaciousness, and joy? If not, be cautious.
What has worked well for me is leading with sincerity. I approach people not because I want something from them, but because I am genuinely curious about how they live, how they lead, how they stay true to themselves. The best relationships are built from mutual respect, not transactional exchanges.
So if you’re looking to grow your network or find a mentor, start by getting clear on who you are becoming — and seek out people who embody that. And do not be afraid to look new. Fresh eyes see things the experts sometimes miss.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rochelleym.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royomompls/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochelleyounanmontgomery/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keVxb7IU–s
- Other: www.rochelleym.com/theresetlab
