Rachel Mercer is the Co-founder and CXO of innovation consultancy Proto, and previously served as the VP, Head of Strategy in R/GA's flagship New York office. In this enlightening episode, Rachel discusses the intersection of design and strategy and how critical it is for strategists to be expansive. She describes the need to take both a '20 foot view' and '5 foot view', to look at trends in the context of cultural edges, dominant subcultures and the mainstream, how brand strategy can be a lens for everything you do as business but also the importance of working at the speed of culture. Rachel also discusses the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic has opened up in the world of work, how we should all run towards something and the value in putting our own oxygen masks on first. Check out our YouTube video series at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNBdIP33wJ3rZLkH1iR_Xjy0TznS1Ii_3