On a rainy morning in Bellingham, a short video about a local food-bank program goes live. By nightfall, the comments have turned into volunteer sign-ups. It looks like content creation, but for Raelyn Kaplan, it’s community.
Kaplan, Managing Director at Joyco Digital, is part of a new generation of leaders using the tools of the creator economy to strengthen civic life. “Getting attention by itself is easy,” she says. “But attention plus action is what creates impact.”
From Viral to Vital
Kaplan’s creative path began early. “I’d wake up before sunrise, scribbling stories while the house was asleep,” she recalls. That instinct became a livelihood when COVID-19 shut down an after-school program she was launching. With marketing and web skills in hand, she pivoted, building a TikTok channel that reached 300,000 followers and more than 5 million likes. Her content helped push bipartisan legislation, earned national TV coverage, and revealed the real power of digital advocacy.
Consulting for local businesses led her to Joyco Digital, where she grew into the role of Managing Director. Today, Joyco serves more than 30 organizations across Whatcom County, from small nonprofits to major employers. Along the way, Kaplan returned to Western Washington University and designed her own degree in influencing social change through digital marketing, work that mirrors her career now.
Influences and Leadership
Kaplan credits both people and moments. “Dan Joyner believed in me and invited me to build with him, which changed my life,” she says. She also points to the steady backing of her parents, grandparents, and sister, mentors such as Elizabeth Perlman, Laura Widman, Mark Stanton, and Barbara Jenks, and the Joyco team: Jay, Jack, Kris, Dante, and more.
For Kaplan, leadership is about opening doors. One of her earliest lessons came at 18, sitting in a national conference room full of seasoned professionals. “I was the youngest by far, and I realized that belonging doesn’t come from a title or years of experience; it comes from showing up and contributing,” she says. That insight shapes how she leads today: creating space for her team to step forward, backing them when they take risks, and reminding them they already have what it takes.
Her boldest risk, sharing her story publicly, proved transformative. The advocacy channel she built not only supported legislative change but also amplified the voices of people who had been through those experiences and helped establish new protections for future kids. “That leap into vulnerability was terrifying,” she admits. “But it connected me with people across the country and showed me how digital storytelling can change lives.”
Outside the office, Kaplan’s favorite milestones are personal: returning to ballet and pointe after ten years, playing live music gigs, visiting her grandparents, and unplugging in nature after whirlwind work sprints. Those moments, she says, “remind me why the work matters.”
Community at the Core
Community is the through-line. Kaplan spearheaded Joyco’s pro bono content program, donating marketing support to more than a dozen nonprofits, including Skookum Kids, Brigid Collins, the Bellingham Food Bank, and PNW Plateful. She serves on the Community Engagement Committee for Whatcom Women in Business and guest-lectures at Western Washington University about using technology for good. Campaigns under her leadership have boosted volunteer numbers, helped nonprofits raise funds, and supported local businesses at pivotal moments.
“If the digital world is our new town square,” Kaplan says, “we need to build it with intention.” For her, growth and service aren’t separate lanes; they feed each other. “All ships rise with the rising tide.”
Looking Toward the Future
Kaplan wants to see the marketing industry lean harder into impact, using attention not just to sell, but to inspire real change. Locally, she’s pushing for deeper collaboration among businesses, nonprofits, and young leaders to strengthen Whatcom’s economy and culture from the ground up.
Gen Z, she argues, is eager to show up; it’s the digital, post-pandemic world and the economy they’ve inherited that often make it harder. “Young leaders who can bridge digital and real life, and who collaborate with older generations, will reshape culture in powerful ways,” she says.
Her advice to the next wave: “People might call you crazy for chasing your dream. You’ll sacrifice things others won’t understand. Do it anyway. Don’t wait for permission, walk through the door, even if you have to carve the doorway yourself.”
For Kaplan, the real measure of success isn’t the size of the audience, but the strength of the community it builds.
Join Whatcom Young Professionals and the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the 2025 Top 7 Under 40 on October 2, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton. Cocktail attire is encouraged, and registration is required by September 26. Click here for more details and to purchase tickets.
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