A Note From Co-Founder and CEO, Kaitlyn Witman
Everyone talks about what it’s like to launch a business, but no one talks about hitting a wall nine years in while juggling a newborn baby and a broken wrist.
I co-founded Rainfactory in 2014 at the age of 23, and by 2023, I had reached a breaking point. We had just moved across the country to be closer to my family and aging grandparents, and in the process realized that three kids was somehow a lot more than two. Rainfactory was in cruise control, but I was running on empty.
The business was about to turn 10, and something had to change.
I thought about a strategic acquisition, about plugging into something larger that could spark more growth. Then I remembered David from JukeStrat, a long-time friend and mentor whose work forging partnerships with industry giants like P&G had always inspired me. I texted him one-handed, asking for advice on being acquired. The response he gave was unexpected.
Instead of an acquisition, he recommended a “Pulse Check” coupled with 1:1 interviews to assess whether our culture and leadership were equipped to rise to the challenges we were facing. At first, I was skeptical. Culture? I thought our culture was one of our biggest strengths, but I was in for a rude awakening.
The results of the Pulse Check were eye-opening:
- Stress levels were sky-high, and people were on the brink of burnout.
- Ineffective communication was creating reactivity, fear, and confusion.
- Egos were stifling creativity and growth.
- Silos were everywhere, creating barriers to collaboration.
- Speed was prioritized over quality.
- Toxic behavior was tolerated and left unaddressed.
I had to face the facts: our company culture needed a drastic overhaul.
This was the start of a year-plus long transformation that would reimagine everything about how we did business. It would require intense, never-attempted engagement with every team member, getting into the messy stuff of feelings and interpersonal dynamics that no one wanted to discuss.
Conventional wisdom would’ve said, “do a major round of layoffs!” or “open up a new line of business,” but none of that was going to get the job done. Instead I led with transparency and vulnerability. I shared the results of the Pulse Check company-wide and started to work through every issue one-by-one. Spoiler alert: it was really effing hard.
The most difficult part of the process was accepting that there was toxicity that needed to be rooted out. Once I embraced this hard truth, things began to fall into place. I realized that people, not process, are what drive success; thus, ensuring we had the right people who were aligned with our new vision and our newly established “no asshole rule” was of the utmost importance.
Fast forward to today, and the arrival of Rainfactory 2.0. Check this out!
Our new visual identity is more than just a branding exercise—it’s a true glow-up from the inside out. Rainfactory 2.0 isn’t just something you can see, it’s something you can feel in everything we do. In addition to a leaner, more efficient team of 18 people (down from almost 50), we also have new leadership that includes David, Christie, and Antonio from JukeStrat, and a completely revamped culture built on collaboration, mutual respect, creativity, and continuous improvement.
We’ve also embraced a decentralized structure that allows strategic decisions to be made by the person with the most expertise–not the most impressive title. This new approach allows us to move in sync with the rapidly changing world of e-commerce, where “it worked in the past” will no longer cut it.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: Marketing isn’t a commodity. It’s a creative endeavor, and to do it well requires the right people. Process is truly secondary. For this reason, we do not offer a one-size-fits-all approach. What we do offer is a team of experienced entrepreneurs and marketing professionals who collaborate to build businesses, not just launch products.
A standardized approach is like a drop in the bucket; it’s not going to make a splash. Rainfactory offers something that no other agency can–us. We’ve come together to create a powerful storm system that fuels sustainable growth and charts the path to peak performance.
In plain English, we got our shit together. The old Rainfactory was able to generate over $1 Billion dollars for its clients, so imagine what’s on the horizon for the next-gen Rainfactory.
Are you ready to make it rain?
