Interview conducted by Divna Wheelwright, MA, CCLS

Rechelle Porter’s child life career spans over 30 years, traversing her work as a CCLS at New York Presbyterian Morgan-Stanley Children’s Hospital to directing the very program she was hired into. She has served as chair of the ACLP’s inaugural DEI Committee, co-presented nationwide on uprooting racism in pediatric settings, and now leads the Child Life & Creative Arts Therapies department at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Rechelle’s mark on the field of child life is distinct and enduring for several reasons, the most obvious being her commitment to patients and families across time. Less known is her background as a Certified Fearless Living Life Coach and entrepreneur. 

Rechelle was “called” to coaching after a session at ACLP conference inspired her to look deeper into the science of supporting individuals to achieve their goals. While her experience as a leader had already clarified her ability to support a team, Rechelle became curious about the ways that fear prohibits growth at an individual level. She sought formal certification as a life coach, with the pursuit of “living in (your) freedom as (your) authentic self,” as her ultimate goal. Soon after, Rechelle formed RPD Life Coaching, LLC, where she now supports clients in understanding their fears and, therefore, overcoming their challenges. 

At the heart of Rechelle’s worldview is the belief that it takes courage to be willing to look within ourselves and that living fearlessly is the result of living an authentic life. It’s one thing to preach these tenets, it’s another thing to live them. Rechelle’s pursuit of coaching was born from a place of recognizing that she wanted more, as was her decision to move from New York City to Oakland, CA. In recent years she has facilitated and engaged in difficult, essential conversations about the state of inclusion in child life, and, at a time when so much came to a grinding halt in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, found opportunities for her staff and colleagues to move forward. 

“In child life, there are many of us who suffer from imposter syndrome. We think we aren’t doing enough, that we aren’t good enough. I use coaching to help my staff and clients shift their perspectives and become their best selves,” Rechelle reflects. Viewing her staff as on cherished “loan,” she is frank in her recognition that they are not meant to stay forever. “I have stayed in child life for as long as I have because of the opportunities I have been given to learn and grow. Now, as a leader, I supervise team members who aspire to become nurses, PhDs, advanced practitioners, and everything in between. I want people to be their best selves- whatever that looks like- and my job is to help get them there.” 

Rechelle Porter’s belief in others illuminates the stories they have been told, and how these stories undergird the realities they have accepted. Her impact on child life is that we are now telling new stories ourselves.