About me

I’m Rachel — a former Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (currently in Family Medicine), professor, writer, photographer, and creator of Actually Sustainable.

For years, I looked successful from the outside while quietly running on fumes inside. I was the dependable one. The capable one. The person who could hold everything together, push through exhaustion, and keep functioning no matter what life demanded.

I was great at a meaningful job I loved with a growing family and rising career possibilities. And for a long time, I liked it. Loved it, even.

Until eventually, I didn't.

When I asked my more senior colleagues for help, I got unrealistic suggestions--like taking a year off. With nowhere else to turn, I broke, but felt actually breaking down was a luxury I couldn't afford.

I spent the next 10+ years studying everything I could to find some way out from under the smothering security blanket called Burnout.

And, I changed things.

Little by little, through trial and error and grit, I applied what I found in the literature. I went to therapy. I adjusted my career, gained certifications, and was officially diagnosed with ADHD. I ended a marriage that wasn't working. And, I spent a lot of time writing, healing, and figuring out who I was underneath the productivity and pressure.

What I discovered is this:

There is no single way out. There is no quick fix. But there are evidenced-based options and suggestions that can help us lighten the load without burning everything to the ground. (Even though some days the latter still sounds very appealing.)

I started Actually Sustainable for those who are now where I was all those years ago: Looking for realistic help to keep the best parts of their lives and careers but in a more sustainable way.

When I’m not teaching, in the clinic, recording podcast episodes, or writing, you can usually find me outdoors with a camera in hand, making candles, chasing good light, or trying to convince myself that buying another notebook counts as self-care. And even with multiple jobs and hobbies (and kids), my life now feels infinitely easier than it was at the start of this journey.

You don’t have to burn your life down to change it.

You just have to stop building one that burns you out.