Consistency Is Key In a Successful Brand Collaboration: Interview with Food Influencer Rachel Mansfield

Several years ago, I interviewed food influencer Rachel Mansfield in an interview originally published in Thrive Global. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

Adam: What is something about you that the many people who follow you don’t know?

Rachel: My first job was at a salad chain in high school! I wasn’t the most athletic so since I didn’t play a sport, my parents were adamant on me getting a job. I used to make all of the salads, wraps, and sandwiches there and definitely styled the bowls a bit more than anyone else did, ha! I would mix different dressings together and create new salad ideas. I have always had fun with my food.

Adam: What are your hobbies and how have they shaped you?

Rachel: Funny enough my hobby has always been centered around food in some capacity. I have been baking ever since my Mom would let me turn the oven on. Granted it was boxed cake mix or brownies, but I have always loved my desserts and making desserts for others. Now as a hobby outside the kitchen, I love to travel with my husband and family to explore new cities and immerse myself in different cultures.

Adam: How did you become an “influencer?”

Rachel: It still is comical to me that I am considered an Influencer. I started my brand back in early 2014 when I was working at a startup in the food and beverage space. I felt undervalued and under-compensated during my time there and was looking for a second income of sorts. I wanted to sell overnight oats in a jar and deliver them to people in Manhattan. My husband (fiance at the time) suggested posting my recipes on a blog or Instagram to start and then we can look into getting a kitchen to sell overnight oats from. A few months into posting my recipes, I quickly forgot about selling overnight oats and focused on creating various recipes for both myself and my readers to enjoy. I saw that there was need in the space for recipes that can be good for you and actually taste good. Something I struggled to find, it was all about juicing to feel your best and that was never my thing. A few months later, I was fired from my job and that is really when I was able to focus solely on growing my own brand.

Adam: What advice do you have for those interested in working with influencers? How do you decide who to work with?

Rachel: It is so important for brands to know that each influencer works differently. I always say that just like every brand is different in the products they sell and what they offer, each influencer is different. That is what makes everyone’s brands so unique and stand out in the space. All of my brand collaborations are customized for that exact brand. I take the time to get to know the brands I work with and form longer-term relationships with them to make things less transactional. I am also very particular about what their ingredients are, taste, and the brand as a whole. I always say that if I will go to the store and purchase that product to eat or use, it’s a brand I would like to work with.

Adam: What is the biggest misconception about the influencer world and life as an influencer?

Rachel: That it is glamorous and all hearts, stars, and rainbows. Instagram is a very impactful platform and everything looks perfectly curated and it is easy to get caught up in thinking that someone’s life is perfect. No one sees the massive amount of dishes I do daily, the behind-the-scenes of establishing partnerships with brands, personal and health struggles as much as they see the beautiful bowl of oatmeal drizzled with peanut butter. I really try to open up about my own personal struggles on my platform and connect with my readers in other ways. No one’s life is perfect and it is so important that everyone remembers that.

Adam: What has being an Influencer taught you about branding and marketing?

Rachel: It is hard to measure the exact impact that influencer marketing has at times. Brands are faced with challenges from their teams to have an ROI on each collaboration and it isn’t always feasible to do so. When brands are e-commerce-based, we are able to measure the sales that come in from a collaboration, which is helpful but for brands that focus on in-store sales, there’s no direct way to quantify it. Brands expect their websites to crash when they work with someone but it doesn’t happen overnight, consistency is also key in a successful brand collaboration.

Adam: Who have been the biggest influences in your life?

Rachel: There are so many! My family is definitely a huge influence in my life. They helped to shape me into who I am today and are my biggest supporters. I also have a lot of respect for anyone who starts their own business. It takes a lot of hustle and determination. There is a lot of BS to deal with no matter what industry you’re in and it takes a certain something to be an entrepreneur. When I was first starting my brand, I really looked up to other bloggers in the space and would email them to seek advice. While there are definitely some emails and messages I miss from readers, I really love giving advice to anyone starting out on their health and wellness journey!


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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