Meet Rachel Heath

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Heath.

Hi Rachel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Hello, my name is Rachel Heath!

I am a seasoned brand storyteller, content producer, marketing aficionado, and creative leader who got their start working for small, local businesses over 10 years ago in Phoenix, AZ, and evolved professionally through roles with globally recognized companies, such as an international lifestyle brand while spending a year in Paris, France, and a world-renowned advertising agency while living in Philadelphia, PA.

Eventually bringing me back home to the desert to take on the role of Creative Director for an Arizona-based company that has a presence internationally.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have definitely been struggles along the way that have fortunately helped me diversify my skill sets and thoughtfully communicate boundaries. It’s normal, natural, and a rite of passage to experience career growing pains on any level and many levels.

I think the biggest takeaway from anything I have experienced is to always trust your gut – no matter how cliche that is. Is the company that preaches radical transparency being super sketchy on a corporate level? Ask questions, do research, make a decision.

Are you offered “flexible time off” as a part of a competitive benefits package but the culture praises and rewards being “always-on?” Ask questions, do research, make a decision. At the end of the day – you need to not only protect yourself mentally and physically in and outside of work – but you also need to make sure that you feel good about the work you’re doing, as well as, who you’re working for and the culture they perpetuate.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a Creative Director, my role is to do everything from strategy development and execution to overseeing the creative process from concept to completion for internal and external brand creative, as well as, conceptualizing the look, feel, positioning, and story for upcoming brand/product launches.

Some days, I could be glued to my computer creating a strategy deck/proposal for an upcoming campaign – including competitive research, budgeting, a punch list of deliverables, storytelling concepts, and a mood board of visual swipe – others on set bringing it to life with our creative team!

I am most proud of an upcoming brand launch that our team has been working on for over a year that is going to truly disrupt its respective industry – in the best way. More on that soon! I think something that sets me apart is the fact that a series of seemingly random events – like taking a bunch of creative writing classes in University due to my passion for writing and always gravitating towards photography – oddly set me up to have a knack for social media, content creation, and meaningful storytelling.

This created a space for me to enter the brand marketing world as a social media manager – where I learned a lot about strategy and producing commercial-level creative – which led me to where I am today.

Final Thoughts: Sometimes self-publishing zines about your time gatecrashing fashion shows in Paris between a brand consulting gig and spending a week in Morocco documenting every moment with a point-and-shoot film camera can become a portfolio piece that can change everything.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Being humble and willing to learn has been instrumental to my career – if you remove any resemblance of ego and make your priority not about yourself but rather how you can produce an end result that is the best it can be – you will experience more success in the long run.

This is because you are opening yourself up to actively listening to feedback your work can evolve from, fostering meaningful collaborations that can take projects to the next level, and expanding your skill sets by prioritizing learning new things – which in turn elevates your overall body of work.

Contact Info:

• Email: secondhandcashmere@gmail.com
• Website: secondhandcashmere.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondhandcashmere/