IAM1685 – CEO Promotes Personal Growth and Self Improvement

Rachael Reed Teaser 00:00

Be able to walk in your purpose you have to be able to connect your own dots. You have to be able to align with who you are and who you want to become in order to walk in who you're meant to be.

Intro: Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you are in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:40

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast, and I appreciate you listening to this episode. And if you've been listening this year, we're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes under certain categories or topics that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

This month is going to be about not forgetting about the human part of business. Often we forget about the. Part of life, we often forget about the human part of business. So look forward, self-care attempts, fitness, burnout, purpose, biz and personal, personal branding, motivation, drive, success, understanding your why, and of course how important customer service is.

But at the heart of it, it's all about remembering the human part of business. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Rachael Reed of rachaelreed.com. Rachael, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Rachael Reed 01:37

Thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate it.

Gresham Harkless 01:39

No problem. I'm super excited to have you on as well. And before we jumped in, I wanted to read a little bit more about Rachael so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Rachel is a self-published author of 34 books, the CEO of several businesses that empower and promote personal growth and self-improvement.

Her roles include being the owner and creator of the Rachael Reed podcast, owner and CEO of Goddess by Rachael Reed clothing line and Goddess Lifestyle that encourages and promotes female empowerment and self-love in being a motivational speaker and Personal Life Liver who teaches others how to live life authentically.

Rachael is great to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Rachael Reed 02:16

I am. Let's rock.

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Gresham Harkless 02:17

Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more on what I call your CEO story. What led you to let you get started with your business.

Rachael Reed 02:24

My CEO story, well, my initial business, my first business that I started was thinkbigdreambig.org which is my baby because it was the gate opener for me.

It started with me growing up, having a troubled lifestyle. Growing up, I was kicked outta school, I had toxic relationships and abusive relationships. I used to get in trouble all the time. It was court appearance after court appearance, bond hearings, it was so much going on in my life.

I really didn't see any way to turn it around. But my mom used to always say, one day you're gonna tell your story, even if you change one person's life, if you have one person, you are gonna tell your story. And, at that time I'm like, what is she talking about? Like, who could I help? Like, I can't even help myself

So it had gotten to the point of me literally going through so much for so many years and ending up in federal prison. That was like rock bottom for me. And after coming home, it still took a few years after that and it was like I was just hitting brick wall after brick wall, and it was just like something has to give, like I have to change something. I have to do something. But I didn't know how to go about doing that, so I just started researching stuff about literally how to change. How do you change your life? What can help me change my life? What can I do for myself to help me change my life?

And the more I started to research stuff, the more stuff started to find me, which is why I love the saying, what you seek is seeking you. Because it was like stuff just start uncovering itself and it was like, wow. Then it was just like I started getting overloaded with everything and getting excited.

It was like, I know if I'm looking for this stuff, somebody else has to be looking for this stuff the same way I was looking for it. So it started. That's where it started. Cause it was kind of like, I started doing the books and the courses and one thing led to another and then everything just transitioned.

And I tried to line everything up with my own personal story as the Think big, dream big just was kind of like, just like your thoughts, create your reality because I had no idea that this was the case because they never teach us this. And it was kind of like something as small as me falling asleep with the TV on.

And, subconsciously hearing Happy by Pharrell while I'm asleep. And I woke up and was like, I'm gonna be happy. But I didn't know what was going on until I started researching what had happened. So it was that, and then I started transitioning from the abusive, mentally abusive and all kinds of relationships to self-love.

I started directing everything and aligning everything to help everybody with every issue that I had growing up and every issue that I had as an adult because I started late in life and it's really no time better than the present time. Like if you decide today, this is not how my life is gonna end, this is a day that you can start on a new page, page one. So that's how I initially started all my businesses and then it went from the courses to the clothing line because then I started walking more into my power, I started getting to my goddess energy.

And then the podcast was because I never really talked about things that were going on with me. So I had a lot of inside stories that nobody really knew about, other than the people that were really close to me because I never had the need to explain myself, I never gave my side of the story.

So now I can finally feel comfortable within myself that I can tell people everything they might always want to know. So that's how everything just started to align. I just stepped into my power and I never look back.

Gresham Harkless 06:11

That's an extremely powerful statement, stepping into your power and I appreciate you for telling your story and, being open.

Rachael Reed 06:17

Yeah. Because I never saw a clear path, I knew where I wanted to go, but I was like, how do I get there? You don't know. How do you get there? I never imagined I would even be at one point in time in my life, I might as well just give up because I don't see how I can get from here to here.

But it's the point of you have to truly keep going. So that was the kind of like, I didn't know anything about writing books, but it was like me extending my hand; I'm not all the way up, but I'm just gonna reach my hand back and help somebody because I know that feeling. I know what that feels like.

Gresham Harkless 06:55

Yeah, absolutely. And so you touched on your podcast and your books. Were there any other kind of aspects of the empire of your businesses that you wanted to let us know about and how you serve the clients you work with?

Rachael Reed 07:03

I do the courses because everybody has their own way of learning. I'm more auditory, but the courses were so you can do things on your own time and like some people may be embarrassed about things that may be going on in their life. So if you can sit where you need to be in your own space and focus on that.

And then I have published books that I published myself on amazon and Barnes and Noble. They're all also on my website. Think Big, Dream Big. I stay in this territory because I like to learn. So this is kind of like, as I learn, I want to teach others the same thing I'm learning.

