057: Melissa Proctor on Going from Ball-Girl to CMO of the Atlanta Hawks

Gen X Amplified with Adrion Porter

On this episode of Gen X Amplified, I have the pleasure of speaking with Melissa (McGhie) Proctor, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena.

Melissa joins me on the podcast to discuss her fascