Meet Callie Flack! Callie is an account director at Forum Communications and graduated from the University of Georgia and received a Masters degree at Brenau University. She is married to Kevin and has twin sons.

We want to thank Callie for sitting down with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.

Question: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Answer: “I grew up in Stone Mountain and Lilburn, and then moved here after college. I double majored in public relations and psychology at the University of Georgia. Then, I worked at the hospital for a couple of years as a volunteer coordinator, and at the North Georgia Community Foundation for about six years. And then I’ve been at Forum for eight. Kevin and I got married in 2006 and have 12 year old twin boys, Harrison and Patrick.”

Q: Tell us about winning Jaycees Woman of the Year award this year.

A: “It was quite an honor that I was not expecting. I’m not originally from Gainesville. I’ve been taken in by a community and all these years later feel like I’ve been able to really meet a lot of people and get involved. To be recognized for things that I’ve done and hopefully leaving a mark on organizations and people’s lives is really an honor and a humbling experience.”

Q: What’s your favorite thing about Hall County? 

A: “I would say the people that we’ve met through the years, have really made it feel like home. It can be kind tough to break into any community, so it’s really nice that we’ve been able to meet some really good friends that have made it a place that we just happened to move to, into somewhere that we actually call home.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County? And what do you love there? 

A: “My 12-year-old boys eat a lot of pizza, so we like to go to Mellow Mushroom and Peyton’s Pie. We also like Taqueria Tsunami. I’m a fan of the tuna poke bowl there. We’ve been to Vendetti’s Pizza a few times, which is really good. And then the boys’ favorite restaurant is El Maguey, so we eat a lot of Mexican.”

Q: Who is one of the most interesting people you’ve met in Gainesville while you’ve lived here?

A: “I would say Jim Mathis. I worked for him for six years, and I think he really was just a great cheerleader for me and everyone he met. He was such a great example of how to treat people and how to work hard and be involved in the community to make it a better place for everybody to live. In addition to him, I would say Dr. Cynthia Park, who is a priest at Grace Episcopal Church, has probably also been one of the most inspiring and influential people in my life since I’ve been here. She’s great, so smart, and I don’t even have the words to describe her, but she has just been such a blessing to me and our family in the years that we’ve been attending Grace Church.”

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why? 

A: “I would love to say somewhere super exotic, but I would probably just go out West, in the United States. We want to go back to Moab and take our sons.”

Q: Do you believe in ghosts? 

A: “I think so. I mean, probably not in the spooky, ‘see in the corner of the room at 3:00 AM’ type of way, but I mean, I think there are definitely spirits among us.”

Q: Is a hotdog a sandwich?

A: “Hotdog is not a sandwich, I have no justification to back that up.”

Q: What’s one of your favorite movies, books, or TV shows?

A: “I’m not a huge movie watcher. I do love to read. My favorite book? I don’t know that I have a favorite book, but I’ve enjoyed anything by Kristen Hannah. I’m reading ‘The Women’ right now, which is really good. I would still say my favorite TV show is probably ‘Gilmore Girls.’ I loved that show. I don’t know that there’s been another one that I’ve loved as much since then.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: “I have never traveled outside of the United States, so I would love to go somewhere overseas, like Italy or Australia, somewhere kind of cool like that.”

Q: Who is your go-to musician that you like to listen to?

A: “I don’t know if they’re still my go-to—this is old school too—but I used to be a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks. I would still say I can sing all their songs even though it’s been years. Also, I’m a big Zach Bryan fan. We’re going to his concert in August. I love him, but I’m also going because I love Sheryl Crow and she’s also performing.”