Meet BHAM’s “Real Talk” Author & Podcaster, Rachel Awtrey
Trailblazing influencer and podcaster Rachel Awtrey has a new book to help you find joy in life's "messy, mundane, and magnificent moments." Image: Jay Barr Photography
Birmingham-based Influencer and Podcaster Rachel Awtrey has written what she calls a love letter — her debut book, Love Your Life (Even When You Don’t Like It All the Time): A Realistic Guide to Unlocking Joy in Life’s Messy, Mundane, and Magnificent Moments. This faith-based guide helps readers find joy in life’s messy, mundane, and magnificent moments, even when things feel lackluster. Known for her chart-topping podcast Real Talk with Rachel Awtrey, Rachel’s book offers practical encouragement for navigating life with grace and grit.
How It Started, How It’s Going
Rachel admits that she and her friend Mary Scott launched their podcast in 2018 simply because they were bored and wanted to fill a void. “We saw a weird gap in the market where we wanted to have encouraging, faith-based conversations that weren’t so deep and hard to chew through,” Rachel says. “We wanted to have the entertainment and culture as well, and it didn’t feel like there was a blend of those two, so we created a show that blended them.”
They were on to something. The show, which often featured interviews with authors, musicians, and other newsmakers, became wildly popular. In 2019, Mary stepped away from it, and Rachel became a solo host. Then, in 2023, Rachel rebranded the show after a guest told her she should find a name to reflect its “fun, edge, and spice.”
Behind the Bliss became Real Talk with Rachel Awtrey, and shortly after that, it was picked up by That Sounds Fun Network. Today, the podcast has over two million downloads. “It’s so crazy how much momentum was on the other side of the rebrand,” Rachel shares.
“That’s a book.”
Shortly after the rebrand, a literary agent contacted Rachel with an idea.
“She said she’d been listening to a few episodes and saw a unique delivery … that I give people the permission to actually enjoy things while also experiencing really hard things, and that the joy that I love to talk about isn’t exclusive to easy or comfortable seasons. It’s just as available in the hard things we go through,” Rachel recalls. “And she just told me, ‘That’s a book.’”
Rachel jumped at the opportunity to write a book. Working with her literary agent, she compiled a proposal that Tyndale House Publishers soon accepted.
As she’s often reminded, Rachel’s podcast and book advice is hard-won wisdom. “I went through a lot as a little kid,” she explains. When she was only eight years old, her father battled end-stage kidney disease. And while he received a life-saving transplant, he later died in an accident.
“The formative years of my life taught me a lot about the world. What I walked away with — whether the high highs or low lows — was the thought, What does it look like to take control over what we can and surrender what we can’t?” Rachel tells us. “I can’t choose what’s happening, but I can choose my response.”
She uses this mindset to navigate all of life’s obstacles, and it’s the same mindset she hopes to pass on to others. “I don’t want my friends — whether they’re listeners, readers, or friends I share stuff with — to have to wait for rock bottom to learn that wisdom.”
How to Love Your Life
Rachel says the first step to building a life you love is to get honest about where you are, what you want, and what you need to change. Next, consider how you respond to your current circumstances. “What is my response, and what practical things can I do right here, even if this is the truth that I’m experiencing?” Rachel recommends asking yourself.
Finally, fight to the joy.
“Here’s what I know is really hard, and here’s what I know is also really good, that’s existing at the same time,” Rachel says. “Don’t be so overcome and overwhelmed by what’s hard that you miss the good that could actually be the fuel for you getting through the hard times.”
Best Advice
When asked the best advice she’s been given, Rachel’s wisdom is simple: “You’re allowed to change your mind,” she says. “I’ve believed for way too long that we’re supposed to have this figured out, and if we have it figured out, it’s going to be easy. And if it’s not easy, we don’t have it figured out, and therefore we’re a mess. I just don’t think that’s true.”
Rachel says that after talking with friends from different generations, she’s come to this conclusion: “I don’t think anyone really has it all figured out, and there’s almost this freedom that comes with that. If I don’t have it figured out, then I don’t have too much to lose if I want to change my mind and try something new.”
Billboard Moments
After a sold-out book launch party at Little Professor Bookshop in Homewood, Rachel hit the road for a multi-city book tour that included stops in Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Baton Rouge, and three South Carolina cities: Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia.
Rachel, along with 15 of her loved ones, also made her way to New York City to see a billboard of her book in Times Square.
“It moved me to have a really cool achievement like that, but it moved me more to know that I had so many people having my back and screaming alongside me,” she says.
When Rachel is not writing, recording podcasts, or promoting her new book, she loves spending time with her two sons, ages two and four, and her husband.
“This sounds so simple, but I love being home,” says Rachel, who lives in Bluff Park. “I love my home. I love what we’ve created here. We have an open-door policy, so people we share our life with come over unannounced all the time. It just feels like a really neat, fun place to be.”
LIGHTNING ROUND!
Favorite Spot in Birmingham for Outdoor Recreation?
“Jemison Trail. We take lots of walks there and let our boys just get in the creek, and we love how shaded it is, especially in the summertime — praise God!”
Favorite Thing to Do on a Saturday Morning?
“Visit the Pepper Place Farmers’ Market. We love going on Saturday mornings and getting our fresh veggies and eggs.”
Last great book you read?
“Raising Emotionally Strong Boys by David Thomas. I reread this about once a year.”
Three things you can’t live without?
“My ice roller for my face, adjustments at my chiropractor, and Lady Bird Taco.”
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Javacia Harris Bowser
Javacia Harris Bowser is a Birmingham-based freelance writer and the founder of See Jane Write, an online community and coaching service for women who write. With over 20 years of journalism experience, Javacia has received awards from the National Federation of Press Women, Alabama Media Professionals, Alabama Press Association, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. When she’s not writing, she’s usually practicing Pilates, getting her 10K steps a day, or watching crime shows. Follow Javacia on Instagram @seejavaciawrite.