Skip To Main Content

logo-container sticky

logo-image

header-icons-nav

header-container

search-container

sticky-icons-nav

Alumni Focus - Andrea Marple (Heussner ‘08)

RFWSQMarplAndrea-and-family
RFWMarp-Andrea-children
Andrea Marple (‘08 Heussner)

Andrea Marple (‘08 Heussner) and her husband made a recent life change and became franchise owners of Nautical Bowls in Eagan, MN. Read on about Andrea’s time at St. Croix, healthy fast casual food, and family life. Then go support her alumni-owned business and get some tasty food.

What does St. Croix mean to you?

St. Croix means so much to me. I look back at my time at St. Croix and truly just remember so much good. St. Croix helped me grow in my faith and also allowed me to meet some of my best friends, still to this day!

Did any specific SCLA teachers make a positive impact on you?

Though I graduated what seems like forever ago, Pastor Huebner was always just so kind and left such a positive mark in my life.

You and your husband recently became franchise owners of Nautical Bowls. Could you tell us how that came about and how it’s going?

A few years back, my husband Brant was a Sales Manager for a technology company. Bryant, one of the Nautical Bowls founders, worked as a sales rep for a little while under Brant until he left that role and started Nautical Bowls from scratch with his wife Rachel. We went to their grand opening at their first location in Minnetonka and have stayed in touch with them over the years! 

I worked at Capella University right before we decided to open our Eagan Nautical Bowls. I loved my job, and I loved my team and the culture. However the pandemic happened, and I got sent home to work and fell out of love with the job. I was ready for something new! We found out that Nautical Bowls was going to franchise, and I then knew that was the right next opportunity.

The Grand Opening at our Eagan Nautical Bowls was a day to remember. We had hundreds of guests share the excitement of our opening. Brant and I decided to open a Nautical Bowls because we very much believe in the core values of the company, but also believe in the healthy product we are serving guests and the community. There is such a lack of healthy fast casual options, so being able to serve the community something healthy was truly something I could get behind!

Brant had bought a commercial cleaning company about a year ago so he has more business experience than I, but there certainly has been a huge learning curve. The biggest challenge for me though has been to balance work/home life. We have two little boys (3 year old Mason, and 6 month old Cameron). If I’m not at Nautical Bowls, I’m with them and loving every second of it! They along with Brant are the loves of my life!