"Keep showing up, conducting outreach, and making those connections" with Rachel Leslie
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Rachel Leslie is the founder and lead writer of RL Studio, a copywriting and storytelling studio on a mission to help impact-driven brands stand out and amplify their business with compelling copy and purpose-led storytelling. With over a decade of marketing experience, Rachel understands and believes in the power of stories. In the studio, Rachel can be found at the helm collaborating with her clients, and graphic and web designers, developing messaging guides, copywriting strategies, and educating entrepreneurs on the power of storytelling.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I have a degree in journalism, a business minor, and nearly 10 years of experience working in PR and marketing in the agency realm and on the brand side. During my agency days, I had the opportunity to work with various social impact brands across the food and beverage, travel, and hospitality industries. I’ve always been interested in storytelling and helping brands share their message with the world, whether that was through managing influencer marketing campaigns, launching new products or spearheading industry-disrupting campaigns.
Before starting my own business, that passion for storytelling led me to work at Nike as a digital copywriter writing for nike.com, app and email channels telling the stories of athletes, new product launches, and communities of impact.
What inspired you to start your business?
I’ve always done a lot of freelance writing on the side of my full-time jobs for so many years, and I always wondered if I’d ever take the plunge to start my own business. It wasn’t until I was working at Nike when I thought I was at my dream job where that question of whether I would start my own business continued to come up.
I loved the work I was doing, but I felt a strong desire to start my own business. I really enjoyed the freelance work I was doing on the side, helping brands share their positive messages or products with the world. The work was always different—from an online motherhood platform and a sustainable family-run fruit farm in Kauai to a small boutique hotel and more. All of these businesses were so passionate about their work. They continued to inspire me to help them through my brand messaging and copywriting services.
Where is your business based?
We’re based in Portland, OR where I live, but we get to work with clients all over the world!
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
When I finally realized that I wanted to start my own business, I decided I would test this concept of offering copywriting services on the side of my full-time job. That way, I could ease into the process and see if this business could actually work.
One of the first steps I took was to tell former colleagues of mine, friends, and family members that I was now offering these services. I also created a social media channel and updated an old website to share more about myself, my services, and how people could work with me. Once I had these foundational elements in place, I started doing a lot of networking online and in-person to build genuine relationships with other creatives, industry leaders, and business owners. Building these relationships was one of the most beneficial steps to building my copywriting studio.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
As I briefly mentioned in the previous question, relationship building was huge. When you’re connecting with other people—online or not—it’s so, so crucial for you to be true to yourself and to be, dare I say it, authentic. One of the biggest differentiators that will help you build a business and stand out from the crowd is to be yourself. People want to work with people and brands they genuinely connect with and care about.
Another effective way to raise awareness for my business was to continuously show up online (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn) to talk about my brand values, story, and services. It may feel like no one is watching or following you in the early stages, but trust me, they are! Continuously showing up online was one of the biggest unlocks for me to attract clients near and far and make myself known.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Admittedly, self-doubt and imposter syndrome were two of my biggest challenges in building my own business. Questions, thoughts, and fears continuously came up that would spiral me into a black hole of…can I really make this work? Are the clients going to come? What will others think of me? And the list goes on! I quickly learned from business mentors and coaches that this, of course, is normal but that having a healthy mindset could make or break my business.
One way I overcame these challenges was through journaling and manifestation tactics. There’s something to be said about taking stock of your thoughts and feelings and recognizing why you may be feeling a certain way. We move so fast in our day-to-day lives, and I think it’s important to ask yourself why you feel one way or another and get to the root cause of that emotion. On the other hand, there’s also something so powerful about envisioning your goals and believing in them so much so that they actually come to life. I had a lot of big goals for my first year in business, whether that was hitting a specific number in sales, signing on X number of clients, etc. Whenever I had a big goal I was trying to hit or a vision for a project, I would write out Post-It notes all over my house, on my laptop, and journal about it daily. They quickly became goals that didn’t feel out of reach for me but ones that I knew I could bring to life.
How do you stay focused?
Whenever I’m about to dive into a project or simply begin my workday, I do a couple of things to keep myself focused. Firstly, I silence any and all distractions. That includes my Slack channel with my team, phone, and any other distractions that may arise at home (like my husband coming into the office!). When I “go to work,” I let him know so he’s aware that I don’t want to be interrupted. I also batch my working windows. Mondays and Fridays are days when I solely work on my own business, internal projects, etc. Client work is restricted to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Our environments strongly influence our creativity, focus, and flow. Me, I thrive in my work, and I’m able to focus the most when I have natural light in my office; I have everything I need at my desk (water, a snack, paper to write on, etc.), a good Spotify playlist, a candle, and I’m wearing comfortable clothes. On a big writing day, these are essential for me!
