Kelly has more than 20 years’ experience in the corporate, nonprofit, government and public relations sectors. She specializes in media relations, crisis communication, internal communication, and government and community relations. 

Since founding MBPR with her father in June 2018, she’s managed communication campaigns spanning from targeted media relations to integrated branding, media and community engagement.  

She’s overseen major initiatives for clients including Solid Waste Authority of the City of Huntsville’s curbside recycling program, Recycling Alliance of North Alabama (RANA); Amazon’s announcement of its new regional headquarters in Nashville; Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild’s launch of the “Farm to Tap” campaign; Voices for a Safer Tennessee’s “Linking Arms for Change”; and initiatives for many other community, government and nonprofit entities. 

Her day-to-day work includes consulting with clients on their communications goals and strategies, whether it’s a new project seeking community outreach and engagement, launching a campaign or assisting in a grand opening event, or working with media to tell client stories. 

Prior to launching MBPR, she led the media relations effort for the award-winning Nashville for All of Us, a coalition in opposition to the English-only referendum in Nashville; managed communications for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance; managed a team of storytellers who handled internal and external communications for Tennessee State Parks and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC); communicated policy changes in both Metro and state government; and served as the spokesperson on the “Transit for Nashville” transit referendum campaign in 2018. 

Kelly is a 2000 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She has two children, Ella and Austin, and is married to Brian, a Nashville firefighter. She’s on the advisory board for Nashville Children’s Alliance and the executive committee for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Counselor’s Academy, and she is a past member of the Greenways for Nashville board. 

A Nashville native, she enjoys cheering for her kids at their school and sport functions, spending time in area parks and greenways, and connecting old friends with new.