Distributing her time between consulting, public speaking, event planning and beekeeping, Robin K. DeMark started her profession as an event planner and DJ to help support herself through college. Throughout the years, this grew and became a woman-owned business offering wedding event planning, hosting corporate events/promotions, singing at state fairs and festivals, and providing music and MC services for nonprofit organizations. For the next 25 years, her professional career blossomed in federal service with leadership roles in library, marketing and public affairs. Upon retirement, a friend introduced her to the world of beekeeping, which soon became a hobby that led to other leadership roles in local bee clubs. Today, Ms. DeMark continues expanding her company and utilizing her talents as a writer, educator and speaker to support educational outreach for local and state beekeeping organizations.
Ms. DeMark began her professional career as a graduate student instructor and part-time reference staff at East Carolina University Joyner Library in Greenville, North Carolina, in 1991. She continued these roles until graduation, and accepted her first job as a reference librarian at the Wayne County Public Library in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1993. She was soon recruited to work for the federal civil service as a librarian and later a library director at Pope Air Force Base Library in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 1995 to 1999. Her career took a new path when she was asked to be the marketing director for the 4th Services Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina, from 1999 to 2001. Ms. DeMark soon took on the challenge to work for the wing commander in public affairs as the chief of community relations from 2001 to 2011. To complete her civil service career, she was promoted as the public affairs officer at the Veterans Affairs Administration in Fayetteville, North Carolina, from 2012 to 2014. Following this tenure, she served in various leadership roles for Duplin and Wayne County beekeeping organizations and the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association from 2015 to 2018.
Prior to the start of her professional career, Ms. DeMark pursued a formal education at East Carolina University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1984 and a Master of Library Science in information science in 1993. After receiving these academic honors, she received her North Carolina Public Librarian certificate in 1994. Later, her work in federal service led to several leadership awards and certificates at the military base level and with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. She is also certified by the U.S. Air Force as a public affairs officer, as well as with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Highly involved in her local community, Ms. DeMark served on the Wayne County United Way executive board and as marketing director from 2000 to 2004. She was later active in forming the first North Carolina Women Veterans Committee from 2011 to 2013, and served on the board of directors for both the Duplin County Beekeepers and Beekeepers of the Neuse from 2014 to 2017. Throughout her Air Force civil service career, Ms. DeMark earned one of the highest recognitions from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for planning, marketing and executing annual air shows at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
A prolific writer, Ms. DeMark was highlighted as a songwriter on the release of a country music album, “Nashville Bound,” in 1990. She then authored the manual, “An Introduction to Computerized Resources and Database Searching in an Academic Library,” in 1993. She later was a main contributor for the book “My Enemy, My Friend” in 2009, a story detailing reconciliation of Brigadier Gen. Dan Cherry during the Vietnam War. Likewise, she was a photo story author for North Carolina State Magazine in 2014, and a freelance writer and photographer for the North Carolina Bee Buzz Magazine from 2014 to 2017. Most recently, Ms. DeMark was featured in local radio and newspapers for beekeeping education and promotion. She was also invited to be the editor for the “North Carolina Beekeepers Association Yellow Book, 100th Anniversary” in 2017.
In honor of her multitudinous accomplishments, Ms. DeMark was named Senior Civilian of the Year by the 4th Fighter Wing Staff Agency in 2004, Air Combat Command Superior Performer in 2008 and Senior Civilian of the Quarter by the 4th Fighter Wing Staff Agency in 2010. Furthermore, her commitment to serving veterans resulted in letters of recognition from the deputy chief of staff of the G-1 U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2012 and she earned the coveted Veterans Administration Mentorship Certification Award in 2013. She was selected for inclusion in the fifth and sixth editions of Who’s Who in American Education and the 57th and 58th editions of Who’s Who in America. Earlier on in her life, Ms. DeMark was the third runner up in the Miss Fayetteville Scholarship Pageant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1980.
It was an honor for Ms. DeMark to be deputized by the Blue Angels public affairs officer to be one of their lead officers during the air show for the incentive flights on their performance aircraft, “Fat Albert.” She attributes her career success to many mentors who inspired her throughout the years, to include Dr. Diane Kester and U.S. Air Force Gen. Norman Seip, Gen. Eric Rosborg, Gen. Steven Kwast and Gen. Jeannie Leavitt.