I Went to the Rachel Hollis Tour Stop in Joliet

I want to start by writing that I am not the world’s biggest Rachel Hollis fan. I have had my fair share of criticism for her controversies and plagiarism scandals. I also follow creators who share their critiques of her work, and sometimes I agree with their commentary. But when Rachel Hollis announced her Rach Talk Live tour, I was intrigued. I wanted to see for myself whether she has grown from her missteps and whether these shows were worth the money.

I expected to snark about the show. I expected that I wouldn’t have a good time, and I almost turned my car around several times as I drove for an hour and half to Joliet from Skokie. Was I really driving this long to see Rachel Hollis?

Well, I’m glad I did. I’m still not her biggest fan, but I can say with certainty that I enjoyed myself. I did meet strangers and I did feel a short connection with them. I thought Rachel was funny. It was like a motivational comedy show at times. At one point she joked that people think her conferences are a cult, and she said “Only one of you will be possessed by a demon” during the meditation.

I’ve heard the stories she told before, but she did retell them in entertaining ways. One thing is certain, Rachel is an excellent public speaker. She knows how to engage an audience.

She told the story of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and how it wasn’t planned. The dream portion of his speech was prompted by a civil rights activist, a woman, named Mahalia Jackson. This I did not know, so Rachel taught me something.

Rachel announced in the beginning that “Tonight my intention for us is to realign with the dream.”

She had us do an exercise in which we paired up with a stranger. I did not plan to engage with anyone, so I tried to avoid it, but I locked eyes with a woman in the last row like me. We paired up, and I learned her name is Crystal. We told each other our dreams that we had visualized clearly in our guided meditation. We then encouraged each other. The exercise was a way of showing us that if we can’t tell our dream to a complete stranger we don’t stand a chance at achieving it. It was also meant to remind us that a complete stranger is now cheering us on as we work to achieve. I have to say that this inspired me.

Rachel reminded the audience that she doesn’t consider herself a self-help guru; she is merely repeating information she has found to be useful. I think this is sort of to address the criticism that personal development is just the same stuff repeated by gurus.

That may be true, but I have to admit I had a good time. I was motivated to start running again and to work toward my goal of growing my gift shop. I’m glad she had a motivation format like what her conferences seemed to be rather than her Rach Talk show she does on YouTube, which I don’t find that helpful.

She ended with what sounded like a sermon. She clearly has picked up the preaching skills from her father. She referenced the Bible repeatedly.

So, thanks, Rachel. I guess.

I still hope you won’t say problematic things in your podcasts, though. Like having someone who seemingly doesn’t have credentials talk about covert narcissism.