Let’s rewind the clock just a bit. It’s the summer of 2008, Mother Nature is hitting Kansas with an easy-breezy 40 mph dust storm, and as any typical farm kid would be, I was bored and in search of a hobby that included something besides animals or outdoor sports. Note: Hobbies are very important to the existence of a farm kid; otherwise, your mom will continually find “fun tasks” for you to do. So you better believe, 12 year old me was the connoisseur of hobbies. Anyway, on this particularly windy day, I stumbled upon my first entrepreneurial venture. My sister, Bridget, was, and this is no joke, a wizard with a crochet hook. I, on the other hand, was not. It took me a few failed, abstract-looking one-of-a-kind “creations” to realize my limits. 

Again, to avoid any extra “fun tasks”, I set my sites on promoting my sister’s hobby, via “The Crochet Bowtique”. Sweet name, right?! This Weebly website left A LOT to the imagination, but nevertheless, it gave The Crochet Bowtique a web presence and I learned that I really enjoyed “that marketing stuff”. Thanks to a handy-dandy contact form, we were able to stay busy with inquiries through the dog days of summer. Honestly, we were quite the dynamic duo. I handled the business and she was 110% of the skill. May not have funded our college tuitions, but it was a pretty neat little window into both our futures and planted a small seed that would bloom much later.

HEY Y’ALL, I’M MICA

As a born and raised farm kid who had her sights set on becoming an Agronomist (a soil scientist - which is way cooler than it sounds, I promise) all things design and marketing were not exactly my focus. Side note: Next time you enjoy the sweet, sweet deliciousness of an ear of corn, thank a farmer aannnd an agronomist. :) Point is, digital marketing was not on my radar. 

After attending the University of Dallas for Business and Social Psychology, I was focused on getting my Agronomy Certificate. However, God had other plans. Those doors closed and an amazing marketing position opened up literally right down the road from my quaint little Dallas home. I thought, “Hey, nothing is permanent, give it a shot. In the meantime, I can gameplan and pay off student debt.” I’ll spare you the 9am-5pm summary and just say, I met amazing people and my heart developed a unique, unexpected love for marketing. I learned I wanted to support and grow the online presence of the underdog, the mom-and-pop shop, and entrepreneurial families like my own.

After about eleven months, three of which were WFH due to Covid, I got that awkward Zoom invite from HR and my bosses’ boss. Within hours of being set to “permanently inactive” status, a.k.a. - your entry-level butt is the first to go in a cutback, I gave Elizabeth Ikard a quick, “Hey there” text. See, this is where I got lucky. Elizabeth and my sister are college buddies. Throughout the last couple of years, I’d overheard many behind-the-scenes stories about HeiPro Digital,  her awesome partner, Alex, and all the wonderful, beautiful work they were doing. 

Since I’m writing this blog post, you can just assume the text was well received. 😉 Building up from part-time status to full-time within HeiPro in a couple of month’s time, I’ve been counting this job as one of the biggest blessings to have come my way in 2020. It may not have been a great year for a lot of people, but I consider myself lucky. All those doors shut in order for this one opportunity to open!

Fast forward to the present, I’m HeiPro’s Marketing Manager!

As HeiPro’s Marketing Manager, I manage our Social Media department in addition to the nuts and bolts of client website maintenance. This position gives me the opportunity to grow the presence of small businesses behind the scenes and I simply love it. Being privy to talk with small business owners about their current business struggles and goals is such an honor. I am motivated daily to provide my best because I am truly passionate about helping them reach their goals. In the meantime, I love looking back to see how far my eye for design and website development skills have grown in these past 6 months. 

Most days you can catch me half-way through a pot of coffee, jammin’ to some Aaron Watson, and having an a-ok 👌 day. But when that clock strikes 5 pm, I’m headed to the gym to let off some steam and then headed back home to work on one of the many hobbies that have stuck with me. Up next on my life to-do list is moving closer to home to be nearer to a good sunset and the smiling faces of my 14 nieces and nephews!

My work as HeiPro’s Marketing Manager is far from the Kansas wheat fields, but I love that in my own way, I am still serving and promoting the success of amazing, hard-working people. Who would have guessed that small seed of interest in marketing, planted all those years ago, would lead me here.  My sister, Bridget, is now the mama of a beautiful little heartbreaker and in her free time still whips through “The Crochet Bowtique'' customer orders. One day, when I’ve gained all the skills to build a whole website, you better believe Bridget will be my first call. 💜 

Thanks for sticking around, friends! I’ve had a great time sharing a piece of my story with y’all.

See you around!

- Mica