Team of Infusionsoft Experts

Melissa Allen

When CEO Melissa Allen started as an intern in 2008, she knew she wanted to own a business one day. Turns out, that business would be GetUWired!

Melissa has more than earned her spot at the head of the table as CEO and co-owner of GetUWired. She’s done it all: accounting, hiring & firing, project managing and everything in between. She’s been a huge part of growing our company from a small, local business to the industry leader it is today.

Ambitious and driven, Melissa was raised from a young age to believe that failure is not an option.

“Both of my parents had to work blue collar jobs because they didn’t go to college, and they wanted me to have better than that,” she said. “They held me to very high standards, and that instilled a solid work ethic in me that I use every day.”

But she’s not all business. She also spontaneous, funny, and openly appreciative of her team. Her management style manages to strike that perfect balance of high productivity and high morale in our cabin. Her team-centric leadership is a big part of why we all love coming to work every day.

In addition to owning her own business, Melissa’s other dream is to sail around the world with her husband and daughter, teaching her daughter all about different countries (and sending us pictures of her drinking umbrella drinks while we’re slaving away at our desks.)

Dobbin Buck

When Dobbin Buck, our V.P. of Business Development, talks about working with clients, he doesn’t talk about profits, sales or bottom lines. He talks about connection.

Dobbin describes his approach to sales as having a “spirit of service.” Maintaining the right perspective is central to Dobbin’s character, not just in business, but life in general.

He’s passionate about keeping a sense of “childlike wonder” and “breathing excitement into daily life.”  To that end, he’s a voracious reader, and avid hiker, and a collector of antiquarian books. He’s fascinated by the human psyche, metaphysics, and neurolinguistic programming.

“Sometimes there’s nowhere to go but ‘in,’” he says.

Dobbin is a licensed NLP practitioner, an honor bestowed upon him by NLP co-creator Richard Bandler and Master NLP Trainers John and Kathleen La Valle.

We’ll just add that to Dobbin’s long list of awards, including:

• Infusionsoft Top Sales and Revenue Generating Partner 2013-2014
• Platinum-Plus Infusionsoft Certified Partner
• Guerrilla Marketing Master Trainer
• Instrumental in getting GetUWired clients into the Infusionsoft Small Business Icon Playbook for the last four years.

In Dobbin’s 20+ year career, he has been instrumental in projects for Greg Harrelson, Daymond John, John Acuff, Dr. Daniel Amen, Disney Imagineering, Kenneth Cole, The Guggenheim Museum NYC, U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, The Audubon society, NASA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, just to name a few.

Bobby Brown

Bobby is the head of development at GetUWired. Respected and experienced, Bobby works closely with our clients to generate the best possible tech solutions for their needs. His impeccable eye for detail stops problems dead in their tracks during all stages of development.

Bobby earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science at University of North Georgia. An outstanding student, he was president of the Computer Council and earned the prestigious Marion C. Wicht Computer Science Award due to his exceptional performance and ability. His education was marked by a deep exploration of Java, PHP, CSS, HTML, Ruby, MySQL, C++, and Visual Basic.

His commitment to top-quality, innovative work and never-ending education have led him to present at various engineering conferences, including the International Symposium on Bioinformatics Research and Applications in 2008.

Bobby’s quirky sense of humor and contagious laugh are famous around our office. For our company Halloween costume contest, he blew all the other costumes out of the water (and nearly killed us all with toxic green smoke) with his audio-visual-pyrotechnic homage to the Wizard of Oz.

Elizabeth Buck

We hired Elizabeth Buck because we knew she could handle any kind of weirdness we threw at her. She’s married to our VP of Biz Dev Dobbin Buck, after all. So we knew she’d be up to the task of acting as our CEO’s right-hand woman as Operations Coordinator.

Beth calls herself well-rounded (such an understatement). She’s worked in a variety of industries (including being Montaluce Winery’s Director of Sales and Events); went to school for nursing; wants to learn to play the mandolin, bass and guitar; and loves to garden and grill. She’s a 21st century Renaissance woman with the romance-novel hair to match.

