Thriving in Chaos: Rachel Seid is Bringing Personality & Purpose to the Web

It’s time to meet our ninth featured entrepreneur in the Thriving in Chaos: A Feature on Women in Small Business series!

It’s my honor to introduce you to Rachel Seid, the brains behind Bright Seid Design. We connected a few years ago in a networking group and I’ve admired her work ever since. Much like her personality, her brand is bright, energetic, and full of life.

Take some time to get to know Rachel and how she’s helping entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small businesses make a connection with their audience through personality-packed websites.

Rachel Seid of Bright Seid Design

Turning Connections into a Career

Even before Rachel started her business, she knew her “favorite thing on earth is connecting with new people.” By looking at her impressive resume, I’d say that’s evident! It’s packed with activities and societies from her time at Boston University and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. 

Those connections also became a big part of her life after college, where she worked with multiple organizations, often managing large groups of volunteers and vendor partnerships. As she worked on creating promotional flyers and curating well-attended in-person events, Rachel always kept her curiosity and love for connection at the forefront of her day-to-day life.

A Reorganization that Sparked An Entrepreneurial Spirit

Rachel dedicates her time and attention to causes she truly believes in. That’s how she ended up spending years at a small nonprofit in Philadelphia.

While working at the nonprofit, she helped guide them through a revolutionizing rebrand. She loved helping them move into modern times and connecting with their newer, younger audience. It was then that she realized that she wanted to do this forever. 

A seed was planted and after four years of working with the nonprofit, she left to start her own business – Mrs. Bright Seid.

Growing the Business

To kick start the business, she sent out 500 emails to people she had met throughout her career thus far. Of those 500 leads, 25 turned into clients, and within 6 months, she had completely replaced her full-time income. 

At first, Mrs. Bright Seid was a full-service digital marketing firm. She was a Jill-of-all-trades, working on a lot of different tasks for a lot of different projects. While she loved it, it felt a little bit overwhelming. There were a lot of balls in the air at all times.

After two years, she decided to niche down and become a Squarespace expert. She developed her signature two-week web design process, taking her clients from strategy to the final product in just two weeks. The brand took off, and her network continued to grow.

When she and her husband expanded their family, and Rachel gave birth to their adorable son, Benji, she knew she needed to adjust. Her original two-week process expanded into an eight-week process, still significantly shorter than a lot of other web design and development timelines.

Evolving the Brand

Rachel Seid’s 4 “-alities” Framework

Mrs. Bright Seid eventually evolved into Bright Seid Designs, the brand we know and love today. Rachael follows the same signature process for all of her clients, taking them through what she calls “The 4 -Alities.”

This process follows the 4Ps - Prep, Put it Together, Polish, and Publish. Within a few weeks, her clients have a beautiful, custom-designed website that truly captures their work and their personalities.

The best part? This business model allows her to earn a full-time income while working around her life (and that cute little baby of hers!).

A Q&A with Rachel Seid

Q: What is your favorite part about owning a small business?

I feel very lucky that I get to choose what I do and do not do in this business. There are a million options to choose from, but it’s such a gift to be able to choose. I don’t have to be an aggressive saleswoman if I don’t want to. I can do whatever fits my personality and schedule. There are no rules.

Q: How did you know it was time to go out on your own and that going back to corporate was not an option?

I was working at a small nonprofit that did not have room for me to grow. I had learned as much as I was going to learn and I had met as many people as I was going to meet. So it was just time. This job helped me create a huge network and gave me the room to figure out how to make a living from what I love most – connecting with people.

Q: What sets your business apart from other website design businesses in your area?

I guess the biggest thing that makes me different from other web developers is that I do all of the strategy work with you. I don’t just give you a content template. I ask the right questions to get to the root of your business. It’s so much more than website design. I do it live with you to make sure you truly understand how your site functions so that when I turn it over to you, you can make edits, changes, and updates. It’s very high-touch customer service. Nothing is automated. Everything is customized to you.

Q: If another woman came to you about starting a business in your industry, what would you tell them?

I would tell them to seek mentorship. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There are people out there that can guide you. 

Q: If you could go back in time to 2004, what would you tell yourself about your life now?

I was 14. I don’t even know what I was worried about. Haha!

I guess … just keep going. It’s going to be so much better than you could ever imagine. I was obsessed with scrapbooking and that’s what inspired my love of design. I was also super involved in my Jewish Youth Group and that’s where my love of marketing. I’m representing a brand, but I’m using my personality to make it happen. I was laying the groundwork to form the strong relationships I have now. (Hi Sam!)

Q: Why did you want to be featured on this blog?

I find the stories really inspiring. I just like reading about other people. I hope to be an inspiration to someone else. Also, I just wanted to hang out with you.

My Take on Rachel’s Story

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Rachel! She’s just so incredibly fun and smart that it’s hard not to love her!

I’ve gotten the chance to work with her on a few projects, and I can honestly say that she’s one of my favorite people to team up with. She streamlines everything yet misses no detail. I love how she truly cares about people and their backstories and uses that to design beautiful visuals that match their businesses so incredibly well.

If you’re interested in a Squarespace website that will blow your mind, reach out to Rachel! All of her contact info is listed on her website. You can also find her on LinkedIn and Instagram.