We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachael DeRossi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachael below.

Rachael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Taking the leap to start my own marketing agency, The Marketing Dept., has been my biggest risk yet. Sure, it felt like a daunting plunge from a comfy corporate job as a single mom, but I believed in my process and myself. With a track record of launching two other companies, I knew the drill: spot a need, conduct some serious sleuthing, assemble a rockstar team, and dive in. I like to feel confident that the rewards will outweigh the risks—and have a solid ‘oh, shit!” plan in place too.

Entrepreneurship runs in my blood, and I’ve embraced the adventure more than once. Before launching The Marketing Dept., I built and flipped rental properties and started, then sold, a commercial excavation company. My motto? Never take “no” for an answer until every option is exhausted—problem-solving might just be my only real superpower.

The keys to my journey have been critical self-reflection, chutzpah I inherited from my family, and lessons from a few incredible bosses. While working as a merchandiser/buyer at Whole Foods, my manager Brie set me free to learn and grow. Thanks to her trust, I helped shatter several sales records. While working as the marketing director at Miramont gyms, my boss, Shane, taught me invaluable leadership lessons in culture and communication. I still use the consciousness and communication tools he and the team imparted. These lessons shaped the purpose-driven culture we cultivate at The Marketing Dept.

I often found myself boxed in by corporate jobs—stifled by environments that reward brown-nosers and yes-men. It’s the kind of culture where credit is taken for others’ work, often at the expense of real progress. Staying true to myself meant constantly hitting dead ends, which eventually made the choice clear: I had to start my own business. Entrepreneurship has always felt more natural to me—far better than playing corporate games.

When I set out to start The Marketing Dept., I leaned on my experience, a mountain of data, and the invaluable lessons from my mentors. I harnessed the power of reflection, feedback, and a healthy dose of failure (the best teacher!).

When launching The Marketing Dept., I combined my strengths with the brilliance of my partner, Laura Sanders. We kicked things off while juggling our full-time jobs and took the leap, quitting our comfortable corporate gigs after just five months, convinced we could make a bigger splash together.

Now, The Marketing Dept. is thriving, working with electric co-ops, telecoms, and private companies nationwide—we just landed several more 2025 contracts with electric cooperatives across the country, and we’re building an authentic, fun, innovative, and safe environment where everyone is excited to come to work, spark new ideas, and form genuine relationships. Fostering a culture where people feel valued is one of the most rewarding aspects of entrepreneurship.

Sure, I’m still learning, and I may not fill Shane or my dad’s shoes just yet, but we’re creating a strong culture and a community where we can all succeed together. We see the need, we know we have the chops, and most importantly, we’re loving the ride

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The Marketing Dept. Colorado is a value-driven agency that I run with my partner, Laura Sanders. We’re two marketing pros with a passion for electric cooperatives and local businesses. We’re a full-service marketing agency with expertise that spans all aspects of digital and traditional marketing and includes comprehensive brand and marketing strategy development. Our services include email marketing, social media management, public relations, strategic communications campaigns, media planning and buying, content marketing, web design and optimization, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and more. For five years in a row, we have been nationally recognized among our peers for our expertise in these areas.

What sets us apart from other agencies is that we have very intentionally created a people-centric culture, we integrated workplace culture from the get-go, hiring Chad, a consultant who I worked with at Miramont to help us build an engaged team. We also choose to work with each client individually on creative solutions that fit their unique needs, goals, and budgets. I could sing our praises all day, but reviews from our clients show what people really think about working with us:

My company has been working with other larger marketing firms that handle clients all over the world. The girls from the Marketing Dept. are hands down the most professional and FUN group that we have ever worked with! Not only is there a personal touch that they provide, they actually know their stuff! If you are looking for a one stop shop to handle everything related to marketing yourself or your business, I would HIGHLY recommend giving them the opportunity.” – Paul Derence

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After a few years as a buyer/merchandiser at Whole Foods, I landed a corporate buying role at another company. Not long after I started, the marketing manager was let go. So, in a bold move, I volunteered to take over the merchandising and promotions. Their response? “Why don’t you just take the whole department?”

Challenge accepted! I jumped right in, only to face a consultant who smugly told me I’d never be able to do what he did on my first digital marketing call. Spoiler alert: I did. And I did it better.

It wasn’t easy—there were a lot of late nights, self-learning, and trial-and-error moments—but I mastered digital marketing, harnessed the power of branding, and merged it with my merchandising and sales know-how. The result? A stronger brand presence and significant sales growth in both dollar and margins.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I first met my business partner, Laura Sanders, when she interviewed for our communications team at our local electric cooperative. During the interview, she didn’t just talk about her passion—she showed it, giving us a lively presentation on how she had created her own font using lentils, flour, and other items from a natural grocer’s bulk aisle. Right then, I knew she had more creative talent in her pinky finger than the rest of the candidates combined.

A year into working with Laura, I was already plotting how we could start our own venture together. Her immense creativity is the perfect yang to my data-driven yin. Together, we balance each other’s strengths almost flawlessly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://themarketingdeptco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themarketingdeptcolorado/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themarketingdeptcolorado
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachaelroutzahn/

Image Credits

Rachael DeRossi and Rachael and family are Shallyn Edgar
All others are Jayna Rosentreter