Named a 2022 Porchlight Realty Advisors Global Thinker for her interdisciplinary work, Rachael De Foe, 31, Singapore-native, has come a long way from conventional workforce to a booming fractionalist economy lifestyle. In 2019, she traded in her nine-to-five rut. Soon after, she launched her own firm in public relations and communications, Redefy. Since then, she has tripled her income from approximately $72,000 Singaporean dollars (about $56,000) to around $220,000 annually, while managing a diverse client portfolio.
For De Foe, the path to her new role started when she grew tired in her former job. Having no position waiting for her, she took the risk and decided to leave her job. That’s just not the lifestyle that I chose. So that was kind of the moment when I decided to leave at the end of 2019,” she said. At first, she planned to relax over the winter holidays, taking time to decompress before looking for a new job. But as she looked back on her career, she had a healing epiphany. Going back to a traditional job wouldn’t put her in the best position to succeed.
“I had no plan, if I’m being quite honest … my plan was to figure it out,” De Foe remarked. This doubt didn’t stop her. On the contrary, it launched her into an entrepreneurial endeavor that would change her life forever. She started Redefy and branded herself as a fractional head of communications. These days, she works with several clients simultaneously, typically serving three to five companies at once.
On her fractional days, De Foe leads the strategic communications function for her client companies. She’s a big fan of the flexibility that comes with being able to set her own hours. As a fractional head of communications, I’m sole, sorry, full accountability for the entire communications function of a small to mid-sized company. She said that how the company operated—given its size—did not warrant the need for a full-time hire. So, it’s on her to create her own schedule.
During those past five years, De Foe has received more than 1.4 million Singapore dollars (about $1.1 million) in salary and allowances. She is killing it in her new digs! There’s not a chance in hell I’m going back to having one boss,” she said with conviction. This lament expresses her frustration at the sentiment and desire for independence, control, and freedom that drives many of her generation’s career choices.
Prior to founding Redefy, De Foe worked in public relations at several large agencies and at boutique firms. Her experience through the classic problems our industry faces. We know businesses need to advocate for growth, but we want to find the balance. Every single agency was running after what I now refer to as the ‘agency monster.’ You get too many clients, so you have to get a larger team. You’ve overstaffed your value; as a result, you must sell more clients. There’s never equilibrium,” she noted.
De Foe’s fractional approach has freed her from this burnout loop. Today, she’s more fulfilled in her work and more empowered to work towards the things she’s most passionate about. “I’m a lot happier. I’m a lot more fulfilled, and I think more than anything — I feel like I can give myself the permission to chase the things that I want,” she said.
With the rise of the fractional employment trend, De Foe has seen a positive shift in the industry. Most of the experienced folks who used to fill those senior positions are now choosing fractional positions. “In the past few years, it’s been very interesting to see the shift in fractional as well, because people who used to be seniors at companies that I’ve worked for have started going the fractional route too,” she pointed out.
De Foe’s success story is proof positive that there’s hope for anyone thinking about making this kind of career transition themselves. She focuses on how personal expertise and personal relationships make for good client inroads. “You are the person that people want to work with, right? So it doesn’t matter whether you’re sitting under a [bigger] company or [if you’re working alone]. People are looking for that interaction with you,” she explained.