Teaming Up for Success

Stacia leads the partner-program development with the Brand USA team, creating innovative and diverse offerings that drive incremental international visitation to the U.S. She resides in Atlanta, where she enjoys all things floral, a challenging pilates class and spending time with her husband and two adult children, Isabella and James.

In managing Brand USA and VISIT FLORIDA (Vacation Guide) across the entire state, I apply a marketing/customer service approach with partners to drive revenue for the client and for Miles, while positively affecting destination awareness and visitation. An avid college sports fan, you can hear Irish swear quite a bit when discussing his alma mater, the University of Florida.

Favorite Travel Memory

I have favorite travel memories from everywhere I visited.

Lauren is a passionate, collaborative and creative marketing leader with 20-plus years of experience developing and executing strategic, integrated marketing communications programs. When she's not strategizing with clients and her amazing team, you will find her traveling, biking and enjoying time with her family.

Favorite Travel Memory

I have favorite travel memories from each and every trip so it's really difficult to choose just one. My first vacation memory in Bermuda as a five-year-old is very special to me, and it launched my passion for travel.

Juliana Contreras is a multilingual senior art director, guitar strummer, culinary maestro and garden enthusiast. Her art bridges cultures, while her heart embraces family and pets. She's a sailing aficionada with an aquatic irony: can't swim, yet conquers the sea.

Favorite Travel Memory

Costa Rica: Being awakened by waves and a serenade of birds was such an amazing experience. I can't wait to go back.

Hayley is an account supervisor working on web, print and media projects for amazing destinations like Chicago, Myrtle Beach, Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Ocala, Galveston and Waco. She enjoys playing soccer, event planning and cheering on the Oregon Ducks. She lives in Eugene and has her degree in marketing and advertising from Grand Canyon University.

Favorite Travel Memory

My sister and I went on a cruise once, and there was a mega pod of dolphins surrounding the ship — hundreds and hundreds of dolphins swimming alongside us for hours. It was a really incredible experience.

Nicole's past experience in destination and tourism makes her a great fit as our Associate Media Planner. When she's not strategizing plans, she can be found at her local Pilates studio or with her husband and their cat, Poe.

Favorite Travel Memory

My favorite travel memory is visiting Paris with my family. I'll never forget walking through the underground catacombs and seeing the Eiffel Tower light up at night!

Johanna's role as an account manager is to support clients in planning, building and executing their vision. What makes her happeiest? Spending time with her family and creating long-lasting memories for her son. With family scattered around the globe, the opportunities to visit new and exciting places are countless.

Paul is a driving force at Miles in successful product launches, advertising revenue-generation programs and creative solutions for DMOs. He is currently developing integrated travel industry co-op programs for Brand USA, and when he is not luring international visitors to the U.S., he is spending time in the great outdoors.

Favorite Travel Memory

I have so many fantastic travel memories, but one of my favorites was a family vacation in Croatia bareboat sailing throughout the Dalmatian Islands. Sailing is nirvana for me and when you add in my favorite people, perfect sailing conditions, incredible scenery, great food and wine, it doesn't get any better. 

Dana’s work combines creative and data-driven thinking to implement well-rounded media plans for our clients. When she's not cooking up the next best campaign strategy, you'll likely find her enjoying all that her hometown of Denver has to offer with her husband and two dogs, Kermit and Cookie.

Based in Tallahassee, Florida, Keely is a content manager on the Brand USA team. Besides writing and editing web content to showcase U.S. destinations, Keely loves collecting vinyl, singing opera and hanging out with her hairless cat, Cowboy.

Favorite Travel Memory

Spending a month studying opera (and eating plenty of pasta) in the tiny Italian town of Mercatello Sul Metauro.

Meghan has spent more than half her life with Miles (she must have started when she was 12!), working on the creative side and then diving into database application and integration. She leads our software-development programs and facilitates our email-marketing programs. Offline, Meghan enjoys anything island-y and relaxing.

Favorite Travel Memory

Too many to choose from, but a particular childhood favorite is my family (mom, dad, sister and me) from Cleveland randomly bumping into my aunt, uncle and cousins from Connecticut in Kitty Hawk, NC. We got to see the sights and spend some quality cousin time!

After spending years in the CVB and DMO world, Courtney now uses her tourism-marketing experience to create content for a variety of Miles' clients. Based in Atlanta, she spends her free time exploring the Southeast either hiking mountains or visiting beaches with her golden retriever Boone.

Favorite Travel Memory

I will never forget hiking my first 14er with my brother. Mount Yale holds a special place in my heart!

A serial entrepreneur, Ryan joined Miles in 2018 following the acquisition of his studio, Odyssey. With more than 20 years of digital, experiential and content-marketing experience, he oversees a portfolio of client accounts, as well as our creative and studio functions. He is an author and nationally recognized public speaker on tourism, strategy, consumer behavior, destination marketing and digital advertising.

Favorite Travel Memory

Climbing 4,000 feet into the clouds at Huayna Picchu, Peru.

Hanna is an account manager who uses her skills to keep projects and client requests running smoothly. After graduating from Ole Miss, she moved out West and found a new passion for working in the travel and tourism industry. In her free time, you can catch her reading a good book, painting or exploring the outdoors of Colorado.

