Prior to founding Thulsa Consulting, Rachel Cook worked with lululemon athletica and Equinox fitness opening new markets in the U.S. and guiding operational strategy. In 2010, Rachel began working in NYC at a boutique recruitment firm specializing in technology and catering to all major investment banks, hedge funds, hospital networks, retail companies, and tech startups. It was here where she discovered her greatest personal strength: combining her technical skill for talent acquisition and knowledge of the startup culture to ensure successful recruitment generating a $2mm book of business and developed a team of recruiters supporting 2nd most profitable desk within the organization (4 offices, 70+ employees); revenue growth rate of 38% YOY during her three years at the firm
Clients include: Perseus Telecom (successful exit to GTT communications for $37.5mm in 2017), Oxford Road (leading offline digital marketing agency, 8 unicorn clients and INC 500 fastest growing firms), Signal Sciences (Index Ventures backed, Series C- $35mm in 2019, Winner 2019 Most Innovative Web Application Security Award at InfoSec), Behavox (Machine learning data analytics, 2019 awards: Forbes Fintech 50, CB Insights 100 Most Innovative AI Startups, Forbes 30 Under 30)
In 2015, Rachel spent 7+ months leading 20+ volunteers in post-disaster zones doing rebuild work, debris management, school rebuild, and health & sanitation projects. Partnering with the CEO and head of volunteer engagement she created a strategic recruitment and retention roadmap. While on project in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines she created the site PurposeinthePhilippines, raising more money than any individual volunteer to date. She lead emergency response teams in Houston, TX (flood), and Rowlett, TX (tornado) and spent four months leading in Kathmandu, Nepal and Melamchi, Nepal. Rachel is also a volunteer and fundraiser for Manos de Amor orphanage in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico.
Rachel received an International Baccalaureate diploma, holds a BS in speech communication with a minor in marketing from the University of Utah, an MA in English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, as well as an MSc in emerging economies & international development from King’s College London. Whilst in London Rachel was an advisor and member of the KCL social entrepreneurship society. Representing King’s College, she spoke at Chatham House on the future of work in the US, nationalism and reproductive rights in Turkey, and the role of Indonesian state owned enterprises in escaping the middle-income trap.
A former Texas state record holder in the 300m hurdles and high jump, Rachel trained for the olympic trials in high jump and is firmly committed to the empowerment of young women through sports. She volunteered as a coach for three years to the Greenwich Village girls basketball league in New York, the Westside YMCA in Los Angeles for a year, and the Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church in London for a year.
Rachel has worked and traveled to over 60 countries across five continents and created the travel site Travelslides. She is a member of Chatham House London, Mensa USA, Mensa International, and Kappa Kappa Gamma alumni.