About


Rachael Hope

Rachael was born in November, 1980 in State College, Pennsylvania and a piece of her heart still lives in Philly.  That piece of her heart is probably chowing down on a cheesesteak right now (onions, no peppers, obvs).


Rachael now makes her home in Bellingham, WA, about an hour north of Seattle. She loves the creative and artistic atmosphere and the feel that Bellingham is not too big, not too small. If you're visiting Bellingham, she thinks you should definitely check out Boulevard ParkVillage BooksLa FiammaMiller's Back DoorWink WinkPure Bliss, Storia Cucina, and Mallards.  It will help if you're hungry.

After high school, Rachael worked for several years before enrolling at the University of Washington, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. After working in Administration and HR, she was a stay at home mom for six years, and dove back into the same type of work when she re-entered the workforce in 2012. Since then, she's worked in payroll, HR, administration, records management, and more. Rachael currently works in the job she plans to retire from in 25 years at a local utility.

Polyamorous, creative, loud-laughing, an unapologetic feminist and rad fatty, Rachael is a fiercely loyal friend and sweet-toothed empath.

In her "free time," she enjoys watercolor painting, cross-stitching, practicing hand-lettering, drawing mandalas, photography, and most anything creative. Is collecting hobbies a hobby? She loves making art and beautiful things, especially to give as gifts.  She has an enormous collection of unicorns, and has lost count, but knows there are currently 16 plainly visible in  her cubicle at work alone. She has now shifted focus to dinosaurs.

Writing

If you talk to Rachael about her path as a writer, she'll tell you she has words in her blood and has been a writer for as long as she can remember. As a young child, she wrote stories, and began journaling prolifically around 5th grade. She still has the 20+ journals penned between then and her early 20s, stories she wrote in 2nd grade, and a massive binder full of (mostly embarrassing) teenage poetry. In high school, she wrote for the school newspaper for three years, as well as occasional writings for a small independent local paper.

Rachael at Write Doe Bay 2018
After college, Rachael spent 9 years on and off as a ghostwriter creating content for online article marketing and blog posts. She began blogging on her personal blog, Scientific Nature of the Whammy in 2005, and in 2014 moved to writing at Ready, Set, Hope. In 2019, Rachael began writing on Medium, which is where most of her content is currently located.

Rachael's favorite part of writing is connecting with people in that deep-down, heart filling way that makes us all feel less alone.  Inspiring people to use their voice or gain the confidence they need to pursue the life they deserve is the most rewarding thing she can imagine.

In the years after her marriage ended, Rachael made an intentional effort to focus again on writing. She writes mainly personal essays and currently has several memoirs bouncing around inside her skull. Writing is a passion, and the best writing comes from her experiences and the things that make her feel. Her wheelhouse spans fat and body acceptance, sex-positive life and parenting, polyamory, feminism, and social justice issues.


Other Work

Volunteer Crisis Counselor/Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Advocate

Working with Whatcom County Crisis Services as a teenager, with Bellingham's Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services for two years, and as a Crisis Counselor for Crisis Text Line from 2016 to the present, Rachael has had extensive training on advocating and supporting people in crisis.

Community Leader & Discussion Group Moderator

From 2015 to 2017, Rachael was the sole moderator for Bellingham's monthly Polyamory and Ethical Non-Monogamy discussion group. In 2017, she expanded the team to include one other moderator, and in 2022 the Meetup and Facebook groups are moderated by a team of 2-5 leaders. She has done significant research on a variety of topics related to polyamory.

Board Member - Bellingham Sex-Positive Center

From 2013 to 2018, Rachael was a volunteer at the Bellingham Sex-Positive Center, an adult community center focused on education, inclusion, and exploration. She served as Secretary then Vice-President of the Board of Directors from 2015-2017 and ran the organizations new-attendee orientation for several years.


Family

Rachael co-parents her two sons with her ex-husband E, who transitioned to life as a woman after the divorce, and E's wife. If you're counting, that means her kids have 3 moms, plus one honorary mom in Rachael's mom. The transition from what she thought was her forever family into a split household was difficult, but in the end all the parents are just grateful that their little dudes have so many people in this world who love and support them.

Her older son Sam was born in 2006 and is currently navigating high school. He is now taller than all of his parents.

Danny surprised his parents in 2010 by being born at home even though Rachael planned to have him at the birth center.  He is currently tackling middle school with gusto, and impressing everyone with his speedcubing skills.

Rachael's partner, Kate, is her soulmate and they hope to start a podcast soon to share their wit, sarcasm, and laughter with the rest of the world. Their relationship was unexpected and has turned out to be magical in the most wonderful way.

Also living in her home are their two two cats, Nimbus and Cat Mulder.  They are assholes, as most cats tend to be, but also very cute, fluffy, and cuddly.