Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Friedman Elberts.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was born and raised in Manhattan and grew up as a city kid through and through, navigating the streets and the subway at an early age. I was always a lover of sports, physical activity, and movement, and played on my high school field hockey, softball, and track teams.
I learned how to ski at 2, snowboarding at 15, and was a lover of surfing and the power of the ocean. I adored the energy of The City and how it fed the creativity of the people buzzing around. New York City taught me many things, but one thing that sticks out is to live an inspired life. Even though the city filled my cup up in some ways, I yearned for more, more time outdoors to be exact.
That’s why, after graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in Kinesiology, I didn’t hesitate to make a crazy fork-in-the-road decision to move to Vail, Colorado with dreams of being a ski bum. Call it an unorthodox path for a U of M graduate from NYC kid, but that move gave me six glorious years of exploration, challenges, and inspired living in the Rockies. Those years set the foundation for one of my core values – AWE/WONDER.
During my journey in Vail, I met my now husband. Where after dating for 3 weeks I said YES to a grand adventure of traveling around South East Asia with a man I barely knew who I would be meeting in Phuket, Thailand after he sailed across the Indian Ocean. This trip set the foundation for a lot more hell yes’s and inspired me to continue to learn more about who I wanted to be. After coming back to Vail from our adventure and much deliberation and yearning for growth, we relocated to San Francisco, where I built a career combining my love for the outdoors with personal connection.
I worked with many brands and agencies in the outdoor industry, fostering relationships through marketing, PR solutions, social media campaigns, and in-person events. And, through that work, I found that I loved bringing people together outside of the office. I wanted to help people elevate their health and wellness through connection to nature and physical movement. I wanted to walk with people on their journeys, comfort them if they fell off track, and guide them back toward their goals. Thus, my second value was born: COMMUNITY
Finally, I reflected on what motivated me. Since childhood, I always sought out new experiences and people. My parents still tell stories of my many escapes from the crib. I never wanted to stop playing sports, going to camp, rock climbing, surfing, snowboarding… you name it. As an adult, I love being strong and fit. I love testing my body’s ability, but I also love just sitting in nature. Going for a simple walk outside nourishes my soul. Hence, I aligned all three of my values with this final step: MOVEMENT
And with that, my personal training and health coaching business Stoke Coach was born.
I began creating wellness programs to help others improve their overall health. I started outdoor personal training to reduce the stress and anxiety of a gym. And people began to rediscover their childlike awe, wonder, and playfulness. It’s about helping people find their inner badass from wherever they are starting, something I like to call approachable badassery.
That feeling of being stoked on life, stoked on what your body can do, lifts you up and pushes you out of your comfort zone helping you to reconnect with the joy of movement.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. After trying my hand at the corporate world I realized I did not want to sit inside at a desk. There’s been a lot of “trying on” new jobs and careers, not sure what I’ve wanted to do. Which has been stressful, I’ve been envious of people who know exactly who they are what they want to do and just do that. It seems so much easier than being someone who wants to do all the things, try all the things and figure out what is my purpose, my best path to my personal success in this life.
I’ve dealt with some career trauma with jobs that I’ve loved, and were created for me, ending because of layoffs, a retreat I helped co-create taken out from under me – these were and still are hard to navigate in my psyche – I still look back at what could have been and feel sadness, but I’ve pivoted and used the skills I learned from these experiences to create my own thing.
There has been self-doubt, negative self-talk, and imposter syndrome – like what am I doing? Am I doing this right? How come people are choosing to work with me? How do I create a business? Is this what I actually want to be doing? Who am I to do this thing? Will people actually want to work with me? Another personal trainer?
Did I really go to college to do this? I think my biggest naysayer has been myself really, but I really try to practice self-love and respect, putting one foot in front of the other every day, and celebrating every day. Reminding myself there is space for everyone’s talents in this world and that the people who are meant for you, will gravitate toward you.