The thing she likes best about working at GetUWired is the brainpower. “Everyone here is so smart,” she said. “I feel like it’s keeping me sharp. It’s amazing what I’ve learned — your brain truly is a muscle, the more you work it, the stronger it gets.”

James Wall

James Wall, our jack-of-all-trades engineer, brings a buffet-style skill set to GetUWired. Aside from being a killer coder and an Infusionsoft trainer with excellent “computer-side manner,” James knows a thing or two about bombs.

As an Air Force aircraft armament system specialist (that’s “bomb guy” for the laymen), James was responsible for the maintenance of weapons systems on F-15 fighter jets in summer 1999. Location: Saudi Arabia.

“When a pilot pulled the trigger, it was my job to make sure something blew up,” he says.

For a former weapons specialist, James is surprisingly gregarious and funny, bringing the perfect punchline to our inter-office jokes on a daily basis. Of course, it doesn’t hurt his popularity that his mom sends us handmade chocolates all the way from Wisconsin, too. Thanks mom!

In his free time, James is working on a side project building a language-learning app with a linguist friend.

“If I could turn that into a game that teaches English and makes me a million dollars, I’d take it,” he says.

Zach Wallace

Marketing Maestro Zach Wallace fit so perfectly into our tribe that we all kinda forgot he was new when he first got hired. Folks, he’s THAT cool. “I really love the tribe nature of GUW,” Zach says. “People stop by and say hey, even in my first week. It feels like I’ve been here forever.”

Remember his face, because you might see Zach in the opening credits of a blockbuster one day. Movies are his passion. From his minor in Motion Pictures, to his high-school acting career (he played the mom in Hairspray) to his file cabinet full of screenplays he writes in his free time, Zach was made to be in pictures.

At his house, he actually CAN be in pictures – in his “movie room” with 2378 titles to be exact! He hasn’t sold a screenplay yet … but if he ever wants to market one, we know a company that can help him do it.

Laura Garrett

Director of Channel Services Laura Garrett started with GetUWired back in 2012 as an intern straight out of college, but after a few great years here, she had to leave us to sew her “professional wild oats.” But we needed her back, and when we summoned her like an Infusionsoft Batman, she answered the call and swooped in to save the day.

Laura is quite simply the best Infusionsoft trainer in the business. We couldn’t let her talent go to waste (or to a competitor), and she was so glad to come back that it all just made perfect sense. “I missed this place!” she says. “It’s an awesome environment and I love coming into work and having a great time.”

When Laura isn’t hard at work at the office, you’ll find her crocheting (and teaching our CEO and copywriter to make hats), reading suspense novels by Tiffany Snow, and training for her next half-marathon!

David Quinones

Marketing consultant David Quinones personifies the adventurous spirit. An avid skydiver, kayaker, camper and traveler, he’s visited 11 countries and 38 states. But his most memorable trip involved getting lost in the remote mountains of Central Mexico.

“I saw boys 13 or 14 carrying AK-47s at a remote air strip used by the drug cartels,” he said. “There were no real roads, electricity or running water. We got stuck for three days because of bad weather and road conditions, and we were lucky enough to have a local family take us in. They made corn tortillas by hand and had chickens running through the house.”

“In the middle of the night, the doctor we were staying with disappeared after we heard some gunshots. The next morning, nobody said anything about it. They just were like ‘You gotta leave.’ Which we were glad to do.”

Today, David’s life is considerably more low-key. His future plans include doing more kayaking on the Nantahala and Ocoee rivers, writing a book, and owning his own business one day.

John Crocker

John Crocker has an aversion to dry land.

“If you had told me when I was a kid that I’d end up working behind a computer, I’d have said you were crazy,” he says.

