Merry devoted her career to evangelizing about the most efficient and effective ways to reach customers. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she went to work in the media department of the large Chicago advertising firm now known as D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. She moved later to a small, boutique ad firm in Baltimore, and then on to New York City, where she conducted marketing and media research for outdoor media at TDI Winston. In an effort to improve upon media research techniques, she became a consultant providing metrics used to purchase and validate media audiences and advertising. As a consultant, she helped clients including Mobil Oil, MoneyGram and Carnation Foods improve their understanding of their customers and the best ways to reach them. Returning to work after having children, she became an education advocate and worked in the Maryland legislature. In 2013, she founded RTO Insider, a trade publishing company focused on the electric industry, with her husband Rich Heidorn Jr. After a short illness, she passed away in 2024.