Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Burke.
Erica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I worked for McHenry County Living for about five years when I purchased the company from the founder, Carla Housh. I wanted to maintain her awesome vision to share upbeat local stories with the people while taking the content to a place everyone was socializing: online. So, it’s been a major part of my life over the past four years to evolve McHenry County Living from a print magazine to a digital media company. Our storytelling is now largely via video and we’ve added events and promotions to our arsenal. Doing events was a natural progression. Our ear is always to the ground constantly and people never hesitate to tell us what they want. The feedback inspired us to bring many fresh events to McHenry County like Truck Off, the county’s first food truck festival with 10,000 attendees the first year; a really cool car show we brought back to Crystal Lake after 10 years; Home Grown, a program that champions the local make/shop local movement; and Throwdown, a competitive foodie event. Our edge is in branding and marketing our events, and aligning with like-minded partners to set the bar high and bring up each other and the communities we serve.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, but a rocky road for us is what makes things interesting, challenging and gives our work purpose every day. The biggest struggle is trailblazing in a slow-to-change, business-as-usual marketplace. It’s a constant matter of demonstrating, doing, showing, leading by example, taking risks, investing, inviting people to the party and being patient – never giving up.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about McHenry County Living – what should we know?
McHenry County Living is by far the leader in digital media in the region. Our biggest strengths include professional video production, social media, email marketing, promotions, and events. Our edge is we deliver content directly to a large, targeted group of people who voluntarily want to receive information from us. We know our open rate and engagement rate is high because our content is driven by what people tell us they want and how they want to receive it. We do nothing without our fans in mind. They are the boss. That is what sets up apart. Right now what I’m most proud of is the community’s trust in us, our clients’ trust in us and the enduring grit and hustle from our staff and volunteers. Put good out, get good back. It’s a thing. And it pays big emotional bills, I can’t even put a price tag on what that does for a company’s self-esteem. Like, we did a free lunch pop-up the other day – slinging hot dogs for two hours to anyone who wanted one, gave away 300 hot dogs! It was random and the joy was contagious – we need more of that in the world.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Carla believed enough in me to offer the sale of her baby, so she’s first to thank. It’s a major compliment to be trusted with something someone else created. My father-in-law Dennis is my business mentor who believed in the possibilities of this business before I knew what I was doing/going to do as he’s been down the same road himself. He gives me a good balance of advice and space to learn (no helicopter mentoring here). My family has been incredibly supportive, especially my husband Jason, who is the branding genius behind our logos and look/feel. Joe Nanez is my business partner and largely responsible for the forward direction of McHenry County Living as a leader in video, events and new programs like Home Grown. He’s a firm believer in taking risks and turning business-as-usual on its head, and it’s taken this company to a level I would never have imagined – and so the next four years seem that much more exciting knowing what we’ve done and what we can do from here. Marie Barclay is a newer addition to our tribe and she has just gone full throttle into everything we do from marketing to video to events. It’s awesome watching her jump into this work. Lil Hank … he is our “fowl-mouthed” mascot, a little rooster with a big ego, our spirit animal, the county’s tiny tour guide (inspired by our weathervane logo). Cely, Veronica, Sandi, Jimmy, Naté… we have made so many friends along the way who just always show up and pitch in. It feels more like a family than a business most days!
Contact Info:
- Address: 760 Industrial Drive, Cary, IL 60013
- Website: https://mchenrycountyliving.com
- Phone: 815-900-8522
- Email: erica@mchenrycountyliving.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mchenrycountyliving
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mchenrycountyliving
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