Melissa leads the company's consulting practice focused on developing inclusive marketing strategies that broaden audience reach and create meaningful connections with travelers from all backgrounds. She works with clients to implement tailored approaches that foster authentic connections and expand reach across the travel and tourism industry. Melissa resides just outside of Atlanta, has a deep passion for the arts and loves to cook.

Favorite Travel Memory

Zurich, Switzerland

Sebrina specializes in creating customized packages and sharing the many benefits of advertising with the DMO of the Windy City, Choose Chicago. You can usually find her enjoying time with her husband, daughter, son and two Icelandic sheepdogs, or exploring new restaurants and traveling to any place with warmer winters than Chicago.

Favorite Travel Memory

Taking my daughter to Cancun for a girls trip before she headed off to college.

Elena’s diverse background in art, design and product development makes her a driving force on the new business team. Her creative ability to adapt to emerging consumer trends is an important part of Miles’ success, and her love of family and travel is key to her personal success.

Favorite Travel Memory

Experiencing the stunning scenery, amazing wildlife and great outdoor adventures during a family roadtrip to Yellowstone, Canyonlands, Moab and Zion, where we were able to disconnect from the rest of the world and feel truly alive.

Madeleine is a graphic designer who thrives on crafting visually captivating designs that capture attention and spark connection. Outside of her work, she loves reading, video games, trying new cookie recipes and spending time with her family.

Favorite Travel Memory

I loved my entire visit to Colorado Springs, but driving up Pikes Peak was my favorite. It offered a breathtaking view the whole way up. We reached the summit, it felt like being on top of the whole world.

Stephanie is a member of the destination optimization team, where she mostly gathers and analyzes data to help local businesses, as well as other tasks involving spreadsheets or the occasional VBA macro. Outside of work, she enjoys tabletop RPGs, indie video games, sewing and piano.

Favorite Travel Memory

I spent an entire day walking around Stanley Park in Vancouver. It was magical to know that we were in a major city but still felt like we were in the middle of deep woods.

John is part of the Memphis Tourism Sales Team and also the SEE Magazine Publisher on Panama City Beach. When not working to create great outcomes for our clients, he enjoys tennis, boating and traveling with his wife, children, grandchildren and friends.

Favorite Travel Memory

So many to pick from, but Yosemite’s 2023 spring snow melt was an unforgettable trip.

Lauren works on some of our largest DMO and hospitality accounts to traffic, optimize and report on each campaign from start to finish. When she's not digging into reporting and trafficking campaigns, you can find her behind the lens of her camera or spending time with her husband and son.

Neal has worked his way up from designing websites for convention centers named after fried-chicken chains to leading a team of production companies, creative directors, art directors, graphic designers and copywriters to develop brands for some of the most iconic destinations worldwide.

Favorite Travel Memory

As a U.S. citizen, going over the border to Canada or Mexico isn't really an international trip. So, I chalked AlUla up as my first international trip. It was a fantastic experience even though we worked 19-plus hour days to document some of the first tourism opportunities in Saudi Arabia. Let's say I've learned to travel with a few snacks now due to that trip.

Josh is part of the operations team and oversees the company's use of Wrike. He helps teams optimize their use of the PM tool so they can work as effectively as possible. Outside of work, he's probably outside mountain biking or skiing. Colorado has some of the most beautiful trail networks and outdoor areas, and he's trying to see as much as he can.

Taylor is part of our account services team, supporting the execution of deliverables across all disciplines while bringing curiosity and a positive, service-oriented mindset to every client. Outside of work, Taylor enjoys exploring the Colorado mountains with her two dogs, Juniper and Willow, diving into a good book and cross-stitching projects.

With 15-plus years of travel-industry experience, Susan has demonstrated expertise in digital marketing and connecting media- and owned-channel strategy with broader marketing goals. When not working, she is further developing her status as a breakfast-taco aficionado and is lobbying for breakfast tacos to be considered their own food group.

Favorite Travel Memory

Visiting different Mayan villages by boat around Lake Atitlán (a lake inside a massive volcanic crater) in Guatemala.

Henry is part of the destination optimization team and helps organize and implement the education side of the programs, including leading seminars and hosting office hours. In Henry's spare time, you can find him exploring new places by land or by sea with wife and two pups.

Favorite Travel Memory

Easily the opportunity to drive up and down and across the state of Wyoming to host seminars and help promote those destinations with organic digital marketing.

Charity thrives on collaborating with clients to craft marketing strategies that showcase a destination’s distinct story. Away from work, she looks forward to being near the water, checking off her concert bucket list and finding new places to explore with her husband and dog, Nyota.

Favorite Travel Memory

My favorite travel memories are a mix of unplanned moments like our sea turtle encounter while snorkeling in Hawaii, stumbling upon a quirky Don Quixote museum in Spain, and bonding with locals at Munich's Marineplatz.

Missy is joining the DMO sales team as a business development manager. She has decades of experience in sales and marketing as well as film and TV production. She has even had some success behind the camera in a few hit films but prefers to travel and read these days.