Becca Malcik is a getter-doner who went years without feeding her creative side in her career. But in her position as Magnolia’s first-ever partnership marketing manager, she gets to do both.
WACOAN writer Susan Bean Aycock caught a break in her busy schedule recently to find out more about how the iconic Waco-based company liaises with outside partners to jointly tell their products’ stories. Because even Mattel’s new Joanna Gaines Barbie has a backstory.
Give me pointers on your name, please!
My full name is Rebecca, which is on everything legal, but the closer you are to me, the shorter my name gets. I go by Becca most of the time and my family calls me Bec. My last name is pronounced ‘Moll-chick.’
Tell me about your hometown, family and education.
I was born and raised in Waco and graduated from Midway High School. I have two older sisters and my parents still live in the same house I grew up in! My parents both recently retired, my dad after 23 years as CFO/COO of Waco Physician Group and my mom after 22 years as a senior HR director at JULY Business Services. My oldest sister is an OB-GYN in Oklahoma, and my middle sister is a clinical manager of Critical Care Services at Children’s [Medical Center] in Dallas.
I grew up playing Midway Little League and my dad was my coach. We went to the Little League World Series twice — we won the World Series Championship my first year and finished runner-up my second year. It’s a full circle moment to be coaching my girls and serving on the board of Midway Little League and as a softball commissioner now.
I graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in psychology, and met my husband, Tabor, during my senior year, then moved to Ohio for a year to nanny for my sister while she and her husband finished their medical residencies. When I came back to Texas, I moved to Bryan/College Station. We’ve been back in Waco for about nine years.
How did you transition from legal work into marketing?
I started my career doing paralegal work and managing a team of paralegals at the Daniel Stark law firm in Bryan/College Station. A few years in, the firm decided to bring its marketing in-house rather than continue to work with a third-party agency. I had always felt like I wasn’t fully tapping into the creative side of my brain in my position, so I threw my name in the hat and thankfully they gave me the opportunity even though I had no formal marketing experience.
That role jump-started my career marketing and brand storytelling. I spent the next several years marketing through billboards, commercials and community events while creating broader brand and marketing strategies. That was where I really found my stride and realized that marketing was a natural fit for the way my brain works. I love creativity, but I also need the balance of strategy behind it: the why, the audience, the goal and how all the pieces work together.
I wasn’t looking for another job, but an opportunity came along to become marketing director for The Findery, a home furniture and clothing store in downtown Waco. It gave me the chance to stretch creatively and learn another side of marketing, particularly in retail and consumer-facing brands.
So marketing turned out to be a good fit for you?
Once I found marketing, it felt like I had finally found the right fit. I’ve always been an achiever — I like to get things done, solve problems and figure out how to move something forward.
Then there’s my creative side: coming up with an idea, telling a story, thinking about how something should look or feel. I think that intersection of creativity, strategy and execution is where I’m at my best. I don’t necessarily want to just come up with the big idea, and I don’t want to only execute a plan. I really enjoy being able to see the bigger picture, help shape the idea and then work collaboratively with talented people who bring their own expertise and perspective to it. Marketing gave me a career where I could use those two sides of myself at once.
Although you started at Magnolia on its merch team, tell me about your current role as Partnership Marketing Manager.
It was a new position when I stepped into it two years ago, so I’ve had the unique opportunity to help shape what partnership marketing looks like at Magnolia. At its core, my job is figuring out how we bring Magnolia and another brand together in a way that feels authentic to both. Our partnerships span a wide range so no two projects look alike. My role is to understand what we’re trying to accomplish through each partnership, identify the story we want to tell and then help build the strategy for how that story comes to life for our guests.
I work collaboratively across a lot of different teams to bring all those pieces together. Internally, that might mean determining how a partnership shows up across social media, email, text, our website, PR, paid media, print, signage or by an in-person experience. Externally, I work closely with our partners on their marketing plans — making sure we’re aligned on the strategy, how Magnolia and our brands are represented and how both sides can use their platforms to support what we’re trying to accomplish together.
There isn’t a roadmap because every partnership is different. One project might be a product launch with a major retailer; another might involve creating an experience here in Waco; the next might be figuring out how two brands can tell a story together in a way neither could do on its own. It requires us to constantly think differently, solve new problems and come up with creative ways to bring these partnerships to life. It’s ever-changing, collaborative and really exciting work.
Tell me about some of those marketing partnerships.
