Obstacles to Opportunities
When faced with life's obstacles, let's channel that negative energy into positivity and forge opportunities. Throughout the nation, business owners will share their experiences of triumphing over daunting challenges in their careers and lives, illustrating how they've harnessed these experiences for growth opportunities.
Obstacles to Opportunities
Nurturing Young Girls' Ambitions Rachelle's Passionate Mission
Join Jess Powell on "Obstacles to Opportunities" as she sits down with author Rachelle Tiringo Halterman for a candid conversation about Rachelle's life journey. Born in a small Ethiopian village with limited opportunities for girls, Rachelle shares her heartfelt story of overcoming challenges and finding empowerment. From her own experiences, Rachelle has discovered the importance of empowering young girls worldwide. Tune in as Jess and Rachelle discuss adoption, empowerment, and Rachelle's mission to inspire confidence in girls everywhere. This episode promises to open your eyes to the transformative power of empowerment and the boundless potential of girls around the world.
Be sure to get your copy of her book: “Girls Can Be Anything.”
https://amzn.to/4d3SHBf
welcome to the obstacles to opportunities podcast. Today I have rochelle and I'm gonna do my best tringo um in the studio and um, I'm so excited, have you? We've actually been trying to get you here for a while, and so tell us just like a little bit about you. Yes, thank you so much for having me. I was so excited when you reached out and I've been meaning to come on here for a long time, so I'm glad we finally did it. Absolutely, let's do this. So where do we want to begin? I think let me start. We met online. Right Like we just connected online. We started messaging.
Speaker 1:Don't you love internet? For that? Right, I do.
Speaker 1:I was laughing so hard because I was telling David how we met the other day and we were moving to Naples because David had finished his schooling and he was doing a residency out here and we needed to find a place to live. And I had all these realtors reaching out to me once I posted and a lot of them seemed like scams or just just didn't feel right. And I connected with Jess and it just felt like we were instant friends and I was like Jess, I want luxury, but I have like $5. And she's like and I got you. She's like I got you Luxury on a budget. Let's, let's find this, let's do it. And she did and she's so good. Well, that's so, so sweet. I loved working with your family and and, honestly, it's sometimes it's great whenever you get a message like that and you can connect a line, cause it is hard to connect online, right, it's hard to be like I am a real live person that could really help you and I really care about this, like, and that's the thing you care, and I feel like all your clients know that and feel that, because you genuinely, like, do care, and you're so sweet to help. So, thank you, thank you. I'm going to keep this little recording and listen to it on hard days, thank you.
Speaker 1:So we met and, um, you moved your beautiful family here to Naples last summer and you were pregnant at the time. I was, and I was like rochelle, you're gonna have to hang in there, it is hot, it was hotter than it's ever been in naples and she's pregnant and I'm like, I feel like responsible for the weather at that point and I'm like it because I'm like you're gonna love it, it's gonna be great, and then she's like it's so hot, but you guys came from arizona. And then she's like it's so hot, but you guys came from Arizona. But it's like a different kind of heat. Oh yeah, dry heat versus humidity, right, Right.
Speaker 1:And so the more we got to know each other, slowly I started learning more about your story and, like, what do you do for work? And you know, digging into all that, and I was so impressed I don't know if it was like my birthday or when it was, but you had told me that you were writing a book. Yes, and I was like tell me more about that. So I really wanted to get her, rochelle, on here, because I wanted to hear the story leading up to writing this book. And I think a lot of it is just kind of like your life story. Yeah, for sure. So you know, paint a picture for us. Yeah, like you were born in Ethiopia. A lot of us have no concept of what that may be like. Right, could you kind of share with us like what that was like?
Speaker 1:Yes, so I was born in Ethiopia. It is on the eastern side of Africa. It's a lot like what you see on TV when they'd show hungry children. We lived in a straw hut. My father passed away when we were young, so my mom was left to care for me and my siblings and I know that was super hard for her. We went to bed hungry a lot of nights because we obviously didn't have any food or money. But I don't remember being sad living there. I feel like we didn't have much, but we were still happy. We had each other, yeah, and yeah, I just remember still being happy and just making the most of what we had, which was pretty much nothing, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Then one day we had a guy come to our village who was from America and my sister and I ran out to see what was going on Because a lot of people from the village were huddling around this guy. He was there with a camera. We didn't know what a camera was, we'd never seen it, oh, wow. But of course everyone's like, oh what? Yeah, I want to be part of whatever's right, like, yeah, and I remember he took a picture of my sister and I and we didn't know what that was. We didn't know what was going on. We just thought it was just a different day in the village, pretty much. So, yeah, we go home, we tell our mom about it and, um, we didn't think anything of it, obviously.
