What is your name?
Rachel Hays
Where do you work?
Founder & Coach, Walter Grace
What is your job?
People come to me for support and guidance for growth in their lives. This coaching relationship is most often with moms who are balancing work and personal life or considering a career change or the option to stay at home.
How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
Two: Henry (5) Emma (2.5)
Fun fact. Walter Grace comes from Henry and Emma’s middle names 😊
What do you love about living in Columbus?
Being close to family. The tremendous sense of community. My neighborhood. The values in the community. The opportunities for my kids.
What’s your favorite restaurant and/or place to shop in Columbus?
I love to eat at Dusters and shop at Valencia Boutique.
Tell us about your career.
People are my passion. Throughout my career I’ve had the opportunity to work with my colleagues and customers to promote professional and personal success. Most recently, I led an international team in a high-stress environment. It truly was wonderful, and I loved working with my team to coach them professionally on success in careers and with contract negotiations but also to achieve personal fulfillment.
Why did you decide to become a coach?
With that high-stress job as a marketing and sales professional in the railroad industry came a lot of travel, and I was away from my family a lot. That coupled with me being a near-miss survivor with the birth of Emma (it’s a miracle we are both alive) along with the challenge of postpartum depression, I made a difficult decision to step away from my career and reevaluate my priorities. With time away from working, I decided to pursue my passion which is coaching people – that’s what led me to found Walter Grace.
What’s the best thing about your job?
People and watching people gain confidence and the strength to succeed in personal and professional milestones.
How do you juggle work with mommy hood?
What a difficult question. It is tough, but I find the best way is grounding myself to my priorities. Even tougher is letting go of the (mom) guilt that goes along with not being able to do everything. Letting go and grounding myself to my priorities allows me to feel fulfilled.
Want to know more about Rachel or connect with her?
Follow her on Instagram @waltergracecoaching or head to her website.
