Rachel Brandenberger
Building brands and experiences for being well.
Rachel is a full stack, strategic designer with over 10 years of experience building brands, businesses, and experiences from the ground up.
Early in her career, Rachel worked with international communities to explore the ways indigenous art might find a home in mainstream fashion and interiors. At Doblin (now part of Deloitte Digital), she deployed design research and visual design for the benefit of clients as large as the Department of Veterans Affairs, leading to work that served …
Work
- https://welltheory.com
Rachel worked as an embedded part of the WellTheory team for the better part of two and a half years, leading the charge as a fractional head of design and establishing the foundations of design within the organization.
This work culminated in WellTheory’s initial brand and product experience which delivered holistic care to thousands of members, helped to secure a sizable seed fundraising round ($7.2M, led by Accel), and laid the foundation for a scalable solution for autoimmune care. Rachel continues to support the team as a design advisor.
Poolside
https://www.paradigmpark.com/work/poolsideA studio startup for a large food distributor, Poolside explored the opportunities to serve part-time labor in the restaurant industry — rethinking traditional approaches to hiring and finding ways to make restaurant work more sustainable.
As Co-Founder and Head of Product and Design, Rachel led all efforts related to the Poolside experience, including discovery and evaluative research, product and brand strategy, product design, and brand activation.
BluByrd
https://www.blubyrd.comBluByrd is an early-stage health tech startup that streamlines data exchange between Clinical Practices and Medical Facilities, providing a suite of robust tools and integrations that allow teams to communicate cross-functionally and get surgical cases across the finish line.
Rachel partnered with BluByrd early on in their development, working as a fractional Head of Design. She contributed to design research, brand strategy and identity development, and MVP product and experience design.
Experience
Paradigm Park
Founder & Creative Director
Jun 2020 - Present
A research-driven, human-led creative studio that designs spaces, products, and experiences to enhance collective health and wellbeing.
- Fractional Head of Design for WellTheory, a health tech startup combining lifestyle medicine, community care, and personalized insights from health data to help reverse autoimmune disease.
- Fractional Head of Design for BluByrd, a health tech startup streamlining surgical scheduling. Led design research, brand strategy, brand identity development, experience design, and product design.
Poolside
Co-Founder, VP of Product & Design
Jan 2018 - Apr 2020
Reimagining recruiting and retention in the restaurant industry.
- Led all aspects of design across the organization, including research, prototyping, product and brand design, and design strategy.
- Grew product user base to 120 paying restaurants and 20k+ restaurant talent.
- Hired, led, and collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of eleven — across engineering, marketing, sales, and customer success.
Doblin (Now Deloitte Digital)
Design Consultant
Jan 2016 - Jan 2018
Global innovators working at the intersection of human-centered design, research and business strategy to help organizations imagine and build new businesses.
- Sole communication designer for The Welcome Kit — a resource distributed to over one million Veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Finalist for the Service Design Network’s Service Design Award (Public Sector) for work on The Welcome Kit (2017).