Rachel Johnson was born on August 16th, 1989 in Escondido, CA.

In 2011, Rachel won the Future Broadcaster's of Nevada award which including an internship and full ride scholarship her final year of college. This scholarship was only offered to six Broadcast students in all of Nevada. Upon graduating from University of Nevada, Las Vegas with two B.A.'s in Broadcast Journalism and Film in 2012, Rachel began working at the local CBS news affiliate 8 News Now doing in-studio camera and floor directing for the morning news.

In 2018, Rachel and her husband and directing partner Danny Chandia, started Desert Cactus Films - specializing in music videos, short films, and documentaries.