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

Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

I’ve always been a sprinter – on the HS track team, in work, and in life. I like to throw all of my energy, attention, and focus into my work and then shift gears completely to throw all of my energy, attention, and focus into my rest.

“Life is a marathon, not a sprint” has never really resonated with me since I feel like sprinting and walking is my marathon strategy! Taking mindful breaks, or vacations, is a big part of that.

To me, vacations aren’t just for flying to cool destinations (although I love that, too, and recently visited Fiji on my honeymoon). Vacations also look like breaks over the Holidays to reset with family and time on the weekends spent not thinking about work.

As any entrepreneur will tell you, it’s really, really hard to shut off thoughts of work. I genuinely love what I do, and content ideas, small tweaks to improve user experience, and collaborations are always top of mind. However, I know that my most creative and effective ideas come after I’ve intentionally given my mind and body a break, so my “vacations” are actually a huge part of my growth process.

Rachel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I thought I’d go to business school so that I could climb my way up a corporate ladder someday, but life had other plans for me. I was working with Fortune 500 retailers at an AdTech company when I started experiencing health issues that I couldn’t find answers for.

After many rounds of medication, bloodwork, and no diagnosis, I started the DIY route. I became a Yoga Instructor, began studying holistic nutrition, and eventually found my way to something called Ayurveda. In a matter of weeks, Ayurveda changed my entire life – not just my symptoms, but also my career path.

I decided to go back to school to study Ayurveda and left my corporate 9-5 to start an Ayurvedic brand. We did everything from host retreats, to teaching cooking classes, to creating a membership, to working with clients one-to-one.

As much as I loved the science of Ayurveda, I kept getting the feeling that I was a better marketer than a practitioner. So, I made a pivot that allowed me to help spread holistic health by offering done-for-you marketing services to holistic health practitioners.

Now, I’m a fractional marketing manager, meaning I strategize and execute digital marketing strategies for clients using their socials, website, and email marketing.

Being an entrepreneur can be really lonely, so I love being the thought partner for leaders who can help bring their vision to life while allowing them to do work they love (and leave the work they don’t to me).

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to think that sales had to feel gross and that it was a battle of who was more cunning in conversation. Now I know neither of those things need to be true to be successful at sales.

When I came out of college, I entered a business rotational program to learn Client Development (Sales), Account Management, and Media. I thought I would hate sales, but it turned out I was actually great at it once I learned that selling is about being a good listener, understanding the root of the challenge, and making complex ideas simple.

This lesson changed how I market myself, as well. Now, I use my content to educate my audience on what I do, who my work is a best fit for, and what my values are so they’re already aligned with my method and process before we ever enter a sales conversation.

Then, our sales conversations get to be an opportunity to listen to the real problem, understand if I’m the right person to fix it (or not) and ensure we’re both on the same page before moving forward.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I used to think that growing clientele was directly related to how many people I could reach, but I’ve since learned that’s not necessarily true.

For me, my business has thrived when I focus on who is right in front of me and serving that person in a way that is deeper and/or more unique than anyone else is serving them.

Sometimes that looks like saving the best stories and content for my newsletter instead of using them to go viral on social media. Sometimes that looks like offering free audits, where I’ll share my insights on what I see amiss in a personal brand’s content and how to fix it. Sometimes that looks like creating hyper-niche content that tremendously helps some people but is too specific for others.

I’ve found that this has created a loyal and engaged audience, who loves sharing my work and recommending me to ideal clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: therootedstrategy.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/rooted.strategy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-jeffries-001/
• Other: Newsletter, where I share all my best stuff: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6320fc3a461ab140427b8b95

Image Credits
Claire Wallace