North Star Staff

Don McEachern has been growing brands and leading teams for more than 20 years. His experience includes working for multi-national advertising agencies as well as nationally recognized creative boutiques. During his time in the ad world, Don put his stamp on some of the world’s most famous brands including Goldkist, Hawaiian Tropic, Suntory Bottled Water Group, Trump Plaza, Panasonic and Lanier Worldwide. For his efforts he received numerous awards, including a prestigious national Effie for marketing effectiveness and a Clio for excellent creativity.

Don has become the recognized expert in the exploding field of community branding. With a process that combines research, strategy and creative, he has helped create unique and effective brands for big-name cities like Anchorage, Alaska; Providence, Rhode Island; and Williamsburg, Virginia. That same process and passion has also been applied to small cities that will soon be household names such as Uvalde, Texas and Warrensburg, Missouri. He is a sought-after speaker on the topics of branding, branding implementation and the formation of private-public partnerships to fund branding.  Don also has been chosen to judge community branding competitions, most recently the branding category of the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Awards.

Don lives on a horse farm in Nashville, Tennessee, where he spends time with his wife and three children riding horses, paddling kayaks and playing tennis. As of yet, no member of his family has been branded.

After beginning her career as the Marketing Manager for a Nashville Landmark, the Corner Market, Samara joined the North Star team in 2004. As North Star's Marketing Director, Samara Hughes is responsible for leading business development efforts. A certified Tourism Marketing Professional, Samara is a savvy account planner capable of submerging herself in the business of tourism and community development. This not only gives North Star clients someone who can speak their language, but a valuable asset in understanding their community’s strongest opportunities.

Samara is a member of the Economic Development Committee for the Largo-Mid Pinellas Chamber of Commerce where she serves as an advisor for the many marketing and branding issues that play an important role in the economic growth of her community.

Samara is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she earned her Bachelors of Science in Advertising with a minor in Business. As a U.T. alumni it’s no wonder she’s a classic football fan. Her business acumen -- honed in North Star’s halls -- comes in handy for her after-hours role as the commissioner of a “killer” fantasy football league. Be careful, she plays to win.

Ed loves a good riddle.  Ever since finding the toaster in the tree the fastest in his pediatric dentist’s waiting room, he has quickly been solving marketing and operational challenges with creative and strategic instincts for 20 years.  Along the way he has collected a
cum laude business degree in Hospitality Administration from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and English Literature from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Most recently Ed gained valuable experience on both the client and agency sides of the branding relationship as an ADDY-award-winning Director of Marketing and Communications for the parent corporation to a group of national facility services companies serving transportation, travel, aviation, retail, healthcare, and hospitality industries. He also worked as Senior Copywriter and Marketing Strategist for a branding design firm in Nashville specializing in persuasive content for Music Row, corporate, and non-profit clients.  His success can be traced to intense curiosity, ability to listen intently, and all those questions that lead to solving any riddle.

Ed’s experience includes catering to clients with creativity, effective communication, and customer service that benefits North Star clients through the BrandPrint and BrandAMP processes.  His talents in writing, development, and strategy help communities recognize the importance of working together to more than scratch the surface of branding.  Ed’s insights and instincts lead clients to a broad, inclusive approach to successful community branding for the long-term.

After living off the grid in Taos, New Mexico, for several years hiking, mountain biking, and discovering some artistic talent, Ed returned to his native Tennessee and launched 2 eds design, a small enterprise with Ed, Sr. creating home furnishings and custom artwork in wood and metal, all discriminatingly supervised by his yellow lab, Zeke.

Tod Fetherling has dedicated his 16+ year career to interactive marketing in the travel, healthcare and beverage industries.  Currently Tod works with North Star to guide the interactive research and database aspects of the Community BrandPrint program.  In this capacity he oversees Tapestry programming, reporting and analysis as well as database development and management, website development and online survey administration.

Prior to his work with North Star, Tod served as president of Relegent, LLC, a company focused on the online marketing and content needs of hospitals and schools. Other experience includes interactive marketing positions ranging from Senior Vice President to Director to Manager for companies like First Consulting Group Infrastructure Services, Galaxy.Com, The Health Network, Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide and Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation.

During his impressive career Tod has received numerous awards such as the Trevor A. Fisk Young Marketer of the Year.  Honors have also been bestowed on many of the websites he created including Columbia/HCA’s Top Rating from Excite and recognition as a top business-to-business healthcare site by AdAge. The site was also selected by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best eight of 1995.

When asked what career achievement he is most proud of, Tod says it’s a toss-up between his redesign of the ever-popular Jack Daniels website and the internet broadcast of the live birth of a child, which attracted 1.4 million voyeurs (woops, I mean viewers).  Tod resides in Brentwood, TN with his wife and children (none of whom were publicly birthed).  

Shannon was born with an insatiable curiosity about people and what drives them to do what they do.  When she discovered anthropology, the study of human behavior, she never looked back. Shannon received her BA in Cultural Anthropology from Eckerd College and a dual degree of an MA in Anthropology and an MBA with emphasis on marketing and market research from the University of Colorado at Boulder--Leeds School of Business. These days Shannon is a consumer anthropologist and ethnographer, which means instead of digging up bones or studying tribal ritual she studies the humans in our current society: their choices and decisions, traits, motivations, relationships, needs, joys, experiences and day to day lives.

