Melissa Hoffbeck of Burnsville now knows: It’s never too late for dreams to come true.
Hoffbeck, 35, a senior financial analyst at Best Buy, realized a longtime dream on Friday, Jan. 25, when she was crowned the 2013 Aurora, Queen of the Snows of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
Her dream began in 1996, while she was serving as a South St. Paul festival princess.
“We spent so much time with the St. Paul Winter Carnival royal family,” Hoffbeck said. “I remember thinking, ‘I want to do that someday.’ ”
Someday wasn’t happening, though.
Instead, after a number of years, Hoffbeck found herself drained from working long hours (at a previous job).
“You wake up one day and you think, ‘How did I get here and what am I doing?’ ” she said.
She began re-evaluating her life.
“I thought: ‘What makes me happy? What haven’t I done?’ ” Hoffbeck said. “I didn’t want to live with regrets.”
Her road to the crown began last summer.
“In August, I was attending a South St. Paul past royalty meeting,” Hoffbeck said. “There were 12 of us and as we went around the room, I learned that five people had run for Winter Carnival. I thought, ‘Why haven’t I done this? This is on my bucket list!’ ”
Hoffbeck has roots and connections with the Winter Carnival royal family. Her uncle, Bill Hocking, served as the 1988 Prince of the South Wind. Her sponsor, SevenHills Benefit Partners, is headed by Christopher Schneeman, the 2009 King Boreas LXXIII. Other Winter Carnival connections are not as official, but just as important: On their first date, her mother, Wendy, and her stepfather, Bob, visited the 1986 ice palace at Lake Phalen.
Hoffbeck’s own roots began on a dairy farm in Redwood Falls, Minn. When she was 6, tragedy struck.
“My dad passed away in a farming accident,” she said. “He was 34.”
This changed the course of Hoffbeck’s life, especially after her mom remarried.
“We moved to the ‘big city’ — South St. Paul,” Hoffbeck said. “South St. Paul is funny, though. Even though it has a population of about 25,000, it feels like a small-town community. Everybody knows each other, they are close-knit, people want to belong. I loved living there. We had a wonderful life, growing up there.”
She also was steeped in St. Paul culture.
“My stepdad was a St. Paul guy,” she said. “I grew up touring the city.”
And attending the Winter Carnival, of course.
“The ice palace, the ice sculptures, it was all a big deal,” she said. “When I was growing up, you just got out there and did this.”
After finishing the lower grades at Lincoln Center Elementary in South St. Paul, Hoffbeck went on to attend South St. Paul Secondary, graduating in 1996. She is a 2000 graduate of the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and a 2010 graduate of the University of St Thomas with a master’s of business administration in finance.
Her previous employers include Piper Jaffray, MoneyGram and General Mills, “where I supported Hamburger Helper.”
Now, she’s “supporting the Geek Squad” at Best Buy. She fits in.
“I am a little bit of a geek,” she admitted. “I love building Excel spreadsheets.”
Can a geek also be regal? Apparently, yes.
“We had 16 wonderful candidates of terrific, talented, professional women, so it was not an easy decision,” said Melissa Moser, head judge of the coronation. “In the end, it was unanimous. Melissa fit all the criteria: We look for professionalism, poise, good communication skills, intelligence, manners, warmth and friendliness, sincerity, the ability to work within a team and the ability to relate to others.”
That’s because the queen does not serve alone; the royal family includes four princesses.
“It’s not just one woman, it’s five women, and so we need to look at who can work together as a team as well as who can lead the team, because we want the queen to be a leader,” Moser said. “Obviously, if you look at her resume, Melissa exudes leadership skills.”
Beyond her business finesse, Hoffbeck’s interests include downhill skiing. As someone who was diagnosed with celiac disease, she also is passionate about how to live well on a gluten-free diet.
On Saturday, as Hoffbeck chatted with people in the lobby of the St. Paul Hotel, her supporters in attendance included her mom. It is a time they wish they could share with her stepdad, who died in 2008.
But Hoffbeck is trying to keep the bigger picture in mind as she begins a year serving as an ambassador for St. Paul.
“It’s not about me,” she said. “It’s about the community and the people we encounter along the way. It’s about all of us carrying on a tradition that is 127 years old.”
Molly Guthrey can be reached at 651-228-5505.
Copyright 2013 Pioneer Press.