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
As I mentioned earlier, I'm a passionate storyteller, and this is something we thread throughout all of our client services. With my journalism background, the skills I've learned from that profession are integrated into our studio services. For instance, whenever we kick off a client project, we have an hour-long onboarding call where we conduct an interview Q+A session with our clients to get to know them, their goals, and their vision. During my journalism days, I had a lot of training in school in regards to prompts and questions to ask interviewees to get them to open up and talk. I've found these tactics to be so helpful during the early stages of a client project to get to know them and when we move into the writing stages, too.
Additionally, we really pride ourselves on community and collaboration over competition. This belief is found in the collaborative nature of how we work with our clients brainstorming copy strategies together, ideating on review calls, and the list goes on. We also have an interview series called Beyond The Brand, where we invite other creatives into the studio and pass the pen to them to hear their stories. This is just the start of a bigger vision to build a community around creativity and collaboration.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Social media marketing has been highly effective in helping me grow my business. Instagram specifically has allowed me to connect with other creatives, and clients and grow a strong referral base. I would have to say that proactive outreach like following, commenting, and engaging with other potential clients, brands, and creatives to build genuine relationships and have candid conversations has allowed my business to grow on social media and to continue to be top-of-mind.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
For aspiring entrepreneurs, the best piece of advice I could give is to just start! Trust me, you’ll regret it if you don’t ever try! For new entrepreneurs, keep on keeping on! Keep showing up, conducting outreach, and making those connections. It may feel like radio silence initially, but people are watching, listening, and seeing what you’re doing!
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
Great question! I’ve listed a few of my favorites below, but these are always changing!
App: Calm - I’ve had Calm for quite some time now, and I’ve never used it as much as I have when I started my business. I love its meditation guidance, daily check-ins, and music selections. It also has movement options for stretching, etc. which I haven’t tried out yet! It’s my daily go-to but especially in moments of anxiety and stress.
Blog: Right now, I’ve been loving all of Sistain’s articles about sustainable everyday solutions, features of sustainable brands, and guides to living a more intentional lifestyle. Over the past few years, I’ve been really conscious of my everyday habits and the small changes I can make to positively impact the planet. This is an excellent resource with tons of digestible content and approachable recommendations we all can make.
Book: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - This book takes on a unique perspective on creativity and how ideas spark. It really showed me that really anyone can be creative and have an idea to start a business, write that book, etc., but it’s the choice in doing so where the magic really lies.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
Since starting my business, I’ve been using Honeybook, and I love it so much. It’s a fantastic client management tool that helps me keep track of client projects, invoicing, contracts, proposals, client communication, and the list goes on. When it comes to client management, I love having everything in one place as it helps me stay on top of all aspects of a project!
Who is your business role model? Why?
I’m a big fan of Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. Not only is her story of perseverance incredible in how she built a million-dollar company, but I love how raw and real she is not only as a businesswoman but as a mother and a wife.
How do you balance work and life?
I continue to remind myself that I created this business to have a healthier work-life balance. I’d be lying if I said, I’ve got it all figured out! As a business owner, it’s easy to feel like the longer you work, the more you’ll get done because you’re the one leading the charge, but I’ve quickly learned that’s not the case. The more breaks I give myself, the more days I choose to work less (and not harder), the more I focus on quality over quantity when I really thrive, and so does my business.
Right now, for me, this work-life balance looks like shutting off my computer at 5 p.m. on the weekdays and not opening it until the following morning, taking an hour for lunch, and walking outside. As well as working out or moving my body at least 30-minutes 4-5 times a week.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
I don’t know if I could pick just one way to decompress. Lately, it’s felt like a combination of things to really unwind. Sometimes, the simple act of getting off a screen and getting outside for a walk with my husband or a run can really do the trick. And other times, it’s ordering take-out and watching my favorite show. I’m a big traveler, so if those don’t do the trick, I’ll look at taking a mini staycation somewhere nearby in the Pacific Northwest or more further afield. Sometimes, that’s exactly what I need to step away from my work, switch off and return completely refreshed.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
To say we have a lot in the works is an understatement! We’re in the process of rebranding as well as building out a workshop series to educate aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners about copywriting and brand storytelling strategies. We also have a handful of done-for-you copywriting projects in the books with some pretty amazing clients across the health and wellness, fashion, interior design, and marketing industries.
On a more personal note, my husband and I will finally have our wedding celebration in Scotland this spring after 3 postponements!
How can our readers connect with you?
To learn more about our studio, they can head to rachelleslie.co. To follow along on the latest studio happenings, they can find us on Instagram at @rachelaleslie.