From Welfare to Eight Figures: Rachel Peterson's Epic Journey
🎯 In This Episode with Rachel Pedersen, You’ll Discover:
- What it looks like to lead while unraveling behind the scenes
- How burnout can quietly erode success
- Why healing inside marriage is both messy and powerful
- How Rachel rebuilt not just her business, but her identity
đź“ť Episode Summary
In this powerful closing chapter of Grace in the Grind, Jim sits down with Rachel Pedersen to unpack the real cost of building something great while carrying unresolved pain. Rachel shares openly about her CPTSD, bipolar diagnosis, and the public breakdown that led to a new way of leading—from rest, not performance. Together, they explore how faith, safe relationships, and fierce honesty can help you rebuild everything burnout tried to take away.
đź‘‹ About Our Guest
Rachel Pedersen is a Minnesota-based entrepreneur, speaker, and author of Unfiltered. Known for her social media expertise and raw storytelling, she built an eight-figure empire while navigating complex mental health challenges, marriage, and motherhood. Her story is proof that grace and grit can coexist.
đź’ˇ Key Insights from Rachel Pedersen
- Healing Can Happen Mid-Battle – You don’t have to be fully healed to start again.
- Burnout Is a Clue, Not a Curse – When you’re exhausted, it’s time to listen.
- Success Isn’t the Finish Line – What really matters is who you are when the lights are off.
Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://www.rachelpedersen.com
Instagram: @themrspedersen
LinkedIn: Rachel Pedersen
✝️ Faith Connection
Rachel’s story is soaked in grace. This episode reminds us that God doesn’t wait for us to be perfect—He meets us in the middle of the mess.
🎨 Multipassionate Application
For creators, leaders, and visionaries navigating multiple roles, this conversation gives permission to pause, process, and still press forward without losing yourself.
đź’Ş Resilience Corner
Rachel didn’t just bounce back—she redefined what success meant. Her story is a reminder that rebuilding starts with radical honesty and safe community.
🧠Leadership Insight
Performance without inner work leads to burnout. True leadership is built on self-awareness, trust, and the courage to ask for help.
âť“ Reflection Question
What have you been hiding behind your hustle? What would it look like to lead from wholeness instead?
📱 Connect With Us
Instagram: @leadwithjim
Facebook: facebook.com/leadwithjim
Website: www.leadwithjim.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/leadwithjim
🙏 Support the Show
- Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio
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- Join our newsletter → www.leadwithjim.com
Transcript
Welcome to Grace and the Grind, the podcast where we dive deep into the journeys of heart centered and purpose driven leaders and entrepreneurs.
Speaker A:We're here to equip and encourage you on your journey.
Speaker A:So let's get started and find the grace within the grind.
Speaker A:This is Grace in the Grind.
Speaker A:And now your host, Jim Burgoon.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grace in the Grind where we're telling the inspiring story behind the story from some of the most successful entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:And today I am very honored to have a friend of mine on the show.
Speaker B:Rachel Peterson.
Speaker B:Welcome to the show, Jim.
Speaker C:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker C:It's an honor.
Speaker B:So Rachel, why don't we take the next 60 to 90 seconds.
Speaker B:I'm sure the world already knows you, but let's just for the guests who may not know you, what do you do and who are you?
Speaker C:I'm Rachel Peterson.
Speaker C:I'm a Minnesota based mom of three and super grateful wife.
Speaker C:I am a marketer.
Speaker C:I built my business starting 10, 11 years ago.
Speaker C:I'm losing track of time.
Speaker C:Like how many years has it been at this point?
Speaker C:And we have bootstrapped our business to.
Speaker C:We've crossed the eight figure threshold, which is still mind blowing to me.
Speaker C:I'm an author.
Speaker C:You can't see my book, it's right here.
Speaker C:But of the book Unfiltered, which is a USA Today bestseller, which still blows my mind every time I think about it.
Speaker C:But like really and truly, my passion is understanding people, understanding our brains, how we connect, how to communicate with one another, share stories, including our own, and be able to actually move the needle for our business organically.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:And then for you, the listener just let you know everything we mentioned in the show will be in the show notes.
Speaker B:So just make sure you check those out.
Speaker B:So we will link that book.
Speaker B:It is a phenomenal book.
Speaker B:I did read it.
Speaker B:So we will make sure that is linked for you as well.
