HIGH QUALITY PRODUCER // CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVER // POSITIVE ATTITUDE
"But I will confess that I began as an astronomer— a liking for bright flashes, vast distances, unreachable things, a hand stretched always toward the furthest limit..."
 --TROY JOLLIMORE
ABOUT ME

Marie King of the House King, Second of Her Name, Queen of the Road Trips and the Board Games, Khaleesi of the Great Lakes, Maker of Dreams, and Mother of Cats. 

I crave new adventures -- new experiences, unique people, unexplored places, the open road, the untraveled path. I'm creative, organized, and diligent. I love bringing the positive energy to places, coming up with elaborate gifts for friends and family, and am an avid tech and board game enthusiast! I'm both a voracious reader and a greedy consumer of content. I have a wide array of interests including art, music, astronomy, literature, cooking, history, film, science and enjoy meeting new people.

Born in the north side of Chicago, I spent my early years in smokey bars, playing darts and known by the locals as 'Twinkey Toes'. As a young adult, I got lost in the cornfields of University of Illinois, spent a summer in Alaska, worked in London, and backpacked around Europe for 6 months. 

Jumping into the greatest adventure yet...

Last December, I got married to my best friend (www.matt-and-marie.com) and adopted my 3rd cat from the streets of Chicago (sorry, Matt). We renovated and sold our condo, quit our jobs and traveled around Argentina for a month! I've been in love with Colorado since I was a little girl and have visited every year since so am so excited to finally make it my home!! 
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
  • Supported over $150MM+ in client RFPs and partnership proposals with an average 45% closed won rate
  • Created brand-new custom client solutions for first-to-market ad innovations that actually sold through Kargo's campaign proposal and were run by high profile clients such as Skittles, Target, and Fiat-Chrysler! 
  • Drove go-to-market strategies to enable over 20+ successful product and feature launches
  • #1 internal resource producer at my company, creating internal trainings, certification programs, educational series, POVs, etc. 
  • Awarded the company’s Giraffe Award for sticking my neck out, going above and beyond, and being a model employee
  • Proactively ideated and presented to the entire company on creating and pursuing passion projects at your workplace that was very well received and got a shout out from the president of the company!
  • Had my authors' books reviewed  in major publications such as NYT, WSJ, HuffPost, Forbes, Economist, TLS, Choice, etc.
  • Worked with renowned environmental MIT professor to produce and deliver digital journal (Anthem EnviroExperts Review) to 30,000+ subscribers each month
  • Coordinated 3 international book tours with author appearances on major television programs including BBC, CNN, PBS, Bloomberg, etc.
  • Helped produce seasonal catalogs, series and book flyers, and book covers
  • Interned for an award-winning full-service advertising agency, servicing clients such as Walgreens, BP, University of Alaska, Alaska Airport, United Way
  • Organized and manned the company booth at major librarian conference attended by 3,000 key decision-makers and purchasers
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
  • Got married and adopted 3 cats (despite being a dog person) and bought our first property!
  • Working on learning Spanish! (Level 1.5)  
  • First person in the country to see the sunrise in America!
  • Spent a month wandering around Argentina this Fall 2019!
  • Been to GenCon for the past 3 years (the largest board game conference) and have become an avid board game enthusiast! 
  • Traveled around Thailand, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada
  • Road tripped to Maine, around Lake Michigan, down the Whiskey Trail in the south, Arkansas, Minneapolis, Toronto, and did 5 top fall foliage drives around the country!
  • Completed my first South Beach triathlon, 8 mile Cider Hustle, 15k Hot Chocolate Run and Tough Mudder!
  • Ran the Chicago Marathon for the Mercy Home of Boys and Girls
  • Backpacked across Europe (Read more here)
  • Illustrated a children’s book (See some images here)
  • Kayaked a marathon, ran my first race (8 Mile Hustle)
  • Traveled to 27 of the U.S. states last year
  • London Underground Level 3 Expert Tube Rider
  • Lived in Alaska & England
  • Bass player (jazz, orchestra, symphonic band, ska band, etc.)
  • Mathlete State Champ
  • Voted 'Most Unique' in high school
  • Polar Bear Plunge
  • Awarded 'Top English Student' of my high school class
  • Joined Toastmasters
  • Read 100+ books last year

CONNECT WITH ME
@Marieeeka