Meet Rachel Rickett. A bright-hearted selfless entrepreneur who found her calling through a time of loss. Aiding an ill mother through her final stages of life and putting loved ones to rest, this young certified death doula and grief couch teaches people how to navigate through life’s ups and downs while also giving them a reason to simply breathe… Read her story:
BlackDoctor.org (BDO): Let’s start from the moment you decided to create loss&found. When did the makeup of this service and platform come to you?
Rachel Ricketts (RR): I’ve endured grief of many forms in my life starting from childhood so in that regard loss&found has been brewing in my bones from way back, but I finally had the courage to bring it into the world after helping my mother die in 2015. She battled multiple sclerosis for nearly 20 years which left her a quadriplegic in unfathomable pain.
After she died I experienced loss and depression on a level I had not known possible and it felt like no one understood. I started loss&found as a platform for folks to come together and share their experiences of moving through loss and grief, but I quickly realized that people were also in dire need of palpable, practical help to move through the grief that arises from all the challenges we face in life so I became a certified death doula and grief coach so I could guide folks through their dark night of the soul, no matter its source.
I believe grief isn’t merely about death, it’s a daily part of life. From heartbreak, racism, sexism, war, abuse, stress/burnout, incarceration, infertility/miscarriage etc., there are hundreds of forms of loss and they inherently include grief. I define grief as a natural response to a loss or change of any kind. Despite its prevalence, our culture is grief-averse.
There are too few spaces where we can be real about our experiences and feel seen, heard and supported during the tough times, however, they may manifest. This is especially true for marginalized communities that endure unspeakable trauma on a regular basis and rarely have an opportunity to stop and honor or acknowledge all we’ve been through. In the wake of my mother’s death I was also dealing with chronic pain from a car accident the year before, loss of identity having left my career as a private-practice corporate lawyer, the deaths of my favorite uncle, my partner’s father and my godfather and navigating a racist, patriarchal world as a Black woman.
That’s why I created loss&found. To be of service to those who need it most during the hardest times of their lives, and help folks manifest more joy through connection with self and spirit.
BDO: You speak openly about the loss of your mother, family members and