The Team

Rob is a serial entrepreneur and investor. In fact, there is an unreasonably good chance that Rob is either inventing, developing or pulling the trigger on a new business venture while you are reading this very sentence. He knows that the heart of a successful business is its marketing which, along with IT and finance, he considers to be his specialties. In addition to his role as Head Hancho/Team-Motivator/The-Glue-that-Holds-it-All-Together, Rob still (somehow) makes time everyday to challenge the team to expand our thinking and be open to change. Despite the hair-brained ideas that some of us have dreamed up on occasion (not naming any names here), he patiently allows us to explore our ideas and refrains from giving us dirty looks if they go horribly awry. We really like that about him. Outside of the office Rob spends his time with his beautiful wife, Jackie, their darling son (baby #2 will be here this summer) and a household filled with too many pets to try to list here.

Evan has over 10 years of experience in the Information Technology industry. He initially honed his IT support and service skills as a consultant, developing solutions to streamline operations for small businesses in a variety of industries. Evan fuels his drive for all things IT with coffee. Lots and lots of coffee – ocasionally sunflower seeds too but we can’t prove they have the same effect as the caffeine. In addition to his capacity as a consultant, Evan was previously employed in the healthcare industry as a small business IT manager and an Engineer for a Top-Ten (worldwide, by node!) M-Grade network. He thinks that’s pretty cool. At Thrive, Evan manages and develops all aspects of our Information Technology Systems. He thinks that’s even cooler.

When it comes down to it we just don’t know what we’d do without Chris. Yes, he is a native of East Tennessee (born and raised outside of Chattanooga) who has spent his pre-Thrive time active in politics (working on a successful Senatorial campaign in 2006, and serving as the Executive Director of a local political party in Murfreesboro, TN) and working in the financial services industry (we’re pretty darn sure that those guys are beyond jealous that we nabbed Chris. Ha.). But here at Thrive we feel that Chris is so much more! Not sure whether it’s the place he holds in the Guinness Book of World Records or his tales of revolutionizing the world of blogging at an early age or maybe it’s just his sensational patriotism and love of all things Nascar? Whatever the reason may be we know that Chris brings a special something to the office that makes us all smile. Go ahead, give him a call – you’ll see what we mean!

Michele is the lone Canadian team member at Thrive – eh, y’know? She holds a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism and has a wealth of experience in the areas of Sales, Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations. For the past 15 years she has worked with companies like Xerox, Dun and Bradstreet, and Netscape as well as having sales experience in the software industry. She is a huge “Dancing with the Stars” fan and she’s actually an accomplished Salsa dancer herself. Michele believes that patience, creativity, and friendliness are three of her best attributes, and we agree – ehh…whadya think eh?

Ever wondered where all of those valedictorians end up? Why, here at Thrive Marketing Group – where else? Ashley is the Creative Director for Thrive Marketing and she graduated college as valedictorian with a degree in multimedia and design. Told you so. Ashley really enjoys expanding her knowledge of design, learning new techniques and current trends, making her an asset in the design industry. Ashley is very detail oriented, aims to impress her clients with each and every project, plus she recently rescued a golden retriever named Bogey (named him after old Humphrey Bogart, she did). We all agree that she’s basically the coolest – nuff said.

Originally from New Orleans, Charlotte graduated from LSU with a Marketing degree and brings oodles of Sales & Marketing expertise to the table (truly impressive stuff, I must say). Charlotte is an habitual list-maker who loves architecture, design blogs, tabloid gossip (can’t help it) and all things creative, but her fave is always spending time at home with her lovely little family. Her role here at Thrive is the Marketing Operations manager. What exactly is a Marketing Operations Manager, you ask? Ha, what isn’t it? (that’s actually the answer) Her number one task here at Thrive is coordinating the lead generation activities…wait, I mean it’s directing the operations side of the business…no, wait, it’s actually the web of organizational aspects she fulfills…..oh boy, that’s why we just call her the Marketing Operations Manger. Yep, that about sums it up!

Spencer serves as a marketing strategist developing and optimizing marketing campaigns through search, social, and display platforms. He enjoys personal development, studying new business models, and creating new business relationships. Are you looking at his photo saying to yourself “that guys looks so familiar..?” You’re not crazy – Spencer has appeared (briefly) in many box-office hits you may have seen in the past few years (as an Extra). We thinks that’s pretty cool. Spencer uses his experience in management, marketing, and public relations to build strong relationships and ensure that Thrive’s clients and partners receive the greatest possible value.

Caitlin is a Middle Tennessee native who graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Entrepreneurship. She enjoys making processes more efficient and spending her days Skyping with our international team. She believes that the recent movement towards making wireless headsets a fashion “do” is both ridiculous and awesome. She can walk almost a full mile while texting without tripping or running over fellow pedestrians. In her free time you can find her in the kitchen watching the Food Network and attempting to cook while trying not to burn the apartment down. So far, so good.

