We recently connected with Rachel Horgan and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Rachel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve spent my adult career as a corporate event planner working for a variety of clients. Five years ago, I was hired as an internal planner for a local business newspaper. I didn’t think I cared much about business news, I was there to operate the events. But over time, by writing scripts, interviewing honorees on stage, curating panel discussions, and just hanging out with my journalist co-workers, I started to really get interested in what was going on in Seattle. I began wanting to read the newspaper every week, but just couldn’t find the time, and I knew there were others out there like me. I knew this was a good idea because there wasn’t another podcast like it and when I would tell people about it, I felt the demand was there. I sat on this project for close to a year before I was finally able to part ways with my former employer and launch it in February 2024.

Business news can be intimidating, boring, and expensive with subscription fees. This podcast sets out to make it more approachable, accessible, and fun for a wider audience. I want people around my age to feel knowledgeable to not only have a conversation with their c-suite or board members, but to feel like it’s possible for them to be in those rooms one day too.

On the episodes, we speak conversationally and authentically, we curse, we joke and we give context. The tagline is “we read the news so you don’t have to”, but it’s more than just a recap. Each episode I bring on a local CEO or journalist so we can also get other perspectives and understand news through the lens of a small business owner, a CFO, a news anchor, and more. “the weekly seattle” is about building community by introducing the local audience to companies and leaders they may not known otherwise. A few business deals have already been made from it!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

How I got into events: I had been doing events and leadership since middle school, but didn’t realize it could be a career until college. I had two event planning internships, worked at a hotel after graduating, then a DMC (destination management company), and the event career took off from there! I’ve also been public speaking since I was a kid and even dabbled in stand-up comedy in recent years, so it was a natural shift into taking on more emcee and panel moderation gigs.

Services I provide:
Events Planning
Event Producing
Project Management
Emcee/Moderating
Podcast Hosting
Booking local musicians

What sets me apart: Many people can do what I do, but at the end of the day, you want to work with people you enjoy and trust. I like efficiency, communication, creativity, taking risks, and having fun!

Other: Because I’ve become a bit of a collector of side jobs, I started RC Productions, LLC. This allows me to produce a comedy show, book musicians for a venue, emcee a fundraiser, host my podcast, and plan a conference, all under one umbrella.

What am I most proud of: A few years ago I started an acapella group in Seattle, but I don’t sing. I started it because I knew there were people out that sang in high school or college and didn’t have an outlet for it in their 20s or 30s and I knew I had the organizational skills to make it happen. I reached out to every college, alumni group, meet up groups I could in Oregon and Washington, found experienced singers to be judges and hosted auditions. The founding group was about 16 members and it’s still going strong to this day, they even have sang in each others weddings. Actually making this crazy idea happen with no singing experience and having this kind of impact on these people will always be something I’m most proud of.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

While I was employed as a corporate event planner, I was always producing events on my own or helping others with events. I was also networking heavily in my industry, volunteering to emcee/moderate panels at industry conferences, was a guest on a handful of podcasts, and I booked musicians for free for friends. So when it came time to make the leap into freelancing and podcast hosting, I had a solid foundation of both experience and network. Of course, I was never certain it would work. I even got a job at restaurant just in case all of this fell apart. But pretty quickly, I started receiving inquires for event planning contract jobs, the podcast took off, and other venues asked me to help with booking musicians for pay. A milestone I reached this year was turning down event work! For the podcast a few milestones – getting the Chief Economist to do a sit down video interview with me, the Mayor of Bellevue listened and commented on my post, it was featured in Seattle Magazine, and one day it was in the top 100 Apple Podcast Business News list.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think building genuine relationships can go a long way. When I left my previous employer, I wasn’t sure if any of the people I contacted to be a guest on the podcast would reply, since I wasn’t at the reputable newspaper anymore. I was pleasantly surprised when almost everyone said yes because they remembered and liked working with me in the years prior. Additionally, many people in my network referred event clients my way even if they hadn’t worked with me directly, but they knew me as a person.

I also think word of mouth has built my reputation. You never know how one small project or conversation with someone can lead to something else. I approach networking with a curiosity about the person and not a mission to advance my goals. And in the end, that has lead to some of the most successful partnerships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theweeklyseattle.com
• Instagram: @horgan18 @theweeklyseattle
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelhorgan/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theweeklyseattle

Image Credits

Dan Delong
Samantha Witt