Rachel Walden

- Gatekeeper of Founder & CEO’s meeting schedule to protect the executive’s focus, aligning scheduling with strategic priorities, not just open availability - Identified and escalated time-sensitive communications/tasks, handled correspondence, and looped in appropriate team members as necessary - Prepared briefs, agendas, and background materials, as well as tracked action items to ensure follow-through - Prepared travel itineraries with full logistical and contextual support - Managed HR, finance, and legal materials with utmost discretion - Interfaced with Marketing, Sales, and Operations teams to coordinate initiatives, drive progress, and ensure alignment between executive priorities and departmental workstreams - Preempted conflicts, delays, and inefficiencies, as well problem-solves and developed new processes to streamline workflows and operations - Self-managed and successfully planned and developed materials for events including offsites, wholesale partner trainings, and business/financial presentations - Completed Executive Assistant Training Program via EfficientAide Miscellaneous Projects: - Assisted with office & warehouse expansion project by working directly with architects, contractors, engineers, and other vendors - Designed a one pager for Founder & CEO and pitched to podcasts, speaking opportunities at events, and other opportunities. Secured speaking slots at eTail West, EEE Miami, as well as interviews with several on-brand podcasts.

Lead brand strategy and awareness efforts across LIVELY’s organic marketing channels, with a focus on organic social, influencer & content creator program management, brand partnerships, PR, and events. Key responsibilities were to build the brand's upper funnel presence through strategic 360 marketing strategies, involving a highly curated and engaging content & messaging approach, high impact product launches, and meaningful brand campaigns - all through thorough leadership, creative, and organizational skills.

- Worked closely with Founder & CEO, along with external PR agencies to grow brand awareness through speaking opportunities, awards, and media. Grew press impressions by 135% in 2019, 216% in 2020, and 50% in 2021 - Drove communications around acquisition by Wacoal, working with both PR teams to message & execute highly sensitive internal & external announcements - Led media training to executives and produced reactive messaging during critical cultural moments and business disruptions - Created strategic content calendars for social media channels and lead agency + content creator execution - Managed all aspects of season 2 & 3 of LIVELY’s podcast from conception to completion of the marketing strategy - Drove breakthrough growth in revenue, awareness, site impressions, and brand loyalty through organic brand partnerships (Supergoop!, Kopari, Winc, COOLA, L’Occitane, and ZitSticka) - Increased traffic to LIVELY’s retail stores and drove community engagement through ongoing series of events and brand activations, including pivot to virtual events during COVID, with over 90 events in the calendar year - Managed direct reports executing on Community Growth and Social to grow the Ambassador program and support product launches through word-of-mouth - Managed company LinkedIn page and content (maintained average 5% engagement rate), as well as $300k+ brand marketing + podcast budget

- Managed accounts (primarily Crypto/Blockchain startups), secured press placements, drafted PR strategies for both announcements and long-term support, oversaw media outreach efforts, and mentored junior team members - Brainstormed thought leadership topics and edited/approved final drafts before they were published - Fact checked news articles - Project managed team members across offices in three countries, spearheading internal corporate communications efforts by overseeing the development and execution of the company's updated messaging, social media strategy, and blog

Drove strategy across all accounts, managed team members, provided counsel to clients, secured a steady stream of top-tier placements during both news and non-news moments, as well as developed new business proposals. Clients included: theSkimm, Billie (acquired by Edgewell), Jason Wu, Electric Objects (acquired by Giphy), Peanut, Celmatix, Gett, Brain.fm, Elvie, Lose It!, UrbanStems, Badoo, The Next Web, Hinge, Lumoid, HelloFlo, Namecheap, RebelMouse, VHX (acquired by Vimeo), AOL, PABLO, and Hometalk

Researched, built media list for, and pitched journalists to attend the third annual LDV Vision Summit in May 2017 where industry leaders in AI, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision gathered to discuss advancements in their field. Secured attendance from New York Times, Business Insider, Forbes, Observer, and Startup Digest.

- Developed and executed PR strategy for Funding Announcement led by USV (Union Square Ventures) and a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) for blockchain startup eventually acquired by Spotify - Secured over 12 press articles in both crypto trade publications and top-tier business and tech publications like Business Insider, TechCrunch, and Fortune - Built brand and industry awareness through ongoing communications with reporters at Associated Press, Wall Street Journal Fortune, Forbes, Reuters, Bloomberg, Inc., Quartz, MIT Technology Review, and more - Advised founders, prepared them for interviews, and drafted and edited media/newsletter materials

Assisted Consumer Group with press releases, events, product seeding, and management of client accounts.

- Wrote press releases for February 2014 Fashion Issue and other individual content - Tracked daily and weekly media coverage for all VICE verticals - Prepped Shane Smith for interview with Bill Maher - Assistant editor of VICE E-newsletter for internal communications - Updated and organized media contact lists - Worked with other departments to plan and execute events - Created clipbooks for internal content as well as for external clientele (Jansport, AT&T)

- Wrote and published articles in science, technology, music, and fashion topics for Motherboard - Interviewed subjects for articles/video content and transcribed interviews - Researched and pitched article topics - Managed Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook accounts - Tracked site and article analytics

- Organized and filed sensitive documents - Created orientation binders and welcome kits for new hires - Scheduled Meet & Greets as well as follow up interviews - First on-call for additional assistance in other departments including photo shoots