Speaker B:So let's get the conversation started because you have such a rich story of.
Speaker B: You tell the story back in: Speaker B:So walk us through some of that story.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So let's see.
Speaker C:So the backstory is growing up, my dad was actually a pastor and my mom was the worship leader.
Speaker C:So I grew up on stages.
Speaker C:They would bring me up to do special like solos and little acting bits when the church musicals and things like that.
Speaker C:But my childhood outside of what was like publicly portrayed was pretty messy at home and it was a pretty Tough childhood.
Speaker C:I'll just be super honest.
Speaker C:My parents weren't always super aligned with the things that they shared, and that was.
Speaker C:That was tough.
Speaker C:And so police were in and out of our house, and it was just really difficult.
Speaker C:And so when I turned 18, I just went off the rails and surprise, found out I was going to be a mom.
Speaker C:And I was 20 and I was pregnant.
Speaker C:And once I had Dakota, my oldest daughter, at 21, I realized this is not the relationship I want to end up in.
Speaker C:I'm repeating the same relationship that I grew up in, and this is just.
Speaker C:It's not the right fit for me.
Speaker C:So single mom ended up on welfare and food stamps.
Speaker C:I actually went to school to become a hairstylist, which is why I like to say my hair looks good, because I actually know how to style hair professionally.
Speaker C:Yeah, I became a hairstylist for a few years, but during that time, like, I was pretty lost across the board.
Speaker C:Like, what is my life going to look like?
Speaker C:I was struggling.
Speaker C:I had close to $100,000 in debt from some failed college attempts, from medical bills and from shopping credit cards.
Speaker C:I loved taking out credit cards, and all the stores would give them to me at 18, 19.
Speaker C:And the interest adds up.
Speaker C:And I was like, yeah, my life is just a mess at this point.
Speaker C:And then just about when I was, let's see, 24, I had a friend who said, I want to introduce you to this guy.
Speaker C:And I was like, I'm not really feeling like dating at this point.
Speaker C:And she goes, but we could be sister in laws.
Speaker C:And I was like, okay, now I'm interested.
Speaker C:That could be really fun.
Speaker C:So I went to.
Speaker C:It was actually a Bible study.
Speaker C:And I knew I was being set up with this Latino man named Paul.
Speaker C:He did not know.
Speaker C:So I dressed super cute.
Speaker C:And he was like, as scruffy gets, like the pants from work, like a big oversized sweatshirt, scruffy beard, dirty still from having washed windows all day.
Speaker C:And truth be told, like, it was love at almost first sight.
Speaker C:And so we fell in love.
Speaker C:Week later, we said, I love you.
Speaker C:13 days after we met, we got married.
Speaker C:And I have to say, like, marrying Paul was one of the best things that ever happened in my life because he became just this, like, safe place for me to learn more about who I am and reevaluate my life.
Speaker C:What do I want things to look like?
Speaker C:Am I on track for the dreams I had as a little girl?
Speaker C:And then everything just started to unfold from there in a good way.
Speaker B:So this brings up a couple Layers of questions for you.
Speaker B:So, like the first thing.
Speaker B:All right, so bad home life, growing up, some challenges, debt, all these, you know, bad decisions.
Speaker B:Because we have those.
Speaker B:Where did the self awareness come from?
Speaker B:Because you're like, I knew this wasn't right for my life.
Speaker B:Like, that level of self awareness is not easy to come by.
Speaker C:That is such a good question.
Speaker C:No one's ever asked me that before.
Speaker C:It's weird because I didn't grow up with anybody in my life who had been successful according to, like our industries, all these industries, definition of successful.
Speaker C:And I grew up with lots of like broken marriages in both sides of my family.
Speaker C:Lots of debt, no financial stability.
Speaker C:I will say my.
Speaker C:My papa, my grandpa, but my papa growing up, he was just charming.
Speaker C:He was a math teacher and he would tutor me on math.
Speaker C:And I love math.
Speaker C:Math makes so much sense to my brain.
Speaker C:And he would always go, you know, got this rachi girl you can figure out.
Speaker C:So smart.
Speaker C:And I think he said it enough times that some of that looked at me.
Speaker C:I was a little rebellious.
Speaker C:I still am kind of a rebel.
Speaker C:A lot rebellious back then, kind of always getting in trouble.
Speaker C:And I felt like the whole world was looking at me like I was just this mess up or a statistic or they didn't see the best for me.
