The nugget., April 11, 2018, Page 16, Image 16

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Wednesday, April 11, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The people behind The Nugget...
Vicki Curlett and her hus-
band, Rick, know just what so
many people feel when they
first arrive in Sisters Country.
They had that classic Oregon
moment as they crossed
Santiam Pass and arrived in
Sisters in the autumn of 2001.
Both had extensive and
varied corporate careers.
“We had lived all over
the country, but we both had
always really wanted to live
in the Pacific Northwest,” she
recalled. “Unfortunately, we
could never get a job much
west of Denver.”
They were living in
Nebraska when the events of
September 11, 2001, changed
the world. Vicki, who was
operating her own company,
had a 200-person corporate
event underway in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. Her clients
were stranded as air travel
came to a sudden halt. She
was only able to get them
back to their homes gradu-
ally, by ones and twos, and
she had to drive herself back
to Nebraska.
At the end of the 16-hour
drive, she was exhausted from
“one of the most stressful
trips I had done in my career.”
Sunriver Resort in Central
Oregon had requested that
she conduct a site inspection
of the facilities, and she and
Rick decided to make a much-
needed vacation of it. They
flew into Portland — where it
was raining — and drove over
the pass in sunshine, with the
trees and shrubs in their fall
colors — and they hit Sisters.
“We said, ‘Oh my gosh!
This is it!’’’
They went on to Sunriver
for Vicki’s work.
“By Friday, we had bought
a house and went back to
Nebraska thinking, ‘What did
we just do?’” she recalled.
In July 2003, they moved
to Sunriver, eventually end-
ing up at Eagle Crest in
2010, between Sisters and
Redmond. The couple but-
toned up their businesses and
took about four years off.
Then Curlett got bored.
Full of drive and loving
to be busy, she jumped into
print advertising, first at The
Bulletin, then for The Central
Oregon Nickel. She left that
position in October.
“I just felt that there was
something else waiting for me
out there,” she said.
Her intuition steered her
straight. In February she
responded to a job listing for
a position at The Nugget.
She was familiar with the
paper from frequent visits to
Sisters.
“When we did come over
here, we always picked up the
paper and took it home with
us,” she said. “We always
thought it was very well done;
Vicki Curlett
the articles were great and the
locals were really committed
to advertising in the paper. So
I thought, maybe this is my
next adventure.”
Editor in Chief Jim
Cornelius said that the deci-
sion to hire Curlett was easy.
“She has a lot of experi-
ence and a lot of ideas, which
is always great,” he said. “But
to tell the truth, the thing
that impressed me most is
her vision for her role. She
really sees herself as a part-
ner with her clients, helping
them to market their business
and make it more successful.
That’s just what a small-town
community newspaper needs
to be for its advertisers.”
“That’s who I am,” she
said. “My forte is to come
alongside businesses to help
them grow and prosper.”
She prefers the title
Community Marketing
Partner, and she takes that
role seriously. She recognizes
that many business people are
too busy running their busi-
ness to focus on their market-
ing; many don’t especially
enjoy that aspect of business;
and few can afford to hire
somebody to do it for them.
That’s where Curlett likes
to pitch in, with creativity and
a well of experience to draw
from.
“In terms of marketing,
don’t be afraid to ask for
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Vicki Curlett sees herself as a marketing partner for Sisters businesses.
She loves to see clients grow and prosper.
help,” she said. “I love the
brainstorming aspect of it.”
Nothing throws Vicki
Curlett. She once worked
in sales of outdoor power
equipment, a male-dominated
industry where she was con-
stantly tested. She went to
shop schools and learned
to tear down engines and
came to know the business
as well as anyone and better
than most — relishing the
challenge.
“I was driving around
in a Ford 150 pickup truck
with a trailer loaded down
with equipment, doing
demonstrations with the
guys,” she recalled. “It was
fun.”
And she turned her terri-
tory into the top performer for
the company.
Her work with The Nugget
and her clients out in the
Sisters business community
keeps her busy — which
is just the way she likes it.
And she enjoys her new
colleagues.
“I couldn’t ask for a bet-
ter group of people,” she said,
noting that everyone at the
paper has “a common goal of
serving the community.”
Now you can help The Nugget
continue its journalistic mission
The Nugget
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PHOTO BY GARY MILLER