Building a Solo Business Means Blazing Your Own Trail

Hi, I’m Rachel Thompson.

I’m a strategic advisor, creative entrepreneur, facilitator, human-centered designer, gathering host and convener, and the Founder & CEO of Daring Studios and the Solo Together Summit.

I’m blazing my own trail.

A woman with long blonde hair, smiling, sitting on wooden stairs, wearing a black sleeveless top and blue jeans.

Strategic Clarity

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Aligned Creative

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Nimble Operations

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Meaningful Experiences

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Strategic Clarity ✳︎ Aligned Creative ✳︎ Nimble Operations ✳︎ Meaningful Experiences ✳︎

Trail Blazing Your Own Path

A dirt forest trail lined with tall pine trees and green shrubs, with patches of grass and roots visible on the ground.

This is not the time for ill-fitting decisions based on someone else’s template.

Now is the time to make strategic decisions, build supportive structures, and gain the business skills you need to craft your own business.

Leaving the trail is scary, risky, and vulnerable.

But you left the familiarity of someone else's structure because you wanted something more. More ownership, more alignment, more freedom to do work that actually fits who you are and the life you want to live.

And now you're here, in the beautiful, maddening reality of running a solo business, where you are the strategy department, the creative department, the sales team, and the person who has to decide what to do next.

That's a lot. And it can feel like a lot.

Here's what I know: when you're self-employed, your personal and professional lives don't stay in their lanes. Nor do you want them to. They collide constantly. Your energy, your identity, your finances, and your confidence are all intertwined.

Whether you’re braiding in a side-career, crafting a portfolio of work, or focusing on spinning up a full-time endeavor, Daring Studios is the strategic and creative resource to help blaze your own trail.

Daring Studios helps you navigate the inflection points of self-employment. When you know what you're capable of, but you could use a thought partner, a clear-eyed outside perspective, and someone who can help you get out of your own head and into motion.

Daring Studios helps you work ON your business.

My Origin Story

A young woman with blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a gray shirt and flip-flops, sitting on a workbench in a cluttered barn with tools, storage bins, and equipment hanging on the walls.

From Kansas to consulting to self-employment

I grew up in Kansas, graduated from K-State, landed in DC working educational conferences, then joined a growing consulting company as their first fully internal hire.

While I was doing that, I spent a ton of time, money, and energy going deep on the things I actually cared about: facilitation, human-centered design, strategy, visual thinking, design-thinking, coaching, marketing, writing, and business skills.

I was building toward something. I just didn't know what yet.

Then came the realization in 2015: I didn't want another 9-to-5, W2 job. I wanted to work for myself. I had to work for myself.

Rachel in the barn at her Dad’s farm in Kansas.

The original Daring Studios logo from 2015-2016.

Why a studio and why daring

One of the first strategic decisions I made was my business name: Daring Studios.

Rachel Thompson is a very common name, so a name-based brand was out. I also wanted a distinct business identity and container that was separate from me-as-human.

The name isn't accidental. A studio is a place to create. It's a space you design intentionally, because if you don't design it, you default to a box that might not fit, might not meet your needs, or might not support the progress you want to make in the direction you want to go.

I wanted a studio I'd designed for myself. One built on freedom and structure, not in opposition, but as partners. The freedom to follow my energy, explore, and do work that matters. The structure to make that freedom sustainable.

And daring is required to blaze my own trail.

So I built Daring Studios, a real container with a visual identity, a business entity, and a strategic direction.

And I made the leap in 2016.

A woman with long wavy blonde hair in a braid, wearing a green top, writing on a whiteboard with a purple marker.

Rachel diving into self-employment as a business strategist, facilitator, human-centered designer, and visual practitioner (among other things).

What came next

That was the beginning. Next came years of client work, pivots, skill-building, and figuring out what it actually takes to run a sustainable solo practice.

Along the way I:

Earned my Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) credential
Planned, facilitated and taught 100s of interactive workshops.
Hosted and facilitated multi-day conferences that attendees call the best they've ever attended including the upcoming Solo Together Summit, the 2025 Ampersand Gathering, the 2021 IFVP East Coast Gathering, two Summer of Design Series, and two DC Service Jams.
Hosted and produced the 20-episode Note of Daring Podcast [2020-2023].

I built Daring Studios by doing exactly what I help my clients do.

Certs & Stats

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Certifications & Degrees

Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF), International Association of Facilitators (IAF)
Certified Virtual Facilitator ™ (CVF ™), International Institute for Facilitation (INIFAC)
Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, Kansas State University

Close-up of a printed page titled "HOW TO SEE THE WORLD" with some text about learning and experiencing, on a wooden surface.

University Teaching Experience

Kansas State University, Undergraduate Cultural Anthropology Teaching Assistant
University of Maryland, Academy of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking Facilitator
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Design Leadership MA/MBA, Adjunct Instructor

A close-up of a stack of colorful books with worn covers, placed on a surface against a gray background.

Courses, Trainings & Independent Learning

My work has been shaped by extensive learning, courses, and workshops in topics including facilitation, coaching, business, writing, hosting, marketing, strategy, editing, and more from Brené Brown, Seth Godin, Tiffany Yates Martin, Jessica Lackey, Tara McMullin, Brian Tarallo, Nic Antoinette, Jason and Caroline Zook, Amelia Hruby, Marie Forleo, Priya Parker, Brandy Agerbeck, the Grove, Co-Active Coaching, Ten Directions, and more.

A smiling woman with red hair in a braid, wearing a black top, a necklace with a rectangular pendant, and earrings. She is sitting at a white table with her hands folded, against a teal background.

Appearances & Features

Facilitated workshops for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, EFA, Founded Communities, IFVP, Altitude Summit, NOVA Scribes, DC Graphic Facilitation, and Design Thinking:DC, and more.
Guest writing for Thrive Remotely and Being Boss.
Podcast Guest on the Voyager Raleigh, Founded Connect Podcast, and Water Cooler Wisdom.

Clients & Projects

My Approach

Strategy, people, and design.

I work at the intersection of strategy, people, and design using human-centered methods that keep the actual human in the room at the center of the work. I don't bring a framework I'm trying to fit you into. I bring curiosity. Asking real questions, making generous assumptions, and being genuinely interested in the complexity of your situation.

What working together actually looks like

When we work together, we think out loud together. We map things. We build something you can actually use.

Clients have held onto whiteboards we made together for months. They've walked away from single sessions with a website live, a decision they'd been paralyzed on for a year finally made, a roadmap for the next quarter that actually made sense.

What I hear most often is some version of:I can see more possibilities now, and I know what to do next.

Why this work is personal

I bring strategy and creative services together because solo business owners need both. And they need someone who understands that the stakes feel personal, because they are.

Self-employment is vulnerable.

Showing up authentically in your business, consistently and with courage, is not a small thing.

And that’s important.

What People Are Saying

"Rachel Thompson is truly gifted and effective. Every time I speak with her, she helps me to see the bigger picture and more possibilities than I could have imagined on my own while also helping me then narrow my focus into actionable steps. Highly recommend working with her!"

— Emily G.
"Your guidance freed me from the decision paralysis that has plagued me for over a year! 🎉 "

— Nikki R.
"I deeply appreciate how intentional she is in designing experiences that feel both structured and flexible. She brings a mix of clarity, creativity, and strategic thinking that helps move ideas from concept to action."

— Sarah S.