35 Years: Rachel Noerdlinger on Crisis PR, Health Equity: My Friends Are Better Than Yours

Meet Rachel Noerdlinger — founding equity partner at ACTUM, one of the top 10 fastest-growing public strategy consultancies in the world, and one of the most powerful crisis communications strategists in the country. With 35 years in media and PR, Rachel has been behind some of the most historic civil rights cases of this generation.

In this candid conversation with BIG CED on My Friends Are Better Than Yours, Rachel opens up about her extraordinary career, her personal journey, and why she runs toward crisis when everyone else runs away.

💥 In this episode:

How growing up in chaos shaped her career in crisis management

Getting her start under legendary publicist Terry Williams

Her first clients: Johnny Cochran and Rev. Al Sharpton

Building National Action Network’s media presence from the ground up

The most historic civil rights cases of our generation

What ACTUM is, why it was built, and where it’s headed

Being the only Black female founding equity partner at a global firm

Her work in health equity and the current Medicaid crisis

Mental health, self-medication, and losing her mother to suicide

Her son’s redemption story and the next generation

AI, social media burnout, and the future of Black media

What she would do differently — and why scars matter

🌱 Rachel is also hosting a vegan wellness retreat in Costa Rica — tune in for details!

🔗 Connect with Rachel Noerdinger:

📱 Social: @RachelNoerd

🌐 Website: actumlc.com

🎙️ The Industry Cosign turns 23 years old on March 15th!

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0:00 Intro & Welcome

1:41 Rachel introduces herself — 35 years in media

2:25 What is crisis management?

5:20 Growing up in chaos — the origin story

6:09 Dropping out of Columbia & discovering PR

7:07 Learning from legendary publicist Terry Williams

7:38 First clients: Johnny Cochran & Rev. Al Sharpton

11:48 28 years with Reverend Sharpton & NAN

12:30 Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo & more

15:13 Getting close to victims — the emotional weight

16:44 What is ACTUM and why was it built?

18:27 Bipartisan strategy & ACTUM’s global offices

19:17 The goal: becoming a billion-dollar company

20:27 Being the only Black woman equity partner

22:20 Lifting as you climb — acquiring Sky Blue Media

24:09 Health equity work & the Health Equity Coalition

24:51 Vegan wellness retreat in Costa Rica

26:27 Fighting health disparities under the current administration

27:06 Al Sharpton + Newt Gingrich — strange bedfellows for change

28:05 Mental health in the Black community

29:06 Rachel’s personal story — losing her mother

30:54 Self-medication, sobriety & finding tools to cope

33:07 Midterms, rebuilding, and revolution

34:04 Dark-skinned Black men — power, targeting & identity

40:32 From entertainment PR to politics — the shift

42:43 Why entertainers aren’t as active today

43:34 The role of Black journalists and media voices

46:27 AI, robots & the death of entry-level jobs

48:02 How BIG CED came to accept AI as a creative tool

50:54 How ACTUM built their own AI tool

52:08 What’s next for Rachel & ACTUM

53:40 What would you do over again?

58:26 Closing — gratitude & how to connect

Connect with BIG CED:

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https://bsky.app/profile/bigced328.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bigced/

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#RachelNoerdinger #ACTUM #CrisisManagement #BlackExcellence #TheIndustryCosign

#PublicStrategy #RevAlSharpton #NationalActionNetwork #BlackWomenLead

#HealthEquity #BlackMedia #CivilRights #BlackEntrepreneur #MediaStrategy

#BIGCED #MentalHealthMatters #LiftingAsIClimb #BlackPR #PoliticalStrategy

#VeganWellness #CostaRicaRetreat #BlackOwned #WomenInBusiness #MediaNarrative

35 Years: Rachel Noerdlinger on Crisis PR, Health Equity: My Friends Are Better Than Yours