What is your full name?
Michelle Dickerson

What is your profession?
Marketing Director at Planters Bank (part-time) and I teach piano one afternoon a week.

Where are you from originally?
Clarksville, TN

How long have you been in Clarksville? What brought you to Clarksville?
All my life except for a 10-year stint during and after college. My husband and I moved back to Clarksville in 1997.

Tell us about your family.
I’ve been married for 17 years and have a 7-year-old son. My parents and extended family all live in the Clarksville area.

What do you like most about Clarksville?
First and foremost, Clarksville is home, so I have wonderful memories from about age four on. Beyond that, I love the rich diversity of the landscape – we have a gem of a downtown, a beautiful river, history, parks & recreation, and still plenty of beautiful agricultural and wooded areas.

If you could have any other profession/dream job what would it be?
Promoting places is the love of my professional life. But, I would enjoy being a National Park ranger for a day.

What is your favorite meal?
Both of my grandmothers were fabulous country cooks. They’re both deceased, but I loved anything they ever prepared.

What is the easiest and most difficult part of your job every day?
I’ve recently relocated to our Hilldale office, which is about a 7-minute drive from my house. So the commute is the easiest I’ve had in 23 years! The most difficult may be the times when I’m trying to fit an 8+-hour day into my part-time schedule.

What do you drive?
A Honda Accord.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?
Movie: The Philadelphia Story – or anything else with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant; TV: The Sing-Off and Burn Notice.

Who do you look up too? Who is your role model?
My parents and all four grandparents. There were/are all steadfast people who lived out their faith every day. They are all hard-working and gracious people who love God, their families, and their land. Both of my grandmothers, as well as my mother, are “mothers” to everyone they meet.

What has been the toughest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your life?
Dealing with the threat of cancer with a two-year-old son.

What do you hope to be doing 10 years from now? How would you like your life to look 10 years from now?
I would hope that retirement would be nearly an option by that point. But, my son will be 16 in 10 years, so I just hope to be sane and still healthy.

Have you ever been issued a speeding ticket?
Only once – I left a doctor’s office in Nashville with really good news – for a change -- and was a bit excited. HOWEVER, I was just going along with the rest of traffic 

Why did you choose your current profession?
It all started with writing; my first love. My dream was to write position papers for Congressman Jack Kemp. I worked in a government/public relations firm in Nashville after college and have worked in some form of a corporate communications/PR role for 23 years now. I cut back to part time after my son was born, and am now serving in more of a community relations role.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?
I graduated from Belmont University with a degree in Music Business.

When and to where was your last vacation?
We visited Chattanooga for a weekend this summer and had a wonderful time!

What is your favorite pastime or hobby?
I play the piano and read…a lot! I’ve recently started working Sudoku puzzles, which has cut into my reading time a bit.

What advice can you give others juggling a family and career?
It’s difficult. I made the choice about six years ago to work part-time, and have been very blessed to find employers who have allowed that. For advice (and I say this to myself as well), you have to learn to say no, and it’s OK. Real friends will respect your right to that. You just can’t do everything.

How do you start your day?
I love waking my son up in the morning and being greeted with his beautiful smile. I do thank God each day for my family, home, health and job, and ask that my life honor Him in that day.

What are you passionate about in life?
Living a life of integrity that honors the principles of God’s word; beyond that, music and books.

What is something most Clarksvillians wouldn’t know about you?
How completely goofy I am at home…at least I hope that’s something most people wouldn’t suspect!

If you could leave one message to the Clarksville community what would it be?
To get over the “We’re only Clarksville” mentality. Let’s have pride in our community and recognize the many wonderful resources here that so many other cities would love to have. Let’s appreciate, and care for, and promote those assets.



For the latest news in and around Clarksville, refresh ClarksvilleNow.com.
To submit news, e-mail news@clarksvillenow.com.
To get breaking news directly to your mobile phone, text NEWS to 77000. (Standard texting rates may apply.)
Stay in touch! Sign up for the ClarksvilleNow.com Newsletter today!