Hometown: Elba, AL (barely a dot on the map)
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Communication from The University of Alabama
Personal Mantra/Motto: Every brand begins with a story. Write and tell what you know.
Favorite Quote: “After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” - Gov. Ann Richards.
Favorite PR Moment: While at Austin CVB, hosting a media event in NYC with Danny Meyer’s Blue Smoke BBQ that was so successful, it led him to start the Big Apple BBQ Block Party.
Cynthia Maddox has spent her entire career in communications–from a high school job at her hometown newspaper to assistant travel editor at Southern Living to managing accounts for leading destination marketing and healthcare organizations. As senior communications strategist/special projects for Gambel Communications, she leverages an award-winning portfolio of public relations, branding and marketing experience to serve the agency’s diverse stable of clients.
Cynthia graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts focused in broadcast and film. Cynthia was the first female sports reporter at the Crimson White campus newspaper to cover men’s athletics. Her first assignment was to interview legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Most of her career was spent in Austin, TX, where she worked for 10 years with Southern Living magazine. When the magazine closed its regional office, she remained in Austin as a freelance travel writer and started her own public relations agency, handling accounts for such clients as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Lake Austin Spa Resort and Four Seasons resorts.
Cynthia spent 10 years in the hospitality industry as director of marketing communications for the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau and director of public relations for the historic Driskill Hotel. Upon returning to Alabama, she specialized in healthcare marketing for a number of clients from Mobile, AL to Syracuse, NY.
Active in the communities where she’s lived, Cynthia is a member of Mid-South Women in Tourism, Friends of the New Orleans Public Library, and she volunteers for New Orleans Musicians Clinic and Moscow Nights. She is a Medallion award winner from the Public Relations Council of Alabama and has directed dozens of award-winning campaigns for various healthcare clients. And we might mention, Cynthia’s “nerves of steel” are best exemplified by her having been a Texas cheerleader mom!
She has one daughter, Jordan, who still lives in her hometown of Austin and is a graduate of Texas Tech University. Cynthia, along with her canine companion Max, is thrilled to finally call New Orleans “home” and to being fully immersed in the Who Dat nation!