Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Phelps
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My mother is from Aurora/Hoyt Lakes, MN and my dad is from Birmingham, AL but raised in Cleveland, OH. They met as they enrolled at the same community college and just happened to be neighbors. Then my story begins in 1987 in Duluth, MN. It continues on to Jacksonville, Florida and back again. It was a remarkable perspective I had growing up bi-racial. The cultural differences between the two states were palpable and informed how I perceived the world around me.
My childhood was marked by a love of learning and libraries. In the hot Florida summers, I would walk to the corner store for ice cream and popsicles and then in proper Matilda-like style, I would spend hours reading in the lovely air conditioning and bring home wagon loads of books to pour over at home. If I wasn’t reading books, I was getting bronzed in the sun at the apartment complex’s swimming pool. Summers in Duluth were a refreshing escape from the heat and humidity of the south and allowed me to adventure around the woods and lakes savoring the cooler air and pine forest smell of the country. Most importantly though, I got to eat an absurd amount of s’mores during the evening bonfires while being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
As a the first in my family to attend college, I had no direction for what to pursue as a course of study. I decided on majoring in History at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Having no idea what to do with it, I took time off to work and move back to Florida to find out what I wanted to do with my life. After four years of working various jobs in multiple industries, I was ready to move back to Duluth to finish my degree. At the ripe age of 24 and with a 10 month old baby, I went back to school as a low-income, single mom and non-traditional student. It was a wholly different experience the second time around. It was a surreal and proud moment knowing I finally achieved the thing which I had desired for so many years.
Fast forward to the present day. I used my degree to land more jobs, some not so great, others pretty awesome. Each of them provided learning experiences and allowed me to refine my skills, talents, and abilities in diverse ways. Now that I have come full circle from being a student at UMD to working at UMD as a Student Success Coach, I can relate to my students when they feel confused and unsure of their futures. Being able to provide them clarity, confidence, and an active listening ear, helps them feel good about how they want to move forward for their own futures. I am proud to be a Student Success Coach because I wish I would have had someone like me to talk to during those times when college was overwhelming and I felt like I didn’t belonged.
This meaningful work gives me a deep sense of purpose. In my desire to reach a wider audience within my community, I created my own coaching business, Strengths4Life Coaching and Consulting. As a certified strengths-based coach, it brings me great joy to be able to support my students and others in enhancing their quality of life by helping them discover and leverage their talents and strengths to achieve their personal and professional goals. My mission is to have all my students and clients see what is going right with them, to understand what individual success means for them, to appreciate their natural talents, lean into these talents more thoroughly to do what they love to do every day.
When I am not being a coach, I am a mom to two boys Barrett (13) and Esmond (7). I am a big foodie, love agate hunting, playing video games, reading, crochet, hiking, travelling, taking pictures of flowers and landscapes, imagining, dreaming and being at peace. I go to church at Vine and Branches Christian Fellowship which helps ground me spiritually and helps me to be the best person I can be. I have two bunnies, brothers from the same litter, Marshmallow and Cookie.
The End
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been the smoothest of roads and there were many struggles and obstacles to overcome throughout my life. Not going into to too much detail, the main thing I took away from it all was an appreciation for my journey. I learned many things about myself and others which allowed me to develop a stronger sense of identity. The result of these experiences helped me refine my goals, values and passions and, most importantly, my purpose in life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I currently work as a Student Success Coach at University of Minnesota Duluth. I specialize in Strengths-based Coaching with a focus on Mental Health Coaching. I also have my own coaching business called Strengths4Life Coaching and Consulting. I work within the community of Duluth to provide coaching services to various persons and organizations, including non profits and businesses.
I am proud of the fact that I became a small business owner as it had been my goal for over a decade. I am proud that I am a single mother of two boys who, despite the multitudinous challenges, has overcome many things but has still been able to raise them up in a healthy, loving and safe environment. Little by little I am making my dreams become a reality. It proves to me that patient perseverance, resilience and dedication produce the strength to keep going. My deep sense of faith has carried me through the times when I felt I couldn’t carry on and has brought me smiling and joyful through to the other side.
What sets me apart from others is my sense of grace and compassion in knowing that each of us has a unique journey to fulfill. One of my values is being authentic. We all need that one person who shows up as they are, tells it like it is (with love) and who has a deep sense of making a difference in whatever small corner of the world they live in. I would say this is me.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I think we all learned valuable lessons during this time. During Covid-19, my marriage fell apart, my husband abandoned me and our boys and I began the painful process of divorce, in addition to having my second mental breakdown which caused me to to go on FMLA for 12 weeks, take out a loan from a bank just to be able to pay bills, rent and buy food, and try to recover the best I could while also having to teach my kids (3rd grade and preschool) and help them to navigate online learning. I moved back in with my mom at this time. To say I felt like a failure is an understatement. My world was falling apart literally, figuratively and metaphorically. It was a dark time, but the darkest of times can also be the start to the brightest of beginnings and that is what I learned.
Pricing:
- open for discussion
- custom coaching packages available
Contact Info:
- Email: rachel.phelps@strengths4lifellc.com
