About

With more than 30 years of experience doing just about everything when it comes to marketing, communications, and public relations, Nancy brings both expertise and energy to any project she’s involved with. Clients who work with her quickly see that she is a quintessential “go-to” person.

A Tennessee native, Nancy began her career working on a local school-to-business partnership program where she learned the importance of establishing strong relationships, community involvement, and project management. Seven years of her career were then spent at a not-for-profit health system in Knoxville, moving through the ranks in the marketing and public relations division. She worked and learned at six facilities with unique and plentiful opportunities to build a solid base of communications expertise. Nancy relocated to the Washington, D.C. area in 2003 and launched Mayes Communications — now Blue Wagon Group — in 2004.

In addition to the hands-on work she’s done in the field, Nancy also has plenty of paper on her walls to verify her credentials. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s in communications, earned her master’s in communications at the University of Tennessee, and is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America. For eight years, she served on the adjunct faculty roster for Johns Hopkins University’s graduate communications program, teaching courses in public relations, crisis communications, and managerial communications.

Through the years, Nancy has worked extensively with clients in the healthcare industry, as well as non-profit associations. Clients come to her for her strengths in project management, teamwork, and strong writing skills.

Melana has nearly 20 years of experience in health care public relations and marketing. In her work for a large not-for-profit hospital in central Tennessee, she managed internal and external communication projects and coordinated a variety of publications. Additionally, she has experience in media and employee relations in her work with a nationally known teaching and research medical center in Nashville. For Blue Wagon, Melana manages media relations projects and provides editorial and writing services to a variety of healthcare clients.

Melana holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with an emphasis in public relations from Middle Tennessee State University. She offers extensive knowledge of effectively relaying information, whether the audience is seasoned employees or the general public.

With 20+ years of bi-coastal pr and marketing experience across the hospitality, arts and entertainment, environmental and retail industries, Tami von Isakovics is a holistic marketing strategist and communications pro who cares as much as you do about your business. Working both in-house and at agencies during her career, she approaches each client with an eye for helping them stand out from the crowd and market their best assets.

In 2020, she relocated to Charlotte, N.C., where she most recently led the marketing and pr department for a utility-scale solar development company.

She served as the executive director of marketing for Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud, and she led all aspects of marketing and pr for his group’s 16 restaurants worldwide. A passionate environmentalist, she is constantly looking for ways to help lessen the carbon footprint and while at Dinex, Tami implemented a company-wide policy against the use of plastic straws.

Before moving to New York City in 2016, she spent 12 years in San Francisco, specializing in the hospitality industry for companies including Moana Restaurant Group and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, working with chefs, restaurants and hotels on brand campaigns, pr launches, brand partnerships, property renovations, and new openings. Prior to joining Kimpton, she was the president and co-owner of Ellipses Public Relations—a boutique hospitality pr firm specializing in restaurants, travel, food and beverage products, and special events.

She began her career in Washington, D.C., at Burson-Marsteller, working for public affairs clients such as the U.S. Treasury and Tysons Corner Center. Tami later moved into the entertainment pr world, serving the messaging needs of several clients, including the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, WETA Washington, DC (PBS producing station), Disney on Ice, and DisneyLive! before she moved westward in 2004.

She is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a major in communication and a minor in Spanish. She still dreams of being fluent one day.

A seasoned public relations professional, Becky cut her teeth at Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton in Houston and worked in retail PR before relocating to rural Ohio, Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis and back to Atlanta, always producing stellar results for her clients. Although a generalist at heart, she’s comfortable in both the B2B and B2C spaces and has worked in a variety of industries including environmental, franchising, disabilities, healthcare, sports and retail.

With writing and media relations solidly at the core of her expertise, Becky enjoys strategizing with clients to find the nut of a story, then the challenge of crafting the pitch and sleuthing out media professionals open to coverage. Whether pitching to small neighborhood publications or national outlets, Becky always takes a human approach to media relations. She’s comfortable in the board room or locker room and can write a mean byliner on nearly any topic.

She earned a BA in journalism from the University of Houston in journalism/public relations after transferring from Butler University in Indianapolis where she was a vocal performance major. She’s active in PRSA Georgia and believes strongly in community give back.

Sandy is a seasoned strategic communications professional with more than 25 years of experience in both agency and corporate communications. She has worked with clients, big and small, across a variety of industries. Most recently, she served as vice president of media & public relations for a Fortune 500 healthcare company, where she spent 20 years in marketing and communications roles with increased responsibility. For Blue Wagon, Sandy provides strategic communications, media relations, writing and editing support.

Sandy earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis on advertising and public relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2014. She is an active member in PRSA and volunteers for local organizations in her hometown of St. Louis.

In her free time, Sandy enjoys anything and everything outdoors, traveling and spending time with her husband and four boys.

Talia Hamm received her master's of public health from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has considerable experience in the healthcare sector, working with a range of clients from pharmaceutical companies to non-profit and for-profit hospital systems.

While pursuing her MPH, she focused on public health communications and interned with the American Heart Association. Her internship supported AHA’s science media relations team, tasked with aiding the promotion of AHA's 14 scientific journals and annual scientific conferences.

Talia's other work experience has centered on clinical research, including federally-funded and industry-sponsored clinical trials for a range of populations primarily in the fields of psychiatry and neurology.

Adria is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience leading communications to drive awareness and adoption of critical initiatives and organizational changes. Her background includes broad-based corporate communications and deep experience developing communications to support HR topics including healthcare and retirement benefits, well-being, compensation, performance management and talent acquisition.

