SoWal Staff & Contributors
Amy moved to Santa Rosa Beach immediately after completing her degree at Auburn University. She's worked as Director of Rental Operations at Sandestin and General Manager at Cottage Rental Agency in Seaside. These days you can find her running her own show at Escape Vacation Rentals in Northwest Florida. EscapeToNWFL.com
Bruce is a multi-talented man who writes, acts, directs, and has a passion for the stage and a great meal. He's the Editor of the DeFuniak Herald / Beach Breeze, the beloved hometown newspaper, and also a contributing editor at The Beachcomber, where he has published many restaurant reviews. http://www.defuniakherald.com
Chandra is a designer, permaculture specialist, and Moonlight Micro-Farmer in South Walton, Florida. You can find her every Saturday morning at the Seaside Farmers Market.
Collis hails from Southern Texas but is now proud to call South Walton home. He learned about our beach paradise while living in North Carolina and surfing the web to find a nice place by the beach for him and his wife Amanda. He came upon SoWal.com, and after a few minutes looking at photos knew where they needed to be. Collis is out every day producing photos and videos to share with viewers.
Danny is SoWal's music coordinator and works closely with local venues and musicians to promote the amazing local music scene. Danny is a musician, songwriter, singer, producer, engineer, teacher, and all-around recording studio and live mixing engineer. He records in his own studio and writes and performs original music. His radio/internet show, “A Box of Chocolates” can be heard on 30A Radio.
Elaine moved to the Emerald Coast in 2001 to aid the launch of EmeraldCoast.com and spent five years with Freedom Communication marketing all of their newspapers and websites. She ventured into the wine & culinary world and directed the Southern Breeze Costal Wine tour all over the southeast. She then had the privilege of being on the start-up team for Grand Boulevard at Sandestin.
Gwen Break spent more than 10 years in radio, TV and advertising in addition to being an insurance claims adjuster for a similar amount of time. Most recently she was the editor of The Walton Sun newspaper where she worked from 1997-2009. In addition to writing articles about SoWal, she is the events editor.
As a native of New Orleans, the Destin area was “our beach” from my earliest memories. Some 25 years ago, I chose to make Destin my home. I lived overseas for about eight years before returning to the U.S. and settling on the Emerald Coast. Continuing my career in journalism, I worked for a local newspaper for several years before founding Visible Ink, my public relations and marketing company. Jennifer's Website
My husband Rich and I have lived in SoWal since 1998. We love living at the beach and aren’t sure why it took us so long to figure that out. I’ve been a paid professional writer for about 10 years, but I started writing soon as I could hold a pencil. I wake up each morning wondering if I'll meet someone today who has a story begging to be told.
Originally from North Texas, Karen settled in SoWal and has served as the President of the Cultural Arts Alliance and on the board of the Three Arts Alliance. Karen has been seen on stage in various plays in the area. She's also written, edited and performed original sketches about historical Walton County at Chautauqua Assembly and ArtsQuest.
As a happy ambassador of South Walton, Kurt loves spreading the word about the world's most beautiful beaches. Kurt’s photography has been featured in National Geographic, The Miami Herald, Jazziz Magazine, The New York Times, and many other publications.
Captain Larry is a native of South Walton, growing up just 300 yards from the beach. Having fished the local waters for over 40 years he is very familiar with all the fish, their habits and their habitats. DeadFishCharters.com
Laurel is a joyful local, and ardent SoWal beach lover who spends as much time as possible outdoors paying attention to the things we all love about living in South Walton. She enjoys writing and helping local businesses with marketing and public relations. http://www.laurelabbe.com
Lisa moved to the Emerald Coast in 1993 from the big city of Boston, after attending Northeastern University near her hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts. After aiding the startup of the Walton Sun newspaper and working there for ten years she spent over three years at Cornerstone Marketing & Advertising, helping to launch VIE Magazine.
A native of Memphis, Lisa followed her dream of life at the beach and made her home in South Walton in 1980. Along with a core group of residents, she was very involved in early community endeavors including funding and support for creation of the Scenic 30A bike path, implementing a sign ordinance, and creating the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County. http://www.rosemarybeach.com
A Carolina native who now calls SoWal home, Lynn Nesmith spent her childhood summers along the Atlantic. She started her career with Architecture Magazine in Washington, D.C., and later moved to Birmingham to serve as architecture editor of Southern Living. Lynn currently lives in Seagrove and writes from an office perched in a third-story tower with a glimpse of the Gulf of Mexico. 30A Style
Marla helps keep SoWal on the right track with a sharp eye and keen sense of great content. She moved to SoWal after working in the recording industry for many years.
A Gulf Coast native who now calls SoWal home, Susan spent much of her childhood traveling the world as the daughter of a Naval officer. Susan is known for her connection to area chefs, and her passion for promoting local farmers, businesses and artisans. 30AEATS.com
A Birmingham native who loves living on the bayou in SoWal. Teresa is always inspired by SoWal’s natural environment and the unique people who make it such an outstanding community. Working with the SoWal team to promote all things local is work she finds extremely rewarding.
Tom was born and raised in North Louisiana before spending most of his life in New Orleans where he was an elected Judge for many years. He's published more than a hundred tales about growing up in Louisiana and adventures in the courtroom. But now, he and his wife Karen also write stories about local interesting people, places and things for SoWal.com. http://www.justiceormercy.com
Though he lives in Nashville, Stacy considers himself an honorary resident of SoWal. When he isn't designing brand identities or websites, he can be found on a river somewhere shooting video or writing.
