We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Burch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.
Rachel, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Building my confidence and self esteem has been quite a journey for me. It’s funny because when people find out that I’m a stand up comedian, they always assume I must not struggle with confidence. On the contrary, I’ve struggled with confidence my entire life. I heard a quote from a George Clooney movie once that said “the way it works is you do the thing you’re scared sh*tless of and you get the courage after you do it. Not before you do it.” That was very similar to my path to self confidence. I had to go and do the things without having the confidence. Then having actually done the things – and doing them feeling completely insecure – is what served to build my confidence. I was more confident for having done them but also because looking around I realized, not everyone is doing this. If you can go in and do it scared, you’re kind of a badass. (Can I say badass?) Anyone can do it, just most people don’t – you just need a flicker of confidence to get you started.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a former attorney turned life coach and stand up comedian. I recently launched a podcast called Love Before 100. It’s a coming of age story (at 47). One reviewer describes it as “finally a Sex and the City that ages well.” I describe it as “part rom com, part reality show, part Ted Talk” because it marries my love of rom coms, personal development and comedy. I started it as a way to stay accountable to keep myself in the dating game, but it’s grown to be so much more. It’s also been a big contributor to my self esteem journey and Season One actually chronicles that journey in a really fun way.
The podcast allows me to express myself creatively. I’m a stand up comedian but I’m also an introvert, so this method of storytelling provides a freedom that I don’t get from comedy. Also, I get to weave in personal development so it’s so much more rewarding. Hearing from people across the globe that my podcast is inspiring them gives me such satisfaction. It’s an incredibly rewarding way to have an impact.
The growth I’ve experienced from having this podcast is insane. I’m actually in the process of creating a course to help people grow though launching their own podcasts. Stay tuned!
I’ve also had a number of people ask if I’m going to turn the podcast into a book, so that might be coming in the future, but my ultimate goal is to turn it into a sitcom. My passion is making people laugh and helping them to feel inspired to try new things – writing a sitcom would allow this on a much bigger level.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First, remember that done is better than perfect. Meaning, just do the damn thing. Let yourself be a beginner. I had to shed that perfectionist mindset to actually allow myself to get any better at anything. Second, I had to remain optimistic and always look for the growth opportunities. Having a growth mindset allowed me to minimize (not eliminate) feeling discouraged. I had plenty of days when I wanted to give up, so many days I’d cry and feel uninspired. But after I gave myself space to have that experience, remembering that what I really wanted was to grow from my experiences, always got me back on the horse. And third, perseverance. There’s a chapter in the book “Think and Grow Rich” about perseverance. I heard Bob Proctor once recommend reading that chapter every day for 90 days. I took his advice and I have to say it had a profound impact on me. I finally understood perseverance. I highly recommend doing that exercise if you’re someone who wants to quit on things easily. There’s no end when you firmly believe in where you’re going. You just keep going. Until you get there. It was a huge shift in my thinking and also contributed greatly to my confidence journey.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Cultivating patience has always been an issue for me. I’m a doer and extremely impatient. I know the Universe is always giving me opportunities to practice being patient. It wasn’t until very recently that I finally had this realization – as a doer, I can make things happen and they usually turn out pretty good. Sometimes great even. But if I can learn to be patient and have faith in the Universe, things will turn out even better. They will be magical. I’ve seen this in my own life a number of times and so I’m currently trying to really allow myself to trust and listen and not force things. I’m focusing on letting things unfold on the Universe’s timeline (this doesn’t mean not taking any action, this just means not forcing or rushing things that aren’t ready to happen). As one of my mentors used to say – I’m working on not pulling the flower open, but rather allowing it to bloom on its own.
Contact Info:
- Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/Lovebefore100
- Instagram: @therachelburch
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lovebefore100
Image Credits
Wendy Yalom and Lea Prokopowicz
