Photos by Karin Elton Former Marshall resident Bridget Deutz is a business owner and president of a marketing professionals organization. She talked about what winning an emergng leader award meant to her at a local cafe on March 9.

A young person has been recognized for her efforts to promote her field of expertise — marketing. She has mentored college students, spoken before an international audience and runs her own business.

Marshall native Bridget Deutz was recently awarded the Emerging Leader award from the American Advertising Federation.

This award was created to recognize young professional men and women who are making outstanding contributions to marketing, advertising, design, and/or communication.

“I was very surprised,” said Deutz. “There are so many really great young professionals doing great things who deserve to be recognized.”

Deutz said when you’re an employee, your co-workers know when you did well, but when you are working on your own, “you have to be your own cheerleader.”

So she was especially gratified that it was a client who noticed her work and nominated her for the honor.

The nominator said, “You don’t have to know Bridget long to know she’s a real champion of the creative industry. From the very start of her young professional years, she has been recognized as a leader and expert in many ways.”

The client noted that Deutz is comfortable speaking in front of large audiences, conducting workshops and trainings and has been published online.

“Bridget seems to always look for opportunities to give back — whether it is with her time, talents, recommendations, support, patronage, social sharing, you name it,” the client said in her nomination letter. “Bridget is the type of young professional and emerging leader every community wants — if there’s a way she can help or be involved, she’s there.”

As president of the AAF of Central Minnesota board of directors, Deutz knows that a nominated person goes through a selection committee, but she “wasn’t part of that, but I understood the process.”

The AAF of Central Minnesota organization is comprised of advertising professionals in the sales, marketing, creative, publishing, print, radio, television, and photography industry. It has monthly events to entertain, educate, and to network.

“I’ve been involved in that organization for five years,” she said. Through the organization, she realized the possibilities in her industry.

“I’ve seen how it’s grown and changed,” she said. “It’s really helped me build the network that I have.”

Deutz is chief marketing strategist at Greenline Marketing, a business she started last year. She lives in Sartell, and works out of an office in her home. She enjoys the flexibility being her own boss gives her.

“All five of my siblings (and 15 nieces and nephews) live in Marshall so if I want to come home a day or two to attend a concert or hockey game, I can,” she said. “Family is important to me and I want to keep those family values at the forefront.”

To see clients in person, she meets them at coffee shops or their businesses. There is also the videoconferencing option.

The daughter of Rick and Deb (Maertens) Deutz, she named her company “Greenline Marketing” after the long green line of John Deere tractors that symbolize her family’s multi-generational farm roots.

Deutz is a 2009 graduate of Marshall High School and a Holy Redeemer School alum. She graduated from the College of St. Benedict in 2013 with a degree in communication. She said attending Marshall High School and Holy Redeemer gave her a good foundation for the future.

At Holy, she was encouraged to try multiple activities even if they were in the same season.

“I went out for speech and Knowledge Bowl and I was able to very easily juggle things,” she said. “The high school had the same mentality. I did swimming and marching band during the same season and show choir and speech during another season.”

Deutz enjoys being in charge of more than just one or two aspects of marketing.

“I’m not doing just writing, or just strategy, but all different things — sales, writing, design, strategy,” she said.

She decided to go on her own because the timing was right. She felt, “if it didn’t work out, I could always get another job and I’ll still have this as experience.”

She said she learned a lot at her previous jobs, but was always looking for new challenges.

Deutz said her business is built on three pillars. It’s for businesses who need to outsource their marketing needs so I become an extension of their department, or I am their marketing department. I work for other agencies to do work on their websites, “and they need some sort of expertise in or maybe they need help with their work load.” The third pillar is filling in for marketing professionals who are on maternity and paternity leave.

“You want the client to feel that they are valued and work is still getting done,” she said. “I’ve covered several and I’m about to cover another one out of Missouri.”