May 6, 2025

This week’s Up-and-Comer is Brooke Aden, a digital content coordinator for the city of Sioux Falls who focuses on the Parks & Recreation Department. 

Name: Brooke Aden

Age: 22

Hometown: Sioux Falls

What brought you to Sioux Falls?

My parents — I was born and raised here. My dad moved here for work, and my mom grew up here. They got married, planted their roots in Sioux Falls and started a family. Brooke enters stage right.

What keeps you in Sioux Falls?

At first, I wanted to say my job, but now it’s so much more. For a long time, I wanted to move away after college. I didn’t want my post-grad life to look exactly the way it did in high school. But when I was asked if I wanted to intern back at the city of Sioux Falls for a third summer, I couldn’t turn it down. Teenage Brooke turned that internship into a full-time job with insurance and everything, and now I’m 22 and a proud member of the South Dakota Retirement System. It’s funny how fast things change.

After spending some time back at home, I realized there are plenty of reasons to stay in Sioux Falls. Spencer Park in the fall, the sunsets and sunrises, Bagel Boy, the Arboretum, the largest one-story mall in America, a giant waterfall on the edge of downtown, the pink quartzite, an 18-foot-tall cast of Michelangelo’s David that took years of deliberation with the Italian government — I can keep going. I’ve started to appreciate and embrace the quirks of Sioux Falls; it’s a great place to grow up.

What’s your favorite thing about your job? 

When I say my job is a dream, I’m not just saying that because I feel like my co-workers will read this. I’m saying that because it is.

Growing up, I always needed a creative outlet. Whether it was taking photos, editing vlog-style videos of my friends, making terrible art, co-hosting a radio show, blogging, designing or recharging in nature, I always knew those were the types of things I was meant to do. So, when I scored my job as digital content coordinator supporting Parks & Rec, I got really lucky.

Everything I love doing outside of work, I now do for work every single day. I get to make a highlight reel of the parks I made friendship bracelets in. The parks I scored goals in. The parks that grew up with me. I’ve watched our parks transform into a beautifully maintained system that’s connected by a 36-mile paved trail loop.

I love parks, and I love nature, and I love taking pictures of parks and nature, so managing Parks & Rec’s social media is simply my best-case scenario.

I would love to say my favorite thing about my job is everything, but if I had to pick one thing, it would be the Adobe Creative Suite.

How did you get connected to your industry?

It was an accident. I was in college one day stressing about applying for internships, so I googled “communications and marketing internship,” and the city of Sioux Falls was the first one that popped up. SEO is a very powerful thing! I also personally aligned with the job description, so I applied on a whim, got an interview, got a second interview and got the job!

It’s so inspiring to work with such intelligent people and feel empowered by my leadership to create something new out of a place I’ve always known. I will say, I got really lucky to end up with the gig and the people that I did. The city is a place where I feel like I belong and that I’m doing good work that benefits the quality of life of our community.

Describe your workplace in three words.

Wonderful. Refreshing. Brilliant.

What is something someone might be surprised to learn about you?

I listen to classical music sometimes. It’s calming, OK! I have a playlist of my classical bangers that I listen to, and I’m tired of feeling shy about it. There are really great pop orchestra covers on there. If you want to try something new today, please give classical music a chance.

I mean, seriously, Tchaikovsky knows what’s up.

What’s your favorite way to give back to your community?

I’m in a really interesting position where anyone can see the work I do on Parks & Recreation’s social media accounts. Other people’s jobs aren’t like that. So it’s crazy that I’m the one that has the power to show thousands of people the joy of Sioux Falls parks.

There are so many facets of Parks & Rec that people don’t see, and that’s what I want to focus on. Our team mows lawns in beautiful patterns, they pick weeds so our parks are picnic spots and not jungles, they clean up vandalism under bridges, they clear snow in blizzards, and they keep our medians in tip-top shape — yeah, that’s us. They’re doing the work that oftentimes goes unnoticed, but that work is the reason why people love our parks and keep coming back to them. Not to mention the joy that the recreation team brings to our children, parents, grandparents, dogs and more.

The smiles I see from community members in photos at our events may be through a screen, but they’re real. I get to see projects that might be blueprints now but will be up and running in 2028, and these facilities will benefit a lot of Sioux Falls residents. That magic is real. And it’s here! Right now! And I get to show you all of it! And people comment back, saying how much they love our parks, our programs and our team.

I could go on and on about this, but I love showing Sioux Falls a side of the city they wouldn’t normally see. I love showing people that their tax dollars are being used to care for and nurture a parks system that will be beloved for decades to come. I love showing people how they can be involved in the master planning of our city.

My job touches a lot of people, and that’s the way I like to give back — by showing them how good they really have it here.

What’s one business you’d like to see in Sioux Falls that isn’t here now?

Whataburger. Yes, I prefer this over In-N-Out burger, but nothing will top the BibiSol Burger Battle (entry). That was the best burger I’ve ever had.

If you had $1 million to start a business, what kind of business would it be?

Snow cone shop. Easy. Snow cones are an underrated frozen dessert that I’m incredibly passionate about. I see a need in our Sioux Falls community, and that need is high-quality snow cones.

Snow cones with finely milled ice, a variety of flavors and toppings, and decorated beautifully because that would be grounds for optimal Instagrammable content. That Instagrammable snow cone would generate buzz on social media, causing more people to come to our shop and take more pictures for social media, creating more free advertising for us. It would also have many aesthetic photo opportunities on the inside with neon signs, lava lamps and colorful wallpaper. No, it would not be self-serve; we would have classically trained snow cone artists making your gourmet snow cones — but I’d also want to keep prices as low as possible. A place to sit, socialize, take a cute pic and eat a really good snow cone. Sioux Falls needs snow cones.

The working name is Chill Bill’s, but I’m open to other suggestions. I’ll give you bonus points if your name is Bill, and you can give me $1 million to make this dream a reality.

I know exactly the plot of land that it would go on too — and it’s for sale right now but definitely out of my price range. Donors, if you are interested in this incredible business opportunity, I’m open to sponsorships. Call me.