2 Dixon women showcased in ‘Slay the USA’ book series’ latest entry

DIXON – Two Dixon women are featured in the latest entry of a popular book series.

"Slay the USA" is a book collection highlighting influential and inspirational women leaving their mark on cities around the United States. Author Leigh Clark said each installment features personal stories from resilient women who have found power in the vulnerability of sharing their stories.

“Every woman that’s part of this project has to be open, authentic and vulnerable,” Clark said. “It’s not an ego project. It’s a collective. We end up with some pretty interesting women who are go-getters and open books. These women become good friends and support each other’s businesses endlessly.”

Clark is a business strategist, speaker and four-time bestselling author. She also runs a nonprofit and began writing her first collective book, “Living Kindly,” after the COVID-19 pandemic halted her plans to publish a book about the generosity of spirit.

“I’m like, nobody wants to hear about this right now,” Clark said. “We were all at our wit’s end, and there was no bandwidth for that back then.”

However, the experience of writing “Living Kindly” made a lasting impression on Clark, who said that, despite having spent years in professional settings with women she admired, she had never truly gotten to know them. It was that realization that inspired her “Slay the USA” series.

“Slaying Chicago” is the sixth book in Clark’s series and features personal stories from Genesis Hey Krick and Heather Huffman of Dixon.

Genesis Hey Krick

Krick is an executive business coach specializing in helping entrepreneurs scale and grow their businesses. She is also a certified life and career coach and has written several books.

“My focus is to help with a productivity mindset and helping people shift from a busy state to a workflow state so that they can achieve more by doing less,” Krick said. “The idea is that we can thrive and feel like we’re doing what we love, rather than just surviving through the day.”

Krick grew up in Dixon but moved to Chicago, where she worked with underprivileged youths, facilitated workshops for businesses and helped individuals use strategies to create action plans for success in their lives. She eventually moved to California but came back to Dixon in 2012 after discovering she was pregnant.

“I ended up becoming a single parent and learned a whole new set of skills from the experience,” Krick said. “I’ve since remarried and I’m now a mom of four. So, I realize the uphill battle and climb, if you will, to try and structure the day so that everything flows the way that it’s supposed to.”

Since then, Krick has developed workshops to help parents balance raising children and building successful careers. She met Clark several years ago in Florida when they were both speaking at a working women’s event, which eventually led to her involvement in Clark’s “Slaying Tampa Bay” and “Slaying Sarasota” books.

“A couple of years later, she reached out to me and said, ‘I am starting this amazing idea where I’m bringing women together, and I want you to be a part of the project,‘” Krick said. “So, it’s like an evolution of relationship as you get to know people and see more of their story and their heart and what they’re all about.”

Another professional relationship Krick has watched grow is with her coaching client, Heather Huffman, whom she recommended for inclusion in “Slaying Chicago.”

Heather Huffman

Huffman owns Lena’s Social Club restaurant and bar with her husband, Greg. The pair, who originally are from Dixon, were living in Kansas City, Missouri, when they decided to return home and follow their dream. Before that, Heather managed a large insurance call center.

“Lena’s Social Club was born out of a deeply personal journey,” Huffman said. “After years of climbing the corporate ladder and pushing myself to meet everyone else’s expectations, I was hit with back-to-back, life-altering events: I lost my dad to dementia in January 2024 and during my dad’s funeral, my husband had to be rushed to the hospital for a life-threatening staph infection as a complication from wrist surgery that took months of recovery.”

Devastated, Huffman stopped to reevaluate her life and decided to make something positive from the experience.

“My story is one of redemption and hope,” Huffman said. “I walked through loss, shame, depression, eating disorders and navigating life with people I was very close to who had serious addictions and a lot of trauma. But I’ve also experienced healing, growth and joy, and that’s what I hope people feel when they walk through our doors.”

Clark said “Slaying Chicago” will be available for sale Thursday, April 3.