She eats raw onions. She's a beauty, parts and lifestyle model. Cholula goes on everything. She collects photos of missing shoes (she calls them “lost sole mates”). She survived an elephant stampede. She sailed in a wooden boat on the Mekong River for 3 days. She’s traveled to 21 countries. She knows every line to Home Alone 1 & 2 (you believe me, but does your Tommy gun?). She got a callback from the Disney Channel for a TV series when she was 11. She's formulated fragrance. She adores mineral sunscreen. And she monitors airfares like hearty a Midwesterner monitors the weather.
She took a year off from college and traveled. It seemed like a better idea than textbooks. She lived through nearly four months roughing it (hard) in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam with 17 trips to the hospital. She traded in the roughing months to spend three months studying French in Paris. It was her best year ever with the scars to prove it.
Currently Raye is a copywriter for FCB NY. She was previously a copywriter with Dentsu NYC and Sid Lee LA.
Raye has a BFA in Branding and Advertising, concentration in Copywriting from the Savannah College of Art & Design and a Minor in the business of Beauty & Fragrance. She splits her time between the East Coast (NYC), the West Coast (Palm Springs) and the Midwest (Minneapolis).
At one point, Raye was a highly awarded emerging photographer, including garnering international recognition. Today, she's pulls that experience into her verbal stories and writing. But if you're curious about her photography, visit: https://www.rayeebensteiner.com/
A Historical Snapshot
It was an absurdly chilly and rainy day at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll in 2006.
It was one of those cold-soaked-to-the-bone afternoons, and I was miserable. My father had somehow been given an invitation by his D.C. office to the Egg Roll. As was customary, Laura Bush would read a book to the children attending. She pushed away all the umbrellas, got real and sat down among the children. She then reached out, plucked me from the crowd and put me on her lap for a story and one unforgettable moment. My brother Jack, with his itty-bitty digital camera, wiggled and squeezed through the throngs of press and nabbed this moment for eternity. Politics aside, how often do we mere mortals have a chance to get real on the lap of the First Lady.
"Raye is one of those forces for which there really aren’t the words — the perfect blend of curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, vision and kindness. She can hang with any of the creatives I’ve ever worked with — in terms of big idea thinking and execution-level craftwork. Her mere presence, buoyed by her insistence on excellence and grace, never fails to inspire her team. I sincerely hope to work with her again."
- Duke Greenhill, Former Chair, SCAD Advertising and Senior Creative Producer, R/G/A
"I'm extremely grateful to Raye for her unwavering commitment to delivering against on-brief objectives, social-first solutions, and provocative creative recommendations. Raye is extremely collaborative and a joy to have on the team. She is poised in front of clients, warm with internal team members, and an ace at defending her perspective while understanding when and how to accept feedback. We consistently ask her to rise above and beyond her job description, and Raye always exceeds expectations. "No" is not in her vocabulary; and we're all extremely grateful to her for everything she contributes!"
- Kendall Stemper, Account Director, Dentsu
"Raye and I worked together at Sid Lee for a few months and she was one of the brightest talents that I had the pleasure of working together with! She is extremely adaptable when given a voice and tone that a brand wants to portray and has wonderful ideas on how to optimize copy based on that brand voice. Beyond hitting the mark with a wide array of options, she is quick and ready to jump on any task with a positive mindset which goes a long way in this industry. If I had 5 stars to give, she'd get them all. She is creative, smart, and has an outlook that makes brands more personable. I cannot recommend Raye highly enough!"
- Josephine Lassen, Social Media Manager, Sid Lee
"Raye excels in radical collaboration. She jumps in on so many different brands with an open mind and a creative attitude. I use Raye's copy as inspiration for my own sometimes. She is always on social and knows how people speak online. Raye shows a lot of patience and maturity in handling feedback and working with the team. Raye connects with people, she meets with people, she introduces herself and invites in others. This business can be a lot of bullies and she is fortunately not one of them."
- Matt Richter, Associate Creative Director, Dentsu
"Raye is wonderful at collaborating cross functionally! I really appreciate Raye proactively reaching out to me to have continued check-ins so we can foster communication across our teams. Especially in a remote setting, positivity is a soft skill that's incredibly important and Raye embodies this trait."
- Anna Thompson, Strategist, Dentsu
