In this episode of the Higher Ed Demand Gen podcast, we sit down with Krissy Buck, Director of ShockStarter at WSU Tech.
Krissy shares her journey from a DIY blogger to a leader in digital marketing education, highlighting the innovative ShockStarter program.
Discover how this in-house, student-driven marketing agency is bridging the gap between education and industry, providing students with real-world experience and setting them up for success in the digital marketing field.
Tune in to learn about the power of applied learning and the future of marketing education.
Learn more about ShockStarter at WSU Tech here: https://wsutech.edu/shockstarter/
Read the transcription
Shiro (00:14)
Hey there everyone. Welcome to the Higher Ed Demand Gen podcast hosted by Concept3D. If you like our content, please follow and subscribe to us. As always, I’m Shiro Itori, your host, and today I’m really excited to talk about probably a completely new topic, which is driving enrollment demand from applied marketing learning. We’ll talk more about exactly what that is. With today’s guest, who is the director of Shockstarter, please welcome to the show, Chrissy Buck.
Krissy Buck (00:41)
Hello everyone, I’m happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Shiro (00:44)
It’s great to have you. And we actually met in person at Digital Collegium Denver. Is that right? The new name is tricking me up a little bit still. We got to talk a little bit and I learned about all the amazing things she’s doing at WSU Tech. so yeah, was like we should record an episode. So here we are today. Well, just to get things started here today, can you tell us a little bit more about your background?
Krissy Buck (00:51)
Yes.
Krissy Buck (01:07)
I was the kid that started college and didn’t know what they wanted to do. And so it didn’t last very long. And I raised a family. And then when I was in my 30s, I had started this blog. And so this was like at the beginning of Instagram. I was teaching myself WordPress. This was before drag and drop.
know, websites. And I was starting to gain some traction globally. And I was starting to
get some brand deals. So this was at the very beginning of influencer marketing. And I decided I have something here. So I went back to school and I got an associate’s degree in digital media. I took that degree, which was like video and photography and web design. I took that degree and I got a part-time job at a tech startup here in Wichita called Quick.
And after two pivots and three years, I had risen to the ranks of Chief Community Officer and we had users in 77 countries. And I burned out.
And it just happened to coincide with COVID. So January I resigned and then in February or March we were all locked down. community is my thing. I feel like that’s my strength is building online communities. That’s, I…
I think that’s why we were so successful at QUIC is because I built relationships with influencers and influencers influence influencers and it just spread like wildfire. So I like to be around people, right?
But I was not ready to work in tech again. So I heard that WSU tech needed adjunct instructors and I applied and they offered me the chair position and I said, no, no, I’m not really interested in that. know, just, you know, part-time is good for me. And then I thought, man, Chrissy, you’re so selfish. You have built this global network of digital marketers that you could introduce to these kids, you know, right here in Wichita, Kansas.
Shiro (02:51)
you
Krissy Buck (03:05)
we had another conversation and I became the department chair. Fast forward about three years and Shock Starter was offered to me and I took it on and we hired a full-time faculty to help support our department and here we are today. So I have actually passed the department chair off to her and now I am the director of Shock Starter.
Shiro (03:28)
Well, I’m really glad you talked about ShockStarter because that was going to be my next question. Tell us everything about ShockStarter. It’s such a cool thing that has come to fruition at WCU Tech.
Krissy Buck (03:38)
Yeah, so Shockstarter was actually
started by an associate vice president over at our four-year side, Wichita State University. She saw a need from industry that students coming out of our business programs over there did not have the skills to market online. And so she started Shock Starter as an applied learning lab to hire students to create opportunities for them to get experience before they went out into industry, post-graduation. I kind of had the same idea
This is when I first came in as a faculty member and somebody that knew both of us connected us and I became a subject matter expert. I mentored them weekly and and so they they worked with brands like NetApp, Bombardier,
They worked for the College of Engineering and the alumni then now work for companies like Deloitte, the Greater Wichita Partnership doing graphic design, our local Chamber of Commerce, and the student that worked for the College of Engineering who had that contract is now working for a College of Engineering down in Texas doing the same thing. Shockstarter gave them the skills and gave them the proof of concept
that they know how to market effectively. They have these brands, they can show paid work that they have done to their employers, which really helps them succeed in the workplace.
