We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Leslie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our mission here at Lāer Studio is: to uncover authentic narratives of those in conscious pursuit of real impact and connection.

Before starting this business several years ago, I worked at a major sportswear brand as a digital copywriter writing athlete and product launch stories. During my time there, I was continuously reminded of the bottom line of the impact our words needed to have to drive sales. As I’d finish up each day having penned various hard-hitting headlines and subheads that would be read by millions of people, I kept asking myself what was going to happen to all of these shoes after someone purchased them? Why were we trying to sell out ALL the time?

This question of ethics continued to come up for me until I decided it was time to carve my own path for storytelling.

So, in founding the studio. One thing was for sure: we would work with people who are making a difference and align with our values. Working with businesses that genuinely care about the people and the planet is something I can get behind and continue to support daily. Whether it’s a family-run organic fruit farm in Kauai, a sustainable lip care line, or a nonprofit facilitating reading programs in low-income communities, these are all good people doing extraordinary things. And in helping them share their stories with the world in a genuine, we can help them further their impact.

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’m the founder and editor-in-chief of Lāer studio, a boutique story house for the conscious brand.

Before starting Lāer, I initially pursued a career in journalism, where I wrote for independent newspapers covering arts and culture. My passion for storytelling grew when I moved to Vietnam, worked in marketing and PR for five-star luxury hotels across Southeast Asia, and wrote travel guides. Upon moving back to the U.S., I dove into the agency world, where I helped manage PR campaigns and product launches for CPG brands and later worked as one of two digital copywriters in North America for Nike.

As I explored the idea of starting my own business, I noticed a common thread that every one of these brands—big and small—needed to build a connection with their audience and stand out from the competition. Brand storytelling and copywriting.

Combining those essential services with our mission of working with impact-driven brands and entrepreneurs, the studio began to take shape and carve a space for itself in the online world.

Since starting the studio nearly three years ago, we’ve grown to a lean team working with brand and web designers and clients worldwide to help them communicate their purpose through brand messaging, emails, voice and tone, and website copy. Building off of my journalism roots and learnings over the past decade, we use a unique collaborative approach to interview our clients and extract their stories to communicate them in the most powerful way.

In addition, with a belief in continuous learning, we’ve created accessible digital resources and templates for other writers and brands ready to hold the pen themselves. Continuing our passion for storytelling and writing, we’ve established a blog interview series called Beyond The Brand, where we pass the pen to other change-making leaders and creatives who are making a difference in their own way.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media marketing has been the most effective strategy in growing our clientele.

Since I started the business, social media (primarily Instagram) has been a part of our marketing strategy to showcase what we’re working on behind the scenes, our process, our portfolio, and, most importantly, educational and value-driven content.

In addition to the content development I mentioned above, fostering genuine connections with others on those platforms is critical. I never view social media as a transaction or as simply crossing off a to-do, but more as an opportunity. Who else can I learn from, engage with, and have an authentic conversation with? It’s also such a powerful tool for market research and has been so helpful for us when it comes to better understanding our ideal client’s needs and how we can serve them.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When starting my copywriting studio, I aimed to work with businesses, specifically in the travel industry. Soon after that, the pandemic hit, and most of the discovery calls I had with entrepreneurs and companies in the travel space were not ready to invest in copywriting services with the volatility of everything going on.

I knew the travel industry was going through a tough time, and I explored alternative ways I could help individuals with pro bono work. Still, at the same time, for my business to survive the storm of the pandemic, it was clear I needed to open up my target audience to other industries, too.

So, I pivoted my marketing and brand messaging to focus on my mission, core values, and how I could help someone through our copywriting services versus speaking to a specific industry’s problem. And in time, my client roster grew with businesses across food and beverage, lifestyle, beauty, and eventually, the travel space. It continues to serve businesses across multiple industries today.

That was the first of many obstacles I encountered when starting my business, but I look back on it as a learning opportunity that challenged me and led me to my greater purpose today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laerstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laerstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laerstudiostoryhouse/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laer-studio/

Image Credits
Leilani Banayat