Good people who care about what they do are the backbone of any business.
Our Team
Dina Bright
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Insert bio info here.
Guiding principle:
Bryan Garner
Director of Content Strategy
Director of Content Strategy
Bryan marries a marketer’s perspective with the operational side of the business, making him quite the catch for the lucky brands he works with. Bryan has helped to create several brands from scratch, including Planet Smoothie, Shane’s Rib Shack, and Moe’s (yes, that Moe’s). Bryan has played the field with franchising concepts ranging from fast casual restaurants to package delivery and business service clients. But he always returns to his first love, creating custom local marketing programs that adhere to corporate messaging parameters.
Guiding principle
A good marketing program must be replicable and have an immediate impact.
Dianne Hartness
Human Resources
Human Resources
We call her “Human Resources” but Dianne is actually the sweeper of our team. Experienced not only in HR but also in accounting and office management, Dianne has run the offices of several major Atlanta-area homebuilders, as well as performing as the HR coordinator for a chain of restaurants. In addition to keeping our office running smoothly and the billing systems straight, Dianne writes employee handbooks for our clients and consults on employment-related issues for our franchise system clients. We are very nice to Dianne because we do not actually know how to pay ourselves without her.
Guiding principle
I may be in Human Resources, but I’m still human.
Michelle Newcome
Founder
Founder
Michelle has over 15 years of providing operational and marketing services. She also has an MFA in poetry – not great for earning potential, but excellent for making succinct bullet lists. Michelle’s deep understanding of system needs means she creates guidelines based in common sense practices. Michelle has created systems for a diverse list of companies (Chili’s Bar & Grill, Ross Stores, Planet Smoothie, Flip Flop Shops, Shane’s Rib Shack, Schlotzsky’s Deli, Mama Fu’s Noodle House, FLIP burger boutique, and Stevi B’s Pizza –to name a few). And every system is like poetry in motion.
Guiding principle
Set the next person up for success. Otherwise you’ll never be able to take a vacation.
Erin O’Brien
Managing Partner
Managing Partner
Erin O’Brien, Managing Partner with Manual Makers, enjoys leading the team of technical writers and content designers to create beautiful and useful materials for her clients. Erin’s mix of experience in franchise training, customer service, communications, and project management allows her to build strong relationships with her clients to construct manuals, guides, handbooks, and training materials. Erin is an extroverted collaborator who gets lonely working in a silo.
Prior to joining Manual Makers Erin worked at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen as the Manager of Operations Content and Systems in the training department, creating operations and management training for Popeyes’ 2,600+ units globally. She also served on the board of Popeyes Women’s Leadership Forum for four years, including serving as President in 2015. Erin has presented to the following organizations on leadership development: Greenway Health (alongside Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder), Dress for Success, and Girl Talk.
Erin holds certifications in Project Leadership for Instructional Design with the eLearning Guild, Designing Learning with the Association for Talent Development, and is also a certified ServSafe Food Protection Manager.
Erin earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Communications from Clemson University.
Erin and her husband Danny live in Dunwoody, Georgia with their two young daughters. When she’s not cheering on her Clemson Tigers or at the park for a playdate, Erin can usually be found visiting her family and friends in Charleston, South Carolina or sampling the culinary creations Danny makes on his Big Green Egg.
Guiding principle
Extraordinary things happen when you step outside of your comfort zone.
Megan Reid
Documentarian
Documentarian
One of our favorite pastimes at The Manual Makers is inventing new words. Megan inspired our latest creation, “quirkycool.” Her quirkycool style extends from her exquisite fashion to her client relationships (they love her). We hired Megan straight from the GSU Fiction program as an onsite proofreader working with our clients. We stole her back when we realized her documentation skills extended far past proofreading. Now she helps build our documents from the ground up, then gives them a good polishing. Deadlines? She meets them all while keeping her cool. ‘Cause she’s quirkycool like that.
Guiding principle
Always have at least one cup of coffee before proofreading anything.
Sadie Simons
Account Manager
Account Manager
Okay, we admit it. We’re jealous of her really cool alliterative name, so we decided to write her entire bio to match. Here we go: Sadie Simons is a sassy strategic influencer who caters creative corporate communications to our clients. Always an ally, she alleviates account angst and presides over projects proficiently. Her broad background is a benefit, so we are muy merry here at The Manual Makers to see Sadie Simons’ smiling face sally up our sidewalk!
Guiding principle
Words are powerful.
Brett Wyatt
Production Specialist
Production Specialist
Hailing from Nebraska, Brett joins the team with a background in theater performance and direction. Which means he had zero experience in just about anything we actually do. Most would call hiring him to work on projects for some of the world’s largest companies a big mistake. We call it a smart move, since he aced the role of Top Notch Production Specialist by mastering our software in three weeks. His perpetual positive mindset can be explained by the fact that one of his first jobs was playing a character at Disney World.
Guiding principle
Working with a smile makes it feel a lot less like work.