Shiro (05:06)
Yeah, and I think your description of it is as an in-house student driven, a marketing agency caught my eye and I was very, very interested when you first told me about it.
Krissy Buck (05:17)
Yes.
Shiro (05:18)
That’s awesome. Can you tell us just a little bit more behind the scenes of ShockStarter? How big is the class now? How has it been growing? What’s been success look like?
Krissy Buck (05:29)
Yeah, so it’s not a class. A lot of people get that confused. We even had to shift that paradigm internally that I did not treat them like students and they did not think of me as their teacher. They’re employed by WSU Tech. We moved over from WSU to WSU Tech last, let’s see, no, October of 2023, I think. And so they’re employed here at WSU Tech.
and I’m their boss. And so they’re held accountable, just like any employee in a marketing agency. They work with the clients directly. So my position in ShockStarter is to be the project manager and business development, and then also to manage them.
their job is really to take care of the customer. So, know, account executive, graphic design, web development, video, whatever it is, whatever the need is, they take care of it. So I make that initial deal with the client, which is a paid deal. We charge $58 per hour. And then once we have like kind of a project fee and a signed statement of work, then I hand it off to the appropriate shock starter on our team.
Shiro (06:25)
Mm-hmm.
That’s amazing. ⁓ So how big is your team of employees at Shockstarter now?
Krissy Buck (06:42)
Yeah, so we have a capacity of seven. Currently we have six. We are losing one this week. I’m really sad about it. I’ve had her since the beginning when I was handed Shock Starter and she has become my right hand man. And wow, the growth. I had her in the classroom too. And the first day that I met her,
She didn’t speak. She’s very, very, very shy.
had trouble making eye contact and now she is, you know, working with clients directly, making those contacts, speaking in front of groups. She is a true professional. And I think, you know, the classroom and this work has helped her grow. And now she is looking for even more growth opportunities. So she’s leaving us to take advantage of one of those. So we’ll be hiring again. Yeah.
Shiro (07:29)
That’s exciting. And I know
WSU Tech and Utah, some of these courses, offers digital marketing courses, right? How is that, how have those programs grown and what is the connection with Shockstarter with that?
Krissy Buck (07:41)
Yeah, so currently I have all but one of the Shock Starters started off at WSU Tech. One of the cool things about Shock Starter is I hire from our four-year university and our two-year tech college. And so we get to mix them in the classroom, which is an amazing thing.
Our vice president of student success, says that other tech, you know, other community colleges and tech colleges, that’s not our competition. Our competition is mindset. The students who come to our institution, they don’t feel like they can do college, right? For a number of reasons. They’re not smart enough, they can’t afford it. There’s a number of reasons why they feel like they can’t do it. So to go to a four-year university is even scarier. But then when they sit next to that four-year student in shock,
starter they can see I you know I can do this I do have the skill set to do the work just like this person can.
So the connection.
digital marketing to ShockStarter is that it’s just been a natural introduction into our agency. The cool thing that I’m learning from our high school recruitment team is that when they go out and they pitch to students about ShockStarter, students want to join the digital marketing program because they want to be a ShockStarter. So we have one that’s joining in the fall with the intention of someday becoming a ShockStarter.
Shiro (09:01)
That’s amazing. And I think this applied learning model, right, is something that I think is so exciting, especially in the digital marketing space, because I’m from the marketing space as well. I know how hard it was after graduation for that gap, right? Every employer is looking for some experience, if any, right? And when you’ve come in with just the certificate or just your degree, you just don’t have that work experience. I feel like…
Krissy Buck (09:02)
Yeah.
Shiro (09:28)
programs like this can really help address that gap and I think it’s very exciting and I wish more schools would start doing it today.
