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Pipestone County native Leah (Blom) Friese after graduating from the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce’s Class 37 of the Leadership Sioux Falls Program in May of 2023. Friese was recently added to the SiouxFalls.Business website’s “30 Under 30” list for 2024. Contributed photo
In mid-February, Leah (Blom) Friese, a Pipestone County native now living in Sioux Falls, was added to the second annual SiouxFalls.Business online only news website’s “30 Under 30” list. According to the website, recipients of the honor are chosen from a pool of nominees who have showed “clear and early achievements and promise for future leadership, strong engagement in the community beyond their workplace and innovative passion projects.”
Friese, who was nominated by a former classmate at Augustana University, said being added to the list was an unexpected honor.
“It just feels like I don’t really even deserve to be on that list,” she said. “The person who nominated me was a classmate from Augustana. His name is Hosea Kost. It was very touching and heartwarming and I was so honored that he took the time to do that.”
A high school graduate from Southwest Christian in Edgerton in 2015, Friese grew up on the family farm north of Pipestone with her parents, Julie and Lyle Blom, and her three sisters. She graduated from Augustana University in 2019 with a triple major in business communications, journalism and Spanish.
Friese interned at the Pipestone County Star in the summer of 2017, and again in 2019 after graduating from Augustana and before going to work full time at First National Bank in Sioux Falls as a content strategist in the marketing department. Prior to working at the bank, she interned with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation (SFDF), which she returned to after two years at the bank to serve as the marketing director for the non-profit organization. Friese, who is still with the SFDF and living in Sioux Falls with her husband Mike who is also a Pipestone County native, said that she returned to the SFDF because of her love of the city. “I just love being a part of Sioux Falls and how much it’s growing,” she said.
One of her favorite aspects of working with the SFDF is the economic impact that she helps to make on the area.
“A lot of my work at the foundation is around workforce development,” she said. “That’s an area of economic development that is super important because we need to have people to fill these jobs and we need to make sure that our kids are getting the training they need to fill high demand positions. A lot of my work in the marketing area is planning events for workforce development or different marketing campaigns to spread the message that Sioux Falls is a great place to live and work.”
According to Friese, SiouxFalls.Business started a program called “the CEO Summit” which brings together CEO’s from a variety of businesses and organizations in the Sioux Falls area and in turn, helps young professionals in the area to connect with these influential leaders. Other perks of being added to the list, Friese said, would be potential tours of area businesses, meetings with leaders throughout Sioux Falls and other networking opportunities with people listed by the organization.
“There are so many amazing people on that list that I don’t know if I would have had the opportunity to meet them and get to know them,” she said. “But through this honor and this program I will have a chance to spend some more time getting to know those types of people.”
In his nomination for Friese, Kost provided a lengthy list of projects and organizations that she has been a part of over the years that he believed qualified her for this award including: working on Augustana student lead projects such as #SEEUS and Dress for Success Campaigns; volunteering with Pueblo de Dios in their LOGOS program which is a bilingual children’s program centered on faith-building and community; interning with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation as a digital and social media specialist prior to her current role with the organization; coordinating groundbreaking events for Sioux Falls area businesses; participating in the Evan C. Nolte Leadership Sioux Falls Program and volunteering with the Furniture Mission of South Dakota as a marketing committee member.
“I’ve had the privilege of knowing Leah for almost six years and confidently nominate her to be named to the 2024 30 Under 30 cohort,” Kost said in his nomination for Friese. “Leah is a go-getter and is someone that anyone would be lucky to have in their corner because of her attention to detail, her thoroughness and her inclusive and caring demeanor. Her love for the Sioux Falls community, intertwined with her professional knowledge and expansive network of colleagues, makes her a great addition to this prestigious cohort.”
Her success in her career and her nomination to the “30 Under 30” list was a subsequent result of influential people in her youth, Friese said.
“I would have to say that I had so many people that were influential in my upbringing that really poured into me and gave me experiences that helped me to become who I am today,” she said. “I really have to credit my parents, they invested in me and made sure I was doing things I was passionate about in high school. One of those things was 4H. I was a big 4H girl and I can confidently say I wouldn’t have a lot of the skills that I have today without 4H pushing me and encouraging me to explore new things. Also my internships that I had. I loved my internship that I had at the Pipestone County Star and working with Debra [Fitzgerald]. She taught me so much and I really looked up to her. I thank her and John [Draper] for giving me that experience. I have so many great memories there — at the development foundation too. It’s just been such a blessing to have great experiences that have helped form me and my career path and I’m just so thankful for that.”