Speaker C:And I feel like he was one person who just always believed that for me.
Speaker C:And then I was really obsessed with psychology growing up, so.
Speaker C:So any shows that had anything related to psychology I would watch whether it was like 60 minutes or 48 hours.
Speaker C:Dr.
Speaker C:Phil.
Speaker C:I obsessively watched Dr.
Speaker C:Phil before it became too sensationalized.
Speaker C:And for me it was just fascinating.
Speaker C:Even Oprah had amazing segments with people who had mental illness and people who turned their lives around.
Speaker C:And this is actually so wild.
Speaker C:So growing up, there were a few books on my household shelves that still, I do not understand to this day why we had these books on our shelves.
Speaker C:Because I guarantee you, my parents never read them.
Speaker C:There was one Tony Robbins book.
Speaker C:I think it was Awaken the Giant Within.
Speaker C:Either that or Unleash youh Power.
Speaker C:But it was one of those two.
Speaker C:There was.
Speaker C:I think it was the.
Speaker C:The Millionaire Next Door.
Speaker C:No, it was Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:And then there was like one or two more self help books.
Speaker C:I think one was who Moved My Cheese and then there was one more.
Speaker C:But those books were on our bookshelves and we didn't have a lot of books.
Speaker C:And I never found out how they got there.
Speaker C:And I would ask My parents and they had no clue.
Speaker C:But I almost feel like those books were there for me, if that makes sense.
Speaker C:And I would just, I read those and I was like, so you're telling me you can change things?
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:And so even though it took a decade for those things to sink in and become a reality, I think it got into my brain in a good way.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:For.
Speaker B:Just for starters, those are amazing books.
Speaker B:Who Moved My cheese is one of my all time favorite books, by the way.
Speaker B:I read that regularly.
Speaker B:Yes, it's one of my all time favorites because I grew up in a very tough situation.
Speaker B:It was one of those books that really opened my mind up to things.
Speaker B:So, so this.
Speaker B:So going through the story.
Speaker B:So we're now self aware we have books that are there for you.
Speaker B:You're like in the psychology, all these good things happen.
Speaker B:Then you meet the almost love at first sight.
Speaker B:Paul and.
Speaker B:But this was before you were even a business person.
Speaker B:This is the Rachel who is $100,000 in debt, looking beautiful, but a hot mess underneath this type of person.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So where was the process of getting into that relationship while simultaneously having to find your way into healing to be in a relationship?
Speaker C:I, I did not go into my relationship healed.
Speaker C:I want to be super honest about that.
Speaker C:And if you can avoid it, don't try not to go into relations like a mess and hoping the other person will be there as you heal.
Speaker C:But sometimes life doesn't play out that way.
Speaker C:For me.
Speaker C:I was undiagnosed from several different things.
Speaker C:And then also just like I had cptsd, I.
Speaker C:My walls were a mile and a half high.
Speaker C:I remember there was actually a time even where like my therapist said, rachel, you can't achieve your way out of therapy.
Speaker C:You're like not letting me in at all.
Speaker C:And I was like, what do you mean?
Speaker C:I've done every assignment.
Speaker C:And she's.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's not the point.
Speaker C:I think it's great when you can go into a relationship healed.
Speaker C:And for some people, they almost need the stability of someone to feel safe enough to heal.
Speaker C:And that was the case for me now.
Speaker C:It took a long time.
Speaker C: just about three years ago in: Speaker C:That's where I started to learn about my diagnoses.
Speaker C:And it was messy and it was wild.
Speaker C:And so we were married for almost.
Speaker C:What is that?
Speaker C:That would be eight plus years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we were married for eight plus years before the meltdown and the awareness of okay, there's bipolar, and there's a few other things we're dealing with.
Speaker C:And me finally being open about the really painful things I hadn't faced before.
Speaker C:And the first eight years of marriage were tough.
Speaker C:I love and loved Paul back then, and he loves and loved me back then.
Speaker C:And we were almost sometimes like ships in the night, like, almost on the defensive from one another, dealing with our own insecurities.
Speaker C:And I would say, compared to, like, my childhood, it was a great marriage.
Speaker C:And I still also knew this isn't.
Speaker C:We're not getting to that next level yet.
Speaker C:And then the last three years, the relationship has transformed.
