Said Differently’s Rachel Barek on tapping her LGBTQ+ network—and ‘prioritizing a new way of working’

Ad Age is marking Pride Month 2023 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package, in which LGBTQ+ creators revisit some of their favorite projects. (Read the introduction here.) This week, our guest editor Lisa Sherman turns the spotlight to Rachel Barek, CEO and co-founder of global innovation consultancy/agency Said Differently. Here, Barek writes about creating a brand identity, content system and website for the Families & Workers Fund. In many ways, the Families & Workers Fund (FWF) is an atypical client for us at Said Differently—most of our clients are Fortune 500 businesses. But there are several aspects of this relationship that speak to our strategy, values and client relationships. For one, I love how our work with FWF is a direct result of my LGBTQ+ network. I met the Fund’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Rachel Korberg through her wife, a personal friend. Before starting Said Differently, I worked at large agencies where business connections were happening all around me through networks that weren’t easily accessible to women or LGBTQ+ people. I love that I am now able to help build and benefit from the LGBTQ+ community. Secondly, the Fund’s core values—commitment to equity, being nimble and strategic, balancing people and data, and championing collaboration and diversity—strongly align with ours, and its executive committee is diverse and queer-led. Lastly, this collaboration proves that you can produce outstanding work for clients with smaller budgets and still make margin if you have an uber-efficient process and are willing to think outside the box when it comes to sourcing talent. Part of why I founded Said Differently was because I saw an opportunity to differentiate our company by prioritizing a new way of working. Rather than hiring hordes of full-time employees, we built a network of senior freelance talent who wanted control and autonomy over their work environment. We assemble a bespoke team to meet each client’s needs. For the Families & Workers Fund, we built a brand identity, content system and website that conveyed a message of hope and progress without glossing over the somber economic reality millions of Americans are facing in the aftermath of the pandemic. And we did it in eight weeks, at a third the cost FWF would have been quoted by traditional agencies, partnering with talent that is usually only available to large, for-profit clients. An example of this talent is Allegra Poschmann, who has worked as a designer and art director for such brands as Nike, Neiman Marcus, Reformation and Glossier. Poschmann tells us she valued the chance to expand her portfolio beyond e-commerce brands while supporting a meaningful mission. Another thing that makes me proud about this project is that the website back-end is easy to use for non-marketers. Usability is always important, but especially when the stakes are as high as they are for FWF. The team is fighting to fix broken macroeconomic systems—we don’t need technology knowledge gaps slowing them down. “Our website is professional, effective and easy to use,” Korberg says. “Our new brand identity allows us to stand out in our sector. I have had numerous partners ask us how we managed to build such an impressive brand.” I am proud we made Korberg happy and contributed to her mission. She is a badass out professional powerhouse I want to do right by. I’m also proud we made a small margin on the project, because if our CSR/not-for-profit work is profitable for us, we can do it regularly, creating more value for more clients and for our creative partners.

Said Differently’s Rachel Barek on tapping her LGBTQ+ network—and ‘prioritizing a new way of working’

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