Krissy Buck (09:34)
Yeah, yeah, and we have a couple of other models. So here at WSU Tech, our culinary campus, they have, it’s called Envision Bistro. And so they have students that run the bistro. It’s a daytime eatery. So they serve lunch, but it is all ran by students. The food is made by students. And then over on the four year side, we have Nair.
We have Nair Works, and so they’re doing more of like engineering and manufacturing over there. So we have a couple of these models throughout our city.
Shiro (09:56)
Mm-hmm.
That’s amazing. I just to, just to give a quick shout out to Dottie or Dorothy. I had her on the podcast maybe two years ago and she explained to me the whole inception of an MBA, which kind of reminded me of the story you talked about earlier with why Shockstar started, right? It was, it was so that these people who had engineering backgrounds, but didn’t know how to market could learn those skills, right? I learned that the MBA was created, you know, almost a hundred years ago now.
Krissy Buck (10:28)
Yes.
Shiro (10:32)
post recession, right? Because these engineers during the booming economy didn’t know how to start a business. So you could go get your engineering degree and then get an MBA and then you could start a business as an engineer, which is really cool. And Dottie actually told me about that story and it reminded me full circle of the moment we just had. so my big takeaway is that if you want to get a job after attending school, go to WSU Tech or Wichita State University because they are amazing at applied learning.
and setting yourself up for success.
Krissy Buck (11:00)
Yes,
absolutely. Yes.
Shiro (11:02)
That’s great.
Can you tell us a little bit more about the connection between the two schools too? Because I believe you said something about how students who do opt in to WSU Tech have the opportunity to enroll into a four year program as well.
Krissy Buck (11:14)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, they do anyway. I did work with…
been we it is in place now it’s called the organizational learning and leadership degree with an emphasis in e-commerce strategy and so that allows our students that are taking digital marketing which is career technical education
that is not always transferable over to a four-year university. Their gen eds typically are transferable, but some of those technical courses, it’s hard to find a good fit over on the four-year side. And so we developed this partnership where they accept all of the technical credits. Also,
Shiro (11:38)
Mm-hmm.
Krissy Buck (11:53)
they give credit for what they’re doing in their jobs. So I have a couple of shock starters who are earning their four-year degree over there, the OLL. So they started with me.
They got their associates in digital marketing. They transferred over. They’re getting their OLL and e-commerce strategy. And they’re also getting credit for working at Shock Starter. So they’re getting college credit, ⁓ some internship credit for working at Shock Starter. So it’s a wonderful marriage. But I also have a student who started off at WSU as a marketing student, still is a marketing student and loves it over there. And then I have a digital marketing student that
Shiro (12:17)
Any?
Krissy Buck (12:33)
decided not to take the OLL path and is going to learn marketing from Dottie over at WSU. So there’s so many different pathways from WSU Tech.
to WSU and I really want to introduce those to those students. Here in the Midwest, you still need that bachelor’s degree to get a job in marketing. You and I know that you know podcasting and social media and
web, they all change constantly and it’s really hard to teach that in four years. And so I know that my students when they leave our two-year program they can go and do the job you know at an entry level.
But I also know it’s really hard for them to get in the door because they don’t have that four year degree. So I’m always encouraging them, you know, continue, go get that degree. One of our shock starters, she will be the first person in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree because she is taking advantage of that pathway. Yeah. Yeah.
Shiro (13:32)
That’s amazing.
did she take the pathway from the two year to the four year as well? ⁓ that’s amazing. Yeah.
Krissy Buck (13:37)
Yeah, yeah, so she, yeah,
so she graduates in the spring. It’s pretty exciting.
Shiro (13:43)
And I’m making big assumptions here, but maybe the two year was just the right stepping stone, right? To be like, hey, I don’t know if it’s for me. But then she was able to secure her findings and be confident like, hey, you know what? This is for me and I’m going to be the first person that’s just to create my family now. That’s awesome.