Speaker C:And it happened because of my vulnerability and being able to say, I need help.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I can't do this anymore.
Speaker C:I can't pretend everything's okay and secretly be breaking down in my room or in the closet or in my bathroom.
Speaker C:And Paul, along with my dad, when that was happening, once I finally went offline, they took turns taking shifts, just caretaking me.
Speaker C:I couldn't get out of bed for I actually don't even know how long, and I'm glad I don't know how long.
Speaker C:And I couldn't feed myself or anything.
Speaker C:And there was just like.
Speaker C:I feel like that was what refined our relationship and allowed me to know in my darkest moments, this man isn't leaving.
Speaker C:He's here.
Speaker C:This is rock solid.
Speaker C:I'm safe.
Speaker C:Because now he's seen.
Speaker C:Now I'm totally gonna cry now.
Speaker C:He's seen, like, the deepest, darkest, most embarrassing, most vulnerable sides of me.
Speaker C:And he loves me.
Speaker C:He loves me when I'm not Rachel Peterson.
Speaker C:He loves me when I'm looking my absolute worst.
Speaker C:And it was.
Speaker C:It really depth, created a depth in our relationship and allowed me the safe space to heal.
Speaker C:Really beautiful, but very messy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sounds like a great story.
Speaker B:And brings up another question.
Speaker B:But before I do into the question, my wife and I have been together 25 years.
Speaker B:We've talked about it before the show.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And my wife asked me one time, she said, jim, she says, I have multiple diagnoses.
Speaker B:And we talk about it a lot.
Speaker B:So for the listener, we've done podcasts on it, so you can look us up.
Speaker B:She asked me, she said, why did you stay?
Speaker B:And I told her, I said, because you're worthy to be loved.
Speaker B:Who am I to break a covenant with you because you have a health issue?
Speaker B:Which then comes.
Speaker B:Because she wasn't even diagnosed until 10 years in.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:So similar.
Speaker C:It takes.
Speaker B:Yeah, it does.
Speaker B:What kept you two together during those pre diagnosed stages?
Speaker B:Because That's a lot to go through.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Undiagnosed for sure.
Speaker C:One thing that's really big is that both Paul and I, we don't believe in divorce unless it's an absolute, like, last resort.
Speaker C:So if things become unsafe or super unhealthy, like, I'm talking the most severe situations.
Speaker C:Both of us don't love the concept of divorce if it can, if there's still a chance.
Speaker C:And we did have enough amazing moments that those things carried us through.
Speaker C:And when I say amazing, I'm talking laying in bed and just talking for hours.
Speaker C:The thing that got us through the hard times was also our friendship.
Speaker C:So Paul is truly my best friend.
Speaker C:He is the person I look forward to sharing things with.
Speaker C:I'm so excited to tell him.
Speaker C:We ask each other about life.
Speaker C:He's just my favorite person in this whole world.
Speaker C:And I don't say that lightly.
Speaker C:And he's not perfect and neither am I.
Speaker C:But I love his heart.
Speaker C:And so I think he felt the same way too, about me.
Speaker C:And so it's like, okay, we laugh a lot, we have fun a lot.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We play games, we do all kinds of things.
Speaker C:We've got these incredible kids.
Speaker C:Let's not make a long term decision based on a short term argument or whatever.
Speaker C:But it wasn't easy.
Speaker C:It also wasn't the hardest.
Speaker C:And think because I won't speak to his childhood, but because my childhood was like screaming matches and things being thrown and walls being punched in and people almost dying, it didn't feel that bad.
Speaker C:It was just.
Speaker C:I just feel like it could be.
Speaker B:Yeah, I get that.
Speaker B:Growing up, the way I grew up, I totally get that.
Speaker B:It's not as bad as it could be.
Speaker B:So we're good.
Speaker B:We can make this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So then.
Speaker B:So let's dive some further into the story.
Speaker B:So now you're.
Speaker B:You're in the marriage, you're doing the things.
Speaker B:At what point did you decide to start a business?
Speaker C:Oh, man.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So after we got married, we eloped, by the way, at the Mall of America Chapel of Love.
Speaker C:Thirteen days after meeting, one month into marriage, we're like, we got this.
Speaker C:Let's have a baby.
Speaker B:So you got to do that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So before you jump in the story, did you get married by Elvis?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I was just curious.
Speaker B:I was curious.
Speaker C:I think it was like some lady named Sarah.
