The businesses and founders at Groover Labs are always working hard on various projects and we like to interview them to give the rest of the world a sneak peek into what’s it like.

The Marketing Maven team gathers for a photo in their new office.

We’re glad to have the Marketing Maven team, led by Rachel Rains, join Groover Labs! Not only have they recently moved into one of the offices, but Rachel has relocated from Great Bend to Wichita. We’re grateful they chose to join our community!

you moved to Wichita to be closer to the airport (for visiting national clients), now that you’re here what are some unexpected amenities?

We'd been working in the Wichita area for many years before relocating here, so we felt pretty familiar with what Wichita has to offer. The airport was definitely a huge draw, but so was the ability to network and collaborate on a larger scale. While we already served clients in Wichita before moving our office here, it was only on short visits when needed or to attend conferences and such. Now that we're here, the warm welcome and friendly people has been the best bonus. Both within Groover Labs and the community at large. The stereotype of cities being less friendly hasn't been our experience so far at all.

We’ve really appreciated you being a part of the Groover Labs community, what are some of the benefits of coworking life?

Lots of business owners might assume the benefit of coworking is convenient rent with utilities included. And that's cool too. But the biggest benefit of coworking compared to leasing an office space on your own is the community here. The secured facility with reception staff to greet our clients, the meeting space for events or larger conference calls, the member luncheons to network and get to know our office neighbors, and the shared passion around doing something bigger is palpable in the building. We love that energy, and we're excited to get to know more of our Groover neighbors in the months to come!

You work with local businesses and national organizations alike. What sorts of challenges do you enjoy tackling with them?

Most of what we do is serving as an outsourced marketing department for other growing companies who either don't have their own internal marketing staff, or the staff they have can't handle all the various types of work that need to be done to accomplish their goals. That sort-of outsourced marketing year-round is something we call Brand Management, and the scope of that varies from client to client. But it always starts with the strategy and planning (being their Marketing Director), social media content and advertising, email marketing, website maintenance, and content writing. From there, we also tackle advertising budgeting and execution, video production, event planning, and other functions if the client needs that. For clients who aren't ready for year-round outsourced marketing, we also tackle one-time projects: websites, videos, branding and design, trainings or public speaking, etc. Ultimately, whether they're working with us year-round or on a special project short-term, the best part of what we do is getting to hear about their goals and then coming alongside them to equip and enable those goals to become reality. We're really up front with people about what is possible, and love to dream big. All of our pricing is transparent and that also sets us apart from some firms in the Midwest.

The Marketing Maven Office in Groover Labs.

Can you walk us through a project you're particularly proud of? What was the challenge, and what did success look like for the client?

It's so hard to narrow it down! But probably my favorite two examples are both for clients we work with year-round. One is an ag tech manufacturer based in Atwood, Kansas that we started doing brand management for year-round in 2020. Because of their exceptional products, great leadership internally, and our support with marketing and advertising, they've grown immensely and got purchased by John Deere in 2022. They've added jobs, expanded their facilities, and gone global. We didn't do that for them, but we got to be a part of that growth and help support it, which is really neat. The second example is for a family-owned auto auction in New York that just celebrated their 45th anniversary in business. We helped them revamp their website in 2024 and then started doing brand management after that. They have grown immensely since that time, with their sold unit numbers increasing as much as 10-15% on average each week and sometimes more. It's not all to our credit, but we certainly get to help contribute to that growth, and it's fun to watch!

The team work hard at work in the office.

Building an agency means surrounding yourself with the right people. Who's on your team, and what do they each bring to the table?

We have a team of ten people total when you include our part-time bookkeeper and a couple student interns. But seven of us are full-time split up between different skill sets. Out of the ten total team members, five of us (Rachel, Ashlie, Logan, Brooklin, and Kynnedy) handle client strategy and project management, social media content and advertising, email and text campaigns, blog and press release writing, strategy and consulting, and other special projects. Then another two of us (Melissa and Steven) do graphic design full-time across a variety of mediums, including logos and branding to social media content and print materials, and all the way up to cross-promotional campaigns or billboards along the interstate. And then two team members (Matt and Crystal) handle website design, website expansions, and website maintenance and all that those projects entail with graphic design, SEO, secure forms, and automated workflows. Across our team, several people from different departments also offer photography, video production, and public speaking. At Groover Labs, you'll mostly see our CEO Rachel Rains, in the office with everyone else fully remote or hybrid. But you won't find a more talented, capable, driven team anywhere in the Midwest, and their strengths and leadership skills are what have helped us grow to where we are.

Rachel, you have worked in the industry for years and also do consulting, training, workshops, and presentations on a variety of topics. What’s a valuable piece of advice you would give other founders just starting?

The best advice I would give people is to just start, and to keep it simple at first. Write down all the ideas, but start on one or two. Ask questions, surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who've gone before you, and stay ready to pivot at all times. You're absolutely capable, but your insecurity and your time will be the two biggest barriers you face. Give yourself grace to not accomplish it all at once, outsource the things you don't like to do as soon as you can afford to, and be bold to "do it scared" without knowing how it'll go up front. If you can do those two things while consistently evaluating and evolving, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Marketing Maven has been featured in several other pieces, so make sure to check them out if you’d like to learn more:

Voyage KC Magazine Feature: https://www.marketingmavenconsulting.com/single-post/marketing-maven-founder-rachel-rains-featured-by-voyagekc-magazine
Wichita Business Journal story: https://www.marketingmavenconsulting.com/single-post/marketing-maven-featured-by-wichita-business-journal

Interview: Rachel Rains, Marketing Maven