Bernice Rahm is a Recovering CEO/CTO/Founder/Boss/”Doer of All Things in a Business” …who never wanted to be an entrepreneur. There is no origin story of a lemonade stand…there is an origin story of 5 year old Bernice not understanding why Fred never just talked to Wilma about what was going on instead of all the drama...
Bernice is a grounded, open, playful & human leader who has often felt out of alignment with “how things are done” (including writing about herself in 3rd person for a bio); also how we talk to, treat & attempt to control each other; and how “being human” is not central in business.
I co-founded a company that created a new niche industry - manufacturing rings & scales for chainmail. The business crossed demographics and industries serving a diverse worldwide customer base. These customers included:
- any demographic of crafter or artist making jewelry, art or clothing - industrial companies eg. JPL Laboratories (NASA) who used our scales on the Insight Mission seismometer that is now on Mars - fashion designers eg. for Madonna & Miley Cyrus - film production companies eg. we created costumes for Game of Thrones, The Hobbit and Warcraft - and architectural project designers eg. we made the largest chainmail curtain in the world for a water feature for a Casino in Macau.
Community was central to my philosophy and success. What feeds me has always been the connections with people I am creating with, supporting & leading. I created a fun, inclusive and connective environment with our customers and staff by being real, open and human. I more than listened to my customers - we co-created product offerings based on their wants and creative desires. I knew they were the experts and my role was to support and enable them. We also often asked our community to help make the big name projects. This created a powerful synergy that both invited them into the excitement of the company journey and gave them pretty amazing bragging rights!
The result was 20% growth for 15 years straight! The company became a multi-million dollar worldwide business. When I sold it, over 20 years after its founding, it had approximately 19 staff, 20 machines, over 8000 products and over 18,000 sq.ft. of manufacturing, warehousing and shipping space. I had become a Regional Finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year. And the company had been a finalist for SABEX Business of the Year award and Customer Service award.
…all of this is great for mic drops at parties…
and now I want to share the human part.
During this process from founding to selling I saw (and did)…everything…
Here is a small portion of what I did…I bought and sold businesses and took on and bought out partners. I designed extensively detailed systems that connected everything involved in the running of the company. I designed and coded a custom website and app that integrated with an online ordering system, order picking, shipping, inventory, kanban manufacturing and purchasing. I hired, trained and entertained staff. I created online community where staff, suppliers and customers shared connection and excitement about each other, the art and their projects. I valued truly understanding my staff’s roles - this often meant I performed their jobs, and in several cases was the most skilled expert. I put my Mechanical Engineering Degree to use designing machines and processes. I put my Architecture training to use designing & building factory buildings and spaces to suit the human and business needs. I used my artistic skills to create playful product photos and posts.
I became a leader, industry famous OG, & worldwide expert
on all things chainmail!
…and here’s a secret none of my customers knew...
I have never really had any interest in chainmail.
My extreme drive and resulting accomplishments were often because I was trying to get out of a situation in which I was deeply suffering.
The business had taken over my entire life and I felt like I had no control. I often felt overwhelmed and in a reactive fight/flight state. I freely, and often graciously, honored the needs of partners, staff and customers and felt resentment in not being able to even acknowledge my own needs.
Reflecting back I see, I felt and was successful, and so was my business, when I related in an open, curious and honest way that created mutually beneficial collaboration. Also reflecting I see, I felt so much frustration, resentment and helplessness when I related from a place of feeling like a victim, power struggle, or from just plain coping. During these times I didn’t feel “successful” - I felt unsupported, and often like I had to fight for myself or just put up with how things were. These are the times I would push, creating systems and solutions from this place of stress and fear. And the pattern repeated - for over 15 years.
It’s often in our suffering that we find awareness
if we are willing to look.
Here is a snapshot of a tipping point moment: my mother was dying, I bought a supplier and took on a COO partner, I moved 2/3 of operations across the country, I laid off all staff and trained all new. Too much, too fast, for too long, without enough support. In this extreme, I went way past my max capacity setting and I found my anxiety. In that awareness of my humaness, a new deeper layer of my self-discovery journey began.
I learned that the quality of my relationships, especially with myself, had always been the root of my success. I had been desperately working for a solution to my feeling of suffering in business from day one - and I began to find the solution had always been rooted in the way I was connecting with myself and others. It was never really about the perfect system, program or business model - I had tweaked those constantly and the progress I made didn’t significantly change how I felt. It was about how I show up with myself and everyone else.
With this awareness, I began to grow as a leader. I transformed all my relationships and started a real examination of who I wanted to be in life and how I wanted to contribute to this world.
I learned to go from Doing
to Delegating
to Empowering
to Letting Go.
Then, after I sold my company in 2019,
I spent a few years learning to Be.
I started my role of “Recovering CEO” by learning to enjoy bike rides, just laying on a rock, hiking and being in the trees. I learned to get past the discomfort of “doing nothing” - to deeply connect with myself and live from there. I developed a serious passion for holistic and somatic psychology. I educated myself and practiced these as my main “hobby” - “healing” became my all consuming passion. I examined my subconscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, programming and relational tendencies and engaged in practices that changed me at my core. I explored my values and made decisions in line with them in a process of continual refinement. I re-found my playfulness, my passion for learning and sharing what I know and my desire to support others.
I became a Certified Professional Coach and Mentor and an Energy Leadership Master Practitioner. I studied Polyvagal Theory, Nervous System Regulation and trauma healing. I trained in, and continue to explore, the deep relational practice of Circling and the playful and powerful practice of Authentic Relating.
...and then it snapped into focus for me - I felt Purpose - a desire to empower others again with these integrated insights.
The power of real human connection has always been central to my success - I just hadn't had the language or training to see my way to it in all challenges.
Now I do.
I learned the hard way to be a human being in business.
Then I experienced the amazing impact of practicing personal & relational growth as a way of life.
It is my humble honor to share what I see.
I spend most of my time supporting teams, leaders, managers, executives and employees in developing honest, open and connective business cultures and synergistic relationships with clients, suppliers, community, friends and family.
I live in Victoria, BC, Canada and enjoy an aligned life connecting to nature and community, writing, dancing, sculpting and supporting humans in being human.
I practice relational and personal growth as a way of life.
I am excited to practice with you!