I inspire educators to design creative learning experiences for teachers and students.
05/27/2024
Lost Cat!
Max is a domesticated shorthair tortie, microchipped. She went missing 5/13. She’s very friendly.
Lost from the Galewood Chicago neighborhood (North Ave and Oak Park Ave) and previously lived in Berwyn, so she may have wandered back to her old home.
If you see her or have seen her, call +1 (708) 932-5814.
03/19/2024
🌟 TEDxWilmette 2024: The Future Is Now! 🚀
🎟️ Tickets Available Now!
Tickets for TEDxWilmette 2024 are now on sale. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary event featuring inspiring speakers, thought-provoking talks, and a celebration of ideas. Visit https://www.tedxwilmette.com to secure your spot.
🌐 Event Details:
Date: April 20
Time: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Venue: Baker Demonstration School
🎙️ Featured Speakers:
Join us as we amplify the voices of six remarkable women who are shaping the future:
Charlie Saffro, CEO and founder of CS Recruiting
AJ Goehle, CEO of Luci Creative
Lizzie Docel, Learning Specialist and Facilitator at Google, English Coach at Northwestern University and founder of Unscripted Speech
Rachel Douglas Swanson, Samsung Education Coach & Founder of Rachel Swanson Coaching
Lisa Rachelle Owens, host of "The Unapologetic Third Act" podcast
Tayyaba Ali, CEO and co-founder of Tikal Industries
Let’s ignite curiosity, spark conversations, and shape the future together! 🌠
01/12/2022
The Create Brave decks are here and available and we couldn’t be more excited! Early reviews are that people love them, which makes my heart happy. It’s a little scary putting something into the world, and hoping people receive it with the love that it was sent. And yet when it works, what a joy.
Thank you to every person who helped turn this dream into reality. I appreciate you more than I can say.
This gorgeous photo, perfectly capturing the leap card (so appropriate for this post) taken by my talented friend Ali Boschert-Downs
Create Brave Manifestation Card Deck — Rachel Swanson Coaching A guide for sourcing and manifesting your next steps Are you looking for a tool to help you live your most brave and creative life? Do you love affirmation decks, inspirational quotes, and motivational sayings to help get you through your day? Are you looking for a coach to walk you through your g
One of my personal goals was the learn how to use TikTok. It was something I was interested in personally, and professionally it helps to know how to use it when I work in schools and create lessons for kids who speak in 60 second video clips.
So, I present to you my current creative project: TikTok process videos of my plant-based eating. I’ve been having a blast.
What new things have you been learning?
12/01/2021
When I was 14, just before entering 9th grade, my best friend’s mom took us on an overnight to Duluth, MN. It was a weekend to celebrate our promotion into high school.
What I remember most from that time was our trip to the toy store. My friend’s mom told us each to pick something out to remind us to never forget to have fun, to always remember to include play in our lives.
I chose this stuffed lion.
What a gift she gave to me that day.
He’s traveled with me to college and to my first apartment, to my first house, and even gone on a few vacations with me. But even more importantly, he reminds me to never forget my childlike wonder.
When I need inspiration for an upcoming training that I’m leading, I will often go to our local toy store, and look over every shelf. I allow myself to be curious, to be truly excited by the colors and the designs. Usually I leave with some small item to incorporate into the day’s agenda.
To me, play isn’t a side dish or a condiment, meant to be sprinkled on, to taste. Play is the main event. Play offers the chance to explore, to test limits and boundaries. Play gives space for what is possible. Play is the best recipe for learning.
I learned that as a 14 year old, and it’s still true more than twenty years later.
Today as I sat down to work I couldn’t stop remembering this story. So I dug my stuffed lion out of the storage bin he’s been in, and placed him prominently on my shelf. It was as if he was calling to me, “Don’t forget. Don’t forget to play.”
What a gift he has been to me.
How are you including play into your life?
11/25/2021
Happy Thanksgiving 🍁
Last week our family car had the check engine light on, again. We took it into the shop, again. This time we finally got to the root of the issue. The conclusion: we need an engine rebuild.
What does this have to do with gratitude? Well I can tell you about so many things that make my life unbelievably worth living, like the way the cool breeze feels while walking my dog on a perfect midwestern fall day, or the fact that my kitchen always has chocolate in it, or the way that my partner in life is also my biggest fan.
