BROOKS A. BROWN
Founder and Principal
Brooks has 15 years of experience in transforming businesses across East Tennessee. He began his career in marketing and public relations in 2003, serving as the director of marketing and PR for Claris Networks (known now as TekLinks), a Knoxville, Tennessee based information technology firm. He oversaw the marketing and PR initiatives and efforts of the firm for five years, helping it grow to become one of the largest IT firms in the southeastern United States with multiple locations.
While at Claris Networks, Brooks worked to establish Claris’ brand and dominance in the East Tennessee market and watched revenue grow exponentially. While under Brooks’ direction, the firm was named to Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000, Business Tennessee Magazine’s Hot 100, and as one of the Top 10 Places to Work in Knoxville by the Greater Knoxville Area Business Journal and transformed from a firm of four employees to one of more than 50 in 2008.
Brooks left Claris Networks in 2008 and founded Shout Out LLC with the goal of serving clients from a multitude of industries. Dissuaded by the typical agency environment, he sought to maintain a boutique approach to business, limiting the number of clients Shout Out LLC serves at any given time so that more in-person client interaction would be possible.
Brooks has been professionally published a number of times. His thoughts on marketing, public relations, and social media have appeared in Senior Market Advisor magazine, the Boston Globe, the Knoxville News Sentinel, and more. Brooks has been actively involved in organizing charitable initiatives throughout East Tennessee during his career, and the firm continues to support The Butterfly Fund of the East Tennessee Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the defeat of childhood cancer, the Knox County Animal Cruelty Alliance, a community-based organization advocating for the protection of animals in Knox County and the City of Knoxville, which he founded in 2014, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and the Bearden High School Band Board.