Mara Hitner, or @3DPGirl for her twitter followers, couldn’t have chosen a better Twitter handle.
She wasn’t meant for 3D Printing in the first place though, as she started her career as a Rock singer! Her passion for 3D Printing, as well as her persistence, got her into the industry in 2015, as she joined MatterHackers.
Nora Toure: Mara, could you let us know about your background and what brought you into 3D printing in the first place?
Mara Hitner: I was in advertising sales for 16 years and hated it, but had no idea what else I’d want to do. I saw 3D printing in an episode of “Elementary” and it got me curious enough to do a little research. I was so inspired by what people were doing with 3D printing – prototypes and bio-printing and just making things at home.
I never thought about people making things at all! As a salesperson, all I knew to do if I wanted to get to know players in a brand new field was to find a tradeshow and get to know everyone on the expo floor.
So I spent $1500 of my own money to fly to Seattle for 3D Printer World Expo 2014, got myself a room in the host hotel, and proceeded to spend three days introducing myself to everyone and collecting business cards. I followed up with everyone I met for months, and purchased a Printrbot Simple Metal from MatterHackers (hoping that would make them notice me!)
Six months later I got caught in massive layoffs at my advertising job, and the next day I was offered the position of Director of Business Development at MatterHackers. It was all meant to be.
Read the rest at Women in 3D Printing
