Founder of Making Choices, Inc.: The Long-Game Mindset Behind Lasting Success

Summary

Living The Red Life – Founder of Making Choices, Inc.: The Long-Game Mindset Behind Lasting Success

Host: Ray Gutierrez (guest-hosting for Rudy Mawer)
Guest: Rachelle Brooks Blue
Date: November 3, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Living The Red Life, Ray Gutierrez sits down with Rachelle Brooks Blue, founder of Making Choices, Inc. The conversation dives into Rachelle’s journey from educator to entrepreneur, the importance of a long-game mentality, and how building autonomy and resilience through personal setbacks fueled her drive to empower others. The episode is rich in personal reflection, practical inspiration, and candid advice for entrepreneurs and changemakers, especially those facing adversity.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Roots in Education and Family Legacy

[02:04-04:00]

• Rachelle shares her background: originally trained as an educator, following in her father's footsteps.
• Her father, an African American man who became a teacher in the 1960s, inspired her with his commitment and integrity.
• Reflects on generational shifts in education, noting her father's era emphasized discipline and respect, while today's classrooms feel less structured due to technology.

Quote:
"Education was big, you know, because my dad taught English... you think about an African American male who came from a single family home... he was intuitive enough to take it a step further."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [03:38]

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2. The Evolving Nature of Education

[04:59-05:49]

• Ray and Rachelle discuss the decline in the perceived status and structure of teaching.
• The heavy reliance on technology is seen as eroding traditional teacher-student relationships.
• Contrasts American classrooms with the education-culture in China, where education is seen as a core value.

Quote:
"The romance between the teacher and the professor and the student is long gone... If you look across the pond in China, the education system there is far different. It's part of the culture."
— Ray Gutierrez, [05:17]

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3. The Power of the Long-Game Mindset

[06:01-06:23]

• Rachelle urges listeners to "play the long game" for lasting results, not just chase short-term wins.
• She acknowledges the ups and downs but emphasizes persevering through challenges.

Quote:
"The long game is going to take you further. The short game... you may have some results temporarily, but they're going to soon fade."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [06:01]

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4. Building Autonomy and Navigating Change

[06:56-08:15]

• For Rachelle, autonomy and flexibility are at her core. She now schedules her life around family, health, and faith.
• Emotional maturity and adapting to inevitable change have been key to her growth.

Quote:
"Everything in its own time. I don't think I was the same person I was 20 years ago... Nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [07:36]

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5. Resilience Through Adversity

[09:01-10:05]

• Rachelle details a turning point: being terminated from a job, experiencing divorce, and becoming a single parent.
• Her drive to provide for her son and not be defined by her circumstances motivated her to return to school and start Making Choices, Inc.

Quote:
"Just because my circumstance should not dictate my lifestyle."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [09:59]

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6. Life Principles: Fitness, Faith, and Service

[10:12-14:36]

• Fitness is a daily commitment—she’s deeply involved in a CrossFit-style community, which keeps her accountable and energized.
• Her faith and church involvement are vital, shaping her mission and connecting her to service roles like facilitating discussion groups and counseling.

Quote:
"I love my gym friends, my gym family. You know what's so remarkable is that they're going to be watching this and rooting you on."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [12:43]

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7. Empowerment Without Bounds

[15:02-15:18]

• Rachelle’s mission is to empower anyone her story can help, with no limits on who can be inspired or supported.

Quote:
"Anybody that it applies to... there's no bounds... it's limitless."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [15:05]

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8. Parenting with Purpose and Legacy

[16:00-17:12]

• Reflects on raising her son as a single parent, instilling the value of education and the courage to chase dreams.
• Her son's achievements—a recent graduate aiming for a career in professional golf—are a point of immense pride.

Quote:
"Chase your dreams. Because a lot of people don't say that and seriously say it. But I believe everybody should have a chance...to chase your dreams."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [16:40]

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9. What's Next: Growth Amid Uncertainty

[17:34-18:32]

• Rachelle embraces uncertainty and the necessity of action—progress comes with setbacks, and growth often brings pain.
• Stresses the importance of continued striving and not letting adversity stop you.