But the car, well it has also turned into a gratitude. Because when I heard the price to repair the engine (spoiler alert: a lot) I immediately felt worry.
I was out on one of those perfect fall day walks with my dog when the mechanic called, and a few blocks after hanging up, a few blocks after the panic and worry, the calm started to settle in. We are going to be okay. We are going to be okay.
And then, the way that so often happens, I felt the voice of Spirit.
“The money will appear.”
Today I got an email from a past client, who told me that the funding had come through for some work I had done for them last summer. Not only that, but they wanted to prepay me for some more work.
How much was the pay for the work?
The exact cost of the engine repair.
There are so many ways to understand this story, so many explanations that have nothing to do with Spirit or God or the connectedness of everything.
But I think it’s a miracle. The sort of miracle that happens everyday, if I’m just paying enough attention.
I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with deep gratitude and so many everyday miracles and some really good paying attention.
04/24/2021
I asked for input and you all gave the very best advice! Thank you! We decided to keep both of the two cards in our deck: Crumbling and Unravel.
But we were having so much fun picking out what the new word might be that we also decided to add two bonus cards as a Kickstarter exclusive! We haven’t chosen the two words yet (and this probably won’t be the artwork, I was just having fun this morning), but we’re so thrilled to make our first Kickstarter even a little more special.
What words should we add? Heather Vickery and I are each going to choose one.
We’re so close to hitting our next stretch goal (magnetic closure boxes!) and only 5 days from the end of the campaign.
Thank you for backing, sharing, supporting, and being the very best feedback crew a girl could ask for. 💗💗💗
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/createbrave/create-brave-a-manifestation-card-deck
04/07/2021
One of the most important and challenging parts of self employment for me has been establishing routines that work. It’s easy to rush to my laptop as soon as I wake up and start the day with a check of emails and notifications. Then I look up and it’s 11am and I’m still in my jammies. If I am going to wear jammies all day I want to have chosen it! 🤪
I am not 💯 on all the routines, I’d say I get these done 3/5 of my work mornings. Maybe less if we... hem hem...the kids didn’t sleep well or I ran out of breakfast food and have to run to Aldi. Look, real life. But my goal is to spend a few minutes each morning centering myself before the day begins.
✨Deep breath.
✨Pray and surround myself and loved ones in light.
✨Read a chapter of my book.
✨Choose an affirmation card to set my intentions for the day.
✨Turn on my diffuser to elevate my mood (today is lemon, peppermint, lavender).
Simple things, usually no more than a few minutes each because I’m a mom and an entrepreneur and a human, and I get distracted easily. When I do it my 11am self thanks me, regardless of my jammy-wearing status.
✨How do you start your day? ✨
04/05/2021
Imposter Syndrome is something that shows up sooner or later, especially as we get closer to living in alignment to where we want to be.
One of the things I do to face imposter syndrome is keep a folder of evidence. I save thank you notes, feedback from training and people I’ve coached, any documentation that I can pull out to show that I belong.
That way, when the feelings arise, as they inevitable do, I stand equipped with fact and proof that I can hold up and say, “See, I belong here!”
How do you confront imposter syndrome?
[Tweet from Pulliam, text reads: “Imposter syndrome will have you questioning your place in spaces that you prayed about being in.
It’s a lie.
You’re capable.
You’re allowed to learn.
You belong.
4:07 PM 3/30/19]
What if we created a tool to help people live their most brave and creative lives?
This is the question that my coaching friend, VickeryandCo, and I ask ourselves one morning on our weekly walk. It was soon after that our card deck, Create Brave, was born.
This card deck has 48 cards, each with a word, intention, and image to help guide your day. You can use the deck to journal, you can draw a card each day to set a focus for the day, or you can leave a card up on your desk for a conversation starter.
Along with the cards we've create a guidebook that gives ideas of how to turn each of those words and intentions into action in your life.
We're passionate about bringing more creativity and bravery into the world, and we are thrilled to share this tool with you. There are a few days left to get super early bird pricing on our Kickstarter, and there are some pretty amazing stretch goals, too!
We hope we can create brave with you!
Want to know more? Watch our video below!