To the naked eye, Mary Bruggeman is a soft-spoken, hard-working student and employee dedicated to each and every project tossed her way – but, there is more to Mary than meets the eye.
Passionate about volunteering, gardening, theater, and baking, Mary has had an incredibly fast-paced life full of unique and unexpected moments. Currently studying Linguistics at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, the Slick Marketers Team is lucky and honored to have Mary for the summertime.
Mary’s life began in Livermore, California, but was quickly uprooted to rural Virginia, where she spent her first few years. Despite not being able to remember her time there, this sudden move set the pace for Mary’s very mobile life. Eventually moving back to California, Mary’s parents and her three brothers resided in Southern California until she was 7 years old…and then they were called to Europe! Mary started and finished the 3rd grade in Budapest, Hungary, where her parents spent an entire year teaching elementary students and science classes to the locals. Though she never learned the language, Mary wishes to eventually return to Bedapest and relive her time there very soon.
After their adventures through Hungary, Mary’s family moved back to Livermore, California, where they lived until Mary left for college. Mary’s time in High School is nothing to be overlooked, though, because she spent those four years growing and achieving unimaginable milestones. Mary found herself most comfortable on stage, performing whenever she could. With a passion for acting, she was able to gain confidence and grow into a hard-working, capable woman. Mary recalls the moment she realized acting had changed her life: in elementary school, her school performed their rendition of The Jungle Book. Her role as Bagheera was the first time her family, friends, and classmates saw what she was capable of achieving when on stage.
Acting wasn’t her only hobby, though – one day, Mary decided to open her own Cupcake business, combining her love of baking with that of taking on unknown challenges. Her cupcake business quickly took off and she quickly learned the importance of branding, growing, and most importantly, patience. She turned her love of baking into an educational path, and when the time came, she left Livermore for Seattle to study Linguistics (with a double minor in French and Business). Her travels were nowhere close to ending, however, as her parents decided to once again move back to Southern California, eventually leading to Mary’s decision to work here at Slick Marketers for the summer. This coming fall, 2022, Mary will be spending a semester in France to immerse herself in the culture and grow in her passion for the language.
Mary’s life has been full of exploration and risk-taking, which is ultimately what led her to pursue an internship in marketing. Applying to work at Slick Marketers with the goal of gaining industry knowledge and working with passionate professionals, Mary had experienced the unique challenges marketers faced through her on-campus job as a Welcome Team Member for the Admissions Division. With experience on long phone calls, extensive planning for prospective students, connecting people with those they needed to reach, and creating email and communication templates for the department, Mary’s role prepared her for the fast-paced life of a Slick Marketers employee.
Mary believes that her strongest professional skill is being able to do assigned tasks quickly and with extreme accuracy. She accepts constructive criticism and, in tandem with her own creativity and innovation, applies everything she learns to improve future ventures and better tackle challenges as they come. Mary is a fun-loving, compassionate, and hard-working individual with an unmatched dedication to achieving her personal goals. We’re so excited to have her on the team.