‘Undercover Director’ goes behind the scenes at local businesses

Dawn Mushill balanced on the roof of a storage shed, hooked a lanyard on a steel peg and began to climb a 180-foot-tall Wisper Internet tower in Belleville.

The smiling redhead was wearing a full-body harness, hard hat and other safety equipment over her red T-shirt and blue jeans.

“It’s a little windy up here, people!” she said, yelling down to a video camera being operated by an intern with Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce.

It appears that Dawn, the chamber’s executive director, will do just about anything to promote her members.

In January, she helped create a web video series called “Undercover Director” to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at stores, offices, restaurants and boutiques.

“We’re having a blast,” said Dawn, 50, of Troy, who also is a motivational speaker with a flair for comedy. “We do it unscripted, except for the voice-overs. I just talk.”

One of her strategies is posing as an employee or customer at businesses. She has skated at a roller rink, barbecued at a restaurant, bathed a dog at a grooming shop and gotten her eyebrows threaded at a spa.

Intern Sydney Dunn records, edits and posts two- to three-minute videos on the chamber’s Facebook page and website at www.troycoc.com.

Sydney, 21, is an Olney native studying mass communications at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She’s volunteering for the chamber job to build up her portfolio.

“I’m going into advertising,” she said. “I have a strong interest in TV and radio, and I really like doing video work.”

Sydney has posted nine videos so far. The ones on Tri-Township Park Petting Zoo and Kelly’s Butcher Shop in Troy have received more than 15,000 hits each.

Dawn has been with the chamber 16 years, helping to grow it from 111 to 446 members. “Undercover Director” was the brainchild of board president Chad Davis.

Dawn dove into the project, despite suffering two stress-related heart attacks last year, one in May and one in September.

“I enjoy doing the videos,” she said. “I get to show a little bit of my personality, and I get to get out of the office more.”

Dawn and Sydney showed up on a recent morning at Wisper, a wireless Internet provider based in Belleville.

CEO Nathan Stooke, 39, of O’Fallon, started the company in his garage in 2003. Today, he has 55 employees who serve 11,500 customers around St. Louis and Joplin, Mo.

“We thought (the video) would be a perfect way to help us explain our company,” he said. “We’re not like the big guys. We’re local, and we have a good time while taking care of our customers.”

Dawn didn’t really climb the 180-foot-tall tower, but she did stand on pegs 20 feet in the air, which made her feel like she was jumping out of an airplane.

She also tried her hand at customer service, pretending to answer calls and cracking up other employees with her fictional explanations of technical issues.

Dawn and Sydney are working their way through a list of other chamber members who want videos done on their businesses. Sydney hopes to have 20 under her belt by semester’s end.

“We strive to be the best chamber in the universe,” Dawn said. “The more services you provide, the more (members) tell other people who want to join.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 12:10 AM with the headline "‘Undercover Director’ goes behind the scenes at local businesses."