Hi, I’m Rachel.

I’m an adventure lovin’, thrill seeking, photographer and writer based in Phoenix AZ, and Minneapolis, MN. My heart beats for cacti, city skylines, handcrafted old fashioneds and potatoes in any form.

In 2017 I lost my mom to suicide and spiraled down the awkward and emotionally isolating experience commonly referred to as grief. My story doesn’t exactly have an a-ha! moment because the light bulb that lit up for me was on a dimmer switch but since her death I slowly discovered that grief doesn’t happen in a vacuum, but alongside a mixture of all the other human emotions—joy, hope, fear, anger, and even love. Grief’s imprint taught me that life is precious and sparked me to quit my 9-5, uproot my life to the desert, and pursue my passion for creative storytelling full time.

Now I navigate life with my camera in one hand and a pen in the other and my blog is a mashup of love stories, brand stories, mental health and grief stories (it’s a niche), and my “real life” (I can’t make this shit up) stories. I bring heart and a little humor to even the toughest of stories and candidly share about a range of topics including living through loss, grief, and new beginnings, and how to run a creative based business.

Latest From The Blog

Posts tagged overcoming competition

7 Mindset Shifts For Freelance Artists

Business, Personal, PhotographyRachel SmakFebruary 26, 20195 MINDSET SHIFTS YOU NEED TO MAKE TO GROW YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS, 7 Big Mindset Shifts If Launching Your Business, 7 mindset shifts for creative entrepreneurs, 7 mindset shifts for entrepreneurs, 7 mindset shifts for freelance artists, 7 mindset shifts you need to make to grow your creative business, 7 Powerful Mindset Shifts for Creatives, 7 POWERFUL MINDSET SHIFTS TO GO FROM BLOGGER TO SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR, advice for every creative, advice for every freelancer, advice for every writer, advice to grow your business, “Progress Over Perfection”, charging what they're worth, Don’t Be Afraid to Say No, Embrace and Live By the Mantra “Progress Over Perfection”, Embrace the Mantra “Progress Over Perfection”, Freelance Artists, Grow Your Biz with One Mindset Shift, Grow Your Biz with these 7 Mindset Shift, grow your income with these mindset shifts, grow your instagram engagement with stories, Have a Clear Vision, Here's why 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How To Break Free From The Comparison Trap

How To Break Free From The Comparison Trap

Photography, Life & Style, EducationRachel SmakMay 9, 2018break free from the comparison trap, community over comparison, community over compitetion, comparing yourself to you're peers, comparison, comparison struggles, comparison trap, competing with your peers, creative comparison, creative competition, empowered women empower women, entrepreneur comparison, facebook comparison, how to celebrate other people's success, how to deal with comparison, how to deal with competition, how to deal with jealousy, how to overcome comparison, how to overcome comparison struggles, how to overcome creative comparison, how to overcome creative competition, instagram comparison, overcoming comparison, overcoming comparison in your industry, overcoming competition, overcoming competition in your industry, social media comparison, stop comparing yourself to others