Meet Trailblazer Rachael Shayne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Shayne.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Fresh out of CU, I jumped into PR and then moved to the Integer Group. Later, I also worked at McCann-Erickson, Made, Karsh Hagan, Alibaba, Zayo, a startup or two, and now as an entrepreneur as the Founder and CMO for FocusedBrands, “the Airbnb of marketing.”

Spending 20+ years in marketing, branding, and culture helping clients such as Procter & Gamble, The North Face, Luxxotica, The State of Colorado, Sephora, L’Oréal, Estee Lauder, Zayo, Alibaba, myriad startups and more helped me ride the conversion from big campaigns to a blend of durable and disposable creative & content from the viewpoint of the shopper, the consumer. I saw first hand what the pressure was like on the ‘client-side’ internal teams, and how data did (or didn’t) inform decisions and I had a front-row seat to what a great insight can do for a brand and culture. It helped shape how I think about marketing as a critical element to the consumer experience vs. simply a means of conversion.

My agency and client-side experience helped inform how I think about a brand and a culture — looking at the internal teams, communication systems, customer care, product delivery, IR communications, community involvement, packaging, social & digital touchpoints, trade shows and more. To me, the brand permeates every touchpoint regardless of B2B or B2C — in fact, there’s been a real consumerization of B2B marketing (the good examples, at least!). Thinking about a brand and a culture, and the artifacts they leave, the latent impressions they imprint, is an incredibly exciting way to be a marketer in 2020.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a chance. Spending a career in male-dominated industries and having a tall (I’m 6′) and direct demeanor do not offer a simple path. More than that, my personality, background, and approach don’t fit neatly in a job description. I’m 50% creative and 50% business. Some of my mentors have called me a “unicorn operator” as a way of explaining that not everyone believes in unicorns and that I rarely choose the obvious and simple way of doing things. I have high expectations of myself, and those I work with.

I have been sidelined, yelled at to “not think”, removed, asked to “not talk,” purposely undermined, and altogether offered only big challenges that most people say no to.

I’m happiest when I say yes to something that is disruptive and different — real innovation, working with a diverse and inclusive team that brings varying points of view to the challenge. Originality is rarely orderly (Lee Clow) is one of my favorite quotes.

Advice?
1. Have mentors, friends, advisors who truly believe in you and want to help you chase your version of success. It’s going to be a shortlist.
2. Travel, it teaches you so much.
3. Know when to rest, but not give up.
4. Make sure you’re “measuring right” — a Tesla and a giant, modern house might not be the right things to chase. 5. Know that happiness happens in moments, it’s not a consistent state of being.
6. Don’t give too much of yourself to people who haven’t earned it.
7. Learn to believe in yourself and walk tall.
8. Be curious, always be learning.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about FocusedBrands – what should we know?
As an outsourced, on-demand marketing & branding service provider with a broad base of experience, I’m working with commercial real estate developers, CBD and cannabis brands, a financial service firm, a high-end skincare provider, an interior designer and more to help them shape their brands, communications, reputation, culture, and packaging. Because most of my agency life was spent running new business teams, I can dive into a category and brand set, understand it, and quickly find the white space of opportunity. I truly cherish my clients and want them to be wildly successful. FocusedBrands doesn’t just deliver a scope of work, it’s more like having an in-house marketing & branding expert on speed dial to help GSD. I work with wildly talented freelancers I’ve known through my career, I don’t BS when it comes to fees and finances (it’s all transparent), and I get things done quickly. I’m basically a reformed ad agency women applying the best parts of my experience to my company.

Most proud of:
BRAND that’s like picking your favorite child, it’s not really possible but I can say that I mesh very well with scaling companies and seeing my work accelerate their success makes me immensely happy
ORGANIZATION I am committed to helping women feel strong, successful, and capable and wake up every day with that mission front and center.
SERVICE PROVIDER: delivering what my clients want, but also what they need, and finding ways to laugh along the way. This is marketing and branding, it’s fun as hell.

Sets apart: broad and successful experience curve. One of my clients refers to me as the AirBnB of marketing and I’ve co-opted that description — instead of adding FTEs, they can use FocusedBrands to augment their leadership team, marketing and branding teams, or to dissect their culture. The relationship is different than simply freelancing projects out. Every one of our clients has commented that it feels like I’m in-house but with a consultant POV which is less guarded and more direct.

Honestly, I think it’s because I strip out the unnecessary complexities and use the experience curve I have, and my team has, to attack challenges and deliver. done and done.

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
You still find yourself as the only woman, or only one of very few, in the room of leaders. You’re always dancing on the razor’s edge to be smart, but not too smart, present, but not overbearing, direct, but not too opinionated, caring, but not too nurturing, professional and prepared, but not too ‘sexy.’ the list goes on…

And while this isn’t categorically true, most people want female leaders to work like they don’t have kids, and parents like they don’t work. It’s exhausting.

But (to borrow from Michelle Obama) we must participate in what is while helping create the future we know is possible. And we have to help other women. In my career, it’s often been other women who have made my path and progress much harder than it needed to be. We each must use the power of our privilege and extend a helping hand to those behind us while still striving to reach our goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://focusedbrands.marketing/
• Phone: 4088071092
• Email: rshayne@focusedbrands.marketing
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focusedbrands/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/focusedbrandsmarketing/
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/focusedbrands

Image Credit:
Rachael Shayne, Jeff Donaldson

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