An in-depth interview with coach & award-winning author Rachel Radway

Rachel’s love of languages and immersion in other cultures started when she was very young. In fact, when she was a child, she dreamed of working for a company that would pay her to live all over the world, so that she could learn every language and help people all over the world communicate with each other. It was a dream many adults dismissed with a smile and a pat on the head. 

Yet, years later, Rachel has lived in more than 30 cities across nine countries, studied nine languages, and has built a career around helping others connect - not only with each other, but with themselves.

Her journey, however, was not a straight line. It is a story of burnout, reinvention, and the eventual discovery of her vocation: guiding highly sensitive and neurodivergent leaders to embrace their differences as strengths. Through her coaching practice, RER Coaching, her group mastermind program, and her award-winning* book, Perceptive, Rachel is reframing what it means to be a “sensitive” leader in a world that often misunderstands the trait.

Moving beyond burnout

Rachel’s career is rooted in content strategy, design and team operations, and communications within the tech industry and for several Fortune 500 companies. Outwardly, she was thriving. Inwardly, she was unraveling.

“I had just been running myself ragged,” she recalls. “I had burned myself out to the point where I was getting close to non-functional. But no one was talking about burnout at the time. I didn’t have the language for what I was experiencing. I just knew that getting a different job was not the answer.”

With no clear roadmap for recovery, Rachel made a radical decision: she quit her job, sold her California condo, and moved to rural Peru. What began as a break from corporate life turned into several years abroad - living in the Andes, renovating a small apartment in Portugal, and searching for a healthier way of being. Though her circumstances shifted - from managing organic gardens to navigating construction projects in Portuguese - the deeper journey was one of rest, self-healing, and reflection.

When she eventually returned to the United States, Rachel still struggled to fit back into the corporate mold. Even roles that looked promising often proved toxic. But with a severance package in hand after yet another layoff, she finally invested in something she had long wanted to pursue: coach training. 

Enrolling at Erickson Coaching International, she quickly realized she had found her true path. “It was absolutely the best decision I could have made. I loved the course, I met amazing people, and more importantly, I really found the direction I was meant to be going in. It just felt right.”

Discovering her niche

At first, Rachel wasn’t sure who she wanted to coach. She knew she wanted to support women leaders, but that felt too broad. As her client base grew, a pattern began to emerge. The people most drawn to her were women who shared a common trait: high sensitivity.
“They didn’t know it had a name. They thought they were alone in the challenges they faced. But when they worked with me, they felt seen - sometimes for the first time in their lives.”

A turning point came when Rachel stumbled upon the documentary, Sensitive, based on Dr. Elaine Aron’s pioneering book about highly sensitive people (HSPs). She had read the book twenty years earlier but forgotten about it in the hustle of corporate life. Watching the film, she realized it was describing not only her own experience but also the traits of her clients. 

From then on, she began to position her coaching practice around highly sensitive and neurodivergent leaders. What might once have been labeled “too much” - too emotional, too intense, too empathetic - Rachel reframed as unique strengths.

Writing 'Perceptive'

This work culminated in her book, Perceptive: Insights for leaders who feel more, process deeply, and think differently. Perceptive offers a bold invitation: rather than suppressing their sensitivity, leaders should embrace it as a superpower. Drawing on personal stories, client experiences, and research, Rachel shows how traits like empathy, deep processing, and intuition are essential assets in leadership.

“For everyone who’s been told they’re too sensitive,” writes one reviewer, “Perceptive offers a compelling invitation to recognize our strengths and own our power.” Another praised its practical guidance: “The information on various ways people can give or receive feedback and offer clarity in communication is especially useful.”

Rachel explains that writing the book was both affirming and illuminating. She had been diagnosed with ADHD a few years earlier, and in researching neurodiversity, she dug deeper into her own identity, discovering she also has some autistic traits. “Had I known all this from childhood, I might have adapted more quickly, been easier on myself. But along with the diagnosis came gratitude and understanding. It was life-changing.”

Coaching from experience

Rachel’s coaching style stems from both her Ericksonian training and her lived experience. She’s passionate about what she does, and lives for those moments when a coachee tells her they finally feel understood after years of feeling out of place. 

“It’s the messages behind the scenes that mean the most to me,” she says. “A note from a client saying, ‘I feel seen for the first time,’ or, ‘It feels like you’ve been inside my brain.’ That’s when I know I’m making a difference.”

Changing the leadership conversation

Rachel is outspoken about the broader need for workplaces to rethink leadership. While terms like “authentic leadership” are popular on LinkedIn, she sees much of it as being performative, even though she does also see progress. “There’s more genuine curiosity now - both from individuals discovering their own neurodivergence and from organizations beginning to recognize the loyalty and innovation that neurodivergent leaders inspire in their teams.”

Coaching, she believes, plays a critical role in this shift. Yet, she acknowledges, many still view coaching as a luxury rather than a necessity. “In my mind, every leader - neurotypical or neurodivergent - should have a coach. Coaching helps prevent burnout, set boundaries, and build confidence. But it’s still a struggle to communicate that value until someone experiences it firsthand.”

Coming full circle

Reflecting on her own path, Rachel realizes that coaching had always been part of her life. In college, she volunteered in prisons, helping inmates set and work toward goals. Later, she manned an information helpline that incorporated elements of coaching. Even in her corporate communications work, she often found herself in a coaching role. “I just never put it together,” she says. “When I finally went through my certification and started working with clients, it felt obvious - like, of course this is what I was meant to be doing.”

Today, through RER Coaching, her group program, the G.R.I.T. Collaborative, and her writing, Rachel supports women leaders who, like her, may have been told they were “too sensitive” for leadership. Her message is simple but transformative: your wiring is not a weakness. It is your strength.

“Almost every client I work with has felt alone most of their life,” she reflects. “The moment they realize they’re not - that they belong, that their sensitivity is a gift - that’s when the real transformation begins.”

To read and order Rachel’s book, visit her website. It’s an inspiring, eye-opening read that will offer profound insights long after you’ve read the last page.

*Perceptive is a Nonfiction Book Awards Silver winner. Read about the Award here.