Growing up, “Crocker,” as we call him, wanted to be either an astronaut, a pilot or a boat captain. When pilot and astronaut didn’t pan out, Crocker decided to spend a summer in the Bahamas crewing boats and chasing his boat captain dreams.

He hopped from yacht to yacht, polishing, cleaning and doing the maintenance that boat owners didn’t want to fool with. (Speaking of fools – Crocker’s calls “Fool’s Gold” “the coolest movie ever made.”) His ultimate plan was to spend enough time at sea to get his captain’s license, but alas, college came calling and Crocker put his sea legs to rest… for now.

His plan for the future is to be running part of GetUWired from “my villa by the sea – definitely somewhere with crystal blue waters and white sands. Now I’ll probably just own a boat instead of being a captain.“

Jon McBrayer

As a web developer, Jon handles much of the code behind the website curtain. He graduated from North Georgia College & State University in 2010, majoring in computer science and minoring in both studio art and psychology, which contributes to his well-rounded mindset. Jon manages much of the email database work at GetUWired in addition to his web engineering projects and tends to be a go-to guy for random tech questions in the office.

Amanda Gray

Developer Amanda Gray’s career 360 from English major to Web Developer is a pretty good representation of her multi-faceted charm. “I love learning new things,” Amanda says. “That’s why I love development. There’s always something new. It is magic, and we are wizards.”

At 18, Amanda needed a break before college. So she packed her bags and moved to London on a whim. “I got off the plane with no plan whatsoever,” she says. “I did odd jobs. I made it work.” She found a job in a youth hostel where she worked in exchange for room and board, and she traveled all over Europe for six months before her visa ran out.

Amanda’s weird obsession is fountain pens and stationary. “I love the way they write,” she says. “They’re smoother than a ballpoint, and you can change colors and nib sizes on a whim.” She’s a self-proclaimed “stationery nerd” whose mother exclusively used fountain pens, so “I grew up with them,” she says.

Zach Gosnell

Developer Zach Gosnell is a North Georgia boy born and raised. He’s lived his whole life in our gorgeous mountains, but if his dream works out, one day he’ll move to the Pacific Northwest and “bribe his way into working for Nintendo.”

Zach’s a video game fanatic. In his busy life – with an hour commute EACH WAY (*clutches pearls*), a demanding developer job and being a dad to his 7-year-old daughter – Zach still manages to carve out time to play his favorite video game: Legend of Zelda.

Top numbers on Zach’s “life resume” include meeting an unusually high number of celebrities – including Kim Basinger, Rob Zombie and Blink 182 – and attending more than 20 concerts in the last 15 years.

Joey Kesler

Developer Joey Kesler must have been born under a lucky star. Where the rest of us are stumbling through life like blindfolded toddlers, Joey’s got a way of having perfection drop right into his lap. He recently married his first and only girlfriend – they’ve been together since they were kids. And he chose his career path – computer science – on a whim without ever having tried it before, and he loved it immediately. Who is so lucky that they don’t have to suffer through endless bad dates and soul-crushing jobs? Apparently, Joey.

When it comes to goals, pretty sure he’s got that in the bag, too. Joey doesn’t want fame or fortune, just to have a family and be a great dad like his dad was. With his happy nature and family-centered upbringing, he’s sure to reach his goal

Garrett Seymour

Garrett Seymour is part of our development team at GetUWired. His passion for computers (“You’re only limited by your imagination and resources,” he says) gives Garrett the edge he needs to consistently create amazing websites for our clients.

Garrett first realized he had a flair for computers when he was in high school. In his first programming class, he managed to hack into his teacher’s files and see some of his friends’ grades. The administration at school quickly found out and had the system blocked the very next day.

When he’s not at GetUWired or working toward his IT degree at Southern Polytechnic University, Garrett is busy building his first WordPress theme. In the long run, he says, he would like to continue working with and learning all he can about computers. But he has no plans to be the next Bill Gates.

“I don’t think I could handle the spotlight and attention that Bill Gates receives,” Garrett says. “I could use a little bit of his money, though.”