Chris’s official title is Chief Data Guy (you really can’t help but respect someone who can fit the word “Guy” into a C-level title). He holds an Associate’s degree in Computer Programming and is finishing his Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Married to Jennifer and father of Emma, Chris spends all of his free time with his lovely family. He claims to enjoy learning new programming languages and accomplishing the seemingly impossible. However…we know that he is just too much of a newbie to admit on his professional bio that he’s a really big RPG nerd. It took us roughly a week to get him to admit that he has been known to spend countless hours on a single RPG game and then abandon it right before it’s finished – what a tease! Here at the office, Chris is known for his keen analytical nature and has proved to be integral part of the team in no time! He has been heard screaming out of his cubicle “that saying “data is king” is so false – everyone knows that only VALID data is worthwhile!” Really, what more could we ask for in a Chief Data Guy?

Julie is super excited about her new role as Director of PR & Strategy and we are too. She balances out her creative energy with her attention to detail in a way that makes her a unique benefit to our clients. Did we mention that she’s also an outdoor enthusiast from the mountains of East Tennessee? She absolutely loves all types of music, reading, NASCAR, and yoga. She also loves cooking – even though she considers asparagus her ultimate arch nemesis. When asked how she would describe herself Julie replied, “I’d like to think I’m funny but my friends are usually laughing at me instead of with me.” (Don’t worry Julie, we think you’re funny.)

James has taken on the enormously exciting role of overseeing all the operations of Thrive Creations from preproduction all the way to client delivery. James attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and has a true passion for the world of digital production. His friends describe him as enthusiastic, hardworking, trustworthy and maybe a little strange. He’s the type of guy who you’ll find cheering for the losing team at a sporting event. We like that about him. Here at Thrive he has been an integral part of taking an idea and making it a reality – he makes it look so easy too. Stay tuned for news on how James and the team at Thrive Creations are going to revolutionize the world of digital production.

Kevin is a management professional and business developer with a proven record for steering business turnarounds and creating solid internal structures that are both expandable for future growth, and responsive to market fluctuations. But, when he’s not leading his clients to victory he’s guiding the next generation as he coaches sports teams for all three of his own little munchkins. He is a true professional and he can prove it with his results and success-driven history of outstanding sales achievements, big-picture vision, creativity, and intuitive sense for ‘what works’ in marketing, advertising, and product development. But here at Thrive he’s known as the guy who never misses a Vancouver Canucks game (his hockey team of choice) and loves watching good old Clark Griswald in any of the Vacation movies. It’s easy to see that Kevin is genuinely committed to his clients and his team – we sure are glad to have him on board!

As Marketing Campaign Coordinator, Allison ensures that all marketing leads are delivered to clients in a timely manner. She is currently working toward a degree in psychology at Tennessee Wesleyan College. Allison has a passion for dental hygiene and, in her spare time, enjoys reading and contemplating the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. After graduation, she plans to sell said perfect chocolate chip cookie en masse while ironically furthering her education in the dental hygiene field. Devious.

Brian is an SEM specialist and manages several PPC accounts for Thrive Marketing Group’s clients. He has always had a passion for computers and all things tech related and he assists with many different technical applications here as well. As one of the veteran “marketing ninjas” here at Thrive, Brian knows a thing or two about getting our clients the results they need and then some! He’s known for his superb culinary skills and ability to build a pretty awesome computer. Not simultaneously, of course – that would be just silly.

John is Thrive’s social media buying expert. We think it takes guts to call actually call yourself an “expert” and even more guts to put it on your business cards. He is actually an expert so it’s not an exaggeration but we still give him mad props for his level of confidence. Lucky for us (and our clients) he truly lives up to his title and has a proven track record of exceeding client’s expectations again and again. John brings creativity and a fun personality to the Thrive team. In his free time he enjoys playing soccer and basketball and he is a huge VOLS and Titans fan.

Patrick is a marketing intern this summer at Thrive Marketing Group. Originally from Dallas, he is a true Texas Longhorns fan who traded in his boots and spurs and hitched a ride over to Nashville to study at Vanderbilt University where he is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Literary Analysis and Philosophy. Patrick is planning on using his experience in writing, graphic design, digital imaging, and communications to think creatively and analytically as he helps the team on a daily basis with various tasks. What we are planning on is filling his time between those important marketing tasks with some important Intern tasks – like picking up lunch.

Amanda graduated Western Kentucky University with a degree in Advertising and a concentration in Interactive Design. She describes her typical day here at Thrive like this “I help with current campaign tasks, and aid in all things online marketing. I also make sure the employees don’t go hungry!” (she’s going to fit in just fine with that attitude.) Amanda spent last summer working in Dublin, Ireland specializing in web content management. Her passion for all areas of creativity and working toward the big picture are only rivaled by her love of The Hunger Games and her desire to give Snooki a swift kick if she ever runs into her (watch out Snooks). Here at Thrive we think that her energetic personality translates in her hard work and dedication and we’re delighted to have her here.