Rachel Bennett

I think my biggest achievement is growing to realize that there will always be a job there for me due to my knowledge, but that you will never get time back to spend with family that won't be there later. Five years ago, I almost died from a brain hemorrhage during COVID. I had emergency brain surgery and spent 14 days in neuro ICU. I was allowed one visitor - my husband who got to come in after a COVID test every day for one hour. I didn't get to see my teenage daughter in her freshman year of high school, I didn't get to see my parents, I didn't get to see anybody. It took me a lot to realize that a job and a boss can suck the life out of you. I was giving everything to everybody, and nobody appreciated it. I think that gives you clarity and helps you realize what your value is for yourself. I do things for me now. I'm wholeheartedly in on my team, but I will never put myself in a situation where my health is at a detriment now. I think so many women specifically are so willing to let our families down because they're gonna forgive us first. I'm not willing to do that anymore. One of the leadership principles that has stayed with me throughout my career is the idea that teams succeed when leaders focus on service rather than status. I've always believed my role is to make sure my team has what they need to succeed. If they succeed, the organization succeeds. Simple as that. My passion comes from my teams. I want my teams to be successful, but that means that they have to work together. My job is to make their job easier and to make them happy to come to work.

The best career advice I ever received came from Marty Benjamin, who was the COO at a medical startup where I worked as a very young executive assistant. I had not decided what I wanted to do - I had my AA but was still going for my bachelor's degree. Marty took me under her wing and became one of my mentors. She ended up doing coaching with me and helping me find where I should go. She was an amazing woman and very influential in my life. I was very young and didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but she helped me. She saw what I could do, she saw what I was capable of, even when I didn't see it. She told me, 'You are so capable of all of these other things, you could be in my seat one day.' And she was the COO. Here I am now, COO - deputy of operations for the Secretary of State of Nevada. Her and I still chat, and she tells me how proud of me she is, and it's like, she knew! She still does leadership coaching, and I think my goal in the end is to help other women, just like she helped me. You have to be that person for somebody else.

Own who you are. I know it's very hard specifically for women. There are gonna be women that bully you. There are gonna be men that bully you. Own who you are. Do not cower. If you know that you're doing your job well, own it. Don't be afraid of being fired. Don't be afraid of the talk and the chatter. If you know you do a good job, then just keep going. You will have allies. I think people appreciate that I come in, and my main goal is to make sure that everybody's communicating. You need to know in your heart that you've got this, that you're intelligent. There's so much background noise, and you just need to tune it out. I can do this, and other people can do this too. Don't put yourself in a spot that you allow anyone but yourself to let you down, do not give them that power.

The most important values to me are family, health, and servant leadership. Five years ago, I almost died from a brain hemorrhage, and that became a major turning point for me. I realized that there will always be a job there for me due to my knowledge, but you will never get time back to spend with family that won't be there later. I will never put myself in a situation where my health is at a detriment now. I think so many women are so willing to let our families down because they're gonna forgive us first, and I'm not willing to do that anymore. In my work, my passion comes from my teams. I want my teams to be successful, and my job is to make their job easier and to make them happy to come to work. I really try not to make it about me - I want to make it about my teams. My job is to make sure everybody's communicating and working together toward one common goal. I think people silo themselves so much, and it's not about you, it's about the goal of the whole agency, the whole company. Outside of work, I try to keep life simple and joyful. I love cooking and host large family gatherings - I do all of our family events. I'm a voracious reader and love biographies, fiction, and work-related books. I was a dancer my whole life and still love to dance. I volunteer as part of the board of directors and was assistant choreographer for a youth theater company here in Carson City, and I still take an adult dance class once a week.