THEN AND NOW: ANGIE ECKMAN

When we first met Angie Eckman, it was the summer of 2015. Her company [ADWORX] was growing and she was deeply involved with multiple marketing and community development projects that would eventually help to shape the future of our community.

With a smile on her face and her heart full of love, Angie Eckman is the type of woman who enjoys helping others in her spare time. She admitted she is unable to do a single task without asking herself:  “How can I help make this better?”

Her passion for her work as an advertising manager is contagious and inspiring, and as you listen to the accolades she’s racked up over the years, it’s hard to not be impressed. She’s served as President of the Youngsville Chamber of Commerce, as Marketing Chair for the Broussard Chamber of Commerce, elected to the UL Lafayette Alumni Council and in 2014, ADWORX was named as the Outstanding Business of the Year by the Youngsville Chamber. More recently, Eckman & ADXORX was credited with the design for the face of Youngsville’s new Southside High School, with her rendition of the school’s shark mascot serving as the logo.

Since July 2017, the Youngsville Chamber of Commerce has opened next door to the Youngsville City Hall. The Chamber’s membership has doubled in the past two years and their monthly luncheons now host anywhere from 75-80 people - a big difference from the 35 or so members from previous years. She was instrumental in drafting the original Vision 2020 program for the Youngsville Chamber that is used to help guide Youngsville’s growth.

“Our mission is to keep the community growing and to keep people In Youngsville,” Angie said. Being so closely connected to Lafayette and being more residential than business oriented, residents tend to bring their money elsewhere when it comes to business.

In the last two and a half years, Angie Eckman has been instrumental in Youngsville’s leap into the national limelight with its new acclaimed Youngsville Sports Complex. Coming in at a whopping $20 million dollars, the complex hosts a plethora of sports, tournaments, for teams of all ages.

In August, the Pony Mustang World Series was held at the Youngsville Complex which hosted baseball teams from all over the world. Angie said she was completely blown away by the amount of culture and diversity that was brought into the complex during the World Series and hopes future high profile events and tournaments will continue to provide economic growth for Youngsville and the Acadiana area in addition to providing a world-class sporting facility for the youth of our community.

From the moment the Youngsville Sports Complex opened its gates, their new programs have been at max capacity, topping off at nearly 1,300 members dispersed throughout their programs.

The city of Broussard also celebrated the opening of Broussard Sports Complex at St. Julien Park in July 2017. ADWORX was hired in August for marketing of this park as well. She hopes the new complex will also help the economic growth in the area and provide children and families with a great place to play and relax.

“I never thought this would happen,” Angie said in regards to how ADWORX has become so specifically involved with sports and the world of athletics. “When the Pony League started contacting us and asking to use our photos and videos to promote Youngsville to their national web-pages, I was blown away!”

Although her company has ventured into unexpected territory, she said she could not be any happier with the way business is going. The sports events that are taking place in Youngsville and Broussard are providing countless advertising opportunities for local and regional businesses in Acadiana.

Make no mistake—although Angie’s list of accomplishments and accolades are vast, is a humble and grounded woman, but when it comes to seeing her hard work and goals come true, she is more than ready to tell all about it and share her story in hopes to provide others with a lesson and advice to hopefully achieve their own goals and dreams.

What’s next, well according to Eckman are recent press releases, the Youngsville Sports Complex is slated to unveil four to five championship style sand volleyball courts. These state-of-the-art sand courts will be the first of their kind in Acadiana.

As for her personal life, Angie said she never takes a day off. As a huge lover of tourism and travel, even on her vacations, she finds herself wondering and researching the destination—imagining how she could get involved.

“My mind never stops,” she admitted. “This is my passion—helping people is my passion and there’s no turning my mind off.”

Passionate people are easily engulfed in their work. But sometimes, that’s the most exciting thing for a person with no off switch like Angie.

Angie has this sound advice to offer burgeoning creatives working to succeed and find career fulfillment--“Invest in your dreams and stay authentic to yourself, and there is nothing that can hold you back.”

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Read Angie's original cover story at https://issuu.com/FACEACADIANA/docs/face_june-july_-_issu_version_pdf

Interviews and article by Caitlin Marshall and Kailey Broussard