  {"id":52102,"date":"2025-08-26T17:36:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/?p=52102"},"modified":"2025-09-01T20:49:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:49:29","slug":"auggie-spotlight-ellie-schwartz-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/2025\/08\/26\/auggie-spotlight-ellie-schwartz-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Auggie Spotlight: Ellie Schwartz &#8217;20"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meet Ellie Schwartz &#8217;20. Ellie<\/span><\/i><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the f<\/span>ounder and creative director of OF THE NORTH, a digital marketing and social media agency based on the North Shore of O\u2018ahu but serving clients nationwide.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>What keeps you busy these days? What are you doing for work and for play? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-52103 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/EllieSchwartz_headshot-272x182.jpg 272w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>Becoming a business owner definitely keeps me busy\u2014I like to joke that I traded in my 9-to-5 for a 24\/7. I live full-time in Hawai\u2018i, and in 2024 I founded\u00a0<a id=\"m_-4387040926507208826m_-2146495804924160518LPlnk719117\" title=\"https:\/\/of-the-north.com\" href=\"https:\/\/of-the-north.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/of-the-north.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1756315586302000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15g1flwUCazaNPt_i2cJKe\">Of the North<\/a>\u00a0(OTN),\u00a0a digital marketing and social media agency based on the North Shore of O\u2018ahu but serving clients nationwide. My work blends deep brand research with creative execution\u2014taking the time to truly understand a brand, then bringing that strategy to life across websites, social media, and digital campaigns. We work with an incredible range of clients in industries like hospitality, beauty, wellness, fitness, food and beverage, and CPG. Outside of work (though I consider much of what I do to be a form of play), you can usually find me surfing, free diving, hiking, or staying active at my local workout studios.<\/p>\n<p><b>What is a piece of advice that you would give to a current\u00a0Auggie\u00a0or young alumni?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Make the most of every opportunity Augsburg offers\u2014there are countless resources, grants, and people eager to support you. During my sophomore year, I received Augsburg\u2019s environmental stewardship grant, which allowed me to travel to Hawai\u2018i for the first time to live and work on an organic coffee and fruit farm. I was able to turn that experience into an independent study, gaining hands-on knowledge and building connections that shaped my post-college career. Opportunities don\u2019t always look like their final form at the start\u2014sometimes they plant seeds that will grow into something you can\u2019t yet imagine. Stay curious, stay open, and take advantage of the people and programs around you.<\/p>\n<p><b>Who is an\u00a0Auggie\u00a0(alumni, faculty\/staff, friend, etc.) that inspires you or that has impacted you and why?<\/b><b><\/b><\/p>\n<p>My dad. He coached Augsburg&#8217;s Men\u2019s Hockey team and has been one<a href=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/Ellie_MikeSchwartz.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-52107 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/Ellie_MikeSchwartz.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"249\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/Ellie_MikeSchwartz.jpg 719w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/Ellie_MikeSchwartz-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 249px) 100vw, 249px\" \/><\/a> of my greatest influences, both personally and professionally. His lessons went far beyond the ice\u2014about preparation, resilience, teamwork, and leadership. Now, as a business owner, I find myself drawing on those same principles daily. There are so many parallels between sports and entrepreneurship, and I\u2019m grateful to have had a lifelong mentor who modeled what relationship-building, dedication and integrity look like in action.<\/p>\n<p><b>What is a fun or favorite memory of your time at Augsburg?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>My Augsburg memories start long before college. Growing up, my siblings and I basically lived on campus\u2014Si Melby was our playground. One minute we\u2019d be shooting hoops in the gym, the next we\u2019d be playing racquetball, tumbling on the mats in the wrestling room, or running laps under the dome. Augsburg always felt like a second home, so attending as a student was a full-circle moment for me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thank you, Ellie!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet Ellie Schwartz &#8217;20. Ellie is the founder and creative director of OF THE NORTH, a digital marketing and social &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":606,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/606"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52102"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52119,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52102\/revisions\/52119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}