Rachael

Writer | Poet | Personal (Life) Coach | Parent

United Kingdom

Creating real connection through the wonder of words.

I connect small businesses to ideal customers and charities to those who care by pouring your passion onto the page.

I use words both on and offline to connect you to your higher/unconscious self, through coaching, poetry and sharing stories about personal growth.

I'm also a perfectly imperfect parent and share my stories to connect with other parents and remind them that we're all making this up as we go along.

I'm a big fan of bubbles.

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Portfolio

Brochures

The Hobbs Consultancy
11/02/2015
2016 services brochure

Copy for 2016 brochure for The Hobbs Consultancy, a team of coaches working with organisations to "transform the workplace via inclusivity".

Charity Blogs

Dostcentre
04/01/2016
Newham collective visit to Calais refugee camp - Dost Centre

At the start of this year, following our appeal for items to take to Calais, we headed to the 'Jungle', loaded with blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, torches, warm clothes and other winter essentials thanks to all of your generous donations.

Dostcentre
03/01/2016
Knowledge sharing with the fostering network - Dost Centre

At Dost, our overarching aim - the reason behind everything we do - is to improve the quality of life for young refugees and migrants, including children seeking asylum, victims of trafficking, undocumented children and those newly arrived in the country.

Dostcentre
11/11/2015
Please donate to the Dost Emergency Fund

Dost was founded in 2000, to provide support to young refugee and asylum seekers, many of whom are in the UK without their families. In recent years we have also extended our services to recently arrived young migrants.

Lionheart
03/31/2015
Feeling stressed and unsupported?

If you're feeling stressed at work, what can you do about it? Too often, we hear from surveyors that talking about stress at work remains a taboo. Whether the source is work, home life or a combination of the two, most feel that it is not something they can discuss with their employers.

Lionheart
01/30/2015
It's Time to Talk about mental health

Every year, around one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem, ranging from isolated instances of anxiety and depression to ongoing conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Even if you think it doesn't affect you, the chances are that someone you know has experienced mental illness at some point in their lives.

Lionheart
11/03/2014
How you've helped us to make an impact

Every year we ask RICS members to consider making a £20 donation to LionHeart along with your RICS subscription fees. Many of you do make this annual gift to us and we are very grateful.

Small Biz/Freelance Blogs

Wholegrain Digital
03/21/2016
Podcast Episode 7: Mindful Business - Wholegrain Digital

In our latest podcast episode, we finally get the chance to catch up with Nick Begley, Founder and CEO of PSYT (Psychological Technologies). PSYT has developed the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), which measures how people feel in real-time, and has been described by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as the "gold-standard" in ...

Wholegrain Digital
03/02/2016
Sharing the love at WordCamp London 2016 - Wholegrain Digital

The end of this month sees the start of spring and we are seeing the early signs already - the days are getting longer, flowers are starting to bloom and we are getting excited about WordCamp London. This year, we are especially excited as Wholegrain Digital co-founder Tom has again been selected to speak at ...

Wholegrain Digital
02/10/2016
Podcast Episode 6: Working Collectively - Wholegrain Digital

In our first podcast episode of 2016, Tom Greenwood and Ed Murfitt get together again to talk to Will Gardner, fellow Impact Hub resident and CEO of popular millennial sustainability website Collectively.org. Will shares the story of the origins of Collectively, which was born in 2013 following the Davos World Economic Forum.

Wholegrain Digital
01/29/2016
Why We Love WordPress - Wholegrain Digital

If you're a WordPress fan, then you may already be well aware of the #ilovewp hashtag all over social media at the moment. But you may not be. So, for those who don't know.. What's it all about? Last week, WordPress updated their testimonials page and asked people to share their passion for WordPress on ...

Wholegrain Digital
12/15/2015
A Toast to 2015! - Wholegrain Digital

Every year since our birth eight years ago (we're still in primary school, age-wise), Wholegrain Digital has been looking forwards. At first, when the team was just a few of us, this was easily done around the table in the office on a day-to-day basis.

Freelance Parents
09/18/2015
Going freelance? Start BEFORE you feel ready - Freelance Parents

When's the best time to go freelance? Freelance writer and mum, Rachael Blair, says the time is now... So, you're thinking about going freelance. Maybe you're working part-time already. Perhaps your workload is spilling over and you're looking for something with real flexibility.

Movabo Ltd
07/22/2015
Her Business Toolkit: Rachael Blair, freelance writer & coach

When Marta asked if I'd like to write a guest blog on the tools I use in my business, I jumped at the chance. You see, when I started out I spent a lot of time looking for ways to make more time (I do see the irony in this).

