2023 Day in the Life: Macy Mitchell

When it comes to involvement in his community of Republic, Macy Mitchell figuratively wears a lot of hats. Whether it’s as a married father of three, business owner, chamber of commerce leader or even taekwondo student, his engine is always running. Prior to beginning his workday, he gets in a 6 a.m. workout at CrossFit Republic LLC’s gym on State Highway 174. It’s a business he’s owned since 2013 and five years ago moved the venture to its current 11,000-square-foot location – a former gymnastics facility.

“I’ve always just been a morning guy. You get up, do your solid workout, clean up and head to the office,” he says of his typical routine.

However, “the office” for the Republic Area Chamber of Commerce, for which he’s served as executive director since January 2021, doesn’t exist. While the chamber hosts events, such as ribbon-cuttings and after-hours socials, the organization doesn’t have a physical location. For Mitchell, that’s hardly a problem as he prefers to meet with business owners in the community, noting the chamber’s membership has grown to over 350 businesses.

“I’ve signed up 250 businesses without (an office), and no one has balked at it and momentum is not stopping,” he says. “They feel they have the resources available.”

After his workout, Mitchell heads home around 7:30 a.m. to clean up for the workday, greet his family and have some breakfast before heading to the Old Towne Event Center. The event space just off Highway 60 is the host for today’s chamber of commerce monthly luncheon, and Mitchell spends time after 9 a.m. getting the venue prepped. He arranges tables and chairs, then hooks up a laptop to play music during the event. As a Coldplay tune comes through the center’s speakers, Mitchell says his role as a chamber director at this and all events is to make people comfortable.

“It’s not just showing up and doing a job. It’s creating an atmosphere,” he says, adding the luncheons typically draw 150-180 people.

Today’s luncheon has presentations from city and school representatives – particularly timely as it’s Election Day – as well as chamber elite members, who pay $1,495 per year and receive numerous benefits, such as a 15-minute slot to speak at the event. He also leaves time at the luncheon to let new chamber members give a quick plug.

“We’ve got to make it accommodating for everybody. One thing we don’t ever want to do is leave out the bread and butter of those mom and pops,” he says.

After everyone fills up on Arris’ Pizza and exits the event center around 1 p.m., Mitchell sticks around to visit with Republic Schools Superintendent Matt Pearce and district Safety Coordinator Mark Priebe. He chats with both about details of upcoming community fundraisers for Care to Learn and the Priebe Strong Foundation.

At both the chamber and CrossFit, Mitchell says he’s in a leadership position to encourage others.

“When I took over, my first thing was, ‘Let’s establish an advocacy for everybody.’ We partnered with nonprofits immediately, and we use all of our resources in this room, and all the business leadership that we can that aren’t in this room as well, to give back as much as we can in the community.”

Mitchell says he’s seen the growth of Republic up close over the past decade. The city’s population was 19,136 in 2021, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, a nearly 30% increase from 2010.

“Since the 10 years I’ve been living here, the first five or six were pretty peaceful,” he says. “The last four or five, all of a sudden, Highway 60 is no longer the best way to go home. I had to find some back routes.”

After exiting Old Towne, Mitchell travels around 2:30 p.m. to the Republic store of All American Home Rental & Sales, a family-owned company for the past 36 years. Mitchell serves as director of operations for its seven stores, which include two locations in Springfield, as well as stores in Bolivar, Joplin, Marshfield and Miami, Oklahoma. He checks in with store manager Terry Thompson about online commercials recently filmed and product inventory. Mitchell says he typically visits a couple stores every week to “make sure the managers know we’re helping them run for success.”

“We’re competing the best we can,” he says, acknowledging the challenge of being a smaller business going up against national companies with large marketing budgets. “The way we compete is with top-notch customer service and quality products. We keep as relevant as possible by working smarter, not harder. That’s my plan right now.”

Mitchell heads back to CrossFit Republic around 3:15 p.m. to double-check details about upcoming events at the gym. He says three nonprofit fundraisers are scheduled in April: Special Olympics, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Missouri and Tristen’s Hope Foundation, which brings awareness to mental health issues.

“We’ve grown very organically, and we’re super involved with the community,” he says of his gym, for which he leads a couple of classes every week.

With three businesses to track, Mitchell tries to split his time evenly. It’s a challenge at times, as he admits to being a bit of a micromanager. While previously a one-man band at the chamber, he hired a membership coordinator a couple months ago to help take care of some of the behind-the-scenes work, such as social media.

“It was getting to be almost too much behind the computer instead of out in front of people,” he says of his chamber work. “That’s not my jam. You can do it, as when you’re a business owner, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your strength.”

Upon leaving the gym around 4 p.m., Mitchell drops by a polling site to cast his vote in the election before heading home to spend time with his family. Names starting with the letter J fill the Mitchell household, he says, with himself as the notable exception. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children: Jett, 13; June, 11; and Jaxon, 8 – along with two dogs, Joy and Jovi.

Mitchell says he and his children usually head out around 6:30 p.m. to participate in taekwondo class at Gillespie’s Academy of Martial Arts, adding all four currently are yellow belts. However, June is feeling under the weather, so the family chooses to have a rare quiet night at home.