The Expertise is in the Room.
What You Need is a Facilitator to Leverage It.
Work with a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) to design a powerful gathering focused on moving you toward your strategic goals.
What is it all for?
You’ve sat in that meeting.
The one that could have been an email.
The recurring invite for a Zoom call with way too many attendees, no agenda, and 62% of the people checking their email.
The leadership retreat with looping conversations, no decisions, and zero impact on your goals.
These meetings break because managing the group dynamics and process of a gathering of people requires a different skillset and deliberate design.
You’re the expert in your work. And crappy meetings just get in the way.
So, how might you make it better?
Workshops & Trainings
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Leadership Retreats
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Team Building & Development
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Strategy & Planning
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Summits & Conferences
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Facilitation & Advising
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Workshops & Trainings | Leadership Retreats | Team Building & Development | Strategy & Planning | Summits & Conferences | Facilitation & Advising |
You’re in the right place if…
Your next event needs to be different.
1
You want to transform your next leadership retreat or planning meeting into an engaging, outcome-driven event instead of a pile of presentations, status updates, and zero focus on solving problems, making decisions, and building meaningful connections.
You know your stuff…. and it’s not this.
2
You and your team are experts in your work. But you need an external, and neutral, facilitator to guide you through a challenging conversation, complex decision, or strategy and planning process effectively.
You’re looking to learn how to lead better meetings, but need guidance.
3
Your current meetings are… mediocre, but you’re not quite sure how to make it more effective, impactful, or enjoyable.
Facilitation Advising
Get expert guidance on your next event and run it yourself with confidence.
Hiring a facilitator might not always be in the cards. I understand the constraints of budgets, capacity, and context.
Facilitation Advising is for leaders, founders, and organizers who want to run better sessions and are wiling to do the work to get there. This light yet supportive level of engagement is tailored to your actual event, addressing your specific challenges, and provides actionable facilitation advice.
You bring the event. I bring the expertise. Together we make it better than it would have been if you’d planned it alone.
This is also a natural starting point if you're curious about working together but not yet ready to bring in a full-on facilitator.
Strategy Call
You have a plan... you just need a chance to talk through it and get honest feedback!
Pick my brain and use my expertise.
Jump on a live 1:1 Zoom call to get specific, actionable feedback on your agenda for an upcoming event. Or debrief a prior session and let’s figure out how to improve your next one.
Includes: Live 60-minute 1:1 Zoom call plus brief follow-up notes with key recommendations.
$250
Async Advising
You have a plan... you just want a pair of professional eyes providing suggestions, advice, and a second opinion!
Asynchronous feedback. No meeting required.
Avoid timezone math and availability tag. Submit your event plan and relevant context, then receive personalized and strategic feedback on your upcoming event to help address your challenges, improve your gathering, and work on your timeline.
Includes: Written report or recorded video response within 5-7 business days.
$250
Event Design Coaching
You have an upcoming event but no actual plan… and you need more support and guidance to make it real and make it meaningful.
Design the event together. Deliver it yourself.
Let’s collaborate to draft an agenda and facilitation guide for your next gathering. We’ll work through the structure, sequencing, and activities together.
Includes: Three working calls, async support, agenda and facilitation guide for one specific event.
$950+ based on complexity and length of event
Ongoing Advising
You want to add more facilitation skills to your professional toolkit.
Build your skills for the long game.
You know that growing your facilitation skills will help you succeed professionally and personally.
Work with me to lead stronger meetings, practice your facilitation skills, and receive personal support over 6-12 weeks.
Includes: FREE Initial discovery call → custom scope of event design coaching, strategy calls, and asynchronous feedback.
$1,500+
Facilitation
Full-Service Facilitation
Custom design and live delivery of your next meeting, retreat, or gathering.
Ready for your next event to be more impactful?
This service includes the custom design and live delivery of your gathering from start to finish. This is the right fit if you want an experienced professional to own the process so you can be a full participant in the room.
Event Types: Strategy & Planning Meetings, Leadership & Team Retreats, Team Building & Development, Workshops & Training Sessions, Summits, Conferences, and more
Support Options: Graphic Facilitation, Interactive Engagement Strategies, Visual Template Design, Event Planning & Production Advising
Projects start at $2,500. Reach out to discuss scope.
Rachel Thompson facilitating a group.
Hi! I’m Rachel.
My first time trying - and in hindsight failing - to explicitly facilitate a room was as one of the undergraduate Teaching Assistant for the 200-person Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class in college.
Back then, I lacked the facilitation skills I needed to move my 20 student section smoothly through the interactive activities. I was frustrated, unsure, and I wanted to learn how to do better.
So I did.
Now, I’m a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) and a Certified Virtual Facilitator ™ (CVF ™). I have designed and facilitated 100s (seriously, I’ve stopped counting) of events, meetings, summits, workshops, leadership retreats, conferences and more for over 15 years.
My experience weaves in visual and graphic facilitation as well as a strong human-centered design approach to every engagement.
Gatherings of people can be powerful.
Let’s work together to make it so.
Best,
Rachel
Client Testimonials
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Rachel is a rockstar when it comes to planning events. If you need any event planning support in the future, reach out to her. Every detail was flawlessly executed, and she created a space where people could genuinely connect, share, and explore.
— Abby W.
My Process
How it works to hire a me as a facilitator to design and deliver your next meeting, leadership retreat, or gathering.
Discovery: Getting to Know Your Goals
We meet to discuss your event vision, desired outcomes, participant needs, and any dynamics I should understand going in. You'll receive a custom proposal and sign client agreement with a deposit before any work begins.
Design & Preparation: Crafting the Experience
We collaborate on planning calls to build a detailed agenda and facilitation guide, design activities and materials, and get the logistics right.
I show up, either in-person or virtually, and run the session. This includes orienting participants, building rapport, managing group dynamics, harvesting ideas and decisions, and guiding everyone through the work.
Delivery: Show up with Confidence
Done: Final Details and Finishing Strong
After the event, I’ll deliver all agreed-upon follow-up materials, documentation, and the final invoice.
Clients & Projects
Frequently Asked Questions
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An event planner handles logistics like room setup, A/V, catering.
A facilitator handles the people: the conversations, content, and activities during the event.
While I can also consult on logistics and setup as part of my facilitation work, my primary focus is on what happens in the room, not around it.
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It depends on the length, size, and complexity of your event. As a general guideline, I plan for 2–3 hours of preparation time for every hour of meeting time.
Full-service facilitation projects start at $2,500.
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A few things: I hold the Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) credential, which reflects a rigorous standard of professional practice.
I specialize in visual and graphic facilitation, which not all facilitators offer.
And I bring a strong design sensibility to every engagement — I don't just show up and wing it. The preparation is where a lot of the value lives.
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For larger, longer, more complex gatherings, reach out as early in the planning process possible, 4-6 weeks minimum is ideal.
For shorter meetings and advising calls, I can often accommodate shorter timelines. Reach out and I’ll figure out what’s possible.
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Yes, I’m based in the Raleigh/Cary, NC area. Travel costs are the clients responsibility.
Are you ready to make your next gathering actually work?
Get in Touch!
If you have an event coming up and you want it to be different, reach out!
Complete the inquiry form and share details about your upcoming event. I’ll get back to you within 2-3 business days.
Or, if you’d rather chat, schedule a FREE discovery call.