You're Welcome with Hilary Rushford

There's no affirmation I use more in my life. And this one actually isn't even about your body. Yet it leaves you feeling better, kinder, more hopeful. And, better about your body. Then inspires you to take the next step to healing. If every woman used this, we could change our culture. Let's start with us.   Links mentioned in this episode: Ep 60: The Wand NEW get a VIP ticket to watch my keynote...

You sent so many messages when I started this convo on Stories a few months ago. Then I had an appointment I wanted to tell you about (yegads) and the two came full circle.   What we get riled up about on social media distracts us from what we should really care about. From false advertising ignoring the biggest factors making women look younger and pretending it's something else. Then we spend th...

When does our rage feel compelling, not repelling? After Part 3 of the podcast series went live II received messages like this: "Hearing this unlocked something in me…" "You awoke an anger inside of me I've been swallowing, and made it feel okay to let it out…" "This was a holy rage and it was exciting, inviting even, to witness, thank you…"   I had been nervous to release that episode, but it tur...

You requested this episode, submitting follow-up Q's you had after listening to parts 1-3.   Today I'm answering your Q's including: How do you move on after that level of betrayal? How many books are ghostwritten? Have you heard from anyone involved since it went live? I also talk about how to: Know when it's better to fight, or walk away (even if you know you're right) Get closure Honor yourself...

You've known gaslighting, rage at disorganization or disrespect, or a traumatic work/community experience.   Today I'll share 7 action ideas to help us protect ourselves in the present or future, those in our inner circle, and more broadly our culture. Use this cheat sheet to journal, discuss, and reflect what you'll do in this season to grow 10% better, leaving you more empowered + confident:   I...

I want to say it gets better.  In life I've really found that to be true. In romantic relationships, homes, friends, employees. But sometimes it gets worse first. How do you know when it's time to walk away from a dream? From everything you've invested, with nothing–less than nothing, far far less than what you started with? You know it when it happens. The final straw.  HEADS UP: This is a very r...

In 2011 I started a business as a stylist. I'd moved to New York City for my career in theater after a Broadway tour, Radio City Rockettes, and all that jazz.   [The below timeline is not covered in the episode and included here for backstory.]   In 2014 a friend who worked at a top publisher told me that my style course, "had to be a book." She'd told everyone in her office my principles and they...

For a year I've been asked, "What happened to you? What exactly are you grieving about?"   Each time I would reply, "Unfortunately I'm not legally allowed to share right now, but hope to be able to soon."   Now I'm able to, and as I've known I would be all along, I feel terrified.    So we're starting with that: The difference between being silent and silenced The holiness of this season I'm sad t...

The long + layered stories we're all living in. That's what this chat is about--you, us. You've asked for updates on my brother-in-law which I'm sharing here in the most respectful way possible. Yet really, this is about far more than one person's physical healing + rather how we navigate the mental complexities of hope amidst hard things. You can catch up on Aaron's story here: My Instagram post...

How do you train your body to be more calm in stress?    Today I'm sharing an anchoring phrase that helps me every time I remember to use it, in hopes this conversation will help us all do so more often.   Recorded from a car outside the hospital visiting my brother-in-law, we'll talk not only big picture gratitude and presence, but practically how we make our lives easier when we build the habit...

When you're waiting for news, for an answer, for closure… how are you patient, how do you get through the day, what do you occupy your mind with? This wonderful question came from a member of our Elegant Excellence Community . I shared the spontaneous teaching you'll hear in this episode, and am following it up with thoughts through the lens of my brother-in-law's accident that hadn't yet happened...

Four weeks ago I'd have told you I'm deeply empathetic.   I still am! But I've been humbled as to how much I can declare that in scenarios in which I truly have never walked a similar path.   It's rare we have "overnight change" moments. When they happen we get a clear vision of a before and after of ourselves.   Today we'll chat about:   The difference between sympathy, empathy, and being an empa...

If you love someone who's walked through illness + injury, this "pour a cup" or "let's go on a walk" chat is for you. My 26-year-old brother-in-law (outdoorsy, active, military veteran) was in an accident 2.5 weeks ago, fracturing his C5 vertebrae and paralyzing him from the neck down. He's been given a 1-2% chance of getting out of a wheelchair, and our family is rocked, devastated, fighting, bel...