Also, a new interesting challenge is recently becoming a mom to my daughter Stella who is currently 7 months old. While pregnant I was seeing clients, and I was the busiest I had ever been it was so fun and exciting to see people relating to me and my ideals, but I’ve had to take a step back after having her and that has been really hard putting a pause on forwarding progress on my other baby.
It’s mentally and physically challenging coming back after having a baby and I am just starting to get back into the swing of things and finding time to revisit working with clients. I am hoping to bring a new perspective to fitness after going through pregnancy and how to work with constraints, gratitude for where you are in your journey, and take some inspiration from Stella’s childlike awe and wonder.
As you know, we’re big fans of Stoke Coach. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
So What is a Stoke Coach you might ask? I am an ACE Certified personal trainer and health coach, creating custom fitness and wellness programs that help people get outside, connect more deeply with nature, and find mindfulness, gratitude, and celebration in their lives. I’m an activity partner, helping people to step out of their comfort zone in an approachable way.
I am an adventure concierge identifying goals and pursuits, that people would like to accomplish. My coaching is about having a beginner’s mindset and taking yourself on a journey to mindfully progress, trying new things, and getting uncomfortable because that is where the change happens. That’s where you build confidence and strength in your body and mind to accomplish goals and just, start. Because it all doesn’t happen overnight – it’s a progression.
I help my clients identify where they are in their health journey and where they want to be by bridging that gap. I specialize in creating fun outdoor workouts that help make fitness and getting into nature a priority because moving our bodies is a privilege and a necessity.
By getting back to nature in our fitness routines, we can be more present, feel awe and wonder in our everyday lives and take small approachable steps to be the best and badass version of ourselves.
My “why” is to get outside to move my body and to help people recognize the power of movement, and what their bodies can do to overcome challenges, try new things, and feel strong and confident in their bodies and minds.
I created my business because I found healing peace and confidence in movement, sports, backpacking, and hiking, I sometimes can’t believe the places my body has taken me. I find the STOKE when I accomplish an objective or just try at least – where there is a feeling of excitement and enjoyment that lasts for weeks, months, years – of I can’t believe I did that or tried to do that. And that’s what perpetuates my fitness mindset – of wanting to continue to do these activities.
I am a supporter of shifts in my client’s lifestyle. When we make feeling good our priority, everything else can flow. To me, fitness is not about how you look. It’s about becoming stronger than you were yesterday.’ Healthy to me is when all of the parts of your life can coexist in a harmonious manner. Healthy living isn’t just food and exercise; that’s only part of it.
I am based in beautiful Park City, where we have access to world-class outdoor spaces. I meet my clients on the trail, at a lake, park, on the slopes, or anywhere that’s convenient for them. I also work with clients remotely creating programs for upcoming travel or how to live well during their daily lives by researching trails and activities in hometowns and places they’re traveling to.
I’m with my clients every step of the way on their journey. I can’t promise it won’t be challenging at times, but I can promise I’ll have your back. Everything I do is custom but I have packages that are 11 sessions long, and 3 months or 6 months long. I find that committing to an extended program helps people stay on track and invest in themselves.
I’m most proud of Stoke Coach for really helping people take their health to the next level, be it their fitness and strength or just finding an hour or two for themselves to just be.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Two important lessons that come to mind are “My Energy is Contagious” and “Love Where I Am”.
I have to continuously remind myself that my energy directly affects who I am around. If I am down people will reflect that but if I am excited and joyful people will reflect that as well, and if they might not be in that space it could help them turn around their day.
The Love Where I Am lesson has been a continuous lesson that I have on mental repeat – finding moments of joy in trying times. Every time I am having a hard moment where I feel stickiness or resistance I think “love where I am” and try to find something good about that moment.
Pricing:
- 11 Sessions (11th session is free) for $1,000
- Custom 3-Month Package – can be tailored with the client for personal needs – $2800 and up depending on sessions scheduled and adventures.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stokecoach.com
- Instagram: @stoke_coach
Image Credits
Joe Keefe, Mike Elberts, Cat Yu, and Rachel
