SPEAKERS

Valerie Luesse

 

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the author of five novels set in the South: Christy Award winner Missing Isaac (2018), Almost Home (2019), The Key to Everything (2020), Under the Bayou Moon (2021) which the Alabama Library Association’s award for Best Adult Fiction by an Alabama author in 2023, and Letters from My Sister (August 2023), all published by Revell Books. An award-winning magazine writer, Luesse is perhaps best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she wrote major pieces on the Mississippi Delta, Acadian Louisiana, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Auburn University and Baylor University, respectively. She is a native of Harpersville, Alabama, and lives in Birmingham, where she creates Southern fiction from a tiny writing studio she calls the Story Shack.

Kristin Luna

 

Tennessee-based journalist Kristin Luna is a magazine veteran with 20 years of industry experience under her belt. She has authored more than a dozen guidebooks and contributed to countless publications like Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Afar, Newsweek, Food + Wine, Southern Living and Garden & Gun. As a byproduct of her love for traveling and storytelling, Kristin launched Camels & Chocolate, a collection of travel narratives, in 2007; a media production company, Odinn Media, in 2012; and a public art nonprofit, DMA-events, in 2018. She and her husband Scott create marketing assets for tourism and hospitality entities across the United States with a strong focus on helping rural towns and counties break through the noise. 

Matt Maxey

Matthew Maxey is the Senior Director of Public Relations at Visit Franklin, where he manages

traditional media relations, influencer relations and content creation. A frequent fixture at

tourism conferences across North America, Maxey serves on the national executive committee

for the Public Relations Society of America’s Travel & Tourism section and Destination

International’s Public Relations and Communications Committee.

Before his tenure at Visit Franklin, Maxey worked in college athletics and government. While

still in college, he successfully managed multiple campaigns for state and local offices and held

field staff roles for gubernatorial and congressional campaigns in Tennessee. He began his

professional career with the American Junior Golf Association before spending six years as a

sports information director at the University of Tennessee at Martin, his alma mater.

Following his time at UT Martin, Maxey became a freelance writer and photographer for Sports

& Entertainment Magazine in Nashville. He operated a public relations consulting business,

assisting non-profits, small businesses and political candidates seeking offices ranging from

local to Governor. In his spare time today, Maxey continues to freelance as a contributing

photographer for ICON Sportswire, covering college and professional sports events across the

Southeast.

Shan Stout

   

Shan Stout is the Director of Tourism for the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors Bureau. Stout brings a rich background in publishing, non-profit marketing, and tourism promotion. Stout formerly served as the Regional Director of Marketing for Ascension Saint Thomas Health. Her earlier career produced thirteen children’s projects, including three best-selling books in multiple languages. Stout works with WCTE-PBS and is currently filming a new television series entitled, 'Wish You Were Here - Adventures in Tennessee's Upper Cumberland'. The Emmy-nominated show is in its third season airing across the US and Canada. Stout is passionate about growing tourism using the latest social media strategies, while partnering with local leadership and small businesses. Stout is married to her husband, Sam, and they have three ‘nearly grown’ children. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, gardening, kayaking and visiting authentic general stores across the southeast. Follow her on FaceBook: @visitcookeville @shanwilliamsstout Instagram/TikTok: @visitcookeville

Ellie Holt

Holt Family Farms is a first generation Agritourism and working farm located in West TN. Andy and Ellie, along with their 7 children, open-up their farm for Spring and Fall seasons for families to enjoy and learn about agriculture. Not only is Ellie busy Homeschooling, coordinating and teaching bread making classes, making jams/jellies and canning the harvest; they also raise Hereford cattle, pork for sale by the cut, Fall decor, and offer seasonal farm to table dinners on their farm. She is also the chief marketing and social media officer for Holt Family Farms. She invites everyone, “If you are in the area, come make some memories with us!”

Scott Williams

Scott Williams is the CEO of Discovery Park of America, a museum and heritage park in Union City Tennessee with a mission is to inspire children and adults to see beyond. Discovery Park welcomes more than 265,000 guests each year including nearly 50,000 students. Williams’s career has included positions at museums in Washington, D.C. and at Graceland in Memphis. In his spare time, he writes biographies and recently published one on David Crockett’s life and career in West Tennessee. His wife Michelle is an art history instructor at the University of Tennessee, Martin, and they have two adult daughters, Alex and Liv.

