Turning Communication into Innovation: Entrepreneur Celebrates 20 Years of Success

If you don’t know what you want to do, Lake Land is the best step to sort through your career options and if you do know what you want to do, Lake Land is an option that lets you dive into that industry right away.

If anyone was ever destined to tell stories for a living, it would surely be Cassie Yoder. A chatterbox since she was a little girl – and with the detention slips to prove it – Cassie has always possessed a unique love for community and a knack for building connection through words.

With her passion for storytelling and natural charisma, Cassie always felt right at home in front of lights, cameras and microphones. On her 16th birthday, Cassie landed her first broadcasting job with the Cromwell Radio Group of Decatur, and by the time she graduated from high school, she was a budding radio star. With talent and experience already in spades, Cassie decided to take the next steps in her career by enrolling in Lake Land’s Radio & TV Broadcasting program, where she would work with real industry equipment from day one.

At Lake Land, Cassie solidified her passion for storytelling and, perhaps more importantly, gained a lifelong friend and mentor in Ken Beno. Serving then as the Director of Broadcast Operations, Ken taught countless courses and oversaw the campus radio station, WLKL. For Cassie, Ken provided guidance and career advice, helping her identify her unique strengths. Even after Cassie transferred to Eastern Illinois University, she continued to learn from Ken by working in Lake Land’s Radio & TV program as a teaching assistant.

“Ken was always relentless to help you become better and help you grow,” Cassie said. “I can’t reiterate enough how choosing Lake Land and meeting him changed the trajectory of my life.”

Through Ken’s guidance, Cassie came to realize that her passion for storytelling could lead to many careers beyond radio. At EIU, she studied corporate communications and public relations, and shortly after graduating in 2005, she landed a job as a Marketing and Event Coordinator for the University of Illinois’ Allerton Park. Through this role, she built an impressive network of business owners and community leaders, a network so vast that the same year Cassie graduated from college, she decided to start her own marketing firm, Cass Concepts.

Located in Decatur, Illinois, Cass Concepts is a full-service creative marketing agency dedicated to helping clients build messaging, plan and execute events, promote products and more. Run through the motto, “Community over Competition,” the firm serves organizations of all sizes, from nationwide brands to local businesses, and supports regional development by working with city officials, administrators and chambers.

“The common thread between every client is that they all have unique stories, and we want to help tell them,” Cassie said. “That fundamentally goes right back to Storytelling 101 with Ken.”

Each year, Cass Concepts continues to excel. In 2024, the Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce honored the agency as the “Small Business of the Year” and named Cassie “Entrepreneur of the Year.” In 2025, Cass Concepts reached an incredible milestone: 20 years in business, a testament to the thriving, supportive community Cassie has cultivated.

Cass Concepts’ 20th anniversary was not the only milestone for Cassie to celebrate in 2025, however, as this year also marked the 50th anniversary of Lake Land’s campus radio station, WLKL. In recognition of this milestone year, Cassie and many other Radio & TV alumni returned to campus to celebrate the program’s ongoing success and reunite with familiar friends. But of course, the most memorable reunion came between Cassie, the successful business owner living her dreams, and Ken Beno, the mentor who taught her how to achieve them.

“Time has moved so quickly, but sitting there at the awards, hearing Ken’s voice – it was like no time had passed at all,” Cassie said. “I closed my eyes for a moment, and it was as if I was 18 again, full of huge dreams and believing I could take on the world. His encouragement and unwavering belief in me left a mark I still carry. I only hope I’ve passed that same kind of impact on to others.”