Krissy Buck (14:00)
Yeah,
yes, those are correct assumptions actually. That associate vice president I was talking about before, she and I went to this student and we were like, so what are you going to do next? you, I mean, are you going to continue on here at WSU? And she said, you know, a bachelor’s degree really isn’t for me. And then the next thing I knew, she was enrolled. So she’s just one of those that when an opportunity, you know, comes along,
she snatches it up. I mean, she’s going to do amazing things.
Shiro (14:29)
That’s amazing. And I know that you have a ton of success stories, right? You just told me one from last week. It’s almost full circle right now. think she was a part of your ShockStarter program or she was a ShockStarter. I like how you referenced that. And now she’s come full circle and she’s going to be running the digital marketing for the college, right? got it. Gotcha.
Krissy Buck (14:47)
So different student, that was a digital marketing student. Yeah, but still
a success story. That was a digital marketing student who has developed a very successful career in real estate and is now the head of marketing for WSU Tech.
WSU Tech has an amazing marketing and communications department. It’s like one of the best in our city. And so it pleases me so much that I now have two students who are working in that department. I love the team up there and the work they do is phenomenal. And their level of…
expectation and standards is high and so it really is a complement to what we’re doing in the classroom in Shock Starter to see students get placed in teams like that. Another student, maybe this is the one you’re thinking about, when she just graduated with her two-year and because of her portfolio work working at Shock Starter
she was able to land a job pretty quickly with a two-year degree. But that portfolio was the proof of concept, right? Like I know what I’m talking about. I know how to do it. And here’s proof of my work. Yeah.
Shiro (15:54)
That’s amazing. All right. So hypothetically speaking, let’s say I’m listening to this podcast episode and I’m in charge of developing more, developing out more of our marketing programs, right? And you’re like, wow, this in-house student led agency sounds like a great idea. Do you have any tips to give someone about starting that at their own college?
Krissy Buck (15:55)
Yeah.
Yeah, so I think the biggest thing is to treat students like employees, whatever that model looks like. Ours is they’re employed by us and we charge clients. I know because of rules, sometimes that doesn’t always work out, right? So if it’s an in-class…
you know, an in-class like a capstone class or an internship class, treat them like employees. So in our internship class, which we call capstone, in the digital marketing program, Stephanie, who is the department chair, she teaches that class. The students come in for four hours a week and it’s their shift. And she partners them with a nonprofit or a small business here in Wichita. And they are the account executive and then they do all the things, you know,
They take care of their needs, so graphic design, web, whatever that looks like. Most of the time it’s social media. And that’s their client. she, it’s a classroom. She’s always a resource, but she treats them like an employee, right? Like this is your client. This is what that looks like. She holds them accountable. I think that’s the biggest piece. So in higher ed, on the faculty side, what I’ve seen is…
And I don’t know if this is because of COVID, but it’s really hard for this generation of students to show up. And so, you know, holding them accountable for those soft skills is so important. I feel like I’ve already developed the hard skills, right? Now I gotta develop the soft skills and I feel like that’s the majority of my job. Yeah, you know, showing up with energy to a meeting.
and not just sitting there, you know, like slumped over, like show some energy when a client comes in the room. You know, learn how to shake hands, learn how to introduce yourself. Like these are all skills, soft skills that can’t always be taught in the classroom that I get to mold and create in Shock Starter. So hold them accountable and focus on those soft skills.
Shiro (18:08)
That’s great. That’s a great piece of advice. Well, I know that you’re not just an educator. You’re also a marketing agency leader, also a practitioner in your former ⁓ before higher ed days, right? Let’s talk a little bit more about the marketing side and in relation to higher ed. Like, what have you learned from the non higher ed side, right? Enterprise or corporate side that you think could be applied in?
Krissy Buck (18:20)
Yes.
Shiro (18:32)
higher ed marketers today. So people marketing the college, whether that’s increase brand or help work with admissions to increase admissions and enrollment. Are there some key things that you see outside of higher ed that really could apply and that there’s some opportunities in higher ed marketing?