Speaker C:So I was a single mom when I met Paul.
Speaker C:And then one month after we got married, we decided to try for a baby, got pregnant immediately.
Speaker C:So by our one year point of marriage, we Already had two kids.
Speaker C:Like, one was together, one was already from the last experience.
Speaker C:And so it was right around the time I was about due with Delilah that a client came in to get her hair done.
Speaker C:And we started talking about business and marketing and stuff.
Speaker C:And before you knew it, she was like, will you do some marketing consulting for us?
Speaker C:My husband owns this franchisor, like, for fast food, fried chicken across the southeast United States.
Speaker C:And I was like, sure.
Speaker C:So I went to their house and I had one rule, and it was, you need to send me a detailed, like, agenda of what you want to talk about.
Speaker C:And I made it sound like that was just my standard.
Speaker C:It was so that I could Google everything before I went over there, because, yeah, I had no clue.
Speaker C:So I just learned everything and got really good at Google and YouTube.
Speaker C:And then they hired me as their marketing consultant and things started to take off from there.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker B:I was gonna ask, I was like, wait a minute.
Speaker B:How did you get marketing experience marketing to a chain?
Speaker B:I was like, this?
Speaker B:And then you Google.
Speaker B:All right, I got you.
Speaker B:I love it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker B:All right, so you started the business, you're marketing, you're a fantastic marketer, and post Google, you, you learn the skill now.
Speaker B:So we see that, the evidence of that.
Speaker B: so fitting because it said in: Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:So here you are, a class marketer in Google, so to help people out, and now you're ready to quit.
Speaker B:What does that look like?
Speaker C: Okay, so: Speaker C:We had actually built the business at that point to, I want to say, 2 million.
Speaker C: until it became full time in: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C: And by: Speaker C:And we had a business partner that was like supposed to take over one of the branches, the client based branch.
Speaker C:And we finally, Paul and I, we were like, let's work on our marriage because we can make it better.
Speaker C:So we went to a relationship retreat and program in Jamaica.
Speaker C:We're like, it's our first vacation.
Speaker C:We're gonna really create some depth in our relationship, work on our issues and stuff.
Speaker C:It's like our second night there, and it was like a five day retreat.
Speaker C:Second night there, we get a text from our business partner, can we talk?
Speaker C:And I'm like, no, don't do this to us.
Speaker C:We finally got space.
Speaker C:And that night he Told us that he was going to go work for our mentor that we hired.
Speaker C:And it was just.
Speaker C:It was like devastating.
Speaker C:But also it pulled us out of the entire retreat.
Speaker C:And we were like, guess we'll work on our marriage in a few more years once we get stable again.
Speaker C:But we had grown.
Speaker C:Each business was at a million dollar run rate, the education side and the client side.
Speaker C:And I was like, I'm not the leader who can do both of these right now.
Speaker C:That's terrifying to me.
Speaker C:I can't handle this much responsibility.
Speaker C:And so we decided to scale back our clients from.
Speaker C:I think we have teen, maybe even more, maybe 25, all the way down to my five that I knew the best.
Speaker C:And I was like, and we'll just do that.
Speaker C:And then we cut like a few products on the education side.
Speaker C:But that was.
Speaker C:That felt like a massive setback.
Speaker C:And I was like depressed about it.
Speaker C:I felt abandoned, I'll be super honest, because we didn't see it coming.
Speaker C:I hate being blindsided so much, as does anyone with any type of ptsd.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And I was just like, I don't know when we're going to have time to sit down and work on us.
Speaker C:So we just went back to work.
Speaker C: of the unraveling that led to: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B: So that, that led to the: Speaker B:That when you're making contacts is the time when you were diagnosed because of the breakdown I got you.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:There were a lot of other things too big final things like cutting off certain family members.
Speaker C:That was really triggering.
Speaker C:But that one event that somebody could literally say, love you so much, brother.
Speaker C:Love you so much, sister, hug you the day before you go, they go, we've got everything.
Speaker C:Don't even worry.
Speaker C:Just relax on your vacation.
Speaker C:And then two days later, everything is like the rug was pulled out.
Speaker C:It just, it was really triggering for me to see that people could be so duplicitous at the.
Speaker C:Your face versus what's actually happening.
Speaker C:That was really freaky for me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:How do you deal with that?
Speaker B:Because this is regular.
