You know, deep down, you have the capacity to express yourself more powerfully—if only you could access your untapped creative potential.
You hear a voice that whispers constantly: “who am I to create this? What will my colleagues think? What if I fail?”
You’ve achieved a good degree of professional success. On the outside, everything looks great. Yet, there’s something missing—a sense that you’re not being or expressing who you really are.
As a result, you get stuck in a loop of procrastination. You start strong but can’t finish creative projects, even when you possess all the skills and experience. Perhaps, swamped by fear of judgement, you turn down opportunities—or you stop short of sharing your work publicly, keeping it stashed away on your hard drive.
I know this territory all too well.
As a former academic and university professor who left a secure career to pursue my creative calling, I understand the specific challenges that arise when you’re trying to integrate creativity into an established professional identity.
But here's what I've discovered though my own journey and in supporting other professionals to access their creative power: those doubts and fears aren't obstacles to overcome—when we learn to work with them skilfully, they are portals to transformation.
“The work Rachel and I did together is one of the most impactful milestones of my adult life. I can truly draw a distinct line, a ‘before’ and an ‘after’, of the way I perceive myself and therefore how I act, interpret, respond in and to both myself and the world.”
Sara Riccardi. Art historian; founder and director, Art Across, UK
“Rachel is an undercover soul journeyer. She can very easily speak the languages of the professional world and academia, while at the same time fully valuing the language of all things sacred and mysterious.”
Carolyn E., Educator and artist, USA
I’d love to share with you a story about my own quest for creative integration
About twenty years ago—in the middle of the street on a British midwinter day—I had my first (and only) panic attack.
At the time, I had no idea what it was—just that I thought my chest was going to burst. I felt terrified and completely alone. A kind stranger stayed with me until I’d calmed down, then accompanied me home. Now, I realise those symptoms came from an underlying fear of change: the fear of no longer being able to hide from who I was (and am).
I’d just resigned from a secure lecturing post at the prestigious university I started working at just months earlier.
And I had no idea what would come next.
I was in my 30s and had worked so hard to get to that point, striving for attainment since childhood. I’d submitted a perfect PhD with no corrections, worked two part time teaching jobs while raising a newborn baby, secured a book contract and presented my research at countless academic conferences. Then, I’d gained tenure at the kind of university that people rarely leave because the working conditions are so advantageous.
These were the outward signs of professional success. Yet there was something missing—and I didn’t know what it was. My career as a researcher and teacher had been rewarding up to that point but I had this growing feeling that life was demanding more of me.
My soul was demanding more for me.
So, I resigned.
[Sidenote: as a life strategy, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend such a radical decision (!), though it was the right one for me at that point. The journey to embrace your creative power doesn’t have to involve such massive shifts. It can happen in small steps, incrementally, over time.]
In the years following my departure from academia, stepping more into my full expression involved writing fiction, becoming a published novelist and script writer, mentoring other writers and facilitating workshops and retreats. In 2020, I deepened my creative development still further by embarking on a rigorous coaching training programme, gaining certification as Martha Beck Wayfinder life coach in 2022.
Throughout all this, I’ve stumbled and doubted myself. Frequently.
At times, I’ve hidden from public gaze and shied away from the true impact of what I know I can create—whether through writing, speaking, facilitating or founding my coaching practice.
But for all its uncertainty and discomfort, I’ve found that living this commitment to creativity and authenticity is a hugely more integrated way to be. By ‘integrated’, I mean being able to embrace all the elements of myself: not just the intellectual but the creative, emotional and spiritual—the less comfortable parts, as well as the easeful and joyful ones.
There is discomfort even now. I still hear—almost daily—those whispered, fearful messages: “who am I to create this? What will people think? What if I fail?”
But the transformational gold makes it worth it.
Now, I work every day with professionals, entrepreneurs and creatives across the world—from the USA to South Africa, across Europe to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Australia—who possess incredible gifts that others witness but they can’t see for themselves; who struggle to make themselves visible, which would enable them to offer those gifts to others.
I’ve found work that integrates all my life experience, including my university teaching, academic leadership and being mentor to hundreds of creatives in the craft of writing (for organisations like, amongst others, Cornerstones and The Ruppin Agency Writers’ Studio.).
To this work, I bring real understanding of the challenges that arise when we feel that urgent pull to express—whether in meetings, on a speaking stage or on the page. For three years, I ran a residential writers’ centre for Arvon, where I witnessed each week the fear of the participants who were stepping into the unknown—and, on the other side, the magic of creative transformation that resulted.
It is this blend of insight and personal experience that catalyses my coaching. It means I can support you fully to step into your creativity and expression, so that you experience more of who you are—and deliver what you are here to create.
“I loved my coaching with Rachel. It came at the perfect time; I was feeling lost and low in my creative path after some bruising experiences, and working with Rachel helped me navigate with care and attention through a transitional period and to create a new and meaningful pathway for my creativity. I always ended each session feeling deeply inspired—the laughter and enlightenment during each session was the very best of medicine! The work we did around my ‘Essence’ has been a gift of huge proportions, and I believe will keep on informing and giving for the rest of my days. I feel deepest gratitude and respect for Rachel, and the work we undertook together.”
Author, poet and creative practitioner, UK
“From the moment Rachel and I met online, there was an immediate connection. She was calm, welcoming and created a safe space in her coaching sessions. Her sessions were always insightful as she tuned in to the person in front of her in each moment as it unfolded. Rachel was very intuitive and somehow said exactly what I needed to hear at the time I needed to hear it! She was always fully present. I have no doubt that she will impact the lives of many.”
Musician and educator, United Arab Emirates