Quote:
"Everything is not going to just come forth. It's going to be some things that you're going to, you know, it's going to be some setbacks, but that's okay as long as you keep going."
— Rachelle Brooks Blue, [18:27]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Play the long game, not the short game. The long game is going to take you further.”
  — Rachelle Brooks Blue, [00:12] & [06:01]
• “Just because my circumstance should not dictate my lifestyle.”
  — Rachelle Brooks Blue, [09:59]
• “Stack up your dreams and chase after one another. Every decade should be at least one main dream.”
  — Ray Gutierrez, [17:12]
• “You have to make. You have to do something, though... You have to put it into action. ...Expect failure, expect hurt, but from that you grow.”
  — Rachelle Brooks Blue, [17:38]
• “Bruce Lee said it himself, learn how to be water. Just be water.”
  — Ray Gutierrez, [18:32]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Rachelle’s Origin Story & Family Education Legacy — [02:04–04:00]
• Education: Changing Times & Challenges — [04:59–06:01]
• Mindset: Playing The Long Game — [06:01–06:23]
• Building Autonomy & Adapting to Change — [06:56–08:15]
• Turning Adversity into Entrepreneurship — [09:01–10:05]
• Fitness, Faith, and Community — [10:12–14:36]
• Mission of Empowerment — [15:02–15:18]
• Parenting & Legacy — [16:00–17:12]
• Outlook on Growth & Overcoming Setbacks — [17:34–18:32]

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Conclusion

This episode spotlights the mindset and values behind lasting success: resilience, continual growth, and service. Rachelle Brooks Blue’s journey from adversity to empowerment, rooted in family, faith, and a relentless long-game approach, offers inspiration and actionable wisdom for entrepreneurs and anyone seeking deeper purpose through life’s transitions.

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Find Rachelle Brooks Blue:

• Website (linked via show notes)
• Email: [e-mail]
• Office: (910) 4A3-2002 (Fayetteville)

Transcript

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

From working as an educator. I went to school to be an educator, but as time presented and the opportunity presented, teaching was something that I didn't want to do. Play the long game.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Not the short game, because the long game is going to take you further. The short game is it may be quick and you may have some results temporarily, but they're going to soon fade. You'll figure out ways and how to navigate and how to push through.

[Ray Gutierrez]

How often are you on south beach filming an episode about your life?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

This is what you call a dream. This is something that I would've never thought. Something I would've never thought, you know, that I would be that important.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

You know, to share my story for sure. So it's definitely a highlight. One thing that I could impart is.

[Rudy Moore]

That my name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the red life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill. Take the red pill. Join me in wonderland and change your life.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Welcome back to another episode of the living your legacy podcast, the women in power edition. Actually, also the red life edition. For inside success, I can just keep saying brand after brand. I'm Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today is another powerful, amazing woman. Rachelle Brooks Blue is a Rochelle Brooks Blue?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yes, sir.

[Ray Gutierrez]

I. I love. I love the cadence there. I've got some notes about you. You are a. You transformed personal adversities into a thriving consulting firm. Making Choices, Inc. You're empowering women to make bold career moves and life decisions. That's quite the title.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yes, well, and it goes beyond just women, so it's eclectic. It's within the service delivery scope. So we have women, children as well as males, men, women, and children.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Amazing.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

It reaches beyond the scope of women.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Very cool. What can we learn about you and your woman in power episode, which you honestly just freshly just filmed?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yes, yes, yes. One thing that I highlighted was the. The very beginning, the start as far as how making choices came to have life. It was an idea, a concept from working as an educator. I went to school to be an educator, but as time presented and the opportunity presented, teaching was something that I didn't want to do. I come from a family of. My father was a schoolteacher, so I patterned myself behind him, but he was retired by the time I was ready to enter into the teaching workforce. And at that time, the children were not the same because he. My dad's 86 years old. And he graduated from college back in the early 60s.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Wow.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

So you preface what kids were as far as teaching then, as far as where they were when I was interested or going into the education realm. It was a stark difference.