Jake Miller

Developer Jake Miller was born and bred in these North Georgia hills, but you’d never know it. As a trained actor with an acting degree from prestigious Brenau University, he speaks like a Broadway thespian, not like he has the Appalachian drawl in his DNA.

A true Renaissance man, Jake learned design and coding for fun, and it’s that Jack of All Trades mentality that made us snap him up like he’s made of chocolate-covered $100 bills. As a project coordinator, Jake needs to know everything about what makes websites tick and be able to perform off the cuff when interacting with clients. We definitely give his abilities a standing ovation.

When Jake isn’t at the office, you can find him jamming on his bass, drums, or guitar.

Heather Conley

Developer and Resident Ballerina Heather Conley adds a definite dose of class to our CABINPUNK culture. A former professional ballerina from Philadelphia who taught with the Atlanta Ballet for 8 years, she’s almost too fancy for our crazy crew. Almost.

But underneath that dignified resume beats the heart of a beatnik. Heather’s the kind of person whose favorite memory is a cross-country college road trip, who goes full-throttle into a 180-degree career change, and who holds her own in an industry dominated by men and an office dominated by non-stop weirdness. She was even on a reality show once. There’s just so much more to Heather than a pair of pointe shoes.

When she’s not at the office, you can find her doing “low-key family stuff” with her husband and two kids.

Jordan Quattlebaum

Who knew our “ninjaneer” Jordan Quattlebaum would have so much “cool” under that quiet exterior?

He spent a year in Italy (his stepdad was in the Navy) and went to Rome once a week via train. Jordan says he loved the “family friendly” attitude of the Italians.

“We’d go out to eat and we’d be the only ones there. Everyone else was at home eating with their families,” he says.

But when Jordan turned 21, his military passport expired, and he had to either come back to the States or leave Italy, so he bought a Eurail pass and tramped through Europe for a few months before finally returning stateside.

World traveling aside, Jordan also attending a performing arts school, builds websites for fun, and plays “terrible music” on the weekends with his brothers in law.

When Jordan isn’t trudging through the code trenches in our developer den, he’s at home with his wife and two daughters planning a future trip to China.

Thomas Pirkle

Thomas Pirkle joined the GetUWired team in October 2013, just three months before he earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from University of North Georgia. The GetUWired leadership team snapped Thomas up before he could even graduate because they could see his passion for all things code. Thomas is fascinated by the powerful things computers can accomplish, and he works every day to put that power to use for our clients.

Thomas’ fascination with computers is “inherited,” he says, from his father, who also has a degree in computer science. Thomas grew up with computers and has fond memories of himself and his dad playing around on their family computer.

Originally from the tiny mountain town of Suches, Ga., Thomas attended Woody Gap School, the smallest public school in Georgia. His graduating class was only 10 people! Luckily for him, his wife was one of those 10. He and his wife welcomed an adorable baby boy in March 2013.

When Thomas isn’t hard at work behind his computer or juggling the joys of raising his son, you can find him in the great outdoors hiking, target shooting, or helping his wife care for their three horses.

Evan Pedrick

Prince-Harry lookalike and fellow outdoorsman Evan Pedrick’s key loves in life are fishing, baseball, and golf … and, of course, doing world-class development work at GetUWired.

A baseball scholarship helped Evan graduate from Georgia Southern University with a degree in sports management, and experience with web development got him here. He does like the change from home plate to desk job, though, because after a day at GetUWired, he doesn’t have to go home and take an ice bath.

When Evan isn’t in the developer’s den working, you’ll find him dreaming about being a professional golfer in Key West. Maybe doing a little deep sea fishing while he’s there, too.

Bobby Valentine

Project Manager Bobby Valentine has small business in his blood. He started his first business when he was 8, selling collard greens out of the back of his dad’s ‘78 Chevy pickup. He had multiple businesses as a kid – including selling potted plant decorations and building birdhouses out of recycled lumber. His businesses earned him enough to buy a Mustang when he turned 16 (every teenage boy’s dream at the time).

