Interview Video
Watch the Martha Rice Interview
Guest Information
Martha Rice is a relationship and mental health life coach whose work is shaped by real-life seasons of loss, transition, healing, and breakthrough. With a blend of compassion and accountability, Martha helps individuals, couples, and families navigate life’s toughest moments using faith, practical strategy, and resilience. Her heart is to help people break free from limiting beliefs, renew their minds, and realign their lives with God’s purpose, so they can move forward with clarity, confidence, and empowerment.
With a diverse professional background that spans fashion design, corporate leadership, and process improvement, Martha brings a rare mix of creativity, structure, and insight to every coaching conversation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and her experience includes working in Christian counseling and support settings. Today, she specializes in relationships, whether that’s strengthening family dynamics, helping couples rebuild connection, guiding individuals toward healthier self-relationship, or supporting premarital couples through assessment-based coaching using Prepare/Enrich to address the “elephants in the room” before they become lifelong pain points.
Based in the Chicago area (Forest Park, Illinois), Martha is also a proud wife of 32 years and the joyful “grandma-at-heart” to a big, beautifully blended family of grandchildren she fully claims as her own. Outside of coaching, she loves roller skating, beach walks with her husband, laughter, music, and making space for people to feel safe, seen, and authentically themselves.
Martha is the host of the podcast Casting the Net, a purpose-driven platform born from her desire to leave a legacy and build meaningful connections, while creating a trusted network of referrals and resources that can serve people beyond her own niche. Whether coaching in sessions, facilitating caregiver support, or showing up in community, Martha’s message is consistent: pay attention to what your emotions are signaling, protect your mental health, and get the support you need because your healing matters and your story isn’t over.
Question & Answer
Martha, your bio mentions “seasons of loss, transition, healing, and breakthrough.” How do those seasons shape your coaching today?
Martha says those real-life chapters became her testimony. They’re the reason she coaches with both compassion and accountability, helping people break free from limiting beliefs, renew their minds, and realign with God’s purpose using practical tools plus biblical wisdom.
You’ve done a lot, from fashion and corporate leadership to therapy training. How did that “diverse” journey lead you into coaching?
Martha explains she always had a heart for mental health, even as a child. Her path included fashion design, corporate leadership, earning a psychology degree, and a master’s in marriage and family therapy, plus Lean Six Sigma process-improvement work. All those skills became transferable, and coaching became the place where everything finally “clicked” into a calling.
What’s your coaching “sweet spot” now?
Relationships. Martha says she especially loves working with families and couples, noticing dynamics even in how people sit and interact. She also does premarital coaching and focuses on relationships in three directions: with yourself, with others, and with God.
What kind of transformation do clients experience after working with you?
Martha describes people often coming in feeling anxious, skeptical, and curious, but leaving with clarity, confidence, and empowerment. She credits that shift to inviting the Holy Spirit into her sessions, relying on God for insight, questions, and direction beyond her training.
You talk openly about “unworthiness.” What’s an example from your own life, and what encouragement would you give someone struggling today?
Martha shares that her parents divorced when she was seven, and in that chaos she internalized the belief it was her fault, which fueled unworthiness and later struggles like emotional eating when stressed. Her encouragement: pay attention to what your body is signaling, don’t override it, and get support (coach, therapist, pastor, whoever helps). She even recommends a “yearly physical” style mental health check-in to identify areas that need care.