Prior to working with North Star, Shannon served as an ethnographic analyst for Context-based Research Group in Baltimore, MD.  There, she determined the research needs of clients, designed research studies and conducted field research using methodologies such as in-depth interviewing, observation or shadowing, behavior and relationship mapping and self-expression exercises. The insights she gained served to further the efforts of businesses and organizations in industries including healthcare, consumer packaged goods, retail, transportation, and telecommunications. 

Shannon loves research and gets more excited about data than many people get about ice cream.  Mostly, she enjoys helping companies and communities understand their consumers and residents on a deep level, and bringing constituents to life for those that seek to serve them. Shannon is also an avid sailor and, having just left the sailing mecca of the Chesapeake Bay, is learning to cope with the delicate intricacies of lake sailing in Middle Tennessee.

Sound check.  Testing 1.2.3.  Sounds great.  Anthony (or Tony…he is Sicilian) brings legitimacy to North Star as a Nashville workplace.  He pens, produces, and performs his own songs.  Before joining North Star, Anthony worked for an AV production company responsible for large scale events for communities in the Midwest, like Red, White, and Boom in Columbus, Ohio.   As a “roadie, sound guy and manager”, he has created spectacles with limited resources and attracted crowds through new media channels.  This resourcefulness and media savvy aid our communities as they cut through the clutter and evaluate their brand efficacy, particularly their return on events (ROE). Anthony gained his undergraduate degree in Marketing from Belmont University where he earned the coveted award celebrating the best marketing mind among the student population.   There is another remarkable distinction that belongs to Anthony.  He is a former North Star intern invited to join the team full-time. Known to have his own groupies, it’s no surprise that Anthony has quite the following on social media networks like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook.  He is now transferring that skill and charisma to our communities so they can develop their own band of fans.  In fact those talents at social media fit perfectly with NS New Media, our latest venture.  He puts our communities at center stage with his expertise on SEO and RSS and SRO.  Give Anthony a call and he will help you get a little more social; he might even provide your new business pitch in a song with his guitar.

For more than 20 years, Christi McEachern has made her mark as a marketing writer, editor and strategic planner. Her primary areas of emphasis include health care, travel and tourism, and community branding and she has worked with numerous clients including Days Inn, Ramada, American Express, UPS, UPS Worldwide Logistics, Cellular One, AmSouth, Parisian, BellSouth Business Systems, the Arthritis Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, HealthNet, TennCare, Physicians’ Mutual, HCA, Matria Healthcare, Schering-Plough and Merck.

Christi’s writing, strategic and client management skills are now put to good use. In addition to overseeing the care and nurturing of clients through their BrandPrint process, Christi applies her keen strategic sense to the development of strategic direction for community branding projects.

She received her BA from Whitman College, a private liberal arts institution in Walla Walla, WA and her master’s in Communications from the University of Georgia. Always up for a challenge, Christi is currently training for an iron woman competition (or at least talking about it), much to the amusement of her three children.

A numbers person from the get-go, Angie has more than 20 years experience in banking, accounting and finance.

Most recently she worked for the Midwest Hospital Division of HCA where she managed payroll and benefits processing for more than 2,000 employees. Prior to her time with HCA she was office manager and accounting administrator for Central South Enterprises, franchisor of Ponderosa Steakhouses. There she managed accounting and financial statements for franchise restaurants.

Angie brings her financial expertise to bear at North Star as Director of Finance. In this capacity she handles all accounting including preparation of financial statements, payroll, benefits and taxes.

She is extremely busy with her computer, adding machine and financial statements . . . although as a strategic and creative shop few of us understand what she is doing with all those numbers. But being in charge of payroll does make her quite popular.

Angie got her degree in business administration from Cumberland University and Middle Tennessee State University. She is married with two children (in college) and lives in Nashville.

A native New Englander, Ted started his 15-year career in Boston, MA. He was trained at such respected creative agencies as Arnold Advertising and Pagano, Schenck and Kay, under the watchful eye of several industry legends. He has also served several stints as Creative Director at the renowned creative factory Babbit & Reiman, award-winning agency Earle Palmer Brown and southeastern powerhouse West Wayne.

Ted’s extensive tourism and travel experience give North Star a creative foothold unmatched by many. Some of his past work includes Days Inns of America; the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism; USAir; Pinellas County, Florida; Georgia Department of Tourism; Orient-Express Hotels; Hyatt Hotels and Wild Dunes Resort, SC.

Ted is one of North Star’s strongest advocates for the idea of having a single collaborative team work on research, strategy and creative. According to Ted, an amazing thing happens when the people who develop the strategies work hand in hand with the ones who develop the ideas based on them – the transition is seamless; the work reflects strategy and the strategy is inherent in the work.

