Interview by Abernathy Cochran interns and Gainesville High School seniors John Jessup and Anna Kate Embry
Meet Erin Williamson! Erin is a Senior Account Manager at Forum Communications in Gainesville and a member of many local nonprofits. She was recently chosen Young Woman of the Year by the Gainesville Jaycees. In her spare time she enjoys photography and watching sports, including cheering on her beloved New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Braves.
We want to thank Erin for spending time with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
A: “I’m from Mobile, Ala., and my parents and most of my immediate family still live there. My sister and her husband have three kids and they’re near Birmingham. Then here locally I’ve got my Davis clan.”
Q: Please tell us about your current career. What do you love most about what you do?
A: “I work for a local marketing agency called Forum Communications. I’ve been there for about seven years, and before that I was in PR and actually started out in journalism. What I like about working at Forum is that every day is different. We have all kinds of clients, some are businesses, and some are nonprofits. It’s never boring, you get to learn a lot and meet a lot of different people.”
Q: What are some of your favorite restaurants in our community?
A: “I love Mediterranean food, so I love Alpha Gyro Grill. I’ve recently tried Taqueria Tsunami and that’s really good. And then, Mellow Mushroom is a staple.”
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
A: “I have lived in Gainesville since 2008, but I moved to north Georgia from New Orleans in 2003 when I graduated college.”
Q: Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
A: “Ken Davis. I just love listening to his stories of him growing up in Commerce. He’s got lots of stories from playing football at Georgia and he’s just a really neat person. He was a high school football coach for a long time, and a lot of his former players live in town and they still stop by, just knock on his door to chat and catch up.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
A: “We’ve got a trip planned this summer out west, Wyoming and Montana. I have some friends out there and then we’re going to see some of the national parks.”
Q: What are some of your favorite movies or TV shows?
A: “My favorite movie is ‘Almost Famous’ and I’m looking forward to the new season of ‘Ted Lasso.’”
Q: What’s some advice you would want to give or leave with people?
A: “Since we were talking about Ted Lasso…‘Be Curious, Not Judgemental.’ I tend to be a pretty curious person, we can be that way toward other people because we don’t know what they’re going through or where they came from. If we can be more curious about people, we can learn a lot more and be kinder.”
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would you wanna have lunch with and where locally would you take them?
A: “I would choose Paul McCartney. I’ve always been a big Beatles fan. He’s a vegetarian, depending on what he was in the mood for, I’d probably take him to either Mellow Mushroom or Zen Ramen and Sushi Burrito since they’ve got some veggie options.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
A: “ I feel like even though it continues to grow, I still almost always run into somebody I know no matter where I go. For the most part people are really kind, really friendly, and not too busy to stop and say hello or offer some advice. I like that we’ve got sort of the bigger city vibe; in terms of restaurants, breweries, parks and things to do but it still has that real community feel. It’s not too big to get lost in.”
Q: What is something you hope our community has or does in the future?
A: “I would like to see more live music.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
A: “I sort of see myself continuing to live and work here. I love to travel so hopefully doing a bit more of that. Being able to spend some more time visiting family would be nice, too.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I would love to ride in a Mardi Gras parade.”
Q: What is your go-to music or band when you can’t decide what to listen to?
A: “I like The Beatles. I’ve been a big fan of Brandi Carlile when she was playing at Eddie’s Attic years ago and now she’s big time. But lately I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift to get ready for the tour.”
Q: What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?
A: “I’d have to say Grand Teton National Park was pretty magnificent.”
Q: What’s your favorite month and holiday?
A: “Christmas is my favorite holiday. Favorite month, I’m going to go with October because I like the fall… the colors and the temperatures, and football.”
Q: What’s something you would rate a 10 out of 10?
A: “My dog Roux. He’s almost two years old and is a chocolate Labrador.”
Q: Who would you want to play you in a movie about your life?
A: “I definitely have no desire to see a movie about my life. But if someone insists, let’s go with Zooey Deschanel. A long time ago somebody told me I resembled her, so why not? Plus she has a part in my favorite movie.”
Q: What are one or two of your favorite smells?
A: “I like the balsam or the Christmas tree scents. I like the smell of fallen leaves in the fall…fresh leaves. But as far as candles or room scents go, I don’t like anything that smells like food.”
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
A: “I work with a lot of people who are giving and volunteering of their time. I think there’s probably way too many people to get specific because every day I get to be around somebody who makes me want to do a better job.”
