Staff Directory

Theresa has navigated the ship of Visit Clarksville since 1995. She’s one of those people that everybody affiliated with Tennessee Tourism knows; she’s outlasted most of them! Theresa came to the Clarksville Tourism office as a staff of one from a parks and recreation background. The organization was in its infancy and one of her favorite stories is what happened after she started advertising. “We had some grant money for advertising back when people filled out those insert cards requesting more information. We got back something like 10,000 cards and had nothing to send! We had to ask for more grant money to print a brochure and hire a mailing service.” Thanks to Theresa’s leadership and proactivity those days are long gone and tourism revenue breaks records every year. During her tenure, she’s grown our efforts to include a full-time sports marketing and group sales initiatives and dedicated marketing staff. She put her sports background to use quickly and Clarksville successfully earned the first of many AAU National Basketball championships in 1999.

Frances is a veteran sales director with over 30 years in the tourism industry, 20 of which have been with Visit Clarksville. (And, she’s only 39!) She loves creating unique and fun experiences for travelers. Having visited 44 of the 50 states, she has quite a wealth of personal travel experiences to pull from. In fact, she was in an airplane, in the air, when planes were flying into buildings on 9/11. Frances attended Trevecca Nazarene University and has served on the National Tour Association board of directors. She’s had lots of adventures with group tours. Once, she helped a motorcoach back up when a fallen tree blocked the road in a torrential downpour after doing a 3-point turn on a bridge! She went from being an only child to the oldest of six over night! (It’s a story!) She never met a paintbrush she didn’t like. Nearest and dearest to her heart is that she’s a mom of three fabulous girls and married to an Italian stud.

Michelle is a native Clarksvillian who has worked in marketing and communications for government, private and non-profit organizations. She is also active in numerous community organizations that work to help make Clarksville the best it can be. Michelle has fun discovering the places and people along America’s backroads, reading, growing flowers, binge-watching British detective shows, and playing the piano.

After a career in HR, Karyl is convinced that working with Visit Clarksville is “livin’ the dream!” Her favorite part of this fun job is meeting people when they are enjoying their lives – competing with teammates for a national championship, attending a concert, or vacationing with friend friends or family – and helping enhance their experience. Karyl is almost a Clarksville native, having moved here when she was less than one year old. Community service is in her blood, with a dad who was an Army veteran and a mom who was a public educator. She and her sister, affectionately known as K1 and K2, are proud to carry on their parents’ legacy of service and giving. Karyl served in the Army herself for four years where she worked in the Air Defense Artillery (aka, she shot down airplanes.) She stationed in Germany and Texas with a training stint in Greece, and she met her husband of 30 years (and counting.)

Blake recently stepped into the role of Director of Sports Tourism with the Visit Clarksville team. He is an alum of Austin Peay State University, where he graduated in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communication. Since his time in Clarksville, Blake has been involved with the community through non-profit work, as well as exploring the city. Blake has a background in many professional avenues including Sports Journalism, public relations, and fundraising. He has even worked in photojournalism for the National Park Service. Blake’s favorite parts of Clarksville are the coffee shops, local food, and bike trails throughout the city. Blake’s favorite sports teams are pretty much anything Tennessee based! He is looking forward to sharing his love for sports with all those who visit Clarksville.

After 31 years in the public school system, Kristy Proctor began a second career as co-director of Historic Collinsville. She has lived in the Southside community (only a mile from Historic Collinsville) with her husband, Rev. Michael S. Proctor, since 1987 on family farmland. She has two sons and two grandsons. Kristy currently volunteers to serve Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, and the state of Mississippi as the Secretary of Nazarene Missions International’s MidSouth District as well as the MidSouth District’s Missionary Visitation Coordinator. Presently, she is a leader or active member of numerous ministries and committees at Gray’s Chapel Church of the Nazarene in Cunningham, Tennessee.

Mark Britton is a Clarksville native and graduate of Austin Peay State University and the University of Tennessee. A long-time history nerd, Mark has been active for several years with Civil War living histories and re-enactments, where he portrays a Civil War doctor. H makes frequent appearances at Clarksville's Fort Defiance Civil War Park & Interpretive Center.

Amanda is a Clarksville native, and a proud graduate of Austin Peay State University and the University of Mississippi. Often referred to as ‘Leslie Knope’ among her friends and family, she has wanted to work to promote Clarksville since she was a young girl. As the PR/Content Manager, she loves to share the stories of Clarksville-Montgomery County and encourage visitors to see why she never wants to leave her hometown. In her free time, Amanda enjoys visiting downtowns across the country, watching romantic comedies, creating Spotify playlists and exploring the local food scene. Be sure to reach out to Amanda if you want to know why this is her favorite place on earth!

Gwen has been serving travelers at the Visitor Center since 2016. Like many folks in the area, her family moved to Clarksville when her husband was assigned to Fort Campbell. She worked with the Department of the Army for 30 years before retiring. That break didn’t last too long, and she rejoined the workforce with us. Gwen enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, ministry at her church, reading, shopping, meeting new people and traveling. She really considers traveling as a form of therapy and believes that some of her best stories are found within the pages of her passport. She would much rather be somewhere watching a sunset over some ocean than a Netflix any day! One of her favorite things to say to fellow travelers is, “I haven’t been there yet but it’s on my list.” She also loves to capture the moments when she can share and swap travel stories with the many visitors, while dropping suggestions about the many things to see and do in Clarksville. Gwen also believes in creating a life that she loves every day and for her, that includes helping people, including the many visitors that come through the Clarksville Visitor Center.