Sometimes in life you have to just go for it. There may never be a ‘right time’ to take that leap, but sometimes you just gotta do it and dive in head first. Rachel Mackles, 29, started a company with her business partner 3 and a half years ago, and it started quickly, 
gained momentum, and has become very successful in its industry. Matchstick Social is a social marketing and advertising firm based in Charleston with a second office in Oklahoma City. At a time when some go through a quarter life crisis, Rachel was busy starting a business. It required hard work, long hours, and passion. I love this interview and found it extremely inspiring (I also might have a soft spot for it because Rachel’s brother was my high school love! #cute). So, keep on reading for how Rachel realized what she wanted to do, what she loves most about her job, advice she’d give to someone starting their own business, and much more.
When did you start Matchstick Social and what inspired you to do so?
As with many good things in life, creating Matchstick Social came suddenly and evolved quickly. Sheryl Sandberg’s quote from Lean In comes to mind: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask what seat. You just get on.” In the early summer of 2013, my now business partner, Amber, called me from to join forces and it took about 15 seconds for me to agree. Within a few weeks, we were working 12 hour days from my kitchen, and a month or so later we opened the Matchstick Social office in the heart of downtown Charleston.
Both of my parents are business owners, so I witnessed what it takes to be successful in small business. Their entrepreneurial mindset was instilled in me from a very young age and showed me the value of work ethic, discipline and leadership.
Did you always know you wanted to be in the digital marketing arena? If not, when did you decide this is what you wanted to do?
My first exposure to marketing was in public relations my senior year of college, followed by two years in New York City. While both exhausting and thrilling, I decided that PR wasn’t right for me.
The more exposure I had to the marketing industry at large, the more I realized how little measurement was going into our work. Clients were paying tens of thousands of dollars for campaigns that had little tangible results. I was recording circulation numbers and impressions without having raw data to definitively prove that what I was reporting was correct. This made me start to question everything I knew about PR and marketing. Thankfully, when I moved to Charleston and began working in digital marketing, I felt right at home. Digital marketing is all about measurement, data analysis and calculating ROI; the tangible results I craved were realized.
What’s your favorite part about your job? Most rewarding? Most challenging?
Digital marketing is analytical. Not to overlook the importance of creative content, as it’s extremely imperative when crafting a successful marketing strategy, the reporting part of the business is the most exciting to me because it gives us the opportunity to show our clients the value of our service and the impact it has on their business. With proper data and measurement, I can report on exactly how much revenue is generated from a single Facebook ad or Instagram post.
When we started Matchstick three and a half years ago, my sales pitch sounded like a defense for social media. Now, most understand that you have to be on social media to build your business. The challenge arises when everyone claims to be an expert in the industry. It amuses me to see how many of my LinkedIn connections note social media as a skill when their career focus says otherwise. Simply interacting with social media doesn’t mean you know how to run a successful ad campaign. There’s so much that goes into a strong social media strategy than meets the eye. The challenge we face is having the opportunity to communicate that fact to prospective clients who are paying their Intern or next door neighbor to manage their social. It’s worth every dollar to pay a professional who not only knows what they’re doing, but who can take your business to the next level.
You started your business at such a young age, and within a few months you had office space and team members – wow! Seriously impressive. What do you attribute all your success to?
The tech scene in Charleston has blossomed over the last 5 years and we were fortunate enough to enter at the right time. The city has developed a reputation of innovation and progress, which made building a strong staff of intelligent and hungry employees easier than we thought. In a little-big city like Charleston, much of a small business’s success depends on creating a good reputation. It’s tremendously important to Amber and I that our clients come first and that the hard work and performance they receive exceed their expectations. Providing the best service available and developing trust with our clients and our employees is top priority.
What’s been the biggest ‘pinch me’ moment of your career, thus far?
I’ve had so many throughout the last three years, it’s hard to choose only one! Every time someone recognizes our company name or notes they’ve heard positive things about our business feels like a “pinch me” moment.
Walk us thru a day in your life!
Loads of emails, a handful of phone calls and a lot of time spent on analytics are a given, every day. We try to minimize team meetings and focus on our clients as much as possible. You can almost always find me working on a proposal with Amber or attending networking events around the Charleston area.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by strong, entrepreneurial women that support and celebrate one another’s successes–like you, Julie! I’m inspired by Indra Nooyi and Ursula Burns who are unapologetically themselves, and have achieved so much success in spite of the adversity they have faced as women in male-dominated industries.
What motto/quote do you always try to live by?
“Every person that you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them.”― H. Jackson Brown Jr.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own business?
Partner with people who are smarter than you. Amber and I work extremely well together, as her strengths tend to be my weaker areas and vice-versa. We also established a solid foundation of trust and respect for one another which makes building a business together that much easier. We don’t agree on everything, but we push one another to think smarter and more creatively, which, in turn, benefits Matchstick and our partnership.
Follow Matchstick Social on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
See previous interviews here.