Don’t ask for coffee
Hey, Nikki here.
This week I sat down with Rachel Deeb, Nashville-based photographer, creative director, and Media Director for The Lumineers, where she manages a global team of creatives across a two-year stadium tour cycle.
She has shot for Billboard and Rolling Stone, toured with Maren Morris and Carly Pearce, and painted a custom jacket for Carrie Underwood’s Vegas residency. She also runs ELEKTRIK Haus Creative, a matchmaking agency connecting the music industry with photographers, videographers, and visual artists worldwide.
She built all of it while editing on concrete floors until 4am before she ever thought to ask for more. That detail says a lot about how she operates.
Why this one matters:
Rachel has been one of the most in-demand creatives in Nashville for a decade. She got her foot in the door by saying yes to everything and proving she could do the work along the way.
That thread runs through how she got on tours, survived a rough start with The Lumineers, built multiple freelance businesses, and what she now looks for when she hires someone herself.
#1 Don’t just ask for coffee
Rachel stopped taking coffee meetings because she kept walking away from them thinking, “That was nice…but now what?” Her take is simple: don’t ask someone more successful than you for their time. Ask how you can help instead.
I’ve been on both sides of this. I’ve sent those coffee emails, and honestly, some of those conversations changed my career. The meeting isn’t the problem. Showing up with nothing to offer usually is.
Rachel had an intern candidate she never emailed back. A month later, she needed a hard drive delivered urgently to a set. She went to the girl’s old email, texted her out of nowhere, and asked if she could help. The girl skipped class, delivered the hard drive, stayed for the rest of the shoot, and interned with Rachel for four months… then shot The Lumineers at Bridgestone with her.
Takeaway: A coffee meeting asks for time. Showing up with something useful builds trust and more opportunities.
Try this: Instead of reaching out to someone you want to work with and asking for a meeting, find one small thing you could actually help them with and offer that instead.
#2 Earn your place, then ask for what you need
When Rachel first joined The Lumineers’ stadium tour, nobody knew who she was or why she was there. She drafted a resignation email from Germany and decided to do one great video first. She never sent the email because the lead singer found her and told her she was exactly who they needed.
For the next year, she edited in hallways and on concrete floors in catering. No desk or workspace. She never asked because she didn’t know she could. The second year, she finally asked for a desk, and the answer was simply, “Of course.” Looking back, she laughed and said she probably should’ve asked sooner.
Takeaway: Prove the work first. Then ask for what makes the work sustainable.
Try this: Think of one thing you need to do your job well that you have been afraid to ask for. If you have earned the ask, make it this week.
#3 ‘Yes’ got you here — ‘No’ keeps you going
Rachel said yes to a Walker Hayes tour despite being sick. She said yes to a random beer at Red Door and met the person who eventually put her on tour with Maren Morris. She said yes to a seven-week Europe run with her favorite band right after telling everyone she was done touring. Yes is the foundation.
But she also talked about going into her next tour cycle already tired. Her hobbies all became work. Her dad asked what she does for fun, and she didn’t have a good answer. What she is still learning is the other side: if someone wants you, they will come back. Saying no doesn’t cost you the relationship. It might actually raise the value of your yes.
Takeaway: Say yes to get in the door. Learn to say no to stay in the game.
Try this: Think of one thing you said yes to recently that you knew you should have said no to. Practice what that no would have sounded like.
If you want the full conversation, listen to Episode #67 of The Giggs Podcast with Rachel Deeb. SPOTIFY | APPLE | YOUTUBE
— Nikki
P.S. One line I loved: Rachel and her best friend painted a jacket for Carrie Underwood’s Vegas residency on a beer pong table, three days and an all-nighter, then showed up to the show two years later and watched Carrie walk out wearing it. Rachel said they just looked at each other and started crying: “I can’t believe we did that together.” The work you are most proud of is usually the work nobody saw you do.
