Rachel’s Bio
Rachel is the Head of North America Partner Sales at AWS, leveraging Partners to accelerate growth, drive innovation, and shape the future.
She is a customer-obsessed global leader with 25 years of experience developing, implementing, and selling technology. After starting out as an award-winning engineer in heavy highway construction, Rachel pursued computer programming – and realized her skillset was better suited to solving customer problems than writing code.
Before joining AWS, Rachel served as Vice President and General Manager at Intel Corporation, overseeing US Sales Enterprise, Government, and Next Wave Cloud Providers. Prior to Intel, Rachel spent nearly a decade at Petsmart as Vice President, IT Global Enterprise Applications and Engineering. Rachel has also held engineering and technology roles at DHL, Fujitsu Consulting, American Express, and Analysts International Corporation.
Throughout the twists and turns of her career, one constant has been a deep commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and equity. She is passionate about creating high-performing work environments where all employees feel represented, respected, valued, and empowered. She is an active supporter of STEM education programs and an advocate for providing the next-up generations with opportunities to build the future we all want to live in.
Rachel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Arizona State University, an MBA in International Business from Regis University, and is an alumna of Columbia’s Graduate School of Business in New York. She lives in the Phoenix area and can be found hiking, boating, and going on off-the-beaten-path travel adventures with her four children.
WITH GROUPS CREATING PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO CONSIDER STEM, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENTRY THAT IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY?
There’s so much focus on the entry point to a career in STEM, but we don’t invest enough resources on supporting women as they grow their careers in tech. Navigating life circumstances like returning from maternity leave and juggling young children can leave many women feeling burnt out and inferior in terms of what they can achieve. However, it’s a mistake to assume they’re not ambitious. We do a great job offering leadership programs for people taking on manager roles, but we haven’t yet unlocked how to develop those who don’t want to lead teams but are still hungry to grow and challenges themselves. On my first day back at work after having my first child, my shoes didn’t match. I had to pump in a bathroom because there was no mother’s room. It was stressful and unglamorous. But many leaders intuitively hold back from sharing the challenges and stressors in their personal lives, and drawing that line can paint a false picture of what it takes to be successful. Women can feel like they don’t have the resources or support systems to achieve the same professional wins – and when they don’t see themselves or their circumstances reflected in leadership, we’re failing at representation and inclusivity. However, when leaders allow themselves to be vulnerable, authentic and show their imperfections, then the magic happens. Pulling back the curtain builds deeper connections and inspires teams. So keep it real and share the story of your kid having a meltdown at Target – no one has it all together all of the time. Building work cultures that support and embrace this is the key to our future.
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU?
My grandmother was an original settler of Colorado. In order to survive the cattle ranches of the wild West as a female immigrant in the early 1900s, she had to have remarkable grit, determination and endurance. She was a true pioneer in every sense of the word. She would always say, “Start starting.” I’ve adopted this mantra for myself and now I tell others: “Start before you are ready. Start now, where you are, with the fear of the unknown. Sometimes later becomes never.” My grandmother had an appetite for hard things and I’ve applied her attitude – that you don’t grow despite the storms, you grow because of the storms – to every step in my career journey.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT/ACCOMPLISHMENT?
When I look holistically at my career, I’ve felt most fulfilled when I stopped focusing on doing what I thought I had to do to be successful and started focusing on leaving a lasting impact, one that would remain even after I moved to another role. My path has taken many twists and turns – it’s been messy, magical, unexpected, and spectacular – but a rewarding career seldom follows a straight line. I’ve built endurance and resilience, and I know that when I feel unsteady it means I’m on my to achieving something I never thought possible. I just celebrated three years at AWS and it’s such a privilege to work somewhere, and be a part of something, that encourages us to push boundaries, operate at a high velocity, and never get too comfortable. I have always lived by the philosophy that you cannot have an exceptional life or career, and stay comfortable.
Also, at the end of the day, it’s the human interactions that matter most. People remember how you made them feel. Someone who was on my team at a former job recently reached out and sent me a photo of a handwritten personal note I had sent her several years ago. She still had it hanging on her office wall, and she was about to retire. It was a good reminder of what real impact looks like.