138: Starting a SOCIAL IMPACT BRAND, Using Tragedy to INSPIRE, and WHY You NEED to Follow your GYPSY SOUL with Rachelle Tratt

<p><em>Warning: This podcast may make you want to buy a plane ticket to exotic places and find your soul. Or, perhaps curl up on your couch with a cuddly dog (both of us prefer our goldendoodles) and drink a lavender latte while contemplating your soul’s purpose. ;)</em></p> <p>Ok, let me back the train up. Today’s guest, Rachelle Tratt, is a living example of what it means to follow your heart, and you’re going to want to read on/listen to hear why.</p> <p>In case you’ve never heard of this amazing lady, Rachelle is a Los Angeles-based yoga instructor, community leader, and soulful entrepreneur who created The Neshama Project, a yoga inspired, socially conscious jewelry company that gives back. </p> <p>Many may not know this, but Rachelle’s company, The Neshama Project, was actually inspired by the sudden and traumatic loss of her mother when she was only 9 years old. While recognizing now that it was all meant to be part of her path so she could in turn help others, at the time she struggled with anxiety and depression – and just feeling different.</p> <p>These feelings played out as a teenager as she hit a rebellious phase, which at the age of 18 ended in rehab. It wasn’t so much that she was addicted to alcohol or drugs, it was just that she didn’t know how to cope with things in a healthy way. Part of that rehab program was yoga… While always a self-professed tomboy, Rachelle laughed at the thought of the practice, but once she hit savasana, she was hooked. For the first time in a long time, she found peace.</p> <p>Not long after rehab, Rachelle became a yoga teacher and eventually ended up taking a yoga training class in California. While living in Florida at time, she knew she needed to make the move permanently to California. </p> <p>“It made no sense mentally, but my heart was telling me to go and I knew how to listen to that.”</p> <p>And speaking of listening to her heart, Rachelle always knew that she would visit Israel (the country where her parents meant). Six years ago, she made the trip, stayed for