Hey y’all!
On a recent episode of Monroe Today, Ms. Gilda Stanbery sat down with Ms. Nicole Newsom, Visit Forsyth GA’s own Director of Marketing. Growing up, Ms. Nicole spent every summer on the local family farm. While she is a more recent permanent resident of Monroe County, her family’s history in the area dates all the way back to 1824!
When this career move popped up, Ms. Nicole just knew it was meant to be. “I’d been wanting to get more in touch with my roots and this job felt like the right time and the right place!” And she hit the ground running, working her first big event (Georgia Wildlife Federation’s Fisharama at the Georgia National Fairgrounds) just two weeks into the job!
The opportunities to meet people have been numerous and she even said, “I run into somebody that I’ve come across before just about every time I go to the grocery store. It’s great to see friendly faces, get to know the people in the community, and feel like a part of the town!”
Like I said before, Ms. Nicole’s family has a long history in Forsyth and Monroe County and her great-grandfather, Morgan Bridges, was the telegraph operator at multiple depots around the county, including in Juliette! If you follow the Visit Forsyth GA newsletter, you may have read some of the stories Ms. Nicole has shared from her great-grandmother, Annie Sutton Bridges.
“I love exploring the places mentioned in Annie’s memoirs and meeting people who knew my grandparents and even great-grandparents. It’s been amazing to see how all of our stories interconnect.”
Getting back to nature is another thing that Ms. Nicole has really enjoyed since moving here full-time back in January and one of her favorite daily activities is spotting the wildlife that also call her family farm home. “I’ve got some fox squirrels that I’ve named, along with groups of turkey and deer that I see almost every day!” She even shared some of her photos.
One of the things that Visit Forsyth GA is known for is welcoming newcomers to the community and Ms. Nicole was no exception! “One of the first things I was handed when I walked in the door on my first day was a Hello Neighbor information packet. I immediately hung the Important Numbers sheet on my fridge when I got home that night.”
Ms. Nicole is naturally creative, bringing years of experience in marketing and design to the Visit Forsyth GA team! “I love playing around with writing and graphics, with our social media, and working with our design team to create campaigns like Fish. Beer. Repeat. which was so much fun to bring to life. We also had our Americana Summer campaign which coincided with the World Cup. My first year here and we had such a momentous opportunity to talk about Forsyth with people from all around the world.”
When Ms. Gilda asked her about the future, Ms. Nicole was happy to share! “I’m excited to see where we go! I really resonate with our message and I feel like others resonate with it too. I think it’s what people are wanting right now, to get away from technology and unplug. So we’re inviting them to come here, relax, enjoy nature, meet friendly people, experience delicious food and reset.”
To learn more about Nicole’s story, make sure to listen to the full episode below!
‘Til Next Time,
Your Storyteller
