‘Grit and perseverance.’ Columbus native to share her journey on TEDx stage

A Columbus native will take the TEDx stage to share reflections and lessons from her professional journey.

Dr. Raquel Hammonds, CEO of The Fertility Advantage, will speak during the “Audacity of She” TEDXBuckheadAveWomen event June 7 at MODEx Studio in Atlanta. Her talk, titled “Ambition, AI, and the Art of the First,” will explore how she leveraged artificial intelligence throughout her career journey to pave her way through the medical industry. Hammonds told the Ledger-Enquirershe hopes sharing her success story inspires young girls like her.

“When you go into these rooms with people doing TED Talks, they’re trying to sell something, or they are going to try and teach you something,” she said. “But, [with] my talk, I’m talking to girls just like me, from Columbus, who want to know what’s the next step they should take. This talk feels like something I would’ve liked to hear.”

Tickets be purchased on MODEx Studio’s Eventbrite page for $100.

Dr. Raquel Hammond’s Columbus roots

Hammonds, a naturopathic doctor and public health expert, is recognized for her advocacy in reproductive justice and maternal health equity. Before her start in the medical field, though, she was a daughter to a single mother, growing up in east Columbus.

She described her mother, Margaret Hammonds, as an “angel” to her and her sister. Margaret Hammonds taught for 30 years at many different schools across Columbus, retiring at Rigdon Road Elementary School. She stressed the importance of perseverance, Hammonds said.

“She never let our environment, growing up in that area, blind us,” Hammonds said. “She would help us read books to escape where we were or would help us see like, ‘These are colleges you can go to. These are careers that you can dream about.’ She never boxed us in.”

Hammonds also fondly recalled her memories of going to church with her grandfather, hanging out with her childhood friends and dancing as a Tigerette at Carver High School.

“Those things also taught me grit and perseverance as well,” she said.

Hammonds credits her mother for encouraging her to seek higher education, which she said helped her succeed.

“I always tell people college is not about college,” she said. “College is truly about just opening a door to show you what’s possible, to show you structure. Structure is important to show you how to make connections, how to make friends, how to network. College is about helping you to develop into the best version of yourself.”

Hammonds received her bachelor’s degree in health promotion and behavior from the University of Georgia, her master’s degree in public health from Mercer University and her MD in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University.

Origin of The Fertility Advantage

After she graduated from medical school, Hammonds got her first job as a preventative health director at a reproductive health and fertility clinic in Beverly Hills, California. She said this first opportunity set the stage for her work at The Fertility Advantage.

“I worked like 80 hour weeks,” she said. “It really allowed me to help Black women in a way that our medical system sometimes does not, since I was focusing on prevention and looking at underlying causes of disease.”

Preventative health helps clients prevent disease by scheduling regular medical checkups, getting immunizations, lifestyle counseling, health screenings and more.

Hammonds founded The Fertility Advantage in 2020 while she was living in Los Angeles, leaning into her interests in medical research, technology and communication. Her company creates educational modules for preventative maternal care and provides consultation for care navigation, helping clinics across the nation build teams of doctors and healthcare professionals.

“I’m transitioning out of the clinical space to really dive into research and creating care and modules that people can take with them everywhere,” she said.

Hammondsworks with a diverse group of clients,such as big educational tech companies and major city governments around the nation, to disperse information about maternal and chronic health issues.

Looking ahead

Now, Hammonds is transitioning out of the medical field. She is moving to podcasting and online content creation through her new podcast ‘The Raquel Show.’ It will be available on every audio streaming platform in late June.

She also hopes to create a foundation in her mother’s honor to award low-income youth access to funding for educational or professional purposes.

“Coming from those low-income environments, you don’t feel like you have permission to do different things,” she said. “And so, if I could pass down anything, it would just be permission to dream, to pivot, to create.”

Hammonds said she is excited and nervous about the road ahead, but she emphasized her strong foundation from her Columbus upbringing makes her feel prepared.

“I’m still that same little girl,” Hammonds said. “I feel the worry. But that’s when the grit kicks in, like, ‘I’m scared, but I’m gonna do it.’ The worry is there, but you have to tap into another side of yourself that, to me, we develop as children.”

This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 11:40 AM.