Speaker B:Because this is one of the biggest problems I have in our space is.
Speaker B:I think I mentioned it on a post the other day.
Speaker B:I said, you have all these gurus and all these influencers out there screaming authenticity, but they're just so curated.
Speaker B:They're not authentic.
Speaker B:And so how do you deal with that as a.
Speaker B:As not only just an influencer yourself, but as an upand cominging Business person.
Speaker C:So there's a couple layers.
Speaker C:Once again, I feel like layers is the key to this today.
Speaker C:One that's really big is I create all of my content either in real time or with a slight delay if it's vulnerable.
Speaker C:So I'll still write the feeling.
Speaker C: tually looking at, I found my: Speaker C: l and I decided to go through: Speaker C:I feel like this is awful.
Speaker C:And I feel like that's helpful is to always go back and like, mine your real experiences.
Speaker C:But when you just say things that are too high level, I feel like it pulls so much of the experience from your listeners, your viewers.
Speaker C:So instead of saying it was a really hard time, okay, but how.
Speaker C:What was it like?
Speaker C:Where did you cry?
Speaker C:Did you have snot running down your face?
Speaker C:Did you cry so hard that you had puffy eyes the next day and had to cancel all your interviews?
Speaker C:Tell me what the hard looks like.
Speaker C:That's huge.
Speaker C:When it comes to other gurus, I will be super honest.
Speaker C:Like, I.
Speaker C:I am really hesitant about who I let into my, like, innermost circle.
Speaker C:So there are a lot of, like, posses and circles and cliques in this space.
Speaker C:And I used to be a part of a lot of them, and I intentionally am not now.
Speaker C:I have my close friend circle that's really tight here in Minnesota and in the industry.
Speaker C:I have a lot of friends, but very few close friends.
Speaker C:I think I have one close friend that I've been friends with for 10 years, Molly Mahoney.
Speaker C:She actually visited me while I was in inpatient in California.
Speaker C:And our friendship transcends so much.
Speaker C:But the other thing that I think about all the time is everybody has to always do what's best for them, even if it's just their perception of what's best for them.
Speaker C:And I know that's weird, but I think sometimes it's easy to care more about other people and believe what they're sharing, when, truth be told, you ultimately have to make the best decisions for you and your family.
Speaker C:The longevity of the business, your customers and clients.
Speaker C:And sometimes that might mean if a partnership doesn't work, and that's okay, that's business.
Speaker C:Everybody's just doing the best they know how.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:What do you think?
Speaker B:No, that's great.
Speaker B:I love how you're saying that, like, everybody's doing the best they know how to do because I think we Oftentimes have an expectation on people that are well above the people's ability.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we really need to focus on the, hey, what are they actually capable of?
Speaker B:Versus what I'm at, what I'm thinking they're capable of.
Speaker B:So I think that's powerful that what you're saying.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right, so this brings down a couple questions, a little line of shift as we start landing some planes here on.
Speaker B:On the episode, which has been a rich conversation and I appreciate you so much.
Speaker B:So how does Rachel deal with things like burnout or imposter syndrome?
Speaker C:Okay, so we'll start with burnout.
Speaker C:The last three years, I coasted thousand percent.
Speaker C:I felt like I was working a lot, but I wasn't really doing anything.
Speaker C:I played it safe, I played it small.
Speaker C:And people might be like, what?
Speaker C:How is that possible?
Speaker C:You were still everywhere.
Speaker C:No, it's just according to my own, what I know I'm capable of, I played it really small for three years.
Speaker C:I didn't challenge myself to growth.
Speaker C:I literally didn't even write a single goal.
Speaker C:I don't think for myself for years and just played it by ear.
Speaker C:So I think that was like the lasting effects of burnout.
Speaker C:And I had to do that coasting process for a while and be like, let's try to reignite passion by letting passion show up when it's ready.
Speaker C:And it didn't for three years.
Speaker C:And so I was like, okay, I can look at maybe going back to school and getting a doctorate in psychology or something.
Speaker C:Or I could write fantasy fiction.
Speaker C:And I did.
Speaker C:My husband and I wrote a 93,000 word high fantasy fiction book, but I let go of the need to get it back.
Speaker C:And that was when it started to show up.
Speaker C:I was like, what if it never comes back?
Speaker C:What if I just have to show up somehow and not love it and not have fun and not glow and come to life?
