HVH Engage! In Minneapolis, MN Featuring Heidi Van Heel

Have you heard the phrase, “A jack of all trades and master of none”? I’ve found an instance where it’s just NOT true. Heidi Van Heel is INDEED a jack of all trades in helping businesses put their best foot forward and she masters them all exceedingly well.

I first met Heidi two years ago when she spoke at a wedding I was photographing. It was her sense of humor that held my attention in our initial conversation, but the more we talked the more I was blown away with her knowledge and experience in researching and producing documentaries for Public Television in the Twin Cities. Each documentary was like a different company or entity requiring it’s own branding, website, promotional campaign, and strategies to engage a specific target market. Heidi has brought that expertise and a wide array of resources to the HVH Engage! table for serving large and small businesses around the globe in attracting the clients they want through calculated wordsmithing, website revamps or creations, brand launches, and engaging promotional strategies.

The photograph above shows Heidi working in her private office space under the gaze of her cute and adoring coworker, Daniel. Below are her responses to my questions I ask of the businesses owners who fascinate me.

Q: What do you love most about what you do?

Heidi: I really love that I get to provide a variety of services to a diverse clientele. The opportunity to work with non-profits, corporate clients, agencies, and fellow entrepreneurs keeps me feeling challenged and inspired, it’s an added bonus that they all need my help in different ways. Recently, I worked with a production company in Los Angeles to launch a new website for a new web series! That has been so much fun and very different from other projects that I am working on.

Q: What steps led you to where you are now?

Heidi: I spent nearly 14 years creating a career for myself in public television. While I loved my job and the mission of the work that I was doing, I started to have growing pains. I knew that I wanted to work for myself, but I didn’t know how. I started reading books, attending local entrepreneur lectures, and talking to friends who were already freelancing in order to learn more about self-employment. After looking at my skillset critically, I outlined a strategy and started freelancing on the side. A year later, I took a leap of faith to freelance fulltime and I haven’t looked back since.

Q: What do you look forward to most each day?

Heidi: I love not knowing what each day will bring. Certainly, some days can be better than others, but each day offers its own surprises. Sometimes the surprises are good and sometimes they’re bad, but each day usually starts and ends with a leisurely walk with my dog, the peace and quiet of my home office, and the purring of our resident cats.

Q: And what are you looking forward to most in the coming year?

Heidi: So far I’ve been surprised by the exciting projects and great clients that I have been able to work with; I’m really looking forward to seeing what projects will come next.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an entrepreneur?

Heidi: I love feeling as though every day is an opportunity to learn something. I’m always looking for ways to grow and develop my skills, explore my creativity, and engage new audiences. The learning opportunities feel endless! And of course, I love the energy that comes from being completely responsible for my own success and failure, it’s invigorating.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Life is short, don’t be afraid to take risks and do things that may seem out of the ordinary. You don’t have to rely on someone else’s instructions for how to do something, do as much research as possible and then write your own.

Thank you, Heidi, for taking time out of your day to answer questions about what drives and inspires you in your business!

And for all of you reading this, the location and size of your organization are not qualifiers for assistance from Heidi in streamlining your promotional strategies, updating your branding or website, or just creating more effective and engaging copy for your website or marketing materials. Click over to HVH Engage! and check out Heidi’s profile and work experience. I bet she could help you more effectively show off your skills and offerings while reaching the clients who will value your services the most.