One of our most recognizable partnerships is Hearth & Hand with Magnolia at Target. With a partnership of that scale, there are always new collections, products and stories to tell, and I get to work closely with our Partnerships team and the Target team on how we bring those moments to life across both of our brands and channels.
The fun part is how different our partnerships can be. Joanna and the Loloi [rug company based in Dallas] team have been collaborating on rug and pillow collections for 10 years. My role is how we market that partnership and bring the stories behind those collections to life. Sometimes that’s supporting a new collection through a traditional marketing campaign, but it can also become something much more experiential. This year we celebrated our 10-year partnership [with Loloi] through a ‘Decade of Design’ event at Hotel 1928, where we took the story beyond a product or social post and completely transformed the hotel with rugs from the new collection.
I loved leading the marketing plan for Joanna’s children’s book, ‘The World Needs the Wonder You See.’ We supported the book through traditional marketing channels like digital and paid media, but we also wanted to find ways for kids and families to experience the heart of the story. We created a scavenger hunt at the Silos that brought the book to life and collaborated with our food team to create a book-inspired cupcake. Joanna wanted to share the story directly with kids, so we worked with local schools to arrange classroom visits where she read her book to students and surprised them with cupcakes and their own books.
Then there are partnerships that take us into completely different spaces. Chip and Jo appeared together on ‘Shark Tank,’ and Jo has partnered with MasterClass to share more about her creative and design process.
So Mattel would be one of those partners with the new Joanna Barbie?
The opportunity came to Jo to create her own Barbie, and it was really a dream project for her. She worked closely with Mattel to incorporate pieces of her own childhood into both the Barbie and the townhouse. The whole collection has a 1970s influence — her birth year, 1978, is on Barbie’s T-shirt — and Barbie wears roller skates because Jo loved skating as a kid. She still occasionally skates around the office.
Jo designed the townhouse as a nod to the little girl she was — the things she loved, the era she grew up in and the creativity she had even then. She even included removable stickers, which Mattel did for the first time, so kids could design their own space.
We had so much fun thinking about how we could let people experience that story beyond simply seeing Joanna’s Barbie on a shelf. We launched the collaboration at Silobration and created a life-sized version of the townhouse, along with a life-sized Barbie box where guests could step inside and take photos. We hid special vouchers around the grounds for Barbies signed by Joanna and worked with the bakery to create Barbie-inspired cupcakes.
What makes this job a good fit for you?
I care deeply about people and about doing good work that matters, and I think the combination of those two things has served me well in my role marketing Magnolia’s partnerships. I’m naturally relational and collaborative, and so much of my job is about bringing people and ideas together.
I really enjoy being able to see both the big picture and the details. I want to understand the larger story we’re trying to tell and why it matters, but I also love figuring out all the individual pieces that have to come together to tell that story well. There’s a lot of creativity in that, but also a lot of problem-solving, organization and follow-through, which is a combination that really fits how
I’m wired.
Because I’m so invested in my work, it matters to me that what we create feels thoughtful and true to the Magnolia brand. I’ve found a role that allows me to care about the people I’m working with, the quality of the work we’re putting into the world and the way we bring it all to life.
What have you learned so far in this position?
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that it’s not only OK to make time to be creative — it’s really important. I’m naturally an achiever who likes to get things done, and I used to feel that being productive meant having something tangible to show for my time. I’ve learned that sometimes the most productive thing I can do is give myself space to think.
There really isn’t a roadmap or formula for a lot of the work we do. Every partnership is different, and sometimes the obvious answer isn’t necessarily the most interesting or meaningful one. We have to give ourselves permission to think differently, ask ‘What if?’ and explore ideas that may or may not go anywhere.
Some of our best ideas have come from creating that space — whether it’s blocking off time to think on my own, getting out of the office for inspiration or sitting around a table with other creative people and throwing ideas around. I’ve learned not to feel guilty about protecting time for that. Creativity is part of the work, not something you get to after the work is done.
Do you have a ‘normal’ workday, or are they all different?
They’re all different, and that’s honestly one of my favorite things about my job. In one week, I might be in a meeting with a partner talking through product launching strategy six months from now, reviewing creative for a campaign that launches in a few weeks, working with our social, PR, digital and creative teams on how we’re going to support another partnership, and then walking around the Silos figuring out how we could turn the space into an experience for an upcoming launch.
