We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Pesso a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

As entrepreneurs I have found that failing is truly built into being successful. We must overcome and go through certain things in order to gain more clarity in the direction we are meant to go. This has occurred many many times in my 10 years of running my business, RP Creative. In most circumstances, the areas that I feel I have “failed” have led me to some of my greatest successes.

In 2021 I set out to scale my company. I had a good reason, I wanted to impact more people and share my expertise with others. I loved working with mission driven entrepreneur but knew there were many other businesses and people I could support. At the time I was working with a coach on strategy to make the shift and all was going well, I was so excited to get everything created to launch. I knew what I wanted to create was possible because I saw other creatives having success with it. I started to build out digital products ( Social media templates, logo templates, a course etc). I spent months on this part and thousands of dollars hiring the people I needed to help me execute and launch it.

Without going into all the details the strategy ended up not aligning with my energy and I ran out of finances to keep trying at it. I don’t feel that the entire thing was a failure. It gave me so much insight on my strengths and clarity in the direction of the business. I also learned how to overcome my fear of being on video. I learned so much about how to simplify processes so I can teach MANY vs 1;1. It was an expensive and heart breaking lesson but needed.

The success that came from this is that RP Creative was born and everything we are creating now is in full alignment with the vision of the company which is so exciting. I still think that there may be a place that the digital products I created will come to life again but for now I leave them in the past :)

The last thing I will share is that even during the heartbreak of this entire experience I was connected to my heart and vision. Sometimes it can be easy to steer off the path we are on but there is always a way back.

Rachel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi I’m Rachel Pesso. Founder of RP Creative. I’m a visual storyteller, designer, and art director. We help businesses and entrepreneurs create custom visual brands that evoke Emotion & Authentic Connection.

With 10+ years of experience, we blend high-level strategy, collaboration, and deep love to design who you are online.

We’re a team of visual storytellers, designers, and user experience experts who believe in speaking the truth, being vulnerable, and taking creative risks. With over a decade of experience working with brands like Time Inc. and Fortune Small Business Magazine and leaders liked Laverne Cox and Jonathan Fields, I’ve seen firsthand what a strong visual brand can do.

Our two-step process is one that we’ve honed after a decade of working with industry leaders. It’s designed to take your unique vision and help you find creative solutions that will take your business to the next level.

The ways we work with clients right now are:

Brand Alignment Session:
Build the brand foundation that will support your business strategy and goals. This brand alignment session is a collaborative process that invites you to think critically about your brand on a SOUL level. How you want people to feel, what actions you want them to take, and what solutions you provide are just some of the elements that we uncover.

The Brand Experience: Choose from 3 packages in The Brand Experience:
After the brand alignment session, we’ll work with you to create a brand experience that’s truly transformational. Here’s where we’ll dive deep into pulling out the visual concepts behind your brand. You’ll walk away with a website and brand that tells your story, connects deeply with your ideal audience, and paves the way for your business’s next stage of growth and evolution.

1. Soul Themes Websites: A 14 day design experience for launching your unique beautifully branded website using the Soul Themes templates and Rachel Pesso.

2. RP Custom Collaboration: The Industry Leader package provides a fully customized visual brand that captures your unique voice, vibe and mission. With Hands on design that incorporates both user experience and an emotional experience this package is our most popular.

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

One of the main things that helped me build my reputation was including clients in the creative process. I think I was doing something unique in my industry at the time. I created a super collaborate process and my clients who are all visionaries responded very well to it. They wanted to be understood and the way we connected and collaborated made it possible for me to immerse myself in their brands on a soul level. This built my reputation.

In addition, clients worked with me for many years on their brands which opened up endless opportunities for collaboration.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is that I get to continue to learn and be inspired by others. I also LOVE that I get to work with such a variety of mission driven entrepreneurs and businesses. I believe that is the true gift.

I am always immersing myself in new ideas, creative projects and other experiences that inspire me. This all plays into my own creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rachelpesso.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelpesso/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelpessodesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelpesso

Image Credits
Irving Martinez