Helloo, I’m Jessica! I help coaches & wellness practitioners clarify their positioning and structure their messaging so their website, offers, and content feel aligned and sustainable.
This is Whispers of Inner Power, where I write about my experience and insights on building a sustainable business as a highly sensitive introvert.
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Welcome to the Whispers of Inner Power Interview Series!
Honest conversations with women reshaping the way we think about business & sensitivity.
I am proud of my resolve to keep going even when there is not a lot of evidence on the outside that this is working - Rachel Andreoli
Today, I’m speaking with Rachel Andreoli, who found her business idea in a text message: a picture of 27 of her neighbours at a trivia night she wasn’t even attending.
Getting that picture made her realise what she was actually naturally talented at. Now she teaches how to build what she calls Social infrastructure: the kind of network that creates real options in life and work.
This interview is in two parts: the video above and the written one below. Enjoy!
Hi Rachel!
Tell us a bit about you and the work you do.
I am technically certified as a life coach, but I consider myself foremost an educator. I teach talented people how to stop being invisible by building social infrastructure. Whether you’re pivoting your career or starting a new life chapter, you can’t get there with an old map. I teach the social mechanics that allow you to start building the influence and optionality you’ve been missing.
What led you to start your business?
I was a stay-at-home mom for my son’s whole life. As he approached graduation, I knew it would be time for me to create something of my own. I started in interior design, but found I wasn’t quite fancy enough for the job.
I’m really good at creating a place where you feel you belong, but there’s not a big market for that. I have been a barber for well over twenty years and decided to turn that experience into life coaching.
I got my life coaching certification last year, and kind of stumbled around for a while trying to find my place.
What I actually needed to do was a lot of internal work about my worth and trusting myself. About mid-year, I had the realization that I connect people, and I had a huge click.
I decided to lean into that as my specialization and have been building since then.
What was the moment that changed things for you?
I started a community group last year designed to help people in my town meet their neighbors. It took off like crazy. One night, a few months into this experiment, I received a text with a photo of 27 of my neighbors at a trivia night, and I wasn’t even there.
And, in that moment, I realized, oh, this is what I do.
What are some ways your sensitivity shaped the way you run your business?
I get extremely overwhelmed by social media and it really can run me down.
In the beginning I tried to do all the things but last fall I made the choice to delete my instagram account. I keep a FB presence because I feel it’s almost like the modern day yellow pages, but I focus most of my attention on Linkedin.
I also don’t try to do videos anymore. I struggle a lot with them and don’t feel like it’s worth the mental expenditure it takes me to attempt them.
I just have to trust that my written work will attract who it is supposed to.
You think you are building a business but you are actually creating a new identity.
If someone feels like they’re too sensitive or too different to succeed, what would you say to them?
Nonsense. I would say they need to question whose definition of success they are subscribing to.
What helps you stay grounded or connected when things feel messy or overwhelming?
Box breathing. I usually take a ten-minute break in the middle of every day to recenter and refocus myself with that
What’s something you’re proud of?
I am proud of my resolve to keep going even when there is not a lot of evidence on the outside that this is working.
If you could sit down with the version of you who hadn’t yet started this journey, what would you tell her?
Oh, darlin’, it’s going to take so much longer than you thought, and you are going to go through a lot of things that test your resolve.
You are going to want to give up a lot, and you will have to dig deep into your reserves for the strength to keep going. You think you are building a business, but you are actually creating a new identity.
Lovely, and finally, my last question: what does “whispers of inner power” mean to you?
The tiny little voice I can hear if I really quiet myself and listen that reminds me what I am capable of.
Connect with Rachel
If you’d like to know more about Rachel’s work, connect with her on Linkedin.
You can also visit her website, where you’ll find her free Social Wealth Checkup to see where your network is strong, where it has untapped potential, and how to grow it for more support, opportunities, and ease in life and work.
What I love about this conversation is that Rachel reminded me that connection isn't complicated. We make it complicated.
She started a Facebook group with one rule: you have to live in the zip code. And watched strangers become friends who now snap pictures of each other at the grocery store. That's it. That's the whole thing.
And 400 members and 100 events later, she's standing on her soapbox saying: people are possibility.
I believe her.
Jessica
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