When Murphy Grotewold had her eyes out for a job after graduating from optometry school, she wanted to find one at a community-minded company in a “Mankato-like” city that provided great opportunities to its citizens.
When she saw a job posting, she focused on Carlson-Tillisch Eye Clinic, where she had shadowed doctors while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Minnesota State University. And in relocating here in 2018, she delved into many of the opportunities Mankato offers to give back.
Those efforts earned her the Young Professional of the Year Award for 2023 from Greater Mankato Growth.
“I just want to always give back, and I feel like that’s just how we build a better town and area for everyone,” she said in an interview about a week after receiving the award this month. That begins in her work as an optometrist but continues naturally into what she does in her off work hours.
Growing up in the small town of Gowrie, Iowa, Grotewold, 31, has always been involved in theater and dance. She even considered becoming a theater major. Her vision changed in high school, leading her to community college and then MSU. Then to optometry school in Bloomington, Illinois.
“I love that I’m able to be an optometrist, but then still be involved with theater,” she said. It’s a love she shares with her husband, Blake, whom she married in 2013. “That led me to Merely Players (Community Theatre),” where she serves as board president.
“Murphy has been an integral part of the growth and success of Merely Players since joining the MP Board of Directors in 2020,” said Susan Olson, general manager. “She advocates for a balance of professionalism and passion and fun, which aligns with our mission statement perfectly.”
And her involvement with the Young Professionals program of GMG provided connections that have helped fill out a board that had been understaffed.
“She also implemented several workshop days for the board and staff where real results were seen and items that were on the back burner for a long time got tackled and were no longer on the ‘when we have time’ list,” said Maggie Maes, board member and former artistic director.
When she auditioned for “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 2020, Grotewold was impressed by the nearly 40-year history of Merely Players. But some key people had stepped away, as happens with many nonprofits that rely on volunteers, and she saw opportunities for growth.
“It’s been my goal to try to just build that organization up and just leave it better than where I found it,” is how she described her work. With her connections, she helped build the board from four members to its current 12, with each new person bringing new ideas and energy.
With those new board members also comes the balance mentioned by Olson.
“The theater draws so many creative talents, which is great. We need super creative people. But I like to think that it’s a good yin and yang thing. Be sure to (also) focus on the policy and procedure side of things,” she said.
Family is also important to Grotewold, said fellow Carlson-Tillisch doctor G. John Lach. That certainly shows in her personal contributions to helping people see the great things the Greater Mankato area has to offer. Specifically, her sister and parents.
After seeing how she enjoyed Mankato and Minnesota State University, Grotewold’s sister, Delaney Conrad, chose Mankato. She even lived with her sister and husband for one year.
Then her mother, Jenny Conrad, who had spent a nearly 35-year career as a labor and delivery nurse in the same hospital, was considering a career change. Instead, she found a job posting at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. She and husband Mike made the move here.
A retired educator, her dad considered looking for substitute teaching jobs. Instead, he now teaches science for sixth- through eighth-graders at Loyola High School.
It’s as an optometrist that she finds her greatest fulfillment. She has found great rewards working with young patients, she said.
In addition, she works with a variety of specialty contact lenses, including scleral lenses for people who suffer from keratoconus. When the cornea gets thinner and bulges outward into a cone shape, contacts can cause irritation. Scleral lenses are larger and touch only on the whites of the eye, reducing the need for corneal transplant, she said.
This in-person work feeds into work she does through state optometric organizations to help expand the scope of eye care that is available.
Without even blinking, Grotewold has become a strong advocate for her adopted hometown.
“I really love Mankato,” she said. “I think we live in an amazing area.”