With her collaborative approach and strategic counsel, Adria has consistently delivered impactful results across various industries. She has worked as a consultant and in-house for companies including JLL, Amgen, Bank of America, Time Warner Cable and Lowe's Home Improvement.

Adria earned a master’s degree in communication from American University and a bachelor’s degree in media management from Hampton University. In addition, she is a Prosci-certified change practitioner.

Robin is a passionate, energetic communications, media, and public relations professional with nearly 25 years of experience.

After a decade as a broadcast journalist in Virginia, she transitioned her career to the other side of the camera, working in corporate communications. She served as the vice president of communications for a large mental health and substance use non-profit in North Carolina. Robin also works with several events and businesses in the Tarheel state as a communications and digital media consultant.

Sharing her expertise with future comms pros, Robin served as a professor of the practice at High Point University. She begins a new chapter in her career as an assistant professor at Wake Forest University in the fall of 2024.

Robin graduated from the University of Virginia with her bachelor’s in history and completed her master’s in communications from Johns Hopkins University, with a dual concentration in public and media relations and digital communication.

Lynne is a health care communications leader with an award-winning record of building and growing successful educational campaigns, programs, and partnerships. She has more than 35 years of experience in public relations, marketing, medical and scientific writing and editing, and website management for national nonprofit organizations, academic medical centers, and hospitals. Lynne has extensive experience in oncology patient education and advocacy and has held positions of increasing responsibility with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Cancer Society, Emory University, and Moffitt Cancer Center. She excels in strategic planning, content development, media relations, corporate communications, video production, development writing, and managing special events.

Lynne particularly loves the challenge of translating complex medical and scientific information into lay language for patients and their families and caregivers. She is equally comfortable writing articles for professional audiences and managing publications. Known as an “eagle eye” proofreader, she is always ready to edit.

Lynne holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis in advertising from the University of South Florida. Mentoring colleagues and sharing her love of reading and writing through volunteer literacy programs is close to her heart. She also volunteers with a local cancer center and her neighborhood farmer’s market.

McKenzie is a communications specialist who received her B.A. in English with minors in education and history from Jacksonville University. She continued her education and graduated with her M.A. from the University of Florida in mass communications in 2023; her M.A. is concentrated in science and health communications. 

Her health communication and clinical recruitment internship at the University of Florida solidified her interest in health communications, and she aspires to one day become a health communications specialist for a major health organization. 

From her undergraduate and graduate programs, McKenzie has experience in creative and academic writing, research, editing, secondary education best practices, and content creation. 

Anna received her bachelor’s in journalism from Northwestern University. She has considerable experience working in the healthcare space, both clinically and through writing.

During her undergraduate studies, she gained clinical experience as an emergency medical technician. More recently, she has also explored the medical writing and communications space through work as a freelance medical news reporter with JAMA and science media relations intern for the American Heart Association.

Sharing great stories and helping nonprofit organizations, trade associations, government agencies, and small businesses improve how they communicate is what keeps Ami Neiberger in public relations. She has worked in the field for more than 30 years. She likes to point out that she handled her first PR crisis at age 19 when she joined a nonprofit board of directors that sacked its executive director for mis-managing funds.

A gifted strategist, Neiberger crafts public relations plans that achieve results, and she is well-known for her media relations outreach and success. Her forthright assessment, reliability, and skill at helping clients creatively share their stories in the public eye are well-known. A talented writer, Ami writes reports, social media, speeches, training materials, curriculum, event scripts, news releases, magazine features, and much more. An early adopter of social media, she helps clients think creatively and strategically about integrating their communications.

Stories about her clients have appeared on CNN, Fox News, ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, CBS 60 Minutes, the BBC, AP Radio and National Public Radio. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications have featured her clients. As a former op-ed writer, Ami has a heart for causes and placing letters to the editor and columns for her clients.

She is the former media spokesperson for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) where she spent six years supporting communications around programs assisting gold star families. She previously worked for Sister Cities International and the National 4-H Council, in addition to a long list of nonprofit, government and small business clients.

Ami graduated from the University of Florida with a master’s degree in history and she also holds a bachelor’s degree from the same institution. She is accredited in public relations through the Public Relations Society of America. She has spoken about public relations for students at Marymount University, American University, Columbia University, Georgetown University and at the Carter Center.

Vanessa is an innovative communicator with significant experience in branding, marketing, corporate communications, and event planning. She has a passion for solving complex challenges and developing actionable strategies to engage target audiences across a variety of channels.

Prior to her work for Deloitte and Willis Tower Watson, Vanessa honed her tactical communications and project management skills in a variety of nonprofit and health care settings, including Evolent Health, NRECA, Kaiser Permanente, MedStar Harbor Hospital, and the Navy Marine Coast Guard Residence Foundation.

Vanessa obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in public relations from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland and earned her MBA from The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Alissa is a communications specialist with more than 20 years of experience in public relations.

Previously, Alissa served as an account director at JPA Health Communications, where she provided strategic counsel and day-to-day support for a variety of national health organizations, and as a manager with Burson-Marsteller where she focused on media relations, thought leadership, advocacy and messaging for health care and corporate clients. Alissa has extensive experience in corporate communications from her positions in large health plans and health care organizations.

Early in her career, Alissa served as the communications manager with the Center for Health Transformation and as an associate with the Advisory Board Company.

A Florida native, Alissa received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Florida and her master’s degree in communications from Johns Hopkins University.