Speaker 1:And then, probably like nine months later I would say, we were transported over to it was called the orphanage, where they kept kids who obviously needed parents. My mom was still alive at this time and to this day we're not sure if she knew what else she signed up for or if it was like they saw a desperate situation, kind of thing. Yeah, we still don't understand and we've been like trying to figure that out. But yeah, so that guy had taken our picture and showed it to an American family who ran an adoption agency. Their name was Weston and Sandra Walcott. They ran an adoption agency called West Sands and they helped people adopt from international adoption and they did some local ones as well and they I don't know that they were looking to adopt as many kids as they were, oh wow. But they had already decided to adopt a boy from India and they saw a picture of. He had brought over pictures of several kids and they had kind of picked out who they had decided to adopt, and in there was my sister and I. So they went to India and brought the boy that they had adopted to Washington DC and then they flew over to Ethiopia, dc, and then they flew over to Ethiopia to get my sister and I and then three other kids there as well. Oh my. So they adopted like five. Five from Ethiopia, yes, wow, yep. And the one from India, oh my. So I can't imagine how they were going to do that, because at the time they were 56 and 57 years old. My goodness, yeah, that is so wild, right? Oh, yeah, so wild.
Speaker 1:So if we think about, if we go back, your parents were adopting five children all at once. They're in their 50s, yes, 50s. And how old were the kids? So the kids ranged in age from seven to three. And how old were you? I was five. So there was a seven, six, five, five, four and three, and you were adopted with your sister. And then there was another brother and sister who were adopted together.
Speaker 1:Okay, do you remember much about that? Like the transition of coming, like going to their house, and like how that felt and how odd it was like, or no, I feel like we, we just had no idea, like what was going on. Yeah, so we just I don't know, I feel like it was just such a crazy time that I forgot a lot of it. Yeah, I feel like my older siblings remember more than I do, because I was so little and maybe I just like blocked out just so much of like what went on. But yeah, what else was I going to say about that? Oh, yeah, so when we came to America, we didn't know any English, we didn't know anything, so it was hard to communicate with them too, but they had like pictures that they would show us for, like bathroom, food, like we just like point to what we needed. And also they didn't want us to speak, since there was five of us from Ethiopia. They didn't want us to speak our language anymore because of the one from India. They didn't want them to like feel left out. Yeah, so we forgot like a lot of our culture that way and stuff. So, yeah, that was tricky, our culture that way and stuff. So, yeah, that was tricky.
Speaker 1:And so you, you hadn't touched on that, you're you're not really quite sure the process of your mom and how like you guys were, yeah, like let go. I can tell it's still like emotional to think about, right, and it's like your history and like it's. You know, like you said it, there's parts of you that you lost because of it, but you gained a lot coming right, yeah, you know, but I'm sure it's like a grieving still, yeah, for sure. And the hardest part was, like I don't feel like we knew what was going on, so we didn't really like get to say goodbye to, like, our birth mom, yeah, and then she died like a couple years after we were adopted, okay, and we just had to like come to terms with that. Right, right, like that, how do you, how do you right, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, yeah, and then life just started in america, like we just transitioned to a new life, pretty much Like they changed our names so that it was easier for people to stay and, yeah, so what was your birth name?
Speaker 1:So my birth name was Tarungo, so they just put it as, like my middle name, yeah, okay. So, like my sister's name was Bessa, but they changed it to like Brianna. Okay, her middle name is Bessa, yeah, okay, her middle name's Bessa, yeah, okay, and yeah, yeah. And then I had, but the tricky thing is they kept some of them. So I have, like a sister named Taraquad. They kept her name. Okay, leah, they kept Abel. So it was super interesting that they just changed my sister's nice name, because it kind of goes back to that story.
Speaker 1:I was telling you about the guy who came to our village. We weren't sure if we were kind of like trafficked, you know, into being adopted. So we'd have, like, we had a cousin from Ethiopia who lived in Oregon. He used to call and our parents would be like don't answer the phone and stuff you know. So we were like like what is going on? I feel like that's a story for another day. Oh, absolutely yeah, because I'm sure you had to like go down that that path of of what happened. Yeah, because obviously, like that's your history, that's your story. You want to understand, like what happened, yeah, what happened. And also, just I think you know, stand up for you know what could have been or what wasn't. Yes, yes, yes for sure.
