OUR FIRM
Mission & Story is the only executive reputation and corporate affairs firm in the country led by an Emmy® Award-winning cable news producer and a Presidential Appointee who directed communications for two federal agencies.
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More than reputation managers, we construct the strategic architecture necessary to fortify your standing.
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In an era of asymmetric risk, a single viral leak or synthetic crisis can destabilize an enterprise in minutes. Standard public relations is no longer sufficient. When the stakes are high, we replace uncertainty with strategy. When a crisis hits, we combine the speed of a breaking newsroom with the discipline of the Executive Branch to provide narrative control and strategic advantages other firms cannot replicate.
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With 20 years of experience inside national newsrooms and the federal government, we do not guess how the media will react. We know the playbook. We move beyond reactive defense to build corporate narrative architecture. This is the strategic blueprint that allows leadership to survive hostile environments.
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OUR METHODOLOGY
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Newsroom Instincts: We bring a breaking news mentality to the boardroom. When the pressure is on, we infuse executive strategy with the pace and pulse of a 24-hour news cycle.
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Executive Branch Strategy: We apply the rigor of high-level government clearance to corporate governance, stress-testing your message to withstand unrelenting public and political scrutiny.
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Hostile Simulation: We forge C-Suite readiness through immersive scenario planning, placing our clients exactly where they need to be: Commanding the moment. Shaping what comes next.​​
CEO & CHIEF STRATEGIST
Rachael Shackelford Dussuau is the CEO & Chief Strategist of Mission & Story, providing strategic communications counsel to the C-Suite, political leaders, and global organizations. An Emmy® Award-winning cable news producer and former Presidential Appointee, she offers a rare dual perspective: she knows how the questions are written, and she knows how policy is defended.
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Rachael spent years inside of CNN's control rooms, producing flagship Washington-based programs, including State of the Union and The Situation Room, where she prepared the most recognizable faces in news for high-stakes interviews, mastering the mechanics of the breaking news cycle.
Distinguished by her service in the Executive Branch, Rachael joined the Biden-Harris Administration as a Senior Executive Service (SES) appointee. She led strategy for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration and the Small Business Administration, managing external affairs and reputation risk while navigating complex policy landscapes at the highest levels of government.
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Today, Rachael advises Fortune 500 executives, public institutions, large nonprofits, and political organizations on how to stop playing defense. She specializes in C-Suite media readiness and corporate narrative architecture, helping leaders shape the headlines.
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Rachael holds a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Florida A&M University.
