About Rika
Confidence Coach
Rika is a Certified Executive Coach who has worked in the education space for 20+ years. She’s spent over a decade in middle management leadership roles, leading diverse teams and realising the importance of the onboarding process, communicating clearly to your team and the predictability of the 5 Stages of Team Development (by Bruce Tuckman).
Rika is passionate about equipping female Christian leaders to become confident in their leadership roles. She does this through 1:1 coaching and by sharing all she has learnt on the Women of Faith in Leadership podcast.
Rika Whelan – My Story
I was born and raised in South Africa, in a town called Pretoria. I was lucky enough to grow up in the church, and at 13, I decided to give my life to the Lord and served in the church for many years to follow. I was baptised at a youth camp a couple of years later, and I remember the fire that was burning inside me because of how amazing God is. As mentioned above, I served in the church for many years, from being a teen leader in the teen church to being a children’s church leader in my early 20s. I was working up to 3 services on a Sunday and planning on Monday night, so I was burnt out and never wanted to return to the church as a volunteer ever again. My final year of serving in the church was in 2007. In the meantime, we attended a different church, and I didn’t feel called to lead again, however, this could also have been because of the vow I made to never lead again (in the church).
In 2013, my husband and daughter (now we have 3 children!) moved to Perth in Western Australia and joined a church. Their children’s church volunteers desperately needed training, and I felt the Lord nudge me to lead them and train them. So I did. Fast forward a couple of years, and we moved to Bunbury (also in WA) and joined another church there. I joined a small group for mums and bubs, and it was here, in this group, that the Lord called me into the women’s ministry (this was 2017). I presumed that it would be in the church, as this has always been where He wanted me to serve. Nothing ever came of this, as we moved back to Perth the following year. I didn’t forget about this calling on my life, but I also didn’t pursue it.
In 2023, I felt the Lord say that I needed to start a podcast. And when I prayed about it, I got the name ‘Women of Faith in Leadership’. It didn’t take long for me to have an epiphany that this was the women’s ministry that God had called me into in 2017! This gave me a lot of confidence to move past my self-doubt and imposter syndrome. If God called me to do this, then it doesn’t matter what the world says; it’s all glory to God in the highest. And the podcast is truly HIS.
18 months into podcasting, I felt the Lord say it’s time to start coaching. And I’m excited to coach the listeners of the show. The amazing female Christian leaders who struggle with self-doubt and lead with confidence.
God is officially the CEO of the podcast and of my business and I am excited that I can share this journey with you.
“My coaching session with Rika was incredibly helpful in supporting me in my leadership journey. Her support enabled me to have confidence in challenging conversations, and the practical advice was both wise and wonderful.”
More About Rika
Qualifications
- Bachelor in Early Childhood Education
- Honours Bachelor in Early Childhood Education
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
- Certificate in Executive Coaching
- Master of Business Administration
Experience
- 20+ years’ experience in education
- 10 years’ experience in leadership and training
- Trained over 200 leaders and employees on various topics, including conflict management, time management, leadership skills, relationship building for leaders and other relevant topics.
Recognition
- Start-Ups to Follow 2024
- Top 2.5% global podcast