Rachel Soeder

I'm a creative who loves the process as much as the payoff: collaborating, connecting, and chasing the idea that makes everything click. Art school sharpened my eye. Grad school sharpened my strategy. And a lifetime of chasing experiences shaped the taste I bring to every project.

Over 15+ years in the creative industry, I've built multiple multi-disciplinary teams from the ground up and led creative vision across a huge range of work, from internal communications to multi-million dollar ad campaigns. Whatever the brief, I bring curiosity and warmth to the process and hold the line on quality and craft in the output.

I live in New York City with two playful cats and more art than any apartment should reasonably hold.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR • STRATEGIST • ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECT
INNOVATING FOR GLOBAL BRANDS @ THE BRANDTECH GROUP

I studied human-centered design (M.S.), and it's shaped how I approach everything since: start with the user, understand the context, then build something that measurably works. Lately that's meant bringing design, strategy, and technology together — like leading my team through the shift from manual production to AI-augmented workflows, cutting production time without sacrificing craft.

Methodology

Transforming from Manual to Ai

Recently, I've been leading my team through one of the more significant shifts in our industry; the move from manual creative production to AI-augmented workflows. I developed the transformation plan, facilitated the rollout, and built the internal frameworks that have shaped how our team operates day to day. It's the kind of work that requires equal parts strategic vision and on-the-ground execution.

Modeling for Creative Elevation

My focus is on developing creative that's not just on-brand, but effective. And I care deeply about giving designers the structure and space to do their best work. I've built creative development models that reduce ambiguity upstream, launched designer growth programs, and championed processes that elevate output, not just output volume.

“Rachel is a strong Design Director with a unique creative flair, has innovative design ideas and is a strong strategic team player. She has the rare ability to get into the mind set of the customer, user journey and create strong creative positioning and deliver on brief, as well as pushing clients above and beyond their comfort zones. Rachel successfully engages her teams, ensures everyone understands the tasks at hand and is a likeable leader that lives the brand values she and her clients are focused on. I hope our paths cross again in the future.”

- Sam, colleague

FROM COLLEAGUES & EMPLOYEES

“Rachel easily and effectively distills the ask during the briefing process, showcasing her strong working relationships with our brands and her ability to translate their needs to our team.”

- anonymous colleague

“She supports my creative ideas and pushes them where they need and considers my recommendations at the same time.”

- anonymous employee

“She is a great communicator, very attentive and responsive to the input and concern, and effectively ensuring our working process and goals are met efficiently.”

- anonymous colleague

“Any time I've made a mistake, I have felt comfortable going to Rachel immediately to communicate and fix it. She has never made me feel guilty, and always reminds me that we are all human, not machines.”

- anonymous employee

“Rachel thank you for everything, my time was short with the company, but I really hope one day having the opportunity to work with you again. Life has put me with amazing leaders, and you are indeed one of those. Thanks for the opportunity, the help, the guidance, and the chance of being part of the Pernod team.

Please keep leading as you do, the world needs people like you to be better and do better.  You were truly amazing!”

- Daniel, employee

CLIENTS INCLUDE • JAMESON • ABSOLUT • MALIBU • KAHLÚA • CODIGO • ALTOS • MARTELL • PERRIER JOUËT • SHERATON • THE RITZ-CARLTON • JW MARRIOTT • JOHNSON & JOHNSON • NEUTROGENA • PHILIPS • DOVE • DAVITA • STEM & ROOT • SCOTCH-BRITE • COPPERTONE • 7-ELEVEN • COORS LIGHT • PERONI • SOL • PADDYWAX • SWIFTWICK