Speaker C:What if I just allow that?
Speaker C:And that was really big because that's when it finally did start to come back, when I was not controlling it anymore.
Speaker C:Syndrome.
Speaker C:Oh, gosh, I feel like an imposter all the time.
Speaker C:So if it's not in a particular topic of business, it's as a mom having a kid at 21.
Speaker C:I was done with all having all my kids by 29.
Speaker C:And I feel like I look halfway decently young for being a mom of a high schooler next year.
Speaker C:But a lot of the moms in our district are 10 to 20 years older than me.
Speaker C:And so when I go into those rooms, I Oh, I just feel like an imposter.
Speaker C:I'm like, I am literally a teenager pretending to be an adult.
Speaker C:This is bizarre.
Speaker C:So I experience it there a lot and I'm just like, hold your head high.
Speaker C:No one knows you're experiencing imposter syndrome unless you reveal it.
Speaker C:Just get in there.
Speaker C:Just be yourself.
Speaker C:That's all you can do.
Speaker C:And the same thing is true in business.
Speaker C:Nobody knows if you're having a bad day when you're writing an email unless you tell them.
Speaker C:If you're like, I don't feel qualified to write this email.
Speaker C:Okay, then either go research something that makes you feel qualified, Google it, or just write it anyways.
Speaker C:And if you're wrong, you can always correct it later.
Speaker C:So that helps me a lot.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker B:I appreciate that and I appreciate the conversation.
Speaker B:And as we start to close down some of this conversation, we're coming to the part of the show where we're going to do two things.
Speaker B:I want to.
Speaker B:I want you to share with everybody where you're from.
Speaker B:Like, not where you're from, you said the Minnesota, but how they find you.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker B:And then any type of offer or free gift you want to give.
Speaker B:And then also the wisdom bomb, which are my audience knows.
Speaker B:That's the part where it's hashtag wisdom bomb on Facebook, where it's a portable truth that they can take home.
Speaker B:So let's start with the portable truth first.
Speaker B:Let's start with wisdom bomb.
Speaker B:What is a wisdom bomb you would give to.
Speaker C:Ooh, it's from a quote that I heard and it helps so much.
Speaker C:So if anyone listening gets impatient with the process and how long everything takes, oh, it drives me crazy.
Speaker C:I want everything to happen now.
Speaker C:There was this quote I heard, gosh, like two, three years ago, and it was, the time will pass anyways, and I love that.
Speaker C:So I always think I can either start now and be ready in 1, 2, 3 years or 1, 2, 3 years from now.
Speaker C:I can regret that I didn't start back when I first thought about it because I thought it would take too long and I'd be done by now.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:So I'm a huge fan of just starting and being like, it's going to take some time, but the time will pass anyways.
Speaker C:What else would I be doing?
Speaker C:Scrolling on social.
Speaker C:That helps a lot.
Speaker B:That's really good.
Speaker B:So how can we find you?
Speaker C:You can find me pretty much anywhere online.
Speaker C:If you search for Rachel Peterson, it's all ease in a D in my last name.
Speaker C:I'm at the Mrs.
Speaker C:Peterson on most social and my website is rachelpeterson.com all ease and a D in my last name.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:And just for you guys who are listening, we will link all of that in the show notes so that you can find easy too.
Speaker B:I would highly suggest that you follow her on whatever social that you listen to or watch YouTube and those things.
Speaker B:And with that being said, thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker B:I think it was such a powerful and rich conversation.
Speaker B:Thank you again for it.
Speaker C:Thank you for asking such good questions.
Speaker C:You made me cry, Jim.
Speaker B:That sometimes happens on this show apparently.
Speaker C:I I believe it because I experienced it.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:With that being said, thank you for watching or listening depending upon where you are.
Speaker B:Grace in the Grind where we're telling the stories behind the story of some of the successful entrepreneurs out there.
Speaker B:And with that being said, make sure you take a moment to either follow, subscribe, rate, review, wherever you're listening, do the thing and I'll see you on a future episode.
Speaker A:This has been Grayson the Grind.
Speaker A:We hope you've enjoyed the show.
Speaker A:If you did, make sure to like rate and review and we'll be back soon.
Speaker A:But in the meantime, find us on social media at Lead with Jim.
Speaker A:Take care of yourself and we'll see you next time on Grace in the Grind.