Whether ending a relationship, letting go of a home or a side gig, it can be so challenging to know when a long story has run its course.   And it matters BIG TIME! When we're leaking energy on the wrong thing, we can be missing out on passion and purpose meant for us, in our career or simply in how we live our daily life.   In this episode I guide us back to how we got here, and how we get out wi...

Calming nervous system dates, the simplest path to feeling beautiful + more in today's post-Florida download.    94% of us are in a waiting season. #HandRaised This week I stumbled upon a few ways to support myself in what feels like a Groundhogs Day chapter + broke down why/how they helped so I can look for more.   Join me in a seasonal reset inside our Elegant Excellence Community for April ! We...

A light girlfriend chat after a hard week. Anyone else just need to feel lighter? We talk about Prince Harry, Pamela Anderson, habit stacking, winter blues, maman guilt (pet or human) – a grab bag of topics. All tying in to less guilt in our actions or inactions (except when it's warranted as I've been personally convicted of lately) and overall how to stop making things heavier for ourselves or o...

What's the thing you keep trying to solve/fix/change in your life? What should I do for work? Why are friendships hard for me? How can I be less anxious or reactive? Today I'm sharing the history of the Elegant Excellence Journal, which is really the history of my evolution in personal growth — how to heal. I say in this chat, "I wanted healing, I wanted breakthrough, but it felt elusive." Can you...

What's stealing your time? I asked myself that question while using my Elegant Excellence Journal one morning. When we're behind most of us tend to go to one main reason. Perhaps that's beating yourself up, or blaming others. Perhaps it's a sense of failure that makes you procrastinate, or a believe you can solve it through perfection that amps you up into overdrive. What I realized is there are a...

A simple 5-part daily check in on living with peace while surrounded with hard things we can't control. Trigger warning we speak of suicide and loss of life at a too young age. Though we end with hope, with actionable steps to guide us in what it means to live well each day driven not by a fear of death but an appreciation of life. _________________ The 5 Hand Motions: Heart: Show Love Cheeks: App...

While in a hard season right now there's 2 phrases I keep coming back to. One question, and one statement. They're my mantras, my guides, and goodness are they blessing me. If you're going through something hard right now it can feel complicated to find words of wisdom that really ring true. Don't feel trite, don't fall apart upon further scrutiny and application. Yes. And… sometimes it's the simp...

I'm embarrassed to admit this even happened. Yet a recent appointment made it crystal clear: I am a people pleaser in an unexpected way, with unintended consequences for people I care about (not to mention myself!) Furthermore, I experienced in real time when it's worth it to be uncomfortable for a moment, to save yourself hours of discomfort if you stay silent. We could call this: The one where m...

Do you have days it feels hard to get out of bed, or you want to climb back in halfway through? That was today for me, and I decided rather than putting on a happier face to talk about what I had planned, I'd just share. From bed, from notes in my Elegant Excellence Journal. Why do we hesitate to be honest we're "still" not "over" what happened to us? That we may never be? With honesty, hope, humo...

Culture puts much emphasis on the outside of our bodies. We feel confident or insecure based on what others see.  Hearing from a few students of my Healing Burnout course made me ponder a new layer of feeling beautiful that we're overlooking: how our body feels on the inside, the parts that only we feel. This is inside body kindness, which then becomes more outside body kindness. I'll explain in t...

The root reason you're running so fast may surprise you. There's the first layer fears. Once I dealt with those… I found a second layer, deeper reasons I didn't even realize were there. Then I saw a friend go through the same phases, then students inside my Healing Burnout course started to report the same. Here's the secret: the real magic of life comes when you get past the second layer. It's wh...

I have a vision for our new year, friend. One that is softer, more beautiful, yet has more easy strength than we've known. In today's episode I break down how I arrived at a new season of inner confidence, and how that's different from outer confidence.  We'll talk about how to think about losses without minimizing them, what it means to feel like a situation broke you or didn't break you, and imp...