Every day is game day.  Kari has long enjoyed the connection between strategy and performance.  An avid UT fan (that’s Tennessee), Kari loves to watch the well-planned connection between a quarterback and a wide receiver on a long touchdown pass.  And she attended college with one of the NFL’s great QBs.  True confession: Kari singlehandedly could have changed NFL history by almost running over a future Colt on UT’s campus.  Kari has always been great at making an impact.

Kari’s education spans studies in human behavior and business analytics. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University.  Kari began her career in branding with two network television affiliates in Nashville coordinating media buys for promotional programming so client messages reached their targeted audiences at the ideal times.

Kari continued to transform strategies into peak performance as Marketing Director for a national managed services firm, growing from $50 million to $300 million during her tenure.  She researched lead generation and economic development opportunities for a parent company of six subsidiaries and numerous vertical markets.  She worked diligently on behalf of her internal executive clients.

Kari’s focus on strategy and performance benefits her North Star clients with finely crafted insights that connect to practical and effective implementation efforts for her clients’ communities.  She eagerly shares her gift for impact with each community so their new brand moves their target audiences to action.  Just remember the road to the Hall of Fame crosses in front of her.

Organization is the name of the game for Will Solomon. In this capacity, Will coordinates and controls the voluminous quantitative and qualitative research that serves as the foundation for each North Star client’s BrandPrint process. In addition, Will utilizes his considerable computer, analytical and design skills to prepare high-tech three-dimensional presentations of the research. And unfortunately for him, he’s quickly becoming the go-to man when North Star computers act up!

Will recently graduated from Vanderbilt University where he majored in Human and Organizational Development as well as Mandarin Chinese. We like to consider him our international traveler, which is great news considering we just signed on our first international client (although not our first Chinese client)! While spending just under a year in China studying fervently on his language skills, he managed to take trips to Tibet, Thailand and Cambodia and has quite the plethora of tales to tell from his journeys (His extension is #24, do not hesitate to call!).

An experienced public sector communications professional, Davi brings more than 27 years of high-level strategic thinking and planning to the North Star team.

Davi’s early experience involved editing and publishing a variety of communications including Tucson Magazine, Tucson Homes and Tucson Dining.

From there she became the public information officer (PIO) for Cobb County Parks and Recreation and was quickly promoted to PIO for the entire county. In that capacity she created and managed a marketing/communications program for a county with a population of 550,000 and an annual budget of $480 million. Davi directed the strategic rollout of the county’s first 911 emergency system and the first public transportation system. She also directed successful communications programs for a variety of political campaigns and pubic referendums, including a $400 million sales tax referendum for road improvements. For her work, Davi received the “Award of Excellence” from the National Association of County Information Officers and a County Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties.

Most recently, Davi has provided marketing and communications services for a variety of public and private sector clients including Dow Chemical, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and numerous chambers of commerce.

Davi has a BA in psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and a Certificate of Public Management from the University of Georgia. She is currently working on branding her teenage son in hopes of attaining a college soccer scholarship.

Kevin Hinson has been involved in the development and creation of brands for more than 18 years. His experience includes working with big-name national brands such as The Greenbrier Resort, Gaylord Hotels and Bridgestone Golf. He also has extensive experience working with smaller regional destinations including the Beaches of South Walton in Florida and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  At the helm of North Star’s creative department, Kevin has brought his unique style to a range of memorable brand identities.  Check out Montrose, CO; Oak Park, Ill; Overland Park, KS and Spanish Fork, UT for a sampling.   

Creating and protecting a brand is something that Kevin takes very seriously. (So don’t violate your brand’s graphic standards!)   During his eight years with The Beaches of South Walton he was fundamental to both the creation of the brand and its evolution; working to keep it relevant and to make sure it outpaced imitators. And his ongoing creative relationship with Montrose, CO is producing big results and big praise.  In fact, Kevin’s combination of talent, passion and client dedication have made him the recipient of numerous creative awards on regional, national and even international levels!  Some of the highlights include The One Show, Best of Show Addy Awards, London International Advertising Awards and the Andy Awards.

Kevin makes his home in historic East Nashville, Tennessee, where he spends most of his free time as a member of a masters cycling team training for the racing season (wearing brightly hued spandex, much to the amusement of his co-workers).

Originally from Indianapolis, Jennifer began her career in branding with Orlando Regional Healthcare, a non-profit healthcare organization in Orlando, Florida. There she honed her tactical communication skills, focusing on website and new media marketing. Next, it was on to Nashville for Jennifer, where she joined Vanderbilt University to manage branding, identity, and website development projects for departments within the International Office.

As Community Brand Supervisor for North Star, Jennifer helps destinations build on their abilities to turn aspiration into achievement. Clients benefit from her ability to think both creatively and methodically, and appreciate the warmth and thoughtfulness of her manner, which she simply calls “Hoosier hospitality.”

Jennifer is an Honors graduate from Ball State University in her native Indiana, with degrees in Advertising and French. It’s no surprise then that Jennifer adores French food, wine and cinema. When she’s not eating baguettes and brie, she enjoys scrapbooking, watching professional football, and taking in the Nashville music scene.