From Beacom to Epicosty: USD Alumnus Builds Global Marketing Agency
Smorawske’s face lights up as he talks about the work his company – Epicosity – is doing, not only in the state of South Dakota, but also in countries around the world. He describes a culture of champions who are obsessed with their craft and always striving to be the best.
“Everyone on the team has a desire to be better than they were the day before,” Smorawske said. “It’s who we are at our core, and we want to use that drive to elevate the clients we work with.”
A full-service marketing and advertising agency, Epicosity works primarily within financial services, public service advertising and education, with a goal of being the best in the world at marketing each of these categories.
Today, Epicosity works with clients in four countries and more than 30 states and employs nearly 40 people. They are currently working on building out their suite of exclusive advertising and marketing opportunities for their clients and connecting with leaders in the state to enhance their focus on the things that will benefit South Dakota.
Smorawske founded Epicosity in 2008 with his business partner, Eric Sivertsen ’04. Though the pair have been in business together for over 15 years, they first met on USD’s campus in 2003.
“Eric and I met in a student group called Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and immediately hit it off,” Smorawske said. “We worked together with our team to create a video and present at a national conference and the experience ultimately led to the two of us sitting down and mapping out what it would look like to create a marketing company together. Fast forward a few years and that dream became Epicosity.”
One of Smorawske’s greatest memories in college was when they placed 16th out of 7,000 teams in the SIFE competition. He said he felt like a failure and was disappointed in their team’s placement, but a faculty advisor stepped in and offered a different perspective. Smorawske learned a lesson that would set the stage for a life of always striving to be the best.
“My faculty advisor believed in me and saw something in me that went far beyond my grades or GPA,” Smorawske recalled. “She looked at us after this competition, reminded us of everything we had accomplished and challenged us not to limit what we would go on to do next.”
Dedicated faculty and challenging opportunities at USD didn’t just shape Smorawske’s college experience, they changed his life. He recalls always asking questions and suggesting big ideas and being met with respect and encouragement from faculty and advisors. This motivated him to push harder and continue to improve the world around him.
“SIFE gave me the opportunity to try to solve real-world problems,” Smorawske said. “I’ve always wanted to understand how things work and why things are the way they are, and this group gave us, as students, the ability to see our potential in tackling these issues. The students and mentors I met during my time there are still close friends and colleagues today.”
Smorawske grew up in Sioux Falls and always had a great appreciation for what South Dakota had to offer. He describes it as a place where possibility and approachability meet, a small enough state where you can get to know a lot of people with opportunity to build a business and make a big impact.
“I’ve found that there are a lot of people out there who want to help; the key is asking the questions and putting yourself out there to make a connection,” Smorawske said. “I have made incredible relationships with people I’ve met along the way, and I am committed to paying it forward in the relationships I make with the next generation.”
Smorawske recently volunteered for the Beacom School of Business Coyote Mentoring Program and was paired with a student for the year. The Coyote Mentoring Program, launched in 2019, aims to enhance the classroom experience by providing students with the opportunity to engage with executives for one-on-one mentoring. The opportunity was an easy one for Smorawske to say yes to and an exciting way for him to start to re-engage with the place that gave him his start.
“My experience in the business school at USD truly changed everything for me,” Smorawske said. “I met like-minded students and felt supported to learn and grow into who I am today. If I could give students today one piece of advice, I would encourage them to enjoy the journey more. I was so focused on getting to the end goal that I forgot to stop and appreciate the moments that led to it. The work we do, the moments that lead us from point A to point Z, are ultimately the things that will mean the most when we look back at how far we’ve come.”
If you ask Smorawske what motivates him to get out of bed in the morning, he’ll probably say something about fast fish.
“I’ve always been one to chase the next thing, to push harder and strive to be better than I was before,” he said. “There is this quote I came across in college by Joel Connor, and it has stuck with me to this day, ‘...big fish don’t eat small fish, fast fish eat slow fish.’ This quote lights a fire in me and serves as a reminder that it’s not about being the biggest, you just have to be faster than the thing behind you and in front of you.”
Smorawske and his wife Kay, who graduated from USD in 2009 with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, are raising their two children Lauren and Quinn in Sioux Falls.
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