The Interview below can be found on website here: https://boldjourney.com/news/meet-rachel-kimball/
Published: June 13, 2023
We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Kimball. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.
Rachel, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive? My creativity is kept alive by my brand and business. I have a normal 9-5 job that is filled with routine and standardized expectations, but in my business I have full control to let my creativity run wild. Being in the events industry requires creativity – whether in design and elements of the event, or in creative solutions, planning and decision making. I love that I can plan for every tiny detail and that it won’t always go that way and that will force me to be creative in problem solving. A few other elements of keeping my creativity alive include trying new things, researching, scrolling through social medias, trial and error. A lot of designs and ideas come very naturally to me and I love that, but sometimes I hit a roadblock or get stuck in the mundane and I have to brainstorm, work map ideas or create new vision boards. One of the most difficult things for me to stay consistently creative with is social media, which is a requirement for my work, but it can be exhausting and difficult to maintain especially with unique content that will continue to engage my audience. Keeping my social media creative involves me scrolling a lot, saving ideas and sounds, and then shooting content that I like and think reflects myself and my brand and business.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do? I am the business owner of RMK Designs Events by Rachel, starting out in the wedding and special events industry, and very recently expanding my brand to include unique Bookish Events. I am now planning and putting on unique specialized events that are inspired by some of my favorite books and series and going in this endeavor with my college roommate Andre Ujcich. This is such a new and exciting season and has been filled with highs and lows, but seeing the response from our followers has been absolutely amazing. The first event that we are putting on is called the Starfall Ball, being held in Dallas, Texas on November 11, 2023 at the Alexander Mansion. This event is inspired by my love for the Court of Thorns series, but will channel all the dark fantasy readers with a black-tie night filled of dancing, speciality cocktails, and unique elements like live artist doing portraits and tattoo artist offering bookish tattoos to name a few. This event has been so fun in planning and a great challenge in what I am not just able to design and create, but what I am able to then sell. It’s one thing to be able to plan my clients dream events and weddings, but this is my vision that is being brought to light and it’s challenging me in new ways, but I am loving every second of it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on? The three qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that have been the most impactful to me in my business and life journey have been in letting go of control, adaptability, and trusting my instincts. As an events coordinator letting go of control can be terrifying, and I don’t mean that I’m not in control, but more along the lines of recognizing what is out of my control and no longer allowing what I can’t fix or control to effect my work, ethics, or emotions. Adaptability is an absolute requirement in the events industry and a vital skill to continuously improve and test, The quality in which a planner can adapt, especially under high pressure or in tight time frames will proven in how the event is impacted and can determine successes and failures, but also serve as a lesson for future projects. Finally, trusting my instincts, is a quality and skill that I continuously work on and comes with trial and error sometimes, because our instincts aren’t always right, that’s just what it means to be human. Trusting my instincts has been the absolute most impactful part of my brand and business journey. I’ve taken a lot of leaps of faith, starting my business during covid and being told I was too young and single to be a wedding planner and coordinator, moving and striding in he Middle East, getting my Master’s in a “useless” major – this one was one of my best decisions, knowing when it is time to take a break, starting down a new career path, to the most recent and impactful: starting this new chapter of my business with my business partner Andre Ujcich where we are hosting bookish themed and inspired events. My advice to anyone who is early in their journey is to not give up on your dream and vision, even if it isn’t working, be flexible and most importantly, be willing to ask for help. Development and improvement can come from taking things and decisions in strides, in developing your tenacity and turning it into a skill. There is always more room to grown and develop, the second you get comfortable and stagnant is a second that you are now no longer at the top of your game.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development? The book that played an important role in my brand and business development and serves as the inspiration for this new direction of my brand and business is Sarah J. Maas A Court of Thorns and Roses series. As a child I read a lot, and then in college I never had time for it, but reading came back into my life with the gift of this book at a really low point of my life. It’s insane to think about how a book being gifted to me 2 years ago and has brought me to where I am now. I always loved reading, but ACOTAR jump started my passion and I’ve read so many new books in the last 2 years. In some ways, ACOTAR saved me as I was lost and in need of a coping mechanism and an escape from my reality. This is by no means a biography or really inspirational book, but it is a world-building true escape from reality filled with some of my favorite quotes and life lessons on resilience, mental health and the power to work and fight through difficult situations. It might be a fantasy book series, but it was exactly what I needed in that moment. Books are beyond popular and “trendy” right now, and I’m in the trend and utilizing my skills as a designer and planner and combining it with my love for reaching to out on bookish themed and inspired events!
Contact Info:
Website: https://www.rmkeventsbyrachel.com/
Instagram: @rmkeventsbyrachel & @rachel_mkimball
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rmkeventsbyrachel
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-kimball-1970971a2
Other: Pinterest: https://pin.it/1RTnsJl Starfall Ball Tickets: https://www.rmkeventsbyrachel.com/event-details-registration/starfall-ball-1