20 Things: Darrin Widick
- Fifteen years ago, when I still knew everything, I started Widick Marketing Inc. I’m still running Widick Marketing and now partnering with Dobies Healthcare Group and Hickerson Wahaus Advertising & Marketing to launch Group 3 Solutions, our Interactive Marketing and PR division.
- I was born on West 30th Street in Independence, MO and 25 years later bought my first house on East 30th Street in Independence.
- My first name is James. My mom didn’t want a Big Jim and Little Jim in the house, so they called me by my middle name. In college, when they’d ask for “James” on the first day of class, I would say that Darrin was a derivative of my first name, so my friend Aura called me “Darrin (short for James).”
- I married my dentist. OK, Susan wasn’t my dentist (or anyone’s at the time) when we got married, but she was on her way.
- Susan and I grew up a few blocks from each other and went all through school together (though a year apart) but didn’t date until she asked me out at Mizzou. (She disputes who asked whom out first, but I suspect she knows the truth!)
- No matter who asked whom first, I have always suspected that Susan liked my 1985 Mustang with a 302 engine as much as she liked me.
- Saw an ad in the Mizzou student paper for tryouts for mascots and cheerleaders. Dragged a friend along and he became a cheerleader and I became Truman the Tiger.
- Had a blast at events like: the Purina Cat Classic gymnastics meet, clowning around with Aubie the Auburn Tiger and the Penn State Nittany Lion; flew to Nebraska with the football team; road the bus for 20 hours to Colorado; got kicked out of the gallery at the State Capitol for being a “demonstration”; went to ribbon cuttings, tree plantings, birthday parties, parades, Tiger caravans, etc.
- Parlayed my gig as Truman into a role as the first ever Sport, the blue bird mascot of the Show-Me Games. Traveled the state with Shelter Insurance execs and Gov. Ashcroft doing press conferences to promote the then-fledgling Games. One time, for lunch on the plane when everyone else got a nice lunch, I got a box of bird seed. They did eventually feed me, but Shelter PR guy Jean Madden got a big kick out of the bird seed.
- As Sport, I also toured Columbia with Bruce Jenner, who flew his own plane into the city and served as Master of Ceremonies one year. Bruce was then famous as an Olympic Athlete and not Kim Kardashian’s step-dad. While at the Children’s Hospital, as Bruce was on his way to a big function with donors, a nurse came up to Bruce and said she wished he was going to the burn unit to help cheer those kids. “He can’t,” the handlers respectfully said. “I will,” said Bruce. When the elevator got to the party floor, Bruce hit the Close Door button, asked what floor the burn unit was on, and we went and visited while the money folks had to wait.
- Got engaged to Susan on the court at halftime of the MU vs. Nebraska basketball game in February of 1990. The Antlers chanted, “Marry the Bum, Marry the Bum.” Another student group chanted, “Just Say No, Just Say No.” I don’t really think Susan ever said yes with the camera in her face and 13,000+ looking on at the Hearnes Center, but we did eventually end up at the same church at the same time with a minister.
- Got my first job in advertising — as a writer for a small, ag-focused agency — purely on the recommendation of my all-time favorite, Ron Clemons. Mr. Clemons is a journalism legend and truly inspired me to enter the profession. Would otherwise not have obtained the writing gig because I had no ag experience whatsoever.
- A year-and-a-half later, I missed out on my dream job with Barkley and Evergreen because I just had too much ag experience. Pretty good. I went from knowing nothing about ag to knowing nothing but ag in 18 months!
- I love small business. I love working with the entrepreneurs who took a risk to start a company, the management teams who run them, the marketing directors who promote them, the sales teams that support them, the staffs that keep them operating. I truly believe small business personifies what makes our country great.
- I’m not an early adopter, but once I go it’s full tilt. Wasn’t the first on the Internet, but now it’s our business. Wasn’t the first on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter or the blogs, but now we’re making a pretty good run at it.
- God has shown His sense of humor by surrounding me with strong women: an entrepreneurial mom, strong wife, two sisters, two daughters and a female business partner, all of whom take turns at some point in the day bossing me around. Top it off with a dog named Rosie and I don’t have a chance.
- I believe that it all starts with writing (ok, not everything in the world … but most things). Whether you’re in sales, law, advertising, public speaking, etc., you have to start by putting ideas down on paper. If that comes naturally for you, or you have made yourself good at it, or you make yourself do it on a regular basis, you have a leg up on the competition.
- I like to talk (even argue) about politics, religion, the stock market, current events, enhanced interrogation techniques … all the things you’re not supposed to talk about. I do try to pick the proper arena, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.
- I love Disney. In college, I wanted to be Goofy at Disney World. Not goofy like silly. I mean Goofy, capital G. Sure, I would have had to start out as Chip, or Dale or Pluto or something, but I figured I could work up the ladder to Goofy eventually. (And hey, I had experience in furry, sweaty costumes.) Disney reps visited campus my junior year, and I was hooked on their philosophy. Still am. Visits to Disney-themed attractions are my favorite activity with my family. I’m reading the Disney Way now. Do you think they hire 40-somethings to be Goofy? (If fellow Mizzou alums and former Trumans Dan and Byron can still do it as KC Wolf and Slugerrr, why can’t I be Goofy?)
- The bottom line: I’m blessed by a wonderful wife and children, a supportive mother, father and extended family, a wonderful group of colleagues to work with each day. Thanks for taking time to learn what makes me tick.
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