About Jessica Walden: Media Maven // Strategic Storyteller // Tour Guide on the Side // "Love Child of Rock" on the Creek 100.9 FM. Macon, Georgia native Jessica Lanier Walden is a seasoned communications consultant // story strategist whose primary success is credited to an authentic passion for her clients and community. You need to tell your organization’s story. But where do you begin? Jessica
Walden is a story strategist. A communications expert for a living and a tour guide on the side, she helps you get to the soul of your story for your business, organization or community and explore the best practices for sharing that story with the world. Based in Macon, Georgia, Jessica offers the opportunities of a full-service public relations firm, from strategy development to ex*****on and launch, as well as project-based assistance with media relations, copywriting and marketing. Her Communications Strategy Retreats, based on her workbook “Make a Plan and Work It,” are available to businesses and non-profits seeking a solid communications plan. These sessions often serve as fun, creative staff retreats and result not just in key messaging and strategy but also include workbook take-aways and a comprehensive follow-up communications report. Sessions are available to large and small groups, as well as available to individuals who are focused on personal and professional branding. Start your story by enlisting an expert who can ask the right questions and shape your key messages into a communications strategy that works for your mission. More About Jessica:
Born to a family of music executives who managed artists Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more, Jessica developed a deep-seated loyalty to her hometown through its music heritage and untold stories. In 2011, she formed Rock Candy Tours LLC, a Macon music history tour company now owned and operated by Jessica and her husband, Jamie Weatherford, a third generation candy manufacturer. The tour company was formed in direct response to the closure of the Georgia MusicHall of Fame, the state’s music history museum that was formerly located in Macon. Rock Candy Tours believes: “Macon music history doesn’t have to live in an institution. It’s on our street corners. It’s along our sidewalks. And if our walls could talk, they would sing.”
Jessica’s nearly 20-year career began in public relations and events at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. She later worked as a writer and editor for several local print publications, including Macon’s 11th Hour alt-weekly, where she served as the publication’s first editor. In the fall of 2009, she accepted the position as the director of communications and outreach for the College Hill Alliance, the administrative office for the wildly successful College Hill Corridor project that leveraged over $200 million in a two-square-mile area of Macon’s most historic neighborhoods. After the sunset of the College Hill Alliance in 2015, Walden now works as a communications consultant with a primary focus in community development and non-profit branding and marketing, emphasizing her talent in story development. In 2015, Georgia Trend Magazine named Walden one of the “40 under 40” in the state of Georgia. Five years prior, Macon Magazine declared her one of the “five under 40” for her community. For almost a decade, she served as the Bragg Jam Festival’s first marketing chair. She is a member of Leadership Georgia (2013), Leadership Macon (2009), Macon’s Downtown Rotary Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Macon Advisory Council. Walden received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Georgia State University. She is a graduate of the Georgia Academy of Economic Development and earned her Certificate of Non-Profit Management from Georgia’s Nonprofit University. Jessica, Jamie and their young son split their time between Downtown Macon and a mountain top home in Twiggs County, Georgia with a menagerie of pets. They enjoy their quality time walking in the woods, kayaking the Ocmulgee River and frequenting local parks, restaurants and regular festivals and events in their beloved hometown. In addition to Rock Candy Tours, Jessica manages the blog MaconCandy.com and hosts the weekly local radio show “Love Child of Rock” on the Creek 100.9 FM. You can follow her family adventures, love affair with Macon and more on Instagram as .
