Meet Rai Hyde | Business Mentor & Entrepreneurship Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rai Hyde and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rai, how do you think about risk?
From the outside, I probably look like the biggest risk taker. I make seemingly spontaneous decisions, I act quickly as soon as a decision is made, and many of my decisions have my friends and family members clutching their pearls – like quitting a traditional 8-to-5 job directly associated with my college degrees that offered PTO and benefits; or, in the first iteration of my freelance career, firing all my clients and going without income for 3 months to completely makeover my business model.

But really, these decisions felt far less risky than the alternative. Rather than relying on an employer to keep me around, treat me well, and provide what I and my household needed, I decided to create that trifecta for myself. Rather than putting up with clients who wanted top-shelf quality for bottom-shelf prices, I decided to set my own standards and stick to them. Rather than look outside of myself for financial security AND intrinsic reward, I decided to create it on my own.

Risk is relative. Our society has trained us to depend on outside sources – businesses, large corporations, banks, etc. – for financial gain. But the least risky thing I have ever done is decide that I am all I need to have everything I want.

What does that look like in practice? It looks like being your own boss. It looks like showing up and doing the work you know you need to do to grow your business every day. It looks like delivering your very best work to your clients. It looks like setting and meeting your own deadlines. It looks like trusting yourself to learn, grow, and push yourself to achieve all that you want to achieve.

Ultimately, nobody will give you joy, happiness, fulfillment, or financial security. When you bank on yourself and you trust yourself to do whatever it takes to succeed – and that includes trying, failing, learning, and picking yourself back up along the way – you never have to take any risks.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Since I was a teenager, I planned to be a counselor in the prison system. Raised by a police officer and a gangs detective, I felt at home in the criminal justice world. Yet my love for psychology and my firm belief that no one and no circumstance is without hope, I wanted to help people get their lives back on the right track – whatever that looked like for them.

Yet after earning a Bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master’s in Professional Clinical Counseling, and a Master’s in Criminology, spending 4 years volunteering at drug rehab facilities and community counseling centers, and working in the triage department of a mental hospital, I burned out. I kept seeing the same patients come in over and over and over again – and the system was putting them through the same protocols that clearly weren’t working.

All while earning my degrees, I worked as a freelance writer. When I quit the mental health world, I threw myself full-time into my freelance career. Over time, I built my solo operation into an agency – Cornell Content Marketing. I grew my team to a solid 20 creative professionals.

Out of instinct, I began mentoring those who showed a natural hunger for improving, growing, earning more, and reaching their wildest goals. In 2019, I separated the mentorship programs that had organically evolved within my marketing agency into a separate business entity – Chiron Consulting.

Now, I run both companies, which each fulfill deep desires within me. Cornell Content Marketing allows me to give freelancers and the fiercely independent jobs. I get to protect and honor the written word by upholding rigorous, high standards for content creation online. Chiron Consulting allows me to nurture the self-reliant, the unapologetically independent, and the people for whom the “traditional” path is not an option.

Along the way, I’ve learned that everyone has a natural talent. Whether unconventional or obvious, everyone has an ability that can catapult them to success. My job is to help those businesses grow – whether that’s with high-quality, psychology-informed marketing strategies, or whether it’s through mentoring and teaching the power of energetics, manifestation, and embracing the full abilities of the human mind.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Originally, I’m from San Diego. One of the most beautiful things about the city is that it’s within a day-trip’s distance to the beach, the mountains, and the desert. If a friend came to visit, I would take them for a walk around Seaport Village, stroll north into Downtown and visit Sushi Deli 3 just outside of Horton Plaza, and then spend the evening walking up and down Mission Beach. The next day, we would take our dirt bikes out to the Superstition Mountains and spend hours riding all over the purple hills. After waking up to the crisp dessert air, we’d venture back west where we’d climb the winding sides of Iron Mountain before driving into Ramona for a dip at Devil’s Punchbowl. On the last day of the trip, we’d venture north to Big Bear Mountain to hopefully see some snow, snowboard, and dine at the modest Teddy Bear Cafe.

In 2014, my husband and I moved to Lubbock, Texas. Compared to San Diego, there isn’t much to do here. But the sunrises and sunsets are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. When friends come to visit, I always take them for a drive through our quaint little downtown and stop at La Diosa for some tapas and sangria for lunch. A day of spotting wild prairie dogs, scoping out the gorgeous architecture of Texas Tech, and getting an Instagram-worthy shot with Buddy Holly’s glasses can only be capped with a luxurious dinner at The Funky Door.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to my husband and best friend, Wes Hyde. No matter what “crazy” or “risky” decisions I made, he has always had full faith in my ability to deliver on everything I say I’m going to do. Whenever I’ve said, “I have no idea how I’m going to make this happen, but I’m going to [insert insane dream here],” he has responded with, “I know you will.” That sort of unconditional love and support is rare in this world. We can all benefit from giving and receiving more of it.

Website: https://chironconsulting.us/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chironconsulting/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raicornell/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chironconsultingus/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy-6Jp2hGpz2PppWncNdQxw