Meet Rachel Michael, style coach extraordinaire! After working with close to a thousand clients at a national online personal styling service, this real-life Wonder Woman started her own Minneapolis-based styling business called Reflect Style.
Personally, I’m in love with her mission: to help people look good, feel good and love what they wear. She’s all about refining and celebrating each person’s individual style and celebrating all body types. To that, I say…”You go, girl. Let’s start celebrating!”
It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to today’s Real-Life Wonder Woman, Rachel Michael!
KR: Would you please tell us about what brings you joy and fulfillment?
RM: I just entered a new phase of my life – being a business owner – and it is hands down the most fulfilling thing I have done in my career so far. My business allows me to be immersed in my passion (style) while knowing that 100% of the time, energy and effort I spend is going toward building my dreams and vision of the future, instead of someone else’s. I have a deep desire to help others love themselves more and when I work with a client who walks away not only having found their style but also feeling better about themselves, there’s nothing more fulfilling than that!
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Outside of my passion for style, I find fulfillment in the simple things like hanging out with my husband in the evening and watching one of our favorite shows while I cuddle with one puppy and play tug’o’war with the other. (My fur babies are actually 13 and 2 but it’s physically impossible for me to not see them as puppies!) My morning routine is another source of fulfillment. For 15-30 minutes every AM, I spend focused time with God, refilling my tank while gaining peace and deepening my faith.
RM: I’ve been told that I’m very responsible, responsive and helpful, which makes sense because being reliable and someone people can count on is extremely important to me. The superpower I’m most proud of though is that I really try to see people for who they are and the potential they carry. In a world where we can all so easily feel like our true selves are never seen, I strive to celebrate whoever someone is from top to bottom, inside and out. I think that’s what drew me to style. It’s a medium with which to fully express yourself and it can also be a really powerful pathway to ultimately accepting yourself exactly as you are.
KR: Can you tell us about an influential woman in your life and how she inspired you?
RM: I’ve been incredibly lucky to have many amazing, talented and influential women as part of my life, both personally and professionally. My grandma, a strong, resilient woman who I hung out with all the time growing up; my mom who single-handedly raised two girls by herself while working full-time; a visionary non-profit executive director who mentored me straight out of college; and a smart, talented woman VP that I worked under for several years. It seems like I’ve always been surrounded by strong, hard-working, women who were also kind and supportive and genuine. It’s really inspired me to never doubt that women can do anything and be anything and achieve anything all while lifting each other up.
RM: This is a tough one!! Is teleporting a super-human power? I love to travel so if I could get from one place to another in the blink of an eye it would be incredible. Although, I do use my travel time to listen to podcasts and catch up on movies so I’d have to figure out a new way to do that. I would need to also have the ability to take others with me so I could spread the love and share amazing travel experiences with my loved ones.
KR: What do you do for fun? What are your hobbies?
RM: I really love Pilates, which to me is much more of a hobby than it is a workout. I love how strong I feel in a Pilates class. It takes A LOT of focus so I have to completely shut out other thoughts (and my mind is always going!) so it allows me to recharge in that sense as well. I also love to read. I’m always reading at least 5 different books at once in multiple genres. Typically, it consists of one fiction book for fun, a couple non-fiction books to learn a new skill or business strategy, and one faith based book. Learning could actually be a hobby of mine too – I’m always finding new skills to learn and classes to take!
RM: I don’t really feel guilty about treating myself, ha! But my go-to treat is cheesy TV shows – reality or fiction. A few of my favorites are The Bachelor franchise shows, the Nancy Drew remake on the CW and Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars. I also just finished Season 5 of Schitt’s Creek on Netflix and loved it. I easily can get sucked in to a series. (Can I add another super power to the list? If so, I definitely excel at binge watching Netflix shows!!)
KR: What places or adventures are still on your bucket list?
RM: My bucket list basically consists of a heck of a lot of travel. Every place I’ve yet to go is on my bucket list. Some of those include Italy, Thailand and Spain. Learning how to create and sew my own clothing designs is also top of the list for me!
RM: Oh boy, there are so many things I could share with my younger self. I think the biggest one would be to stop comparing myself to others. I used to do that all the time, basically using it as a way to measure if I was good or bad at something or better or worse than someone else. It’s a terrible strategy because there was always someone who was better than me. I was especially hard on myself when it came to my body. I constantly compared myself to my friends, who were much smaller than I was, so of course relative to them, I was ‘big’ (even though in reality I wasn’t at all). It led to low self-esteem, frustration and a lot of wasted time and energy trying to be a shape and size that just wasn’t doable for me. My 20-year-old self had a rocking body and if she could have celebrated it, instead of only seeing it in terms of others, it would have made a big difference. I don’t regret that time though because that experience grew into my purpose and passion that I can now pay forward and help others with today.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Rachel and Reflect Style.
Follow Rachel on Instagram: @reflect.style
Email her at: Rachel@Reflect.Style