HI! I’M RACHAEL RENAE
I’m an artist, play enthusiast, and creativity facilitator based in Detroit, MI. I help creatives PRIORITIZE PLAY to overcome creative blocks, foster deeper connection, and build self-trust.
I formally trained and worked as an engineer for over a decade, pursuing a life I thought I was supposed to want. My work stems from unlearning societal programming, building confidence in myself, and creating my own path. I create resources, tools, and structures to help other creatives reflect on their own lives, articulate their desires, and chase their BIG, JUICY LIVES.
As a self-taught artist, I create work about BIG FEELINGS like grief, yearning, loss, hope, and joy. My colorful, approachable objects and experiences offer a gentle invitation to see personal growth as curiosity and play as a tool for exhuming a buried sense of self.
When I’m not facilitating, talking on the Chaotic Creatives podcast, or in the studio, I’m likely gabbing with my pals over coffee or binge-reading a fantasy romance book while cuddling my cat.
My book Prioritize Play: Express Your Creativity, Boost Your Confidence, and Foster Deeper Connection released on June 9th, 2026!
THE BOOK
Prioritize Play offers mindset shifts to see play in the everyday, guidance to help you find your version of play, strategies to overcome creative block, and exercises to release expectations on your creativity.
It’s available as a paperback, e-book, and audiobook (narrated by me!)
STUDIO PRACTICE
With my studio practice, I find inspiration in intentionally experiencing the mundane with a sense of wonder, collecting objects that have lived many lives, and giving found materials an extended life cycle. My magic is utilizing what is already available to us emotionally and physically to build a new perspective. Currently, papier-mâché and ceramics are lighting me up the most.
COMMUNITY, COACHING, & COURSES
An online community for deepening connection to ourselves and our people to build community, practicing accountability to our creativity & our juice box pals, and accessing tools & resources for prioritizing play & exploring creativity.
THE SAUCE
3-month, small-group coaching programs for creative goal-setting, designing creative scaffolding for your life, and committing to your creative practice.
A 4-week, self-guided exploration into your creative interests, your emotional blocks, and your biggest, juiciest dreams for your life. This workshop gives you actual strategies to implement in your busy schedule to help you live a more creative + fulfilling life.
In this 3-part video course, I share my personal style story, reflection exercises, and quick tips to help you use clothes and style as tools for creative self-expression.
PRESS + INTERVIEWS
My interview with The Second Act substack on prioritizing play
Read an excerpt from my book, Prioritize Play, in Big Think’s May issue The Power of Play
Creative Output interview with Astoria Zine Club
What Dopamine Dressing means to me for the PLAY issue of Good Good Good
Listen to my podcast interviews linked below!
CHAOTIC CREATIVES podcast
I’m Rachael Renae, and this is my pal Lauren Hom - a designer, muralist, and chef. Together we host the Chaotic Creatives Podcast — a show about embracing the chaos that comes with living a creative life.
We’re gab gals, and on our podcast, you’ll find conversations around creativity that range from challenges as creative business owners, parallels in our creative and dating lives, and exploration of creative practices.
