There is no sound more joyous than the angelic laugh of a toddler. Few sounds evoke more innocence and joy than the infectious giggle of a child. But what happens when that sound reminds you of what you are yet to experience? Who do you turn to when your desire to have your own giggling happy baby is left unfulfilled? Beyond the rooms of Doctors, Practitioners, Specialists and IVF Rounds where can you go?

Enter Rachel Campbell founder of Sprout & Co.

I was inspired to reach out to Rachel when I discovered her incredible journey of pregnancy and the wisdom she shares through her daily work. For many women the journey of pregnancy is far from easy. And while I know women have been talking about pregnancy and babies for centuries, in today’s modern world – where we can make the choice to remain childless the topic to be or not be a mother remains vastly misunderstood.

In this interview we talk about Rachel’s journey to purpose, how her business builds on her desire to be of service to others, her three pieces of advice for women wanting to start a family and have a baby, the greatest advice she’s ever received and so much more.

Read on to discover the story behind Sprout & Co and this beautiful soul, Rachel Campbell. 

Q&A

How did you find your purpose as a Fertility Mentor and Health Coach?

It was really something that I was thrown into by my own personal fertility journey. I’m a huge believer that everything happens for a reason.

I studied early childhood education, so I’ve always had an interest in fertility, babies, and small children. But when I finished school, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I just went into studying childhood education which was a passion of mine. After about 6 years of working in the industry I decided to try something different and started working in sales and marketing.

After I met my soul mate Pete and got married. We decided to start trying for a family – I literally thought we’d be pregnant on our honeymoon and fly back into Sydney shouting our fabulous baby news to the world! Gosh I was so naive. Since then it’s been a roller coaster ride with 5 years of twists and turns. We’ve literally seen everyone under the sun that could help create our dreams of growing our family. So I decided if I was going to go on this journey then something great had to come out of the journey. Beyond ending up with our beautiful baby, which I just knew would happen one day. I really needed something else great to happen. I asked myself, “How can I personally transform this experience into something that can serve others. What is something that can come out of this experience for the good of the world. And what can be of service to my higher purpose and my soul?” So I decided to study a health and fertility coaching course and started my blog. Really, that was the start of me finding my purpose, and it’s been a natural progression from one step to the next.

So Sprout & Co builds on that feeling and desire to be service?

Absolutely. Sprout & Co really developed from the idea – that a sprout is a plant and it can be a baby. The idea that you’re starting something in the world and the co is the rest of of it – our family, how we co-create and build our lives around that.

What gave you the drive to keep going?

All along I’ve had an inner knowing. I knew as a small child that one day I would meet my soul mate, get married and be a mum. I didn’t meet Pete till I was 35, but I had this inner knowing that one day I would meet my soul mate. We’re so amazingly connected, he’s the most amazing person in my life. Same with having a baby. It was such a roller coaster journey. We tried all the natural healers, did 12 rounds of IVF where sometimes we weren’t getting any eggs. I am very stubborn by nature, which really is that driving force as well. One day my sister said, my gorgeous sister, “I can help you here, let me help you. I’ve completed my family, let me donate eggs”. But I was so stubborn, saying, “I’m ok”. But she insisted by saying, “Let’s just do 1 round of IVF as a backup plan. If you need it, it’s there”. I relented, thinking it was a good idea. 18 months later, we ended up using the eggs she donated. Now I’m 37 and half weeks pregnant. It has been an epic 6-year journey, almost exactly to the day we started trying for a family. To be honest, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but I wouldn’t change it for the world because I have experienced so much personal growth and transformation. It’s taken me so many places, Sprout & Co., the relationship I have with my husband, my sister. It’s transformed my life and for that I am incredibly grateful.

What’s been a highlight of the last 6 years?

Of course our pregnancy was a highlight. We had 72 months of negative pregnancy tests before we saw our first positive ever, which is my pregnancy now. I remember Monday morning, 5 am, woke up, did the pregnancy test, saw the 2 pink lines. When you’ve never seen that before… It was incredible. There was so much joy, excitement. I was like this crazy woman jumping on Pete! It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced. That was a phenomenal personal experience. In terms of my clients, every single pregnancy they achieve is such a highlight for me. If you break that down further it’s every success they achieve as well – that could be someone achieving very good hormones for the month, which then leads them to move their pregnancy journey further. But every single pregnancy is celebrated with so much joy. It’s so amazing to see what these women have been through to finally reach their goal.

How do you feel your work serves a higher purpose?

That’s such an interesting question and so relevant right now. I’m reading The Seat Of The Soul by Gary Zukav. Such an amazing book about how your soul serves a higher purpose. When I am present and doing my work at Sprout & Co., I just feel totally engaged, totally on task, on purpose. It feels like part of my spiritual contract, why I’ve been put on this earth in this lifetime, to serve others and help them on their journey to discover their spiritual contracts to be parents as well.

Have you always had that connection to spirit? Or is it something that came later in life?

I was born and bred into quite a strong Catholic family. There’s always been that connection to spirit. But it really developed when I was on this journey. I started meditating, connecting to Mother Nature, delving into the work of the soul, what is my purpose, why am I here. I started to really dig deep when I began this journey which I’m so grateful for. It’s been so amazing.

