Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Stuhler.
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always known I wanted to be a writer, but I grew up in a blue-collar family, so I didn’t know if it was achievable. I moved to Los Angeles after college and began working on film crews, starting as a Production Assistant, and then learned to be a Script Supervisor. It was the perfect job for an aspiring writer because I got to break down any prospective script and learn what worked about it and what didn’t. I lucked into a job on a Hallmark film crew and spent three very fun years traveling and making movies.
At the beginning of year two, we began working with John Larroquette, of Night Court fame. I was writing on set and enduring quite a bit of good-natured joking about it (everyone wants to be a writer or a director). Somehow, over the course of the year, I began rewriting lines, and then scenes. At the end of that year, John looked at me and said, “if you think you can do it better yourself, just do it.” So I worked with a dear friend of mine and together we wrote a script that John liked, and suddenly, we weren’t just crew members anymore. We were the writers of the show.
After that, I spent more than ten years writing movies for TV – Hallmark, Lifetime, ION. As I progressed, I also took side jobs ghostwriting autobiographies, which was such a crazy experience, I ended up writing a novel about it!
My world changed in 2017 when I nearly died in childbirth. I was busy promoting a piece of serialized fiction and was approached to write an essay about my childbirth experience. It became one of Cosmopolitan’s top pieces of that year and flipped my life upside down. Women from all over the world began reaching out to me, sharing their own birth trauma. I was underwater at that moment and wasn’t sure what to do with the response. But I wanted to help.
A group of survivors reached out to me and brought me into their fold. I visited Washington, D.C. and began to funnel my efforts into advocacy, in both Congress and at the state level. I’ve been an advocate ever since, and one of my greatest passions now is helping other moms tell their stories.
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?
Any journey has its rough patches. When I first went to Los Angeles, I had nothing. I slept on the floor for a couple of years and ate baby food to survive. But that helped me appreciate everything I earned, knowing it was hard-fought. And Hollywood involves a lot of rejection; had I come from a smoother background, I might have been easily discouraged and walked away. But because I grew up with so much “no,” it became background noise. The world is my obstacle course. I don’t stop looking for ways around things – this doesn’t mean I always end up where I thought I would, but I never give up.
As for my near-miss birthing experience, it did knock me clean out of my head for at least six months, probably more. I was always a little shy before that happened, and though I love writing, I’ve always hated people taking pictures or too much attention focused on me. Once I nearly died, I stopped being afraid of so many things. I still don’t love a lot of attention, but I can turn off the fear.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m most known for writing about close relationships. I find people so complex and fascinating, and yet, we all need the same basic things (though, albeit, sometimes, in very different ways). It’s important to me to represent true relationships and not just the easiest or a most fun way to tell a story. We find ourselves through movies and books, and it not only helps us through our own lives, but in not feeling alone.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Resilience. I am one of those plastic inflatable punching toys that pop right back up. It’s not that I don’t get upset when I fail – it’s devastating to me, just like everyone else. But when I go down, I allow myself to wallow for just a few minutes before I get back up and say, “what now?” The only true failure in life is when you don’t get back up.
Contact Info:
- Website: RachelStuhler.com
- Instagram: RachelStuhler
- Twitter: RachelStuhler
