For today’s meet the team Monday, we are switching gears and focusing on our Account Management team. Leading that team is Johnelle Brewster. Our veteran team member, Johnelle has been taking care of our clients for a decade. To call Johnelle a sales or account rep is severely down playing her talents. She is completely immersed in the wedding industry, and is as valuable a resource to her wedding vendors as she is to our company. I rely on her expertise almost daily, and her commitment to helping her clients connect with engaged couples is second to none as she is a fierce protector of their brand and image.
For years, Johnelle managed most of the state of Mississippi with her heaviest concentration (and her heart) being located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When we added southern Alabama to our reach, she began travelling to the area on a regular basis, and promptly fell in love with the people and charm of Mobile. With an hour drive to the Mississippi coast on her west, and the sugar white sands of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama to the south, we can certainly understand her passion for the area. She and her family relocated and are happily living in the mid-town area of Mobile where she serves the entire gulf coast.
Job Title: Sales Manager – Gulf Coast
Career path: WASEC (MTV, Nickelodeon, The Movie Channel), Showtime Networks, Premier Publishing
School: Murrah High School, St. Edward’s University
Hometown: Mobile, AL
Share a bit about your family. Bruce and I live with our two dogs and our 23 year old son in a historic home in Mobile. When we aren’t working we tackle projects on our home, drive to beach, or hang out with friends in the neighborhood.
What is your favorite part of your job and what memories stand out about your experience here? The wedding industry is constantly changing and challenging me to understand new products, trends and technology. When your audience always stays the same age, you can’t continually turnout the same product to capture her attention.
What wedding pros do you love – blogs, magazines, vendors, etc.? I love touring wedding venues! After 12 years of this, I guess I’ve seen hundreds! Brides have so many choices for ceremony and reception styles. Whether it’s a ballroom, historical building, rustic setting, modern banquet hall or a field, there are brides for every venue!
Sum up your own wedding for us (or your dream wedding). After attending a German/Polish family wedding reception in Shiner, TX in the 70’s I knew I would have to have a band and dancing at my reception. Wedding receptions in Jackson, MS in 1981 were limited to the reception hall at the church and were quiet events with mints and punch. We had ours in my parents backyard with my favorite Southern Louisiana foods, and danced the night away.
What are your hobbies and or things you are passionate about? My passion for gardening has been reignited in Mobile. This new gardening zone for me includes good soil and tropical plants. Our yard came with some favorites like lemons and oranges and we added several hundred more plants from the Botanical Garden nursery last year.
Who are your personal heroes, professional or personal? My heroes are everyday people that take the time to save a giant oak tree, fight for historic preservation, pick up garbage at the beach, volunteer for a non-profit, pay it forward, help a stranger, or honor other people with gestures big and small. Also, people that are dedicated to recycling!!!! Recycle!!!! We have got to do it!