Rachel Lively

Le Cookery & Hilton Head Olive Oils & Balsamics Village at Wexford

1000 William Hilton Parkway, Suites B3 & F6 Hilton Head Island, SC 29928

Le Cookery: (843) 785-7171 / Hilton Head Olive Oils: (843) 681-2722 lecookeryusa.com / hiltonheadoils.com

Describe a typical day in your life. I start my days early! I love having some time before the kids are up and the official workday has started to accomplish a few essential items on my “to do” list. I find that once the stores have opened and the day gets busy, it helps to have some important tasks out of the way. As busy as my days can be with work, I strive for balance at home. We have two active teenagers, and we love to cook and eat dinners together as a family as often as possible during the week. It helps keep us stay connected.

What drives you/makes you excited to start the day?

I love that my husband Michael and I purchased these stores a year ago! We both love to cook, and we love people, so owning Le Cookery and Hilton Head Olive Oils & Balsamics is a great fit for us. We are having so much fun revitalizing the stores and making them our own, not only in the décor and general appearance of them, but also in the products that we are curating for them. Not coming from retail backgrounds, we have learned so much this year. We have researched every single item that we have placed in our stores and thoughtfully chosen what we sell. Our favorite thing is to see customers’ reactions when they come in and love the changes we have made. I truly believe that many of our best family memories are made in the kitchen or around the table, and I absolutely love helping our customers build those traditions and experiences.

Tell us something you wish you had known when you started on your career path—a bit of advice for other women in business. My advice for other women in business is to work hard and be willing to do anything and everything you are asking someone else to do. Don’t ever be above doing whatever needs to be done. Be confident and be “real”—you don’t have to know everything and shouldn’t pretend to. Just be willing to get answers and follow up. People will respect your honesty. Keep your standards high; your integrity is how you will be measured.

Mountains or ocean?

Ocean! We are blessed beyond measure to be able to live on this island!

Give us three qualities a leader must have.

Courage, passion, and humility.