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Another course. Another challenge. Another “this is the only way to grow” post in your feed. If you’re a small business owner who keeps getting pulled in a dozen directions, this conversation is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT for you.

Brand and marketing strategist Heather Hildebrandt of Brightcraft Studios spent 15 years in corporate marketing and ran her own product-based business. Then she went out on her own and still got swept into the noise of the online business world... sound familiar? Then you're going to love this vulnerable, honest conversation between Heather and Rachael.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why shiny object syndrome hits even the most seasoned marketers
• The quick check to run before you buy another course
• Why one-size-fits-all marketing advice fails small business owners (and what to do instead)
• How knowing your why shapes the right marketing strategy for you
• Why local networking and referrals can beat chasing the algorithm
• When to hire help instead of trying to learn it all yourself

Connect with Heather
Website: brightcraftstudios.com
Instagram and Threads: @brightcraftstudios

Work with Rachael
Ready to find your voice and nail your message? Visit rj-creative.com.

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall while a brand strategist and a copywriter figure out their next chapters, in real time?

My friend Leslie Silverman is back. (Yes, we've swapped mics since I was on episode one of her show, Category of One.)

Right now we're both in the messy middle of a pivot, and neither of us pretends to have it all figured out. And somewhere along the way of filming this episode, Leslie turns the tables and starts strategizing my business on air.

In this episode:

• Why I get squirmy when people say they showed up because of me
• Audacious authenticity, and why your VIBE is the real reason people hire you
• How AI gave us all one shared brain cell, and what that means for your brand voice
• Leslie's pivot: a big move, a partnership shifting, and trusting intuition over spreadsheets
• Chasing the money vs. following what lights you up
• Separating what you do from who you are
• The moment Leslie hands me my own positioning statement, haha

About Leslie: Brand strategist, web developer, and co-founder of Hive 180. She's also a fractional CMO and the host of A Category of One, where she has vulnerable conversations with entrepreneurs about showing up as their truest selves.

Connect with Leslie:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-silverman-hive180/
  https://www.instagram.com/lesliesilverman/
  https://www.facebook.com/leslie.a.silverman
  https://www.youtube.com/@lesliesilvermanofficial

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

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It's easy to mistake what we want for what we actually need to run a successful business — especially when your feed is full of people who look like they're killing it.

This week I'm joined by Chanti Zak, creator of the Empathy Marketing Ecosystem and the Spill the Tea newsletter. Chanti is a quiz funnel strategist, email marketing master, and coach obsessed with psychology, interactive marketing, and getting brag-worthy results for her students and clients.

We talk about a LOT of topics in this episode! We get into borrowed trust, why picking one lane matters more than being everywhere, and what happens when you stop letting the algorithm set your schedule.

We talk about starting our newsletters, how AI is changing the landscape of online marketing fast, and how keeping up with technology is inevitable when you have a business, whether AI exists or not.

Also in this episode:

• What borrowed trust actually is — and the friend-of-a-friend analogy that makes it click
• How I found Chanti (a real-time example of borrowed trust doing its thing)
• Why an hour in someone's ears beats a post that disappears in 24 hours
• Chanti's blunt take on creatives who insist AI won't affect them
• Interactive marketing 2.0 — and what's suddenly easy that used to be really, really hard
• 
  

Find Chanti:

• Growth Type Quiz — 16 possible results, based on who you are and how you should market: www.chantizak.com/growthtype
• Spill the Tea newsletter: www.chantizak.com/signup
• The KNOWN Community (affiliate link)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantizak/

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

In a first for the show, Rachael sits down with not one but two guests — Kelly Bush and Kelly Metras — co-founders of Bossy Rochester, a support group and community for women business owners in the Rochester, NY region.

What started as two friends venting over happy hour has grown into an organization with hundreds of members, seminars, conferences, and a sister podcast, "Getting Real with Bossy." They dig into why community matters more than competition, what it really takes to run a small business, and why women-only spaces still matter.

Bossy Rochester: bossyroc.com

Email: bossyroc@gmail.com

Social: @BossyRoc

Podcast: Getting Real with Bossy

Local (Rochester) listeners: check out Bossy Rochester and get involved!

International listeners: seek out your local version of a Bossy-style support group — or start one.

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

What We Talk About

You've poured your heart into an offer. You know it's good. You launch it and then... nothing. Rachael sits down with offer expert Lori Young to talk about why killer offers flop (spoiler: usually not because the offer itself sucks) and what actually matters when you're designing something people want to buy.

Topics include: positioning, personality-driven branding, your core genius, contrarian POVs, and why you need a methodology to back up your authority.

Of course... DO WHAT YOU WANT... but if you *want* to sell offers with ease, you'll want to listen to this episode. 😉


Resources Mentioned:
Offer X-Ray — A comprehensive diagnostic for your offers with a PDF report and actionable priorities. Click/tap here to grab it. (<-- affiliate link)

Founding member price: $47 through July 31st, 2026 (price goes up on Aug 1)


How to Find Lori Young On The Internetz:
Website: onabmissionbrands.com
Podcast: The Offer Mojo Show
Instagram: @offer_magician

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

Rachael's back solo this week after a guest fell through — and it turns out there was plenty to talk about anyway. She dives into a Threads scuffle over an AI-generated date-ideas post, why "AI tells" have become such a lightning rod, and what it means when someone's voice gets stripped away by over-scripting.

Plus: a new self-imposed challenge to do *some*thing in 70 days... you'll have to listen to find out what it is.

Also in this episode:

• Why she's recording weekly instead of batching — this is the radio show era
• Rachael's take on AI-generated content
• Noticing "AI tells" in a well-known messaging strategist's podcast episode — and why that's not automatically a bad thing
• What she's reading, watching, and listening to right now

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Real Deal Digest — Rachael's newsletter (link in show notes)
• Do What You Want Community on Skool — free to join
• rj-creative.com
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
• The Bear, Season 3
• Olivia Rodrigo's new album

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

Why do most podcasts die before episode 10? In this candid episode, Rachael pulls back the curtain on what it's actually like to podcast solo — the stops and starts, the editing burnout, the "wait, is this even good?" spiral, and her four-year on-and-off relationship with this very show you're about to listen to. (Right... RIGHT?? YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO IT, RIIIIIGHTTT??)

You won't find expert advice here or perfectly scripted takeaways — just an honest look at what it takes to keep showing up even if it feels like no one is paying attention.

Plus: her insights for anyone thinking about starting their own show, what she's currently listening to, watching, and reading, and a peek at what's coming next (hint: guests, human design, and more unfiltered thoughts on running a business your way).

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode:
Rachael unpacks the "three P's" — how perfectionism shows up as armor (not excellence), why pivoting requires moving before you have it all figured out, and why clarity actually lives in conversation with other people, not in your own head.

If you're simply looking for permission to go make moves, make sure you listen to the end... where Rachael hands out ALLLL the permission slips you could ever need to go forth and do the thing you want to do.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown — book
• Brené Brown's TED Talk, "The Power of Vulnerability" — https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson — book
• you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love — Olivia Rodrigo's new album
• Friends & Neighbors — Apple TV+, starring Jon Hamm

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (7-day free trial, then $10/mo) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Thanks so much for listening! Don't forget to subscribe do you don't miss any episodes.

Please, please please leave a review if you enjoy this podcast!

Work with Rachael:

• Brand Soundcheck — More Info
• Why You're Not Getting Clients Quiz — Takes 2 minutes
• Do What You Want Community (Free to Join) — Check It Out
• Browse Other Services
• Instagram: @rachaelrantsandraves

Subscribe to Rachael's bi-weekly(ish) newsletter: The Real Deal Digest