It’s such a phenomenal way to live isn’t it? When you’re aligned in that way?

Phenomenal. It’s helped me so much in this journey. When you watch the transformation and look at where you were 5, 10 years ago and the way you are now, it’s just phenomenal.

Let’s shift to the mindset of your clients. What are 3 pieces of advice that you would share with a woman wanting to start a family and have a baby?

The first thing I do with all my clients, and this is a really important piece when people think about having a baby, and that is to dig deep and sink into why you want to have a baby? There’s so many societal expectations and so many pressures on women that they’re just conditioned or expected to have a baby. So ask the question – Why do I want to have a baby and grow my family? And really look at that answer before doing any further work.

The second thing: once you’ve made the decision that you do want to grow a family, and you’d like to have a baby is to create a fertile body, mind, and spirit. It’s like a spring cleaning for your body. So you’re detoxing all the nasties out of your system to create a way for fertile soil. So just like a seed can’t flourish into a beautiful plant and flower unless the soil is fertile. Our bodies also can’t flourish and reproduce unless the soil is prepared. So that’s through nutrition, our thoughts, reducing stress, there are so many different ways. That’s what I predominantly look at with my clients, working on a holistic program to get them in tip top shape for fertility.

Thirdly, really look at creating space in your life for that baby, the love and the environment that you want to bring them into as you’re about to embark on this huge life change.

There’s an amazing book called Spirit Babies by Walter Makichen. It’s that idea that we have all these little spirit babies that are connected in the world. Sometimes they just need a gentle nudge to come down and meet their parents. If there’s no space in the parent’s life, the baby won’t be drawn into that life. We have to create the space for them to come in.

What’s the greatest piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

I think the one piece of advice I keep coming back to is from Buddha, and it’s pretty much my life mantra: “At the end of our life only three things matter which is how much we loved, how gently we lived, and how gracefully we let go of things that are not meant for us”. I always come back to those three principles. It really helped me transform through this journey.

Given you’re a health coach I have to ask you this question do you have a specific morning routine or ritual or how you start your day?

Absolutely! Although being 37 weeks pregnant it has slightly shifted. I’ve been prone to a few sleep ins. Normally I’m up at 5:30 with no need to set an alarm because my body clock is so in tune. I have an Vedic style meditation I practise for 20 minutes. It’s really important to have time with my hubby so I make some cuddle time. And I’m really just grateful for and thank the universe for this amazing, incredible man by my side. This is so important and something I picked up from Louise Hay – when you wake up in the morning, thank the universe, be grateful, smile. How you intentionally start the day sets the tone for the rest of the day. We will then go for a walk or exercise, then take an ocean swim in the warmer months. We just find the ocean is such an amazing way to cleanse our mind, body and spirit and prepare us for the day. We come back home, shower, and I oil pull which detoxes and cleanses the body. Then we have a relaxing breakfast. This is the time we’ll try to get a little education in: we’ll watch a Ted talk or FMTV educational program together, or just have a good chat about our day and what it will be like. After that, we start working.

A few of my favourite bonus questions with Rachel:

So who or what is your favourite book?

The two I mentioned I just rate so highly – The Seat of The Soul and Spirit Babies, these two have really transformed my life. The other two of my favourites that’s so relevant to our message here is Rebecca Campbell’s Rise Sister Rise and Light Is The New Black. I really love her work and what she embodies. Sorry that was more than one!

Favourite breakfast?

Once again that’s really shifted. This morning I had some long fermented sourdough with cultured butter, parsley, pineapple and bio genetic cheese. That’s pregnancy craving for you! Generally, it would be a green smoothie, or a couple of poached eggs, avocado and bone broth. Being pregnant has turned me into a totally different girl.

Favourite musician?

I spent a long period of time in London when that dance culture was around so I love the dreamy dancey sort of Chicane type of music. That’s my favourite.

Any final thoughts you’d like to share in the context of creating and living a legacy?

Sometimes I see people push so hard to find their purpose and find their legacy. They push it to be sort of work or business related. But I think it’s different for everyone at different times: sometimes your purpose might be to heal your body, sometimes it might be building an amazing business. I think it will be different at different stages in our life. Instead of pushing and pulling to find what our purpose and legacy is, it’s through meditation, sitting in stillness, connecting with our spirit and soul and the universe and thinking deep and asking yourself the questions.And gently going about it and it will find you. I know people get frustrated that they haven’t found it, but just keep gently listening to those little nudges from the universe and following your light each day and you will get there.

Learn more about Rachel Campbell and Sprout & Co: Facebook | Instagram | Web | Pinterest 

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Thank you for being here and consciously choosing to explore the different ways that ordinary people are doing extraordinary things by serving a higher purpose through their daily work. Everything we do here at Your Legacy Project is designed to inspire and empower you to find your purpose and bring your unique gifts and talents to life. 

I’d love to know do you have an epic pregnancy journey to share? Are you a fertility specialist, mentor or coach? I’d love to hear your comments on this interview and discover more about the incredible work that you are doing and your experiences along the way.

Hundreds of people visit this site each week and you’ll never know the difference you can make in the lives of others by sharing your own personal experience. Please share your thoughts about this interview and of course all comments are welcome ? Rachel and I can’t wait to read them.

Remember, Live With Purpose.

Brooke