Be less critical of yourself. You aren’t going to please everyone. And better yet, you don’t have to.”
Mary Mickel has been a partner at Resplendent Hospitality, a top food and beverage PR firm, since 2012. Located in Austin, Texas, Resplendent Hospitality was created by those who know the industry and have held nearly every job across the board, from bartending to serving to food preparation. Its talented crew uses their insider knowledge of the food and beverage world to create specialized public relations services that cater to their clients needs.
One such specialized talent that Mary brings to the table is her keen knowledge of design, which she puts to use designing sharp and eye-catching visuals for her clients and building top-of-the-line websites for her clients. While Mary’s involvement in website creation was initially forged out of necessity, she not only began to love the process but realized she had real talent for it. What sets Mary’s websites aside from many others is the personalized approach she takes to creating them; she encourages all of her clients to provide her with quality images of their businesses and products so that she can capture the aspects that make each unique. Because Resplendent Hospitality is so selective in the clientele they bring on to work with, Mary’s able to tailor each project to fit her clients’ needs perfectly.
Mary Mickel graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication in 2008. Throughout her life, she spent a number of years working in the restaurant industry, which she loved. Although Mary went to school for public relations, she knew she wanted to ultimately end up working in the restaurant industry. Upon learning that a popular sector of public relations is in the hospitality industry, Mary knew how she was going to put her degree to use.
Through Resplendent Hospitality, she works tirelessly to help local restaurants, bars, and chefs establish their businesses and effectively market themselves. Mary Mickel loves having the chance to really make a difference in the lives of her clients and enjoys the opportunities that she’s had through her work.
Outside of her work in public relations, in 2010 Mary Mickel and her husband founded Argus Cidery, for which she designed the company website and handles all branding and marketing for the business. Mary is also a lover of travel whose favorite part about traveling to new places and seeing new sites is being able to take in all of the fascinating and unique architectural designs that come along with them. Of what she’s seen so far in her travels, the cities of Charleston, Savannah, and San Francisco rank among her favorites.
Where did the idea for Resplendent Hospitality come from?
Resplendent Hospitality was the answer to working with the clients I actually believed in, while creating a culture that promotes the employee first, not the bottom line.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
A walk with my dogs, coffee, office, go home to have dinner with my family. I set achievable daily goals at the beginning of my day, and do my best to remain laser-focused on one task at a time before moving on the text.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I usually chuck about 15 ideas before one comes to life.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Bold colors. I’ve always been drawn to wild amounts of color. The minimalist movement bores the hell out of me. Paint everything ROYGBIV!
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I’m not sure this makes me more productive, but it does keep me more engaged. I’m always curious. I find myself interested in topics related to my field, and I don’t stop down my rabbit hole until I’ve found the source or a brilliant explanation.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Be less critical of yourself. You aren’t going to please everyone. And better yet, you don’t have to.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Don’t stop learning. Always be eager for a new endeavor, or a new way to streamline in the name of efficiency. Don’t stop listening.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Diversifying our portfolio of services. Bringing in-house services that we had previously outsourced enabled us to happily marry our clients’ messaging with its expression.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Appointed grid notebooks to last me through the year. I love taking tidy notes, and these are the best.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
DB to organize files. Slack for internal communication. The Adobe Suite for everything else.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Radical Candor: Be a Kick Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott. Invaluable information.
What is your favorite quote?
One of my favorites, but oh-so-important: Self-esteem is not everything, it’s just a small thing without which nothing can happen. – Gloria Steinem
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.