[Ray Gutierrez]

It's funny because you mean, you mentioned stark difference and the 60s, 70s, just culturally, just what was happening in the world was very different to what's happening today. But there's also some similarities with war on the horizon or not on the horizon. There's always this creepy frequency. But let's circle back to education and how it's evolved. I like the fact that your fundamentals start with your. Your father, your grandfather.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah, my father.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Your father.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah. So that was the. That was the root. Education was big, you know, because my dad taught English and he taught back. He went to school in the 50s. So you think about an African American male.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Who came from a single family home, a mom who. I think elementary education was the furthest that she. That she got.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

And so he had the. He was intuitive enough to take it a step further, to graduate from high school and then find its way into college setting and to actually finish, you know, and to choose a profession that had a lot of integrity as a teacher, that was. That was big then. And now, even though teachers do not have. I don't think they have the platform that they once did or have the. They're not empowered as they once were years ago. I just think it's kind of murky now just because so many things come into play with technology and things. Technology is good in some ways, but I think a lot of the traditional concepts to learn, to teach children have vanished because they depend so heavily on technology.

[Ray Gutierrez]

The classrooms have sort of become babysitting juvenile delinquent areas where there's just a lot of chaos. There is no order. And it is because of just the freedom of being able to grab a phone and being able to search impulsively what you want to learn at that very moment. So the romance, maybe it's not a great, great word to use, but the romance between the teacher and the professor and the student is long gone. Like that tango between. I'm the instructor. The sit there and learn. Put your elbow like and like, get downloaded data. Like, if you look at across the pond in China, the education system there is far different. It's part of the culture. It's like, it's a. It's a way of living. It's like we're educating you so you can learn how to fish or you can thrive and live. It's not about what you wear, how you wear it, how cool you are, or how famous you are in 15 seconds. It's really what's up here. And folks have completely lost that.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah. There's no effort.

[Ray Gutierrez]

No.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I was saying in my interview about. About women being in power. One thing that I could impart is that play the long game.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Not the short game, because the long game is going to take you further. The short game is it may be quick and you may have some results temporarily, but they're going to soon fade. Play the long game because it's going to be. It's going to have your highs and lows, but play the long game, you're going to get through. You get through it. You'll. You'll figure out ways and how to navigate and how to push through.

[Ray Gutierrez]

For sure. You got to stop playing chess and start playing, you know, Stop playing checkers and start playing chess.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah, yeah. It's Oda Dodge. You hear that? Like, I'm playing, you know, I'm playing chess, you're playing checkers. I mean, but you have to put into play.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

People say it, but then, you know, it's a lot of cliches. We live in a world of. There's a lot of cliches.

[Ray Gutierrez]

We live in a world of sound bites. Yeah, Just sound bites. Yes, we do.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yes, we do.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Which is. Which is okay. Which is okay. Everyone's got their own way of, like, thriving. Um, let's. Let's talk about your first chess move. Where. Where does that truly begin? Where do you think your. Why began?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I think just having autonomy, freedom has a lot to do with. It's the core of who I am. And one thing that I cherish is the ability to have freedom, flexibility. Now in my life, I schedule my schedule around the things that. That are important to me, like my family, health, working out, church, the founding blocks of who I am. It's. Everything is. Is scheduled around those things.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Where did those building blocks start coming into play? Was it in your youth? Do you feel like it was always been inside of you, or is it just through very recent?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I. I just think just within the last 15 years. Yeah, I. It's more serious. I think the fact that maturation, being mature, having emotionally being emotional, mature, maturity has a lot to do with it. You know, everything in its own time. You know, I don't think I was the same person I was 20 years ago, 30 years ago. You know, I just. It's just being mature enough to understand that Nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable. Inevitable. And you have to be willing to change. If you, if you, if you're not, then you're going to be left behind.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, for sure.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Where do you think the maturity comes from? From the soul or just from extra wrinkles in the brain?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Experience failures sure. Hurt. Just things that you can't fix. Things that you have to accept. You know, I think that life in general, things, things are going to happen. We're going to be faced with adversity. But. But you just gotta know at some time if you can change it, if you can do something about it or you have to let it run its course and you have to have maturity to be able to do those things.