Sonia Outlaw-Clark

Sonia grew up on a farm in the heart of Tennessee's Delta region in the small town of Brownsville. After a career as a graphic designer and many years of event planning and volunteer work, Sonia accepted the position of Executive Director of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in 2010. Since that time she has worked to preserve and promote the rich musical heritage of the region through the Center's West Tennessee Music Museum, Sleepy John Estes home and more than 20 annual festivals and events. As founder of the Tina Turner Museum, she spearheaded the preservation efforts to move and restore Flagg Grove School, Tina's childhood school, and spoke at the first Music Tourism Convention held in the United States in 2017. Her efforts have taken the Delta Heritage Center from a tourist information center to a music heritage destination attracting more than 50,000 visitors a year and is a partner site along Tennessee Music Pathways and the Americana Music Triangle.

Randall Clemons 

Randall was born and raised in Granville, TN. The construction of the dam and Cordell Hull Lake took the family farm and home when he was 14 years old.

The family moved to Carthage, TN where his parents operated a business for many years. Educated in Smith County Schools, Clemons graduated from Cumberland University, Tennessee Tech University and LSU School of Banking. After graduating Randall began a career in banking that has lasted 52 years. He began Wilson Bank & Trust in 1987 which now has 30 branches in eight counties, with $5 billion in assets.

In 1979 he was one of the organizers of Wilson County Fair that has now become Wilson County Tennessee State Fair. He served as the treasurer of the Fair for 40 years and has been President for last 5 years. The Fair is the sixteenth largest Fair in the United States.

He returned to his hometown of Granville, Tennessee in 1995 and discovered that it had become a ghost town. He was the chief organizer of the Granville Museum in 1999, a non profit, that has made Granville into a major tourist destination. For the last 16 years he has helped lead the Sutton Ole Time Music Hour that is broadcast all over the world each week. Granville was chosen as the No 1 Small Town in America that has retained its small-town feel. Granville is operated by 240 volunteers and has ten venues to visit.

Clemons is past President Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trust Cumberland University and involved in many non-profits. He is married to Peggy for 52 years with two children and one grandson.

Melissa Woody

 

A native of Bradley County, Melissa Alley Woody has worked in local public relations and marketing since 1992, currently serving for the past 25 years as vice president for Tourism Development at the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. She taught part-time in the college of Communication & the Arts at Lee University for 14 years. Woody earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science in Communication from the University of Tennessee. She is past president for the Tennessee Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and past president of the board for MainStreet Cleveland. She is on the board of Friends of the Cherokee National Forest and is a Trustee for the Cleveland State Foundation Board. Woody and her husband Dewey are members of First Baptist Church - Cleveland where she is active in choir. She appears in the occasional community theater production or around town as Loretta Lynn or the great Minnie Pearl.

Sharon Marr

 

A native of Cleveland, Sharon Marr has more than 35 years’ experience in marketing and advertising.  She is the executive director of Mainstreet Cleveland since 2005.  Cleveland has been an accredited Main Street community since 1990. Sharon was in shopping center marketing for 7 years where she served as senior marketing director for Bradley Square Mall.  She also served as corporate marketing coordinator for Life Care Centers of America, and in television and radio advertising sales. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a major in marketing. Her interests include spending time with her daughter and their pets, walking, swimming, and shopping.

Camilla Tato

Camila Tato has been the Assistant of Tourism for the Hardin County Convention and Visitors Bureau since 2022, where she acts as the social media and marketing manager. Her role leverages her expertise in photography and graphic design to promote Savannah, Pickwick Lake, Shiloh National Military Park, and more. Notably, she led Hardin County’s participation in the Google and Tripadvisor optimization programs with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and Miles Partnership.

Originally from Barranquilla, Colombia, Camila moved to the USA in 2003 and spent most of her life in the vibrant city of Miami, Florida. With nearly a decade of experience in portrait photography, she now owns SOL Creative Company, a creative photography business serving West Tennessee. For Camila, photography is the perfect medium for artful storytelling and a powerful marketing tool.

Camila is a graduate of Leadership Hardin County, a third-year STS Marketing College student, and is currently pursuing her Certified Professional Photographer designation. In her spare time, she enjoys the company of her partner, Jake, their dog, and two cats.