Getting to Know Katie Burke of IE Productions

EastIdahoNews.com is highlighting hardworking people who make our local businesses a success. Every Sunday, we’re Getting to Know YOU!

1. Name and job title. Katie Burke, Project Manager at IE Productions. The best marketing agency that ever existed.

2. What do you do in your position? I’m a friendly face in what can be an office of curmudgeonly men. HR has warned me against referring to them as old or grumpy because 50 is like the new 80 or something. I’m not quite sure, I wasn’t paying attention. I also help clients establish their marketing goals and then assign tasks to an extremely talented team that makes all the hard things happen. Honestly, when hologram technology catches up to us and there can be a smiling person to greet people AND sign for packages, I will have been worked out of a job but, until then, I will remain at IE Productions.

3. Where were you born and when is your birthday? I was born on March 2 in Pocatello. I was actually due on Leap Day. Now that I’m staring 40 in the face, the fact that I could be almost ten instead is not lost on me but alas my mom just couldn’t make it happen.

4. How long have you lived in eastern Idaho and what city do you live in now? I have lived in eastern Idaho my entire life and my family and I are currently residing in Idaho Falls in a historic home that we’re remodeling. And we’ll keep living here as long as the wiring in the house holds. If no one runs a hairdryer and the microwave at the same time, it should last at least one more month.

5. Tell us about your first job after high school/college. My first job out of college was in the marketing department at the Grand Teton Mall. I was part of the illustrious team who decided not to take legal tender (CASH) in exchange for mall gift cards. To the Idaho Falls resident who spit in my face when I gave him this news, thanks for being the kick in the pants I needed to realize retail wasn’t for me.

6. What is the best business decision you’ve ever made? Hands down, the best business decision I’ve ever made was to work with the Bingham Healthcare Empower weight loss team to publicly document my surgical weight loss journey. It’s extremely hard to be vulnerable about a component of yourself that you absolutely despise. But now there’s a whole library of tv spots, print designs, blog posts and video diaries that remind me what I used to feel like when I carried 100 extra pounds. If you feel hopeless with your own weight loss journey, I would encourage you to take the free online seminar at Bingham Healthcare and just learn about your options. Dr. Fouse is amazing and I don’t regret my surgery even for a second. It changed my life and sharing my experience with this community has helped hold me accountable for almost five years now. I’m so grateful.

7. Tell us about your family. My family consists of me, my husband of 16 years, Chase, my 18-year-old nephew Braxton (who
my husband and I have had the privilege of mentoring into adulthood for the last three years), my 14-year-old daughter, Izzy, and my 11-year-old daughter, Cambri.

8. Tell us about a movie or book that has inspired you the most in life. I have to go with the Bible, specifically the book of John. When I get to the verse describing how Jesus wept, I’m humbled by the deep compassion that Jesus felt for those who were suffering. Jesus grieved, experienced sorrow, and felt the weight of loss, just like we do today.

9. Tell us about a lesson you learned from a mistake you made in your career/business. Ugh, this one is painful because I deserved to be fired and by putting it in writing, I may still be let go from the best job I’ve ever had. Last year, I realized at some point a formula in my billing Excel sheet had broken and I had underbilled a client to the tune of thousands of dollars over the course of a year. I barely slept for a week when I realized my mistake and there was really nothing that could be done after the close of a fiscal year. I will never forget my bosses, Chad and Gary, extending me grace when I didn’t deserve it. And my learned lesson means I remember that grace when I come across human error in people I deal with.

10. What is a goal you hope to accomplish in the next 12 months? Well, I have a permanent eye twitch that I would like to see go away. But considering that’s 100% the fault of the teenagers I live with, I don’t see that happening. So my realistic 12-month goal is to finish the book I started many years ago. And finish the house remodel without electrocuting someone. Either or.

11. What is one piece of advice you have for someone who wants to do what you’re doing? I would say the days of being singularly focused in your career are gone so my advice would be to always be open to learning new skills. Marketing companies need people who are willing to jump in and get the job done. At IE Productions, we hire graphic designers who are also willing to learn social platforms. Our video editor can help make small tweaks on websites. No one is allowed to say “That’s not my job.” In the ever-changing climate of advertising, you need to be willing to stretch yourself and learn new skills to best serve your clients.

12. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently? Every decision I ever made, both good and bad, in the business world have brought me to where I am today so I wouldn’t change anything. Personally, I would have more kids. Though when I just told my 14-year-old that, she gasped and told me not to get any ideas as there are more than enough of us. But now that I’m getting older, I realize there is nothing more sacred than children and I would have loved a bigger family.

13. Where is your favorite place to eat in eastern Idaho? Lately I’m obsessed with the Pickle Deli downtown on Park. If you want, nay need, the best New York-style Cheesecake in town, this is your place. Also, they have great pastrami, brisket and, heck, it’s all good. I would eat all my daily calories there.

14. Tell us something surprising about yourself. When I was 19, I met Pope John Paul II in his private library at the Vatican. While I’m not Catholic, I found the situation to be sacred as I was in the presence of someone who was willing to sacrifice all for his faith.

15. How do you like your potatoes? I’m a fifth-generation Idahoan who comes from a long line of potato farmers. I will eat them fried, mashed, boiled, raw or covered in frosting. And now as I’m typing this, the fact that I used to weigh almost 300 pounds is all making perfect sense.

If you have an employee or co-worker who we should get to know, email neaton@eastidahonews.com.