Good people who care about what they do are the backbone of any business.
Our Team
Michelle Newcome
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Michelle has designed and implemented organizational resilience programs for a host of Fortune 500 clients in every industry from tech to retail to hospitality to manufacturing. Her programs focus on the integration of communications, emergency response, security, crisis management, and business continuity into a holistic resiliency practice. She loves working with teams to build programs that reflect their organizational reality – whether that’s a small business or a business continuity team within a large organization. There’s a special place in her heart for mechanically complex environments because who doesn’t love nerding out on human ingenuity.
As Program Lead for the creation of a resiliency program for a tech giant’s data centers, Michelle developed and tested teams from diverse geographical and professional backgrounds. She worked closely with cross-functional teams representing security, facilities, EHS, ITDR, data security, and culinary to build a complete program. Michelle conducted over 70 tabletop exercises as part of this engagement and will forever be grateful to have visited Sweden four times per year because that’s the only country on earth where she is not the tallest woman within five miles. And yes, the Northern Lights are as amazing as you’ve been promised they are.
Michelle also has experience crafting crisis communications as part of her work to support activated teams. It’s a great way to use that English degree and prove her mom wrong about her choice of major.
In addition to her resiliency practice, Michelle is the CEO of White Deer Group and leads the team at How2Conquer, a boutique publisher specializing in unique how-to books. She is also a Managing Partner at NorthPoint International, a consortium offering hospitality resilience and security consulting.
Yes, she has lots of chairs she’s never actually sat in because she’s always moving. This is the magic of the empty nest years, y’all!
Guiding Principle
Set the next person up for success. Otherwise you’ll never be able to take a vacation.
Education & Certifications
- CBCP, DRI International
- MFA, Writing, Georgia State University
- MA, Education, University of Redlands
- BA, English, University of California, Riverside
Bryan Garner
Director, Content Strategy
Director, Content Strategy
Bryan marries a marketer’s perspective with the operational side of the business, which have merged together in his current role as Director of Content Strategy. He combines more than 20 years’ web site development experience with franchise marketing, support, and sales roles to document process at scale. He’s built and managed web sites for global corporations, created content standards and operations for PMOs, and developed systems for localized messaging for dozens of franchise brands. Bryan brings visibility and clarity to large scale content operations.
Guiding Principle
Life isn’t pixel-perfect; embrace change.
Dina Bright
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Dina is a certified public accountant with more than 20 years of experience, including an extensive background in both restaurant and retail accounting. Dina is co-owner of Flexic Financial LLC, a women-owned small business that specializes in small business accounting and contracted CFO work. She has experience in cash management, budgeting/forecasting, financial reporting, strategic and tactical planning as well as business start-up support.
Guiding Principle
If you are going to pray for potatoes, you better have a hoe in your hand.
Katherine Guntner
Senior Technical Writer
Senior Technical Writer
Katherine is an account manager and technical writer who partners with our clients to solve their documentation challenges. With over twenty years of experience in process development and content management, Katherine has a down-to-earth approach that clients appreciate. Besides overseeing production deadlines, Katherine is also our resident expert in MadCap Flare and multi-platform publishing output. Her focus is on developing project structure and design, and she excels at giving projects a fresh look and feel.
Guiding Principle
Give me five minutes and an internet connection and I can solve anything.
Brett Wyatt
Technical Writer
Technical Writer
Brett gets excited by the little things — the small details others might overlook. Brett knows that we’re the last line of defense for our clients, and he helps to ensure that every document we prepare is checked and double-checked for accuracy, cleanliness, and beauty because no matter how good your content is, it must be easy to use and even better to read. He’s also certified in MadCap Flare, a content organizing platform. Not only does he have an eye for detail, he’s got the technical chops to back it up. Brett holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre/Directing from Nebraska Wesleyan University. While that might not seem like the most logical fit, Brett secured his spot through hard work and dedication to excellence. He was also friends with Goofy at Disney World for a year, but that’s a story for another day.
Guiding principle
Working with a smile makes it feel a lot less like work.
Emily Owens
Managing Editor for How2Conquer and Technical Writer
Managing Editor for How2Conquer and Technical Writer
Emily is passionate about precise content and accessible, attractive design. With a background in managing and editing print publications, she has a love for layout production and a sharp pen when it comes to proofreading. Her main role at White Deer is as the Managing Editor for How2Conquer, our boutique publishing brand. When she’s not working with our authors, Emily also works as a technical writer to ensure consistency of language and procedure across client projects.
Guiding Principle
If the opportunity doesn’t exist, create it. Initiative and passion can take you further than you’d think.
Katie Choy
Technical Writer
Technical Writer
With experience in copy editing, copywriting, and web design, Katie enjoys pairing writing and technology to create attractive and useful documents for our clients. A lifelong grammar nerd, Katie’s idea of a good time involves marking things up with a red pen and helping others communicate ideas eloquently, accurately, and concisely. Katie earned a bachelor’s degree in English and completed a minor in information technology at Georgia Gwinnett College. Prior to joining the team, Katie worked in various industries including floral, salon and spa, and financial services.
Guiding Principle
Strive for clarity.
Sadie Simons
Director, Communications
Director, Communications
With over 20 years in writing and communication, Sadie excels at the intersection between communications and incident response. Sadie crafts holding statements, crisis messaging, and internal audience posts as well as long-form published content for our clients. With her technical expertise, Sadie is our in-house expert on content management and communications distribution.
Guiding principle
Words are powerful.
Education & Certifications
- MA in Speech Communication, Rhetoric from Emerson College
- BA in Communications Studies, Stetson University