Krissy Buck (18:49)
Yeah, I think I’m seeing a shift towards this, but influencer marketing user generated content. So, you know, employing students, using students to tell their stories. They don’t care about me, right? They don’t know what a department chair is or a dean or a vice president. They don’t care.
They don’t care who we are, but they do care about the person who looks like them that’s graduating. And so I think focusing more on the student’s story and letting the student tell their story, letting them be the face of your marketing, I think will go much further than anything that our marketing teams can create. We actually saw this. We employed a young woman.
who became the face of our TikTok. And one summer, so we do this every summer now, but the first summer.
We partnered with our school district here in Wichita and we ran summer camp for kids who were in summer school. And I did like a little TikTok session. So we talked about why businesses use TikTok and then we made fun TikToks. And one girl, she whispered to me, she was like, I’ve seen her on TikTok.
So this person in our marketing team who reflected a student because she was young, right, and energetic, she was already influencing middle schoolers to come to WSU Tech. so, yeah, I think use your people, right? Tell stories, short form video content. It’s like there’s so much power in it right now.
Shiro (19:58)
Ha ha ha.
Yeah, it’s definitely something I’m hearing across the board. Especially when I talk to social media managers and also contributors as well as like how to increase UGC across your campus, right? think BGSU, shout out to BGSU. They do a really, really good job of the UGC content. So they’ve come up with like themes and events. They do like the golf cart series. So they like drive around campus with golf cart. They already have pre-script.
questions, but they interview students on specific topics like if it’s around homecoming they have like a whole series on homecoming. It’s really fantastic. I think that’s a great piece of advice.
Krissy Buck (20:54)
Yeah, you know actually that works for recruiting employees too. So if campuses are you know looking for employees, let your employees take over and create some UGC and tell their story as an employee. That’s not my idea. I learned that from Cisco years ago. They were doing that and so part of the HR department they actually had a select few of you know employee influencers that they let take control of their social media and
and they told their story and that’s how they recruited. Yeah. Yeah.
Shiro (21:27)
That’s
cool. I know you mentioned a little bit about the soft skills today, right? What do you think employers, especially digital marketing employers, are looking for today out of young graduates from digital marketing certificates, two years, four years, whatever it may be, but those that are just entering their careers, do you have any advice for them?
Krissy Buck (21:47)
Yeah, I do. So I just talked to an employer recently in the UK. They have an office here in Wichita as well. Yes, in the UK. And I was sharing with them that I’m teaching the shock starters to, you know, when they’re not busy, to find something to do, right?
Shiro (21:52)
Okay. Okay. Okay. Got it.
Krissy Buck (22:03)
you know, don’t wait for me to assign you tasks. And they were like, even adults need to learn that. you know, I think that comes, I think that goes back to finding your own answers, right? Doing the research. In the classroom, we’ve had a few instances where, you know, we have these long instructions typed out and the students still messages. Now, what am I supposed to do? And we copy and paste the instructions, read the instructions.
So, you know, just teaching good information literacy skills, I think, is so important in the classroom. And then in these applied learning labs, if colleges develop them.
you know, holding these student interns accountable for finding their own answers, always being there behind their shoulder as a resource. But hey, did you look first? Where did you look? What resources did you, you know, apply?
Shiro (22:56)
That’s a great piece of advice. Yeah, you’re just a little frozen, but I think the bandwidth will come through. think that’s a great point to wrap up. And I’m just wondering, Christy, where can our listeners find you on the internet and all the great things you’re doing?
Krissy Buck (22:56)
Can you see me?
Yeah, so you can find Shockstarter. We’re ⁓ on all the things except for TikTok, and that’s just Shockstarter, all one word. And then you can find me on LinkedIn. I’m Chrissy S. Buck over there on LinkedIn.
Shiro (23:21)
Thank you, it’s been great talking to you. I hope there’s an opportunity to learn more about the success stories that you’re producing with ShockStarter. Thanks so much for joining today.
Krissy Buck (23:30)
Yeah, thank you.
