When these business leaders found their idea and created their businesses, because each story was so unique, I wanted to have a common snapshot of each entrepreneur. Every interview ended with French television personality Bernard Pivot’s famous ten-question script, generally more familiar to Americans as James Lipton’s closing queries to every guest on Inside the Actors Studio. Here are my answers:
10 QUESTIONS
- Favorite word?
Yes.
- Least favorite word?
Loser.
- What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
Being with family and friends and laughing until I can’t breathe.
- What turns you off creatively, spiritually,or emotionally?
Hypocrisy, violence, lack of compassion, and unwillingness to take responsibility for your actions.
- What sound or noise do you love?
Laughter.
- What sound or noise do you hate?
Chalk on a blackboard or a car honking, unless I am the one honking.
- What is your favorite curse word?
F**k (kids, I know I told you not to sound crass, but sometimes you just have to use it).
- What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Talk show host.
- What profession would you not like to do?
Garbage collector. I have a serious germ problem.
- If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Congratulations, you were picked first for the co-ed softball team!
Rachel became an entrepreneur because she wanted to be more in control of her financial future. She wanted to have the choice to work only with people she likes on content she likes. Today, Rachel still loves the thrill of running her own business. Since co-founding SPARK with her longtime business partner, Mary Wallace Jaensch, she has built an international client base that includes multiple divisions of Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer and Church & Dwight, among others. With her passion and commitment, Rachel has successfully launched, built and revitalized companies around the globe, based on the belief that sustainable, profitable growth starts with a sound strategy and is continually driven forward by connecting with customers, building partnerships, and creating revenue.
Rachel spends a great deal of time speaking publicly, loudly and passionately in an effort to drive the conversation around the business of female health. Today’s industry leaders need a language for the complexity of female sexuality, to destigmatize pressing health and aging concerns for women. With that common vocabulary, companies can grow businesses in historically taboo areas.
Rachel is the recipient of numerous business awards: SmartCEO’s BRAVA Awards honoring top female CEOs, Ttop 25 Entrepreneur in New Jersey, Best Fifty Women in Business by NJBiz as week as JWI’s “10 Women to Watch” in 2016. Rachel serves on the board of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and the boards of several female health and wellness companies. Rachel mentors students and entrepreneurs building female health companies. Rachel earned an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1992 after graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke.