We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Rachel Stricker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Rachel, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
My confidence comes from a deep trust and knowing of myself that took many years to arrive at. When I was a teen and young adult, I had a rather low self-esteem that I often tried to hide with false bravado. I was extremely self-critical and immensely driven by a deep fear of failure and loss of control. This all served me well for a while, as it allowed me to achieve a great deal at a young age. I graduated from both high school and college a year early. I earned my first doctorate at age 26 and opened my first business at age 27. There was a lot of self-sabotage that I had to overcome through these years, but I never lost sight of my passion-fueled convictions. My perseverance was a building block for this deep level of trust; I could always count on myself to come through when the going got tough. As I got older, I became much gentler with myself. The self-criticism turned into curiosity, forgiveness, and self-love. I learned to be painfully honest with myself, seeing my motivations, wounds, and shortcomings clearly. I began to admire aspects of myself like my honesty, my strong moral compass, my self-discipline and work ethic, and my compassion for others. I no longer sought the approval of others and allowed the expression of my true nature to shine through. Having this level of confidence helps me to navigate many waters of entrepreneurship, especially decision making.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have been teaching yoga for 16 years, practicing medicine for 11 years, and a certified plant-based chef for 4 years. My newest endeavor, Elevate Medicine Collective, is really a culmination of these 3 disciplines, serving as a community-driven wellness center. Despite only being about 800 sq ft, Elevate has a big personality! We offer yoga classes in the mornings and evenings, and run a healthy, organic, made-from-scratch vegan cafe during the day. Our nights and weekends are filled with events where we pair our herbal elixirs and mocktails with wholesome food and live entertainment. I love to nourish and bring joy to people through food. There’s an old saying that the family chef is the family doctor, and truly, using food as medicine and incorporating herbs into my cooking is some of my most creative and rewarding work. The naturopathic principle of docere, meaning physician as teacher, has always been a driving force for what I do. Aside from teaching weekly yoga classes, I also teach monthly cooking classes and wellness workshops. Elevate is truly a place for my community to gather, connect, nourish, learn, and grow, and I think there is a little something for everyone there. I’ve been open for a year and am seeing the places where I need to expand and pivot. It’s likely that we’re going to increase our learning opportunities through workshops and classes, hopefully even expanding this outside of our small community and into online courses. We’re also moving into a pre-booked event model for full-service meals, catering, and even food prep services. One of the most exciting up-and-coming offerings is that Elevate will serve as the primary research location for my PhD thesis in Quantum Integrative Medicine.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Perseverance has probably been the most impactful quality of my journey. It has allowed me to achieve despite obstacles and set-backs, and taught me to not give up. Perseverance has given me a strong work ethic, and even shown me how to find joy in hard work. I think that perseverance can be achieved through self-discipline. I’ve personally developed self-discipline through athletic pursuits–pushing myself through one more set or one more mile– and even through having a regular yoga practice.
Following and trusting my intuition has been another impactful quality of my journey. Developing my intuition has led to a greater trust in myself and in my ability to make decisions and do the right thing. My intuition has guided me along my journey, showing me which path to take next. I developed my intuition by tuning into the way I feel in situations–not what my logical mind says–but the feeling I get in my body. Listening to the subtle signals of the body grants a tremendous amount of wisdom.
I am also extremely grateful for my level of vitality which has given me the physical and mental energy to achieve what I have. This vitality keeps me healthy, sleeping well, clear-headed and strong. I eat a really good vegan diet which feels best for my body and is in alignment with my values. I get plenty of physical movement including weights, cardio, and yoga. I also can’t say enough about how much of our vitality stems from living a life that you love. Sometimes we can change our perspective, but sometimes we need to make changes to our environment in order to align with happiness and satisfaction.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I would love more opportunities to travel, teach, or cook at retreats and conferences. I love to collaborate with like-minded individuals, especially those in the health and wellness field who are interested in the expansion of personal and global consciousness. I also love to collaborate with motivated, passionate, and curious individuals in any field, and certainly am a life-long learner myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://elevatemedicinecollective.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/elevatemedicinecollective
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/rachelstrickernd
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