Meet Rachel Burch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Burch.

Hi Rachel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up, I always “knew” I wanted to be an attorney. Although now looking back, I think I was brainwashed…possibly by my dad, definitely by Matlock. I spent many hours in front of the television watching Matlock with my dad while he got dressed for work. I grew up thinking I wanted to be just like my dad…and Matlock. As far back as high school, I “knew” I wanted to be an attorney, so I didn’t really pay attention to courses or assessments that told me which fields I would be best suited for. After graduating from Loyola Law School in downtown LA, I went to work at a nearby litigation firm. I spent many hours sifting through papers and writing motions. Funny, I never remembered seeing Matlock sitting at a desk. The shine started to wear off and I quickly realized I had made a big mistake – I was miserable.

I found myself trapped in a job I hated and depressed that my life’s vision had turned out to be nothing like what I had expected. I knew I needed to make a change. But how? I had no idea. Instead, I spent hours googling things like “non-law jobs for lawyers” and stuffed the feelings down – usually with the help of something from the vending machine (or a couple of the free doughnuts dropped off by a vendor.)

It turned out before things could change, I had to change.

I had to do my own personal development work. Lots of it. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I didn’t want life to continue as it was. I kept thinking, “There has to be more than this?!” So I signed up for a 1:1 coaching program and started the journey of personal growth and exploration.

Fast forward, I fell in love with personal development. I started a coaching business helping other women and did that for eight years. I loved it. Until one day, I felt the quiet nudge to slowly wrap up my coaching business. It felt scary but necessary. I wasn’t sure what I would do for a living or how I’d spend my time. And then, I had an idea. I’d restart my podcast. And I’d rebrand it. But I needed help. Through a series of synchronistic events, I ended up meeting and hiring a producer from the TV show, The Bachelor Australia.

And with his help, I created a new podcast – Love Before 100. Basically, a dating reality show that married my love of personal development with my hobby of comedy (I perform stand-up comedy). And here we are!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road – and expecting it to be smooth was my biggest challenge.

My first challenge was getting over my fears of rejection, failure and being seen. Thankfully that’s what personal development is for and I ended up finding my passion for helping people do the same by conquering those fears myself.

A struggle that I wasn’t prepared for was my divorce. There was so much processing and growth that needed to happen as a result of that. And mourning – mourning the loss of a dream. And yet again, this struggle taught me so much and really helped me relate better to some of my clients who were also going through divorce and was able to show them that not only is there life after divorce, but there’s joy through reinvention for yourself and your family. And then also to try and thread this message in my podcast to reach people who are going through something similar – or have gone through it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My podcast is my work now. I’m obsessed with storytelling and weaving all the teachings I have learned into story form. As I mentioned, it marries my love of personal development and comedy so I describe it as “part reality show, part rom com, part Ted Talk” – it’s an entertainment experience for romantics like me who also value personal growth.

We just wrapped our second season and I’m most proud of the responses that I get from listeners around the world. When I get a message from a single mom across the world saying she feels inspired or a happily married man who says an episode made him laugh out loud, I feel like I’m living the “Butterfly Effect” of making small ripples of change. I’m also proud of the numerous international charts we’ve hit and being ranked in the top 1.5% of all podcasts globally.

My dream now is to grow the podcast and eventually turn it into a sitcom. I’ve been asked a bunch about writing a book and so that might happen down the line, but I’m not feeling called to do that quite yet. I trust that when the time comes, I’ll know.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
My favorite books are The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment (Michael Singer), Codependent No More (Melody Beattie), Think and Grow Rich – especially the Persistence Chapter (Napoleon Hill), The Audacity to Be Queen (Gina Devee) and anything by Rhonda Byrne.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/therachelburch
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lovebefore100
• Other: Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/Lovebefore100

Image Credits
Wendy Yalom and Lea Prokopowicz