Wholegrain Digital
07/15/2015
Who wins in the WP Engine vs Rackspace race?

WP Engine has made a big mark on the WordPress hosting world in the past few years. A relative newcomer, they were founded just five years ago in 2010. Since then, they have been at the forefront of demonstrating the benefits of a dedicated WordPress platform as opposed to a generic host.

Freelance Parents
06/19/2015
How to tell your story so it connects with clients

Finding it painful to write your 'About Me' page? Let Rachael Blair soothe you through the process of creating an engaging story...So you've just started out as a freelancer. Maybe you have a few clients already, or maybe you've just decided what services you're going to sell. At

Parenting

Talented Ladies Club
04/21/2015
Do you have a parenting crap cloud?

Do you often feel that you are somehow failing as a mum? That you could or should be ‘better’? Learn how to spot your parenting crap cloud and replace it with something MUCH more positive!

Storyofmum
10/29/2014
Unlikely Meditations on Motherhood

"Lovely Rachael Blair (otherwise known as @MushroomsMum) of Mothering Mushroom and Writing People Poetry shares her thoughts on this month's theme of Unlikely Meditations for Mamas, and includes a meditation for stressed out mums, recorded especially for you."

Motheringmushroom
05/27/2014
The myth of the multi-tasking mother

I'm not saying that mothers cannot multi-task. We all can, and do. Even if it's just eating a sandwich while nursing an infant to keep blood sugar levels up during a Wonder Week feeding marathon (took me a while to master that one), we all do it.

Mothering Mushroom
11/06/2015
Am I mothering mushroom mindfully?

I talk quite a lot about mindfulness and meditation. I even wrote a blog post mindful meditation for Story Of Mum around this time last year. As some of you may have noticed, I use my coaching experience a lot in my parenting style and I'm definitely an advocate of gentle parenting.

Motheringmushroom
10/20/2014
Don't think about chocolate cake!

Ok, hands up those of you who didn't think about chocolate cake after reading that title? Did you put your hand up...? Liar. Often when we hear a command, our brains will ignore the don't, and focus on what it is we're being asked not to do.... Funny how that works, isn't it?

Personal Essays

Raising Mothers
01/19/2016
Before Birdsong - Raising Mothers

It's 5.30am and I'm at my desk. If you had told me five years ago I'd willingly get up before 6am I would have struggled to believe you but here I am. The birds are not yet singing but if I listen very carefully I can hear the distant hum of other early risers.

Personal Growth

Writingpeoplepoetry
12/05/2015
Looking back to move forwards

It might sound counter intuitive, looking back to move forwards... I mean, how can thinking about the past help with the future? All the stuff you've read about visualising your ideal future so that you can move towards it is at odds with my suggestion, is it not..?

Writing | People | Poetry
06/24/2015
There is no failure. There are only new stories

Some days I feel like giving up. Everything feels like too much work. It feels as though now that I've come this far, I'm not sure I actually want it enough to keep going. But I do... I hesitated to post this blog. I even hesitated to write it... Why?

Writing | People | Poetry
05/27/2015
You (really) shouldn't read this -

What are you doing? I said you shouldn't read this! You should go and read something else. Get back to work, or whatever else you were doing before. I don't even think I should write this. It's just my opinion and who am I to share my opinion?

Writing | People | Poetry
05/06/2015
Stop what you're doing and breathe

A couple of weeks ago I was walking home from the park with my son when a van drove past us, stopped, reversed into a parking space for a bit and then drove off again - in the same direction it had been going before.

Writing | People | Poetry
04/13/2015
It's got to be perfect

It's taken me about seven months to write this blog post. Seven months! Why? Because, for some reason, even though I have two personal blogs already, this one felt BIG. The business blog - it's a big one, right?

Poetry

Writingpeoplepoetry
01/20/2016
The Power of Poetry

Earlier this month I shared a piece of poetry in my second ever vlog, in which I set my intentions for the year ahead. One of these intentions was to share more poetry. As I sat down today to write my blog, I looked at my notes.

Kids Aloud Nursery
07/17/2015
Class of 2015

A pre-school 'graduation' poem for children leaving nursery to start primary school

YouTube (channel: Guardian Witness
08/28/2014
1 in 4 by Rachel Blair | | Spoken Word

I wrote this poem a while ago to raise awareness of domestic violence. It responds to often-asked the question:, 'Why doesn't she just leave?' By Rachael Blair Comment is free hosts dozens of discussions on a wide range of subjects, including news, politics and culture, as well as personal perspectives on the way we live now.