Marla Hambuchen of Conway first thought she’d be an investment banker like her father, or maybe a lawyer.
Instead, she spent seven years at Acxiom Corp., then took a job as special-events coordinator for the Conway Regional Health Foundation.
“It’s funny — I ask for money, and that’s the only thing I said I’d never do,” she said.
But to her, it’s all about relationships, “how people can work together for the good of others,” she said.
“One of the greatest needs of the community is health care,” Hambuchen said.
The North Little Rock native graduated from Hendrix College in Conway with a business degree and an emphasis in economics. That’s the same degree her husband, David, earned at Hendrix, which is where they met.
“We were great friends the whole time. We ran around together with the same crowd,” she said.
They had a date, and “that was it,” she said. They were married on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 1989, and Marla Hambuchen, who was raised in the Methodist church, converted to Catholicism.
She went to work at Acxiom in 1987 in customer service, then team development and account management.
“I did a little bit of everything when I was there,” she said, except for programming. “I was there at a time of great growth, … so I had the opportunity to dabble in a lot.
“I worked night and day, but I had tremendous opportunities for my experience and my age. They’d put me on a plane to New York to see Citicorp, [one of my clients]. It was a great experience; I had great mentors there [at Acxiom].”
One was Linda Tyler, who later was an Arkansas representative.
“I learned an incredible amount from her, personally as well as professionally,” Hambuchen said.
Tyler said she considers Hambuchen a friend.
“I’ve known Marla since, I guess, 1987 at Acxiom,” Tyler said. “I got to know her really well in 1990 when I became the director of retail services for Acxiom and Marla was the assistant director, and she worked with me at that time.”
Tyler said Hambuchen has many traits that make her successful in any position.
“First of all, she’s really smart. She can take very complex situations and understand them readily and help others understand them,” Tyler said. “Secondly, she’s quite persistent in getting things done, so when she sets herself a goal, she achieves that goal.”
In addition, Tyler said Hambuchen “has a great heart and empathizes with others, yet at the same time, she can stand on her own two feet and hold her own in any situation or debate or whatever.
“She’s just been a delight,” Tyler said.
Hambuchen, who has four children, worked for Acxiom from 1987-94, but when Harrison was born in 1994, she decided to stay home.
But she didn’t really stay home. She volunteered at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway, the school and in the community. She has been chairwoman of the annual St. Joseph Bazaar, which raises money for the private school. She’s been president of the school board, is on the Diocesan Board of Education and has been on the Parish Council “forever.”
Right now, she and David are co-chairs of a $10 million capital campaign for a construction project at St. Joseph School.
“It’s very exciting,” she said.
Hambuchen said her love of volunteering began in high school, when she served in a juvenile advisory group for a nonprofit organization.
“It kind of started there,” she said.
Hambuchen, 51, went through the Faulkner County Leadership Institute and stayed involved with the curriculum after she graduated in 1992.
“It really opened my eyes to a little bit bigger picture of what surrounded us, too, and the smaller communities and needs of those communities,” she said.
Hambuchen said it’s important to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.
“You think everyone lives in the world you live in and goes home to the home you go home to. Until you step out of your comfort zone, you don’t really realize. If you can do that, it’s a first foray into how you can be of service to others,” she said.
She was a member of the Junior Auxiliary of Conway and served one year as president when her children were young. She also got involved with the Conway Regional Women’s Council, and as her children got older, she wanted to get back into the workforce.
The timing was right when the health foundation was looking to “add some resources,” Hambuchen said.
As special-events coordinator, she is responsible for external fundraising events, such as
Dazzle Daze — a three-day shopping event — and donor cultivation — asking for money. She is also responsible for internal
projects for employees, such as relationship-building.
Conway is “a real welcoming community,” she said, which makes her job a lot easier.
“We are a giving community who want to support each other for the greater good,” she said.
Recognizing her efforts in creating a greater good, the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce in December honored Hambuchen as one of two women who received Women in Business awards in the nonprofit category.
“If you look back at all the women honored with Women in Business awards, they’re smart, professional women who have made great contributions to our communities,” she said. “I travel in a crowd. Everything I’ve ever been associated with, there’s been a great group of committed people.”
Hambuchen said she thinks the opportunities for women are “far greater than they used to be; we are expected to succeed now and be part of decision-making. There are still inequities, … but we’ve made progress. I think that’s important.
“Health care is so important to people, and people continue to want to be engaged in that process and support that.”
That’s why she feels like her job is about relationships.
As an example, she pointed out the Smyers family in Conway.
“They are uniquely generous,” she said. Jeanne Smyers, owner of The Kitchen Store and More, and her husband, the late Mike Smyers, started a one-night event when all the proceeds from sales are given to the Perinatal Bereavement Program at the hospital.
“Just their ongoing commitment and Conway Regional coming into part of it are a great example of a common goal,” Hambuchen said.
She also said more than 1,000 hours were volunteered through Dazzle Daze, and this year, the proceeds went to a 3-D mammography machine, the only one in the hospital’s five-county service area, Hambuchen said.
Hambuchen said her professional goal is to improve community engagement.
“If you can connect people with what they’re passionate about and give them an opportunity to serve others — whether it be as a volunteer or as a philanthropist — then you will be successful,” she said. “If all those things are lined up, you’re going to be successful in providing funding for really important projects.”
Hambuchen said she is happy that she didn’t go to law school.
“Yes, yes. God planted me where I was supposed to be, and luckily, I responded,”
she said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.