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

Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve taken several risks in my career, it’s one of the things my friends and family know me for. I’ve taken a paycut and moved to NYC to pursue my dream of working for the NBA and WNBA. But my biggest risk to date is the one I’m currently taking – stepping away from my full-time corporate position to pursue my business, Rae Christine Agency, full-time. I’ve had my marketing and communication agency in a smaller capacity for three years, taking on clients sporadically as opportunities would present. However, over the past year and a half I made an effort to have an intentional presence on social media and share more of my thought leadership and commentary on sports and pop culture. When the “Green Dress” moment came, many people flocked to my page for the video and comments, and stayed once they saw the other content I’d been sharing over the past year and catapulted my followers from 3,000 to over 45K in about 2 weeks. The most impactful results were the business leads I’ve gained to my agency as a result. I’ve had several leads and decided to take my agency full time

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my career 18 years ago as a student athletic communications intern for the University of Missouri – Columbia. My first assignment was holding the ESPN satellite receiver for the women’s soccer match which coincidentally was the morning after homecoming. I learned early on that the sports and entertainment world stops for no one. Over the next decade and a half, I had the pleasure of working on culture-shifting marketing moments including launching the Jake From State Farm social media strategy, living in the NBA bubble, leading crisis comms and brand marketing for the Chicago Red Stars through their team sale and working with countless athletes and entertainers to manage their public image and leverage their brand potential.

I’m also a women’s sports advocate! Through my experience working first-hand with two of the biggest, most successful Women’s sports leagues in the world with the WNBA and NWSL, I’ve seen the business potential behind investing in this boom. My love for sports was sparked by watching Candace Parker and Jennie Finch growing up in Naperville, IL and I’ve been passionate about driving the same support to women’s sports that we’ve seen with men’s. I’d love to continue sharing my expertise on panels, tv/podcast shows, etc.

My day-to-day is focused on Rae Christine Agency business which varies because I have clients across all business areas. Our core offerings include brand marketing, public relations, social media marketing and digital media marketing. We’re driven by innovation, collaboration, and curiosity, resulting in unique, award-winning work that resonates with global audiences. You can find out more by visiting www.raechristineagency.com

I have an 11-year-old Shih Tzu named George and a 1 year-old kitten named Charlie. Both are rescues and have big personalities of their own

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

My unique situation of going viral provided the type of impressions you can’t buy. However, I was able to capture the leads due to my tool integrations – my website is linked in my social media profile and my submission form connects to my scheduler. Having these crucial steps automated helps ensure I don’t miss any leads or opportunities.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

This is a note from my corporate days, but transparency and follow-through will go an incredibly long way, especially if you are managing younger talent. Setting clear expectations of how they can “win” in their roles, frequent check-ins, honest conversations and genuine praise once they’ve reached their goals or mastered a challenging skill. These are non-monetary ways you can build morale and trust with your team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raechristineagency.com
• Instagram: raechristine__
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelcparrish/
• Twitter: https://x.com/raechristine__
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@raechristine___

Image Credits

@ChicagoRedStars (photo of Mallory Swanson holding soccer ball)