But of course, he’s not all business. He’s also quietly hilarious, a wiz with words, a loving dad and a champion bowler. Bobby is currently the Georgia State Doubles Champion as well as the Augusta Turtles Tournament All Events Champion.

In addition to managing projects at GetUWired, Bobby has also worked for the past 30 years in his family’s gift store. He’s worn every hat in the business world, so he’s a great asset to our clients who need support – he knows their pain first hand! One day, he’d like to start a small business incubator program.

Chris Johnessee

Project Manager Chris Johnessee was so seduced by Atlanta’s weather and Southern hospitality that he left his native Pennsylvania (and shoveling snow) for good to become a full-time Georgia boy.

Life’s moved fast since flying south. First, he met and married a local girl who was “wary of me being from Pennsylvania, but when she found out I was born in Virginia, she knew it was OK and she could tell her family I’m actually Southern.”

Then, he earned his business administration degree from University of North Georgia, and as chance would have it, stumbled upon Melissa Allen and John Crocker at a career fair at the school.

“Their enthusiasm for the company was contagious,” he says. And so he was lured a second time – this time to GetUWired.

Today Chris is a happy man. A loving wife and daughter and a great job in a state he loves. He says he’s just enjoying his life at the moment with no plans for big changes in the near future.

“I’m the kind of guy who takes it day by day. I try and do the best job I can today to make tomorrow a little better,” he says.

Desiree Craven

Yard Sale Queen and Project Manager Desiree “Tater” Craven moved to Georgia from Minnesota looking for adventure, and she found it. Some Southern quirks just have to be experienced in person.

“I was at an auction, and this giant man sitting in front of me, wearing overalls with no under-shirt, turns around and introduces himself as Corn Stalk. He starts telling me I have pretty eyes and offering me candy and said that he was going to nickname me ‘Tater.’ I mean, people in Minnesota are friendly, but they aren’t THAT friendly,” she said.

When she’s not in the office, you can find Desiree dumpster diving for antiques and hunting for treasures at auctions and yard sales. One day, she’d love to own her own hobby farm where she would raise horses, goats, and chickens.

Scott Sienkiewicz

Client Manager Scott Sienkiewicz started out as a Bachelor of Biblical Studies degree and a Methodist youth director. How he has survived with our band of heathens is nothing short of a miracle.

But the lord works in mysterious ways. With his church, Scott had his hands in every component of marketing there is, and it was that experience that led him down the path to GetUWired.

We know Scott can withstand our wild ways, though, because he’s already cheated death four times. From a repelling accident to a near drowning to being pulled “NeverEnding Story” style from actual quicksand, Scott just might be a superhero. One day he says he’s even going to buy a replica Batmobile.

Keri Coffel

Executive Assistant Keri Coffel is about the last person on Earth you’d expect more than one “that time I almost died” stories. But behind her soft voice and gentle demeanor, Keri could star in the next Unbreakable movie. From being pulled out to sea by a riptide to surviving a car’s personal gymnastics routine down an embankment, Keri’s either got really great luck or really terrible luck, depending on how you look at it.

When she’s not making things happen for the Leadership Team at GetUWired, Keri can be found making things at her woodworking bench. She creates all sorts of woodcrafts for her friends and family and even has an Etsy store called Sweet as a Peach Crafts.

Jessica Bazzell

Client Manager Jessica Bazzell is a tiny person who’s not afraid to take on big challenges. At just 20 years old, she got married moved into her husband’s home – complete with his two young sons and his cancer-stricken mother. She took to her role as caregiver and bonus mom right away, even though she was really just a kid herself.

She’s not afraid to stare down pros at the poker table, either, taking them down with big wins, strong skills and a sly “character” strategy. She’s played the World Series of Poker circuit, countless tournaments, and charity events.

And working in a high-stress, full-time job while raising the world’s cutest little newborn – Adaline? She rocks that, too. Our clients love her, and we love her. There’s nothing this woman can’t do!