Speaker 1:But then we're also like thankful we were brought here too. Yeah, you know, we've been given all these opportunities. We're able to go back and help like our family. Now we send, like our sister, money every month to make sure like she's good, is she now? Is she still in Ethiopia? Yeah, so I had two brothers there who were adopted to the US and they came like seven years after we came, which was so nice and to the same state too. So that was crazy Really. Utah, yes, yeah, oh, amazing. It was so crazy that we were able to like connect again and my dad, my adopted dad, had a part in like helping them get adopted. And then I had a sister there who was older, so she wasn't ever adopted and she still lives in Ethiopia in like third world conditions, you know, doesn't have money for her family, just over there just trying to make the most and it's so sad because she wants to come here so bad. So we've been like trying to figure figure out what to do and I think with my book I've always said like a part of my proceeds will go to help her, but then also go to help send kids to school, to girls, mainly because they really need it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so let's talk a little bit about your book. Uh-huh, we can probably talk all day. I know I feel like I mean I just have, as you, you're telling me your story, I'm just like I have so many questions, um, but I do really want to touch on this book because, um, I think it's got such an important message and, knowing your backstory and hearing like your passion for this. It's, um, I just can't wait for others to pick this book up and read it. I know I'm so excited and it's it's like so empowering. I just want to read like a little page in this. I just I think this is so great.
Speaker 1:So the background is empowering women girls that they can do anything right. Exactly. They can dream big. You can achieve anything that they set their minds to. Yeah, this is the page. I love that. I thought so, no matter where, where you come from, no matter where you go. It won't always be easy. You might hear the word no, but dream big and achieve, work hard and you'll succeed. Full of potential. You were born to lead. Exactly. I love it. Thank you so much. And it's such a strong message that I hope other girls and women can resonate with. It doesn't matter where you come from. Obviously, I came from such craziness, but I've been able to find the happiness through it all too. So, yeah, that's Good.
Speaker 1:So you know kind of what, what really inspired you to this? Like what brought you to this topic and this, like you know kind of place to write this? Yes, about that, yeah, so I feel like when I became a mom, it became important to me to show my daughter that she could do anything, that she put her mind to. My adopted dad would always show us like, hey, look, there's Condoleezza. Would always show us like, hey, look, there's Condoleezza. Right, she looks like you guys, she's secretary of state, but she can do anything. And he was very for women empowerment and I feel like that also made me very I that that I was always um wanting to empower others too and um be an advocate for that as well. So, yeah, and that's just kind of where my book came to be. So I was like I want to write a book about. Girls can be anything, yeah, they dream.
Speaker 1:Like it was so funny because I used to write books when I was little, but they were just like silly little books, like this is a book about Jenny. Like she loved to shop, she loved basketball, like they were just like blah books. But I feel like it led me to like, absolutely well, you were building a character, right, exactly that was cool, she did everything. But I used to write when I was younger too, and I'm glad that this is gonna sound so weird, I don't. I'll just put it out there.
Speaker 1:I had a series about a gardener, a gardener and he was really funny and it just like I made myself laugh. Like the gardener would get into all sorts of like interesting like scenarios. I love it. And so I have, from second grade to like third or fourth, just tons of books about this imaginary gardener. We didn't even have a gardener. It's not like I lived in a't even have a gardener. It's not like I lived in a big house with a gardener. I just, I don't know, that's too funny. You need to publish those. I always tell everybody write the book, right, yeah, maybe, maybe it would. It's a little weird, it would be a hit. The gardener. So I definitely like, yeah, feel that, feel your passion for that.
Speaker 1:And, um, you had mentioned, when we were kind of going through some of your bio, which I loved and just reading more about your history, that your parents moved you to Utah, yes, and Utah, and they were really like a religious family, very, it was a very like predominantly like white community. Yes, yes. And then here you come, uh-huh, like you know, disrupting everything, the adopted Ethiopian child. Yes, yeah, a girl, uh-huh, you know, I think the funniest thing was because they adopted so many of us. Like we stood out, yeah, and then my dad would make us stick out even more, like he they had a bright blue van and you could see like the windows so clear. We'd be like, oh my gosh, like so embarrassing. And so you're like could we just do something incognito with the car, like we're already? When we get out, they're gonna notice us, like do they need to see us from a mile away? So our family was like very known everywhere, really like yeah, okay, they'd like write articles about us on the news, wow, newspapers. Like it was just so a mile away, exactly. So our family was like very known everywhere, really Like yeah, okay, they'd like write articles about us on the news. Oh, wow, newspapers. Like it was just so funny, you guys could have had your own like reality show. Yeah, literally, we probably could have.
Speaker 1:So what was it like? Cause you had people like from Ethiopia in your family, but then that may have felt very like insular because it wasn't like other people really understood your story. Yeah, so how was that like? Growing up, I feel like thanks to my like I was so glad to have my brothers and sisters because we were, we were all close. We still are, like we call every day pretty much we call like all the time yeah, and we stay really close and just being able to have the same experience that they did, I feel like we were able to lead on each other and like help each other through the tough time.
