Today we’d like to introduce you to RaQuel Hopkins.
RaQuel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my college career as a psychology major because I have always known that I wanted to help people.
When I started taking the classes, I was not as thrilled about it as I thought. As a matter of fact, I can remember taking a general elective which was a Child Psychology class and studying very hard for the test and earning a 34!! I remember thinking to myself, I didn’t sign up to study the behavior of a rat (Skinner). The only thing that I knew was that I just wanted to help others so I did not see the value in studying about a rats behavior.
I decided that I would call a psychologist to just ask what the path was like to getting to where she was at the time. She told me that she started off as an engineer because she needed to make money and went back later for psychology. That was all that I needed to hear. I changed my major immediately because for me college meant opportunity to start making money fast and graduate school was not in my plan. I switched my major to business and with the help of a family member saying that I think you should do HR, I chose that as my concentration. I did a few internships throughout college and was comfortable with the engagement that I was having with people overall so I stuck with it.
Once I graduated, I relocated to Houston from Virginia for my first full-time job in HR. Within the first year of working full time in HR, I pursued my HR certification. Shortly after earning that certification, I enrolled in the MBA program at University of Saint Thomas. My focus at the time was still on money but I was looking for ways to validate myself. I struggled big time with my identity, purpose and value in this first job and felt that the fix was education and more education. Once I had gotten the MBA and the pay raise, I still felt empty inside although on the outside, I was winning to the world. The country girl from Virginia that grew up in the projects who had lost her mom early on to drugs had made something of herself and everyone was proud of my accomplishments with the exception of me.
I struggled finding my voice on the job and had no idea how I was going to be effective. I actually thought that I would never find my voice or ever be effective because the job was “GIVEN” to me via someone that I knew. On paper, I was amazing, but in the inside I felt like I hadn’t earned my position and started looking for a different job every other week. I was secretly interviewing and not landing anything to get me away from the job that I had gotten from a family member. I became more and more frustrated and eventually just walked off and quit after being on the same job for almost five years. I had just gotten married a few years prior, brand new mommy and in the middle of building what I consider my dream home. I left without a plan.
Luckily, my resignation was not accepted and I was allowed to take some time off due to my boss being a family member (DON’T TRY THAT AT HOME) but I learned quite a few things about myself during that process. As a matter of fact, I believe that it all had to happen that way for me to truly become effective as a woman and an HR professional. My biggest takeaway was that I was in control of my own life and I chose not to exercise my voice or find other ways to be effective. I was a victim and at the effect of everything happening around me. I also learned what I valued as a professional and finding that balance with working with others.
I have always been told that I had a gift with people and started to see that once I had gotten more and more comfortable with myself and my situation or my blessings as I see it today. People were comfortable talking with me and sharing just about anything. They would walk away feeling so much better about themselves and I found a great sense of gratitude in being able to help others.
Fast forward to Jan 2019, on Instagram reading a post from another woman that I respect. It was a friendly reminder that you were called for something greater, getting outside of your comfort zone and walking into your purpose. I immediately starting looking into becoming a Life Coach. I enrolled in a program and the rest has been history.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not!! This road for me started when I took that first HR job not necessarily when I decided to start my business.
The biggest struggle has been just committing and not letting fear of any sort stand in the way.
The biggest challenge for me is introducing people to what coaching is and the overall benefits that it has on your life.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the RH Life Coaching story. Tell us more about the business.
RH Life Coaching is about empowering people to become more proactive verses reactive whether in your personal or professional life. As a Core Energy coach, I help people get to the core of who you are as a person which ultimately determines how you show up in life. I believe that in a world where so many struggles with work/life balance and with the only thing being constant is change, it is imperative that we all become more self-aware and raise our level of consciousness. No matter where you are in life, we are all leaders influencing others in some form or fashion.
I am that person that can help you within your organization develop leaders that create a culture that is truly transformational and sustainable. I also help people one on one who just feel stuck or just wants to grow in any area of their lives.
I am most proud of having a company that truly empowers people to be the best version of themselves. I think the thing that sets me apart from other coaches is that I have chosen to become certified in an industry that is not regulated and also doing my own personal work so that the focus is truly on the client. I am not here to sell any quick fixes that ultimately could lead to burnout and I ultimately want to ignite real change from the inside.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t know if I believe in luck but I do believe in GOD. God has played a major role in my life and continues to provide me with opportunity and more importantly second chances.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rhlifecoaching.com
- Phone: 7138999219
- Email: info@rhlifecoaching.com
- Instagram: http://www.instapuma.com/rhlifecoaching
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