[Ray Gutierrez]

For folks that are listening or watching Go well, it's easy for them to say. Look at them like, no, like, can you paint us a picture of what that was, that first stroke for you where it was like, I'm making a change. I'm not taking no for an answer. What was that first moment?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I think when I got terminated from a job.

[Ray Gutierrez]

There you go.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I think that. And I went through a divorce. I was a single parent. So I think. And not coming from that. So when you have. You come from a family. My parents are still together. They've been married 61 years.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Right on.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

So you think about things that are not common. They're outside of what you're used to. Either you're going to rise up or you're going to fall to the wayside. And at that point in my life, it wasn't worth it to me just to let things go. Because I had a small child, I was trying to figure out how to have two incomes because I was used to having two incomes being married. So I said, well, I'm gonna have to figure out how to make this thing happen. So going back to school, just having a go as to. I want, I don't wanna lack, I don't want my son to lack. Even though I come from a two family household, that was one of my main things. Is that just because my circumstance should not dictate my lifestyle.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, absolutely. So let's talk about your day to day mission today. What is your current project? What are you working on? What's getting you out of bed?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

One thing. Live life. Life, life. So, so I, I love to. I love health, I love fitness. One thing that I embrace is the ability to go work out every day. At least five to six days a week. I'm into, I've elevated my fitness. So I'm into CrossFit. Somewhat similar. It has some CrossFit mechanics to it. And church. Church is big for me. Not so much. I've always been attached to church, but to understand God's purpose in my life and how he really regulates and is the authority over my life and to know that and believe that. So along with my family and all the, all the gifts and things that have been bestowed upon me, I think it comes from a higher power and I want to do well in that. And I want to make God proud of me, my family proud of me, just overall. And I want to do right by the people that work for me.

[Ray Gutierrez]

That's amazing. Let's break this down. So when you're at the gym, what are you receiving? Are you cardio? Are you weightlifting? Are you angry in there? Like, what is going on with you psychologically when you're in the gym?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

It's a. I feel, it's a commitment. I feel driven, I feel go oriented because there's a workout that's before me every day. Wod as far as what was expected and I don't want to disappoint myself.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Yep.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

You know, so I'm going to do what the workout, it spells out as far as what I have to do. So it's a mix. It's cardio, it's weightlifting, it's Spartan endurance, It's the whole nine. So it gives you. It's a well rounded approach. I've been doing CrossFit iFit gym for over two years, and Eunice is the owner and she's wonderful. She's a godsend. I've always had some level of fitness, but this is just something totally different. And I've competed, too. They had a, like an outfit game, some type of competition I did, and she would encourage, she said, she encouraged me. She said, rochelle, sign up, sign up. And I shied away. And I'm glad I did because I did relatively well. I came a runner up and I just started doing the iFit thing. And so I love it. I love, I love my gym friends, my gym family. You know what's so, you know what's so remarkable is that they're going to.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Be watching this and rooting you on and guess what?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

And they expect me to be at the gym. Like, you know, when some people, people get used to seeing you and if you're not there, they say, oh, oh.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Where are you at?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Where have you been? And that makes you feel good because, you know what, your presence means something. And that matters to every. That, that's you know, human touch. Human relationships are so important. You know, even it's. You know, people say to Jim, but hey, in my. In the Jim family, I mean, they are. They are awesome. They really are.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, for sure.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Yeah, they're awesome.

[Ray Gutierrez]

For sure. Well, now let's talk about what you're like at church. Or do you sit in the front? Are you in the back?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Oh, I'm active. Oh, my God.

