Rachael Wonderlin: How She Built a Thriving Consulting Business, Broke Out of Her Niche, and Learned to Trust Her Gut Artwork

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Rachael Wonderlin: How She Built a Thriving Consulting Business, Broke Out of Her Niche, and Learned to Trust Her Gut

December 02, 2025 • Aggie & Cristy • Season 4 • Episode 50

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Rachael Wonderlin built a national dementia consulting firm from a Tumblr blog, three Johns Hopkins books, and a decade of hands-on work inside senior living communities. But the real story is what she learned along the way about boundaries, burnout, and trusting her intuition long before the data caught up.

In this conversation, Rachael shares the full arc of building Dementia By Day from a one-woman hustle into a recurring revenue business that now operates like fractional operations for senior living companies. She talks about the early years when she said yes to everything, the moment she realized she needed a different model, and the systems she created to stop chasing one-off gigs.

She also opens up about being pigeonholed as “just” a dementia expert, the tone deaf advice she received while pitching her fourth book, and the unregulated coaching industry that inspired her business memoir, I Can’t Hustle Any Harder Than This.

If you’re building a business, struggling with boundaries, or fighting your way out of a niche that people keep trying to trap you in, this episode gives you the clarity you need to move forward with confidence.

In this episode, Rachael shares:

• How she turned a blog into a national consulting firm
• The moment she learned to stop saying yes to everything
• How she built recurring revenue and stopped chasing the next gig
• The difference between coaching and consulting, and why clarity matters
• Why the coaching industry can harm entrepreneurs who are just getting started
• The story of the agent who told her to write a “funny dementia book”
• How she is repositioning herself as a business leader, not only a dementia expert
• The evolution of dementia care and why public awareness has changed
• Why she refuses to use AI to create content
• How her viral web comics reached hundreds of thousands of people
• What hiring mistakes taught her about leadership and trust
• The one lesson she wants every business owner to learn: if your gut says no, believe it

Key quote:

“If your gut reaction is ‘oh hell no,’ that is the answer. Stop arguing with yourself. Say no and move on.”

CONTACT INFORMATION

Rachael Wonderlin
Founder and CEO, Dementia By Day
Website: dementiabyday.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rachaelwonderlin
Instagram: @dementiabyday and @cant_hustleanyharder
Substack: Can’t Hustle Any Harder

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