I could be reviewing a photoshoot concept in the morning and talking through retail signage in the afternoon. I might be working with our food team on a cupcake inspired by a children’s book, brainstorming an influencer event for a new product launch or sitting with our Partnerships team trying to figure out the most compelling way to tell a partner’s story. There are plenty of spreadsheets, timelines and approvals mixed in there — the less glamorous side of making all those fun ideas actually happen!
I know you can’t talk about things you’re working on, but what are some long-range projects that have recently come to fruition?
I would definitely be spoiling some things if I told you what we’re working on right now. We’re often working so far ahead that by the time something launches, we’ve been talking about it internally for months and sometimes years.
We launched the Magnolia Table frozen foods line last year, but what customers see in the freezer aisle is the culmination of a long process that started with Joanna and our food team developing the products, followed by many rounds of recipe development, taste-testing, packaging and refining every detail. It was really important that the products felt true to Joanna — that we were using real ingredients and creating something we felt good about putting our name on.
The line is really about creating a thoughtful shortcut. We know people want to gather around the table and make something that feels special for their families, but they may not have time to make everything from scratch. These products give them a little help without asking them to compromise on the experience.
Why do you think Magnolia’s brand and storytelling still resonate with people after all these years?
Much of it comes back to the fact that Magnolia is still deeply rooted in Joanna’s vision. It’s not one she established years ago and then stepped away from — she’s still incredibly involved in shaping where the brand goes, what we create and most importantly, why we’re creating it.
At the heart of Magnolia is the idea of making space for meaningful moments in life and home. It’s written into our Magnolia Manifesto, but it’s also something we genuinely come back to in our work. It gives us a consistent lens to look through, even as Magnolia has grown into so many different categories.
I think that’s why the brand has been able to evolve without constantly chasing what’s next. Of course we pay attention to what’s happening in the world, but the heart behind what we do is much more timeless than any one trend. We’re always asking how something can add meaning, beauty or intention to everyday life.
I think people can feel that consistency. The products, partnerships and platforms may change, but the desire to help people create meaningful moments in their lives and homes is still at the center of it all.
Tell me about Silobration, which is coming up this month.
Silobration is our big annual celebration of Magnolia, the Silos and the community that has grown around them. This year marks the 11th Silobration, happening October 23 through 26.
Last year, I was heavily involved as we began expanding the sponsorship side of Silobration and thinking about how outside brands could be part of the event in a way that still felt really natural to Magnolia. This year, we have an incredible team leading the way, and I get to support them — particularly through the partnerships I manage and finding thoughtful ways for some of those brands to come alongside what the team is creating.
What’s it like working for Magnolia?
One of my favorite things about working at Magnolia is the people. There are so many incredibly talented, creative people here who are really good at what they do, and who have a genuine willingness to collaborate. I work alongside people with expertise completely different from my own — designers, photographers, writers, food experts, merchants and creative directors — and I’m constantly learning from them.
The best work rarely comes from one person or one team, but from a lot of talented people bringing their perspective to the table and making the idea better together. There’s something really rewarding about working for a company where the work feels meaningful. We care deeply about the details and about putting things into the world that we’re proud of.
Outside of work, what are your hobbies and interests?
Most of my personal time is spent with family and friends — and probably more time than I’d like to admit on a softball field. I’m the head coach of my older daughter’s Waco Warriors travel softball team, and I also coach my younger daughter’s Midway Little League team. I serve on the Midway Little League board and am a softball commissioner, so I spend a lot of time helping support and grow the program beyond just the teams I coach. Coaching is a huge passion of mine. I love getting to pour into young girls during such a formative time in their lives.
One of my favorite things is playing card games with Tabor and the kids in the evenings. We’re a competitive family, so even a simple card game can get pretty serious around our house. Those everyday things — being around a table together, cooking with my mom, riding bikes with my dad, sitting at a ball field with people we love — are genuinely some of my favorite ways to spend time.
I’m also working on a children’s book that’s very personal to our family. When my younger daughter, Nora, was 10 months old, doctors discovered a brain tumor. She underwent an extensive surgery followed by complications and additional surgeries, and it was an incredibly difficult season for our family. The book tells the story through Nora’s eyes. My hope is that it can become a resource for families walking through something similar that helps make a really scary experience feel a little less scary and reminds them that courage can exist even in the middle of hard things.
How is it living in your hometown as an adult?
One of the greatest gifts of living in Waco is getting to raise our kids close to family. Both Tabor’s and my parents are here, and we have an incredible community of friends who have become family. There’s something special about getting to raise my own children in the place that raised me.
