A 25-year marketing executive turned entrepreneur, Ruzica Markovic is today the new president and CEO of Pro One Media Productions, a multi-media marketing agency that has been creating “ridiculously effective” commercials, documentaries and corporate videos for nearly 35 years.
Raised in publicly traded, fast-growth companies, Markovic is known for innovating and executing, managing budgets upwards of $40 million. But, that’s not what differentiates her. Nor the fact that she forged her skills in public/investor relations, corporate communications, digital lead generation and advertising all while on a plane somewhere from Dubai to Hyderabad by way of Paris on the way to Santiago.
What differentiates Markovic is she’s a trained journalist who started her career as a press liaison in a war zone in her native Balkans nearly 20 years ago. Forced to flee or face house arrest, she later returned to monitor the first Bosnian election, entering Sarajevo 10 days after the final peace accord was signed — where, upon entry, she was almost mistaken as part of the “prisoner exchange.” Sobering, that experience gave her a deeper understanding of the human condition and honed her ability to connect and compel. “What I learned is that any change is jarring; and nothing is more powerful than a sense of belonging,” says Markovic. “It taught me that people embrace change best when delivered in bite-size pieces — pieces that form a longer narrative and paint a greater vision. They evangelize brands in much the same way.”
For her, the experience underscored the importance of education as the bedrock of democracy and economic sustainability. Over the last decade, she has worked to bring education to the forefront of corporate activism and giving. She worked with the International Federation of Pharmacists and the World Health Organization to raising cross-border competencies, the Bank of Nevada to bring STEM 101 (one of the best STEM programs in the country) to the State of Nevada, and Alliance Bank to leverage CEO concerns throughout Arizona as momentum needed to pass Prop 123.
Undoubtedly, her greatest gift is her inability to hear “no” in the face adversity. Her son is a testament to her tenacity. Faced with countless setbacks and endless procedures, she is today is the proud parent of a thriving, five-year-old boy—a boy whose odds of being born were slim to none. His life is the fabric from which Markovic draws courage and inspiration.
Markovic has a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and serves on the Leadership Circle for Partners in Action, a local nonprofit that has operated more than 30 orphanages and ministries worldwide for more than 30 years.
Company Name: Pro One Media Productions, Inc.
Main Office Address: 7443 E. Butherus Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone: (480) 948-9310
Website: www.proonemedia.com
Number of Locations in Metro Phoenix: 1
Number of Employees: 5-10
City Nationally Headquartered: Scottsdale, AZ
No. of Years with Firm: 3 months
Year Established Locally: 1985
Specialties/Services: Commercial and Corporate Video, TV spots, Documentaries, Short Films, 3-D Motion Graphics/ Animation, Green-Screen Studio
