Vice president of marketing, Iowa Lottery

Teri Wood TeBockhorst likes solving problems and making things come together.

She’s passionate about the arts and about helping people. And she likes challenging herself.

Wood has used those skills and passions throughout a marketing career that has led to her becoming vice president of marketing for the Iowa Lottery. She has also used them to become heavily involved in several community organizations, including Hoyt Sherman Place, Blank Park Zoo and the John Stoddard Cancer Center.

“The great thing about working in marketing or any form of media is that you are solving a problem that somebody has,” Wood said. “Sometimes they don’t even know that they have that problem. It helps you help them accomplish their goals. How much more fun could you have in a job?”

Wood came to Des Moines in 1985 to become the third employee of R&R Realty Group. A supporter of the arts, among the first organizations she got involved with was the Des Moines Community Playhouse, where she worked on special effects for the production of “Dracula.”

From there, her career, and her involvement in the community, took off.

Wood spent 20 years at Clear Channel Outdoor Advertising, and from 1993 to 2006 was the president of the company’s Des Moines division. In 2007, she took a chance and started her own business, East Village Books.

That store closed in 2008, but along the way she said she gained good memories, including attracting best-selling authors to the store, and valuable experience.

“I learned what I’m made of,” Wood said. “I learned how to be very honest with myself. I learned that I’m a lot stronger than I ever knew I was. I’m a lot more creative than I thought I was. And people are inherently very supportive if you just ask them for their support.”

Outside work, Wood has always been passionate about the arts. Her father was a musician, as is her husband. That passion has led her to her current position on the board of directors at Hoyt Sherman Place.

“I believe the arts speak to the whole cultural experience,” she said. “I believe that in order to have a vibrant life, no matter where you live, there has to be culture surrounding it, no matter what it is that you’re involved in.”

In addition, she has been heavily involved on the Blank Park Zoo board of directors since 1996, and served as chairman in 2008. Wood is also involved on the John Stoddard Cancer Center board.

“I’m very passionate (about those places) because they all serve different audiences,” Wood said. “They are all things that have impacted our life.