[Ray Gutierrez]

How active are you? Like, are you standing up at every.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Hint like, well, my apostle, Kimberly Nixon. Right on, Chief Apostle Kimberly Nixon. She's an anointing. She's. She's wonderful. I love her dearly, infinitely. I used to be kind of just below the radar, but she has really kind of tapped me to do more.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

So I facilitate small group ministry. Sometimes I'm a part of panel discussions, and we have just different roles. And she knows that I'm a counselor. She knows I'm a licensed clinician, so she'll tap on me to sometimes kind of support her and the needs. Some needs of some saints in the church. So I love my church. I love her. I love what she has helped me to develop and grow in developing a more scheduled. It's almost like there's a tap for me to. I'm responsible. I got to show up. I got to be present. And I thank her for that.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Very awesome. So how often are you on south beach filming an episode about your life, your journey, and. And your entrepreneurial powerfulness?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

This is. Oh, my God, never. This is. This is. This is what you call a dream. This is something that I would never thought. Something I would never thought, you know, that I would be that important.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Yeah.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

You know, to share my story for sure. So it is. It's definitely a highlight.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Who do you hope to empower with your powerfulness?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Anybody that it applies to, you know, I don't. There's no bounds.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Sure.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

So anybody that could glean anything from it. So it's, you know, it's limitless. Yeah.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Right on. Well, I got to ask. Where does the blue come from?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Like, okay, so I was married. Okay. That is the surname. That's my. From my marriage. But I kept blue. And sometimes people say, why are you. He's crazy. Whatever. But my son is a blue. So one thing that I didn't. I never wanted my son to have to explain. Sometimes kids get so cruel, Right. And they're like, why? Your mom asked. Your last name's different than your name. I don't want my son to have to explain anything. So I Kept blue for him because he's blue.

[Ray Gutierrez]

What do you think your son's gonna say sitting in a red set when he's sitting at home being blue?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

Oh, my goodness. You know, my son is God's blessing.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Right on.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

To me, I raised my son pretty much by myself with the support from my mom, my dad, and it's been some highs and lows. One thing that I always kind of instilled in my son is education, you know, because it was instilled in me. And he graduated this past year from University of Marley's, for sure. He's a golfer, so he graduated with a PGA degree, a professional golf management degree. So he's aspiring to. He wants to play golf on a larger scale. One thing that I feel as though God has blessed me, he's, you know, boundlessly, is I told my son, I said, chase your dreams. Because a lot of people don't say that and seriously say it. But I believe everybody should have a chance if given, you know, to chase your dreams. Chase them. Go to the point where you say, well, I tried it, you know, saying. Or. It's one thing to have a dream. You never tried to kind of see if it can evolve or manifest itself. But I believe in that. Chase a dream to kind of see what will come of it.

[Ray Gutierrez]

I always say, stack up your dreams and chase after one another. Every decade should be at least one main dream. And then start climbing. I think I'm on my fourth or fifth one right now. I'm on my fifth ascension. I think it's going pretty well. I think we're doing pretty good here. Right on. What can we. What's next for you now? What happens the moment you get off that chair and walk out that door?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I'm telling you, I don't know. I'm ready for it.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Yeah, right on.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I'm ready for it. I'm ready for what's to come. You know, I feel as though that as long as you're striving and you're working something, Something's going to happen. But you have to make. You have to do something, though. You have to. You have to. You have to put it into. Into action. You have to. You have to. You have to turn the motor. You have to turn a wheel. And it's not always going to be, you know, it's not always going to be good. And you have to expect failure. You have to expect hurt in things, but from that you grow. Everything's not going to always be where you're going to win or evolve. Or it's not going to always be, you know, good times, you know, because with growth comes pain and progress. You have to be realistic that, you know, everything is not going to just come forth. It's going to be some things that you're going to, you know, it's going to be some setbacks, but that's okay as long as you keep going.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Yeah. Bruce Lee said it himself, learn how to be water. Just be water. And thus concludes our episode of Living your Legacy. How can folks, folks find you?

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I have a website which you have. You can contact me through the website right on. As well as I have an email as rchllblue mail.com. that's my direct email address and my office number. Have an actual phone number. Have some folks who could connect you to me. The one in Fayetteville is 9104-A-3 2002 and I could be reached there as well. Thank you so much. This has been great.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Oh, thank you for your time and energy. This is such a great way to wrap up our afternoon. Thus concludes yet another episode of the Living youg Legacy podcast. For Inside Success. I'm Ray Gutierrez.

[Rachelle Brooks Blue]

I'm Rachelle Brooks.

[Ray Gutierrez]

Blue, you tell him, Blue. Sam.