Rachel Buczynski
Mount Vernon — Groveton resident Rachel Buczynski was in a session of the women’s networking group “Lean In,” when she saw how busy her fellow professionals were, and
hatched an idea for a business to help people in these situations. This summer, her business “Sidekick for Hire,” is just celebrating one year of existence, helping businesses with marketing, planning weddings and corporate meetings, and relieving the pressure off some of the overworked executives.
“I could see all my peers were struggling to keep up with their personal lives as they climbed the corporate ladder,” she said. Out of that came her new company “Sidekick for Hire.”
Buczynski kept her full-time job at a trade association, and formed her company on the side, relying on her cell phone and internet to do most of her work. “Almost all my work is virtual,” she said. After nearly one year doing it part time, she left the association and started doing it full time. Her one year anniversary full-time is Friday, July 27.
Weddings make up about one-third of her work, and she takes over after the couple has put in much time and they are ready to concentrate on each other. “They need someone to come in and tie it all together so they can relax,” she said.
She also specializes in business development, writing press releases, marketing and social media. “Logistics and coordination,” she called it. “They can’t handle it all.”
She’s travelled as far as Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C. to do a few weddings, and once was left with the job of setting up the cremation a client's dead cat. The cat was killed in an animal attack, and they were in the midst of a busy event. “I was happy to be there for her,” she said.
In the trunk of her car, Buczynski keeps an emergency equipment box and is constantly adding to it as different kinds of tasks come up. “I had a ton of fun putting it together, it’s grown through the years,” she said. “White duct tape is great for hemming a dress in a pinch,” she said.