Speaker 1:Um, like I said, my parents had kids of their own, but they were referred to as family number one and we were family number two. We didn't really grow up together, so it was like a tricky dynamic that way. We weren very close like I know, like we've tried to like create a relationship, but we've just lived like two very different lives, so it's kind of just like stuck. So so what they did? They label it as family one and family dad did, and I took it just like stuck, like maybe you should have done that right, yeah, but he but that's how he categorized it he had like one season with the family one and now he's in another with a family two, but they were older too, so they had like their own kids. Like I was an aunt in like kindergarten because they were older. Yeah, like just so funny. And since they've both passed correct, yeah, they both have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so did like how, how did? How was that for you. I mean, did I know? It was, I'm sure, extremely hard and I see that, yeah, you know you've, I'm sure, dedicated a lot of what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Like you said, you're honoring him, yeah, because of the book. Yeah, he was very for women empowerment and he actually like started a, a battered women's shelter where women could go, you know, to be protected from their experiences and everything they were going through. So he was very for women empowerment, like you talked. But, yes, yeah, and I just like had a dedication page in my book for them because, um, obviously they, they raised me right, they were, they were good parents and I know they love me too, and same with my biological mom, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, any parents. And it's like you, it's amazing to just think about the, um, the, the compassion and love that they had to like open their home and do a second time, exactly, cause you're in the middle of it right now. Yeah, like, how did they do that? That's crazy to me, you know. So, say they had, they had, like a love in their heart. That was very, you know, unique. Yep, for sure, cause I, I don't think, I don't know that I could do that. Yeah, like, that's crazy. Yeah, you never know, like, maybe God will open your heart to that. I'm good, ivory, just looked at me. What did you say? He's like guys, he is a doll baby, oh, and he's smiling at me because I told him that I love that. He will. He'll smile till it. Oh my gosh. Okay.
Speaker 1:So now the book. If someone wants to purchase it, it's on Amazon, right? Yes, it is on Amazon. Yes, so the paperback is on Amazon. I have an ebook online as well, and hopefully the hardcover will be available shortly. Okay, yes, but they can follow me on my instagram page. I can give you the handle.
Speaker 1:Okay, great, um, they can follow along with the journey, because I would love that so much and it's gonna be a journey. I can't wait to see what you do next. You know, I just feel like this is a beginning for you. I know I feel like it is, too, and it's still the trenches of motherhood, but I hope to be able to do like my career and job and everything else alongside it. So, yeah, and I think that's that's what's beautiful about it is that, like we, we do as women, have the opportunity to be mothers, yes, to have in, in, in, like you're expressing and doing something that you've loved to do while you're pregnant with Diary and he's here now and you're promoting your book and it's like it's amazing You're still, you know, we're still now in a place where we can do that. Like I think of my grandmother, like that wasn't an option for her no, it wasn't. Like things have definitely changed.
Speaker 1:Back in the day, I feel like they were like mothers and that's it. Yes, which I'm not saying. That's it, because motherhood is everything. Yes, but now you can do. I feel like you can find other ways to fulfill yourself as well, you know, and not everyone has a chance to be a mother. So, yeah, absolutely, and that's really back to the book. And so, obviously, when we talked about this podcast and we were talking about obstacles, opportunities, I feel like you're just like living. You're living that out, and so I'm just so grateful that you took the time to come and talk to us with Sweet Soul Ivory and I loved having an extra little guest here Always been the best. I'm so glad that you asked me to be on here and share a little bit about my story and share about my book that I hope will be inspiring and helpful to girls and women and anyone else who's able to pick it up and read it. I know it will. I know it will, so I'm going to put the link below so you guys can check it out.
Speaker 1:If you know anyone that is just had a little baby girl, or anyone even, I would say you set up to like eight-ish yeah, you feel like anyone up to eight. This would be a great gift and it just has some great positive affirmations in it that if you spoke those over your little girl, I can only imagine like what that would do to her confidence and self-esteem. And you even have this little fillable in the back. Yes, and with the fillable, a lot of times I see people give the book oh, the places you'll go when they start school. Yeah, I would love for parents to give this to their girls so they can fill it out when they're going to kindergarten, like what do they want to be? Yeah, and then keep this in their like keepsake and show it to them when they're older and stuff too Great idea, like time caps at that moment, right? Yes, and it says my name is blank.
Speaker 1:I'm good at blank. When I grow blank, when I grew up, I want to be blank. One special thing about me is blank. I can do anything. I dream exactly. Thank you so much. No, thank you. This was so amazing and you're amazing, and I love the internet that we got to meet. I know me too. Thanks, internet, thank you. Thank you worldwide. All right, be sure to check out her book and follow her on line and instagram. She's doing great thanks, thanks, rochelle, thanks Jess.
