065: Stepping Out As Your Authentic Self with Rachel Shillcock

Hello Couragemakers! This week I'm chatting to the joy that is Rachel Shillcock. Rachel is an award-winning designer + photographer hailing from Manchester, UK. Rachel runs Rachilli, an online creative studio dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs build more powerful brands + businesses, aligned with their values + purpose. Rachel is a fellow INFJ and a proud geek, obsessed with all things designy, patterns, and her two dogs, Storm and Jasper. In this episode, we're really diving into the topic of stepping out as your authentic self. Rachel shares her journey from starting her own web design business to using her values to make decisions and create a life that works for her. We discuss the power of focusing on our strengths, how we can create our own self validation and our own ideas of success, as well as how we can stop comparing ourselves to others and own what makes us unique. Rachel shares how her life has changed since opening up about her chronic illness and taking her mask off, her definition of what changing the world means and how authenticity and excitement are huge parts of her journey. In this episode we really focus on living and working in accordance to your values. Rachel shares how she found her values, uses them as lens to make decisions, and fantastic advice on how to find your own values. This is such a fun, practical episode, and I love how Rachel shares her behind the scenes and her process of finding things that work for her. This is a great episode for anyone who is tempted to take their own mask off and needs a bit of courage, for anyone who struggles with self doubt and wants a new way of viewing their work, and for anyone who strives to be more authentic in all that they do. I had so much fun chatting to Rachel, we seriously got the giggles before the show, and I'm just really excited to share our conversation! Enjoy the sho About Rachel is an award-winning designer + photographer hailing from Manchester, UK. Rachel runs Rachilli, an online creative studio dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs build more powerful brands + businesses, aligned with their values + purpose. She helps entrepreneurs find flow + consistency in their creative business, through visual branding, purposeful web design, and powerful brand strategy. Rachel is a fellow INFJ and a proud geek, obsessed with all things designy, patterns, and her two dogs, Storm and Jasper. Website | Twitter | Instagram  | Creative Market | Products Things We Talked About How Rachel's life started to change when she started to be more open How Rachel integrates her values with her everyday life and uses them as a decision making tool Rachel's experience of opening up about her chronic illness and taking off her mask Changing the world and the ripple effect Resources Calm app Macklemore – "Freedom is acknowledging the mask you have on and possessing the strength to take it off" Mary Ann Radmacher  – "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." About Meg & That Hummingbird Life I'm Meg and I'm the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I'm an INFJ creative and multipassionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate. I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat of their drum. When I'm not recording episodes, writing bullshit-free, very vulnerable and encouraging Sunday emails to fellow couragemakers or making new friends with the wonderful guests, you can find me working on all manners of magic over at That Hummingbird Life. THL is the online home for unconventional creatives and multipassionates who want to show up unapologetically and intentionally as who they are, and really own, live and share their many stories. It's made for couragemakers who have so much great shit to give the world and want to leave their mark but have too much self doubt standing in the way!