Press Room
July | 2007
"A Career by Design" as seen in Florida Trend Magazine
by Mike Vogel

Suzie Leslie was in art school at age 8, persisted in studying art even as her anesthesiologist father worried about how she would make a living, double-majored in
art at the University of Miami and ran an art school.
Naturally, she works for an accounting firm.

The non sequitur took shape four years ago when Leslie, after working in marketing and design for a bank and with her own firm, was hired by Lawrence Blum, managing partner of Rachlin, to redesign the firm’s logo and promotional materials. One day, a partner came to her with a client who admired the firm’s materials and needed advice on marketing. Leslie gave her thoughts. The client asked whether she would carry out the advice for her. That foray into providing some extra service for a client turned into Rachlin Design Services, the nine-person shop Leslie heads that, on retainer or by the hour, provides marketing services — from strategic marketing to website design.

Most customers have been Rachlin clients, but Leslie is branching out beyond the firm. A Miami Beach native, Leslie, 45, says websites, at $10,000 apiece, and online marketing are the services most desired. “It’s taken off faster than I thought it was going to,” she says. “We didn’t create Rachlin Design as a revenue-builder. It was really to help our clients.”