Everybody has a different story, so everybody might not resonate with this teacher, but they might see my story and be in the same situation and I can relate to her. And then it just goes from there where they can feel comfortable because some things you people just don't wanna talk about.

I didn't want to go around the things I was going through. I didn't have anybody to talk to her except I had to hold it in because it's like being looked at as the outcast and the troublemaker and everything else. How do you go up to somebody and say, Hey, can you help me? Can you point me in the direction to get my life on the path? Now I had people along my journey. They were actually trying to guide me on the right path and had kind words.

And I'll never forget those people to this day because they had something that still is within me today. And I still remember it. It's like everything pieced together after. I started realizing why everything was the way it was because everything fits together. But you don't know if it's fitting together at the time. Yeah.  You just don't know what's happening.

Gresham Harkless 08:57

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce.

And this could be for you personally or your businesses, but what do you feel sets you apart and makes you unique?

Rachael Reed 09:05

What has always set me apart, is my ability to stand firm in exactly who I was now, then before I would get offended because you're not gonna tell me who I am, I know who I am, but it was more angry.

But the more I wouldn't shift, the more people decided, Hey, this is just who she is. So it never, even if I had to stand by myself, I never swayed away from who I was. I knew I was who I was. I just didn't know the full totality of who I was. But it was kind of like, I just knew. I was important to myself, whether I was important to you, whether you wanna talk about how much of a troublemaker I am, how much bad I've done, I know who I am. But that comes from me not expressing myself. Now I can express myself so everybody gets the full scope, it's more appreciated now because I never swayed from who I was, the good, bad, or the ugly. It's like I walk in every inch of it every inch of it.

Yeah, I want you to know exactly how I got to this point because it wasn't an easy road. If you see me now, you and I are just out having the time of my life, it was not always like that. So it's like, when I do go have a good time or if I travel or whatever I do, it's like I always come back with some kind of exchange, whether it's people or a person telling them that it's not always gonna be like that forever.

You have to keep going, and I don't know why that is, but it's just always like that. And it's like, these people I will never forget, some I don't even know their names, but it's just like that interaction. So it's like my mom said when she used to say, even if you touch one person, even if you change one person or help one person, that's what you're gonna be doing.

And that's how I feel it's working out now. Yeah, because, it just happens on a whim.

Gresham Harkless 11:13

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Rachael Reed 11:23

My CEO hack would be self-care. That's a must. Now a lot of people, and this goes to my goddess lifestyle and my goddess businesses, it's always seen as selfish when you take care of yourself or when you don't think about other people and you wanna focus on yourself, you have to replenish yourself.

As I said, you can't feel somebody else's cup if your cup is not full. So self-care leads to self-confidence, self-everything, and self-esteem like you have to focus on self in order to regroup because every day is not a good day for everybody. I have to step away and I just gotta have time to myself so I can refocus and start something new. Or I can change this and see where this is not working.

You have to take time to yourself for yourself. So that would be my definite hack. You have to set some time aside for yourself, a lot of people think it has to be extravagant. Like you have to go off to Dubai and have some self-care.

You can go sit by the creek, down at the park. Do you know what I'm saying? So wherever you feel comfortable just sitting with yourself, getting grounded and refocusing, and so you can move forward as your best self, that's my definite hack.

Gresham Harkless 12:42

And so, I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget.

So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you have to tell a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

Rachael Reed 12:52

The nugget I would say is no idea is a bad idea. I think that would be the key because some people may be wanting to start a business or wanting to start something and feel like nobody would wanna hear it. Nobody would wanna see it. Nobody would wanna buy it.

But I still don't even know what a pool noodle is, but like those little pool noodle things, I don't know what that's supposed to do, but they sold millions. So no idea is a bad idea.

Gresham Harkless 13:16

Yes, absolutely love that nugget. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And we're hoping to have different quote and quote, CEOs on this show. So Rachel, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Rachael Reed 13:27

A CEO to me means not only leadership, but it also means walking in your purpose because everyone has a story now, everybody may not feel comfortable telling that story, but everybody has a story, so you have to be able to walk in your purpose.

You have to be able to connect your own dots. You have to be able to align with who you are and who you want to become in order to walk in who you're meant to be.

Gresham Harkless 13:57

Rachel, truly appreciate that definition and I appreciate your time even more. What I want us to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best they can get a copy of your books, listen to your podcast and hear about all the exciting things that you're working on.

Rachael Reed 14:11

Well, you can listen to the podcast on rachaelreed.com or Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music. It's on all platforms. The easiest way is rachaelreed.com. You can also go to any one of my websites. thinkbigdreambig.org, goddessbyrachaelreed.com, goddesslifestyle.com. Any book that you want to, maybe look at glance at check out, download.

They're on my website thinkbigdreambig.org. And also on Amazon paperback and Kendall Barnes and Noble. But just reach out on any platform on Instagram- I am Rachel Reed- Ms. R a c h a e l, Reed- r e e d. Email. You can email me on there, reach out, or however you wanna contact me. I'm available.

Gresham Harkless 14:57

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate you, Rachel, for reminding us of being able to give our gifts and to step into our purpose and tell our stories authentically as you have. We will definitely have the links and information in the show notes. So I appreciate you again and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Rachael Reed 15:09

Thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure.

Outro 15:11

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO podcast, powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase. It's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, subscribe and leave us a five-star rating.

Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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