Kyle Close

Client Manager Kyle Close (also known as Lord Baelish because he looks literally just like him) is quite Littlefinger-esque, but only in good ways. Kyle definitely has more going on than meets the eye.

Originally from Alpharetta, Ga., with a degree in business management and a “totally average nice guy” demeanor, you’d never guess that Kyle is a metalhead guitarist with a fetish for fast cars. He started playing when he was 15, back in the days of Nirvana, and eventually graduated to much more technical guitar playing. His band took third place at a major Battle of The Bands competition, which landed Kyle in a radio interview.

When Kyle isn’t at the office, you can find him spending all his money souping up his 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. Though he has no formal racing training (just street cred, he says), Kyle hopes to race it on a real racetrack one day.

Katelyn Smith

Client Manager Katelyn Smith has sold boiled eggs, been given free doughnuts from Blondie bassist Frank Infante on the streets of New York, and knows how to make ladders into closets. That’s exactly the kind of wildly well-rounded skill set we look for in a Project Manager.

Not to mention she’s got a Marketing degree from UNG and a passion for the “psychological side” of business. Katelyn’s a perfect fit for the cabin – boisterous and funny, with a take-charge attitude that gets things done. And the feeling is mutual. “I’m excited to come to work. Everyone is so understanding. And the CEO is so approachable and not intimidating – you can just go talk to her – and she’s a woman so that’s super empowering.”

When Katelyn isn’t in the office working her marketing magic, you can find her painting, making collages, baking, and hanging out with the “light of her life,” her rescue Chihuahua Bub (aka. Smalls).

Emily Ledbetter

The thing Project Coordinator Emily Ledbetter doesn’t want you to know about her is that she’s been nationally recognized for her community service and public speaking skills. That she’s been a master interviewee since she was 13. That’s she’s cool under pressure and takes losses like a true champ. She learned those skills on the pageant circuit from age 12-18, which she thinks is “so embarrassing.” But she doesn’t get to write her own bio, so now you know.

Emily is a UNG grad with an English degree and a passionate lust for learning. “If I could get paid to go to school I’d never stop,” she says. Her interests today are all centered around the literary world (except when she binge-watches Friends). She’s a fanatic about English Renaissance drama like Shakespeare, and she even volunteers with the Resurgens Theatre Group. One day she wants to go to London because of her “love affair with the Renaissance.” She says Rhett Butler is her literary soulmate.

Tyler Ritchie

Client Manager Tyler Ritchie and his Tom-Selleckian mustache are on a quest for simplicity. From his strict carnivore diet to his flip phone – YES, FLIP PHONE – Tyler has taken dedicated strides to trim down his life to only things that really matter.

A regular meditation routine – an hour every day – has helped Tyler “respond rather than react” and keep the negative parts of being human in check. Which came in handy when he got hit by a car that time.

“Meditation has helped me be a better person,” he says. “I’m trying to recruit as many good habits as possible.” Tyler would love to become a psychologist one day so that he can help other people live better lives, too.

Tim Litz

Tim went to school for chemistry and then started grad school for geology—but got burned out and spent some time exploring. Somehow, he got into computer science, and that’s what brought him to GetUWired.

Along the way, he worked as a Wilderness Therapy Guide for Blue Ridge Therapeutics Wilderness and it really taught him how to communicate, how to express his own thoughts and emotions, and how to set and enforce boundaries. “It forced me to confront my personality type and my desire to please other people. I definitely learned a lot.”

Born in California, Tim has spent more than 90% of his life in Georgia and loves playing music: saxophone, guitar, and recently, the mandolin—which he can’t seem to put down. He’s an avid outdoorsman who loves hiking, kayaking, and just being out in the sun. Oh, and watching sitcoms.

Tim has five sisters, can lick his own elbow, and is a little bit afraid of chickens. “I love what they do, they just freak me out. Same with bugs or horses.”

