The Story of Us

A chance meeting, the melding of minds, and the beginning of something great.

Chapter 1: Where it All Began

Rachael (Ray) and Marisa (Reese) met at DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development and quickly connected over our similarities—midwestern-bred, Big Ten University alums with creative undergraduate degrees (writing and design) and planning masters—both having lived and worked in Austin, Texas for a number of years and back in the Midwest to stay. And there, at that University, a connection was born between two passionate urbanists who believed in good design, authentic engagement, and the power of storytelling.

Chapter 2: Finding our Niche

We both made our way to The Lakota Group and forged a niche in communications in the urban world. We found our passion in helping communities tell their stories through messaging, narrative, and design, with Reese leading strategy messaging, and Ray as the designer-in-chief.  Our work creating identities for multicultural corridors, historically and culturally significant regional areas, and creative engagement and placemaking initiatives made us realize this was our thing.  

Chapter 3: All Together

We founded our company on the belief that all places have a story to tell, and those stories live in its history, people, and spirit. As a women-led, mission-driven firm, our ultimate goal is to help communities create enduring brands and joyful spaces for everyone.

 We are excited to use this blog as a platform to share stories about the issues we care about and the things that inspire us. We know our story has many more chapters, and we can’t wait to write them with you!