Danielle Kelleher Connects Brands and Creators at Rize Collective

“How do I do that?” Danielle Kelleher wondered during a hurricane in Tampa, after seeing people receive products from brands. With a week stuck inside and no idea yet what UGC stood for, she took pen to paper and researched how to work with brands. She has since created user-generated content for more than 50 brands.

Danielle Kelleher is the founder of Rize Collective, a social media and creative marketing agency she launched in November 2025, during her senior year of college. Rize helps brands grow through social media strategy, content creation, branding, and creator partnerships. A member of The Entreprenista League, she is growing the agency and a creator community side by side as a solo founder.

“You don’t need to know exactly where you’re going to take the first step,” Danielle says.

Internships, freelance work, and 200 pieces of content

Danielle studied advertising and public relations at the University of Tampa and built her experience through internships and freelance projects. Her creator work now totals more than 200 pieces of content across lifestyle, fashion, beauty, restaurants, and other consumer-focused industries.

As an intern with Sweety High, she helped source and organize creators for LIV Golf Miami. She also worked on social media strategy and content for a Tampa-based aesthetics brand. “It’s about understanding the audience, having a clear strategy, and creating content that actually connects,” she says of great marketing.

Strategy behind every post

Danielle has been a creator, worked in creator marketing, and now runs an agency. “I’m able to look at a campaign from both perspectives and understand what makes content feel authentic while still serving a brand’s goals,” she says.

Rize is strategy-first. Every piece of content needs a purpose, whether that is brand awareness, community, engagement, or a larger business goal.

One client, a founder who wanted to strengthen her personal brand, started with a clearer content strategy. Together, they identified the stories that felt authentic to her and built content around her lifestyle and business. She now shows up consistently online, and Danielle helped her see that everyday moments, from traveling to leading her team, can connect with her audience.

A class project that grew a creator community

Brands started coming back, trusting Danielle with their social media and content. “Seeing someone actually invest in what I was building made it feel real,” she says.

Then creators started joining the Rize UGC Club, reaching out about opportunities, and asking Rize to help them grow their portfolios. “I realized there was a real community forming around what I had originally started as a class project and a vision,” she says.

She knows how hard it is to build a portfolio and find opportunities early on. The Rize UGC Club and the Rize internship program give aspiring and established creators real experience, portfolio pieces, and a path to grow alongside the agency.

Brand invitations and 71,000 views in 90 days

Some of Danielle’s recent wins have been invitations to create content around major events and brands, including Bite Beauty’s NYC experience and New York Fashion Week. Rize also reached more than 71,000 views and more than 2,600 interactions in a recent 90-day period.

“Being trusted with these opportunities has been an exciting reflection of the relationships and credibility I’ve been building,” she says.

Growing up alongside the business

Danielle started Rize while she was still figuring out what she wanted her own career to look like. There was no roadmap, so she learned by doing, making mistakes, and adjusting along the way.

Much of her growth has come from learning to delegate, asking for help, and bringing other people into the vision. Her motto, “No rain, no flowers,” shapes how she reads the hard seasons. “Sometimes you have to go through the rain to get to the flowers,” she says.

For anyone still waiting on the perfect moment, her advice is short: “It’s never going to be the right time to start,” she says. “Surround yourself with people who will support you and your goals!”

Hotels, travel, and creators along for the journey

Over the next few years, Danielle wants Rize to become a go-to partner for brands that want to connect with creators and build memorable experiences. She would love to expand into partnerships with Airbnb hosts, hospitality properties, hotels, events, and travel experiences, and she plans to bring Rize UGC Club creators into that work.

“I want to build something where brands get strategic, high-quality content and creators get access to opportunities that can help them grow,” she says.

You can explore Rize Collective’s services at therizecollective.co, follow the agency on LinkedIn, and connect with Danielle directly on LinkedIn.

Danielle built Rize Collective alongside a community of women founders doing the same. No one should ever have to build a business alone. Consider this your official invitation to join us.