Greg Loebick

According to Greg Loebick, landing in the designer chair at GetUWired is the end of a “long @#$%& road to get back where I wanted to go.”

Possessed by passion for design since he was 14, Greg had to enlist in the Army to get the money he needed to pursue a graphic design degree. But after four years as an Army network tech (one of which was spent dodging bombs in Iraq), he was sick of technology, so he ended up going back to school for biology.

Degree in hand, Greg set out to work in conservation, but when that didn’t pan out, he ended up returning to his first love – design.

Today, Greg and his wife April (our administrative coordinator) live a peaceful “hobbit-like” life at their house in Cleveland. When asked what his goals are for the future, Greg says “I’ve really got everything I wanted: an education, a house and a great job. I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do.” How many people can say that?

Karla Colby

Karla is a Designer with an edge – her former experience and skillsets as a Project Coordinator at Check Free includes organization skills, QA, bug tracking, and beta testing development. She also features 4 years of Photoshop proficiency, 5 of Web design, and certifications in both Web development and design alike.

Her background in business administration and clear Web experience help to complete the team, and as a Junior Designer she creates the visual aspects of landing pages, websites, logos, email headers, sales pages, ads, and animated banners. She also continues on her original QA quest and Web development, fixing bugs and wielding HTML and WordPress with the same deftness as her designer “paintbrush”. Karla even assists our developers with Automated Sales funnels – no mean feat to say the least.

In her personal life, Karla enjoys cooking, laughing, living the lake life with her husband and 2 kids (plus an adorable grandson), traveling, and using her quick wit to keep us smiling rain or shine

April Loebick

Our future New York Times bestselling author April Loebick, who slums it during the day as our administrative coordinator, is one name to watch for. And avid writer, April is more than just an “aspiring novelist.” She’s got the degree, the experience and the drive to take her dreams to the bank (or at least Barnes and Noble).

April’s DNA is pulsing with generations of storytellers. Her grandfather, a mountain medicine man, and the other members of her family would mesmerize listeners with local tall tales about the land they grew up on (bought for $10 and a coat) and life in the mountains.

She’s also been a part of the Dahlonega Literary Festival since 2010, and has been instrumental in bringing big-time talent such as “Under the Tuscan Sun” writer Frances Mayes and Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, to our sleepy mountain town.

Running the University of North Georgia Press, giving workshops on book publishing, and getting her own work published were no small feat either.

Look for April in the “speculative fiction” section of your favorite bookstore. She loves to write fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural-type stuff.

Oh yeah, and I have to mention something about her Corgis. April is nuts about her Corgis. She has commissioned artwork of one of her dogs wearing armor. Yes, really.

Kyle Waddell

When we get an employee from the same area as Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Jimmy Carter, we know we’re getting somebody pretty extraordinary.
Office Manager Kyle Waddell keeps our office in perfect harmony. His accounting degree means he’s a wiz with our numbers, and his laid-back personality make us feel less terrified of paperwork and taxes and stuff.
Kyle got this job over serendipitous beers at a local Mexican restaurant. Sitting at the bar, he overheard CEO Melissa Allen complaining about the salsa being too hot but not wanting to ask the mild version because she “didn’t want to look like a wuss.” He cracked up, they started talking, and after hearing his incredible resume and getting a strong recommendation from our own CPA, Kyle was hired.
This job suits him, because Kyle hates suits. “It’s culture shock in a good way,” Kyle says about working here. He like that this job gives him a chance to show off his collection of ridiculous T-shirts.
But don’t let Kyle’s accountant status fool you. He’s no boring pencil pusher. Once, dressed as Teen Wolf, he tried to steal a kickball trophy from a church team. (“They were my friends and they weren’t even chasing me!” he said.) But alas, he was immediately smote … falling over a concrete wall and breaking a rib. That’s what you get, Kyle.
When Kyle isn’t here, you can find him saving orphans from fires and rescuing ugly kittens from gas stations.