About Mel

Mary Ellen Miller, APR, MBA, rejoined the world of entrepreneurship in September 2022. She is founder and CEO of MarketingMel, a public relations firm that strengthens relationships between organizations and the publics they serve.

 

From 2015-2022 she led community relations for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Boone Dam project. The $400-million infrastructure project used international expertise from around the globe in its successful repair of a leaking dam.

 

She is an accredited public relations professional and lifelong professional communicator. “Mel,” as she is known to her co-workers, is a former television news anchor for WJHL - TV in Johnson City. She has held marketing and public relations leadership positions at businesses in the Tri-Cities including Nuclear Fuel Services, Hunter, Smith & Davis Law firm and East Tennessee State University. She previously operated MarketingMel for six years.

In May 2023 she was awarded the Tri Cities PRSA “Public Relations Professional of the Year” award for her community relations work on the Boone Dam project. In April 2019 she was awarded the Tri-Cities Chapter’s highest service award, the “Rod Irvin Excellence in Public Relations Award,” given to career professionals who have made a significant contribution to the profession of public relations in the Tri-Cities. It is named for the late Rod Irvin, a longtime Eastman spokesman who helped define standards of excellence for public relations and communication professionals in the Tri-Cities.

 

Mel believes in helping the next generation of PR pro’s. She has mentored many rising stars in the field of public relations and sponsors The MarketingMel PR scholarship at ETSU. Mel is a founding member of the Tri-Cities chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and a past president. She currently serves as its 2023 Student Outreach Chair. She serves on the board of the Sequoyah Council, Boy Scouts of America. She is a member of the Tri-Cities Rotary Club. She will be installed as president on July 17, 2023 for the 23-24 Rotary year.

 

A lifelong learner, she earned her Accreditation in Public Relations in 2018. In 2019 she earned her certification in Crisis Communications. Mel has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Cornell University and an MBA from ETSU. 

 

Mel and her husband Dan live in Johnson City, Tenn. where they are active members of Grace Fellowship Church and serve as community group co-leaders. They have one son Skyler, a junior at King University, and a Jack Russell mix named Lucky.