About

Born in Tifton, GA

Frequently asked questions:

• How close is that to Atlanta? Two and a half hours south on I-75. It's between Macon and Valdosta if you know and very close to Florida if you don't.
• So you're from a small town? Technically, I'm from an even smaller town called TyTy, which had a population of around 590 in 1993. Tifton's population was 14,585, and the county's was 35,592.
• Are there any interesting facts about Tifton? In 2001, we named ourself the 'Reading Capital of the World' despite not having an actual bookstore the entire time I lived there. That didn't stop us from starting a bitter feud with Akron, Ohio as to who held the rightful claim to that title.

Growing up in Tifton

Growing up in Tifton was a standard small-town experience. Like most families, both sides of mine were farmers.

We lived on a farm where we grew row crops like cotton, peanuts, corn and watermelon, plus owning cows, chickens and goats.

My father also owned Fletcher Limestone, a farm supply store in town, where we sold bulk fertilizer, chemicals and seeds to row crop farmers in South Georgia. We also rented out larger machinery like TerraGators, HighBoy spreaders and nitrogen tanks to local farmers.

Began volunteering as a production assistant at our church

Mostly running a soundboard for the youth group, being a camera operator on Sundays and hiding a lifesize cutout of Lottie Moon around corners to scare unsuspecting victims.

Got a job as a media associate for the church's broadcast and production department

On Sundays, I had to get to church at 6:30 a.m. for pre-production, then technical direct services for broadcast. Years later, I realized that 6:30 might as well be sleeping until noon.

Father passed away from cancer

He fought a good fight for two years. Colon cancer sucks.

Shortly after he passed, we closed the doors to Fletcher Limestone. Mom asked if I had any desire to one day run the family business my grandfather started. I said no.

I still stand by that decision considering I did not inherit a green thumb and managed to kill three aloe plants in 2023.

Got my first camera

I begged Mom for a Canon 60D for a year before she got it for me for Christmas. She once remarked that I wouldn't use it, so naturally, I decided to become obsessed with photography and build an entire career around digital marketing.

Graduated from Tift County High School

Achievements include:

• Class of 2012 most spirited
• Class of 2012 senior superlative
• Tennis letterman
• Zip-tying another student to his desk while he dozed off during a math lesson

Started studying print journalism at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Lucky for me, they had just hired a former investigative journalist with two duPont-Columbia awards and most other national honors.

Tom Grant gave us a lot of autonomy to experiment, fail and learn from our mistakes.

He helped an angsty kid hone in on what originally drew him to photography and storytelling.

Graduated from ABAC

I remember telling Tom the first time I met with him as my advisor that I was only going to be at ABAC for a year before transferring to UGA, I had only stayed in Tifton to help Mom after Dad passed away and  that I was not interested in journalism in the least.

Two years later, I was graduating as the top journalism student from ABAC. Life has a funny way of proving you wrong.

Spent a summer working for a nonprofit in Estelí, Nicaragua

This guy came to our multimedia class to discuss how social media was transforming how nonprofits communicated with donors. He asked if anyone was interested in being an intern for the summer with his nonprofit in Nicaragua.

It sounded interesting, and after 20 years, I wanted to be as far away from Tifton as possible.

I spent the summer living with a family that didn't speak English, taking 20 hours of Spanish classes each week and starting each morning with an ice-cold shower.

Moved to Bowling Green, KY, to study broadcasting at Western Kentucky University

We visited WKU once that April. It was my first substantial visit to Kentucky.

I'm sure she wondered if I was actually going to move two states away to this place where we knew no one.

I brought the camera with me.

Started working at WBKO 13 News

Fortunately, they had their own cameras. I started as a part-time, overnight master control operator in the production department and quickly moved to being a video editor for the evening newscasts.

On weekends, I spent any spare time shooting stories and doing stand-ups on the evening newscast as "Jack Fletcher."

Took a job at WDRB News in Louisville, KY

They had a hybrid shift, where you worked as a dayside photographer for three weekdays and a production assistant for the morning newscast.

I had to be at work at 4 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and I wished I still had that 6:30 start from the church days.

Graduated from WKU

Those two weeks of driving an hour and a half (plus the time change) to be at work at 4 a.m. on weekend mornings were rough.

Started dating a girl named Abby

On our first date, I told her I was moving to Atlanta for a job in a few weeks. She said it was nice getting to know me. Fortunately for me, I didn't get that job.

Sold the camera Mom bought me all those years ago

Not because I was tired of photography. A friend and I were going to DC the following month, and I saw this as a good excuse to finally purchase a full-frame camera.

Took a job at FOX 5 Atlanta

They needed a third photographer for their morning show, so I now had to wake up and be at work by 4 a.m. every weekday. I was excited to finally have weekends off.

Abby was graduating from law school. Because we both refused to give in, she decided to take the Kentucky bar exam to see if I was serious about not moving back.

Moved back to Louisville

Being confined to an 800 sqft apartment in the middle of the city during COVID was tough. I'm fairly sure I visited Abby for a week and never returned to those cramped quarters in Atlanta.

Started the Online MBA program at the University of Louisville

I worked remotely as a news editor after COVID shut everything down. By that time, I was beyond tired of waking up at 3 a.m. and didn't want to spend the rest of my career going to shootings or press conferences that could have been emails.

I decided to do their newly established online program just in case we didn't end up in Louisville.

Married Abby in Beaufort, SC

She's from Kentucky. I'm from Georgia. Instead of making one family travel, we decided to inconvenience everyone.

She made me put in my vows that I'm not allowed to move away without her again.

Graduated from UofL

This rather large piece of paper from the day says with distinction.

Launched Mammoth Creative Group

Remember how I worked at WBKO while studying at WKU? There was this guy named Chad who was doing the same thing. We later overlapped at WDRB.

Well, we got dinner in April 2022. He thought I was there to offer him a job at this PR firm where I had built their media lab.

Instead, I told him that I was done and would be starting a creative services team. I wanted him to join with me as a partner.

It's just a minor detail, but we'd also need to spend about $20,000 to get the bare minimum in equipment to get started.

Surprisingly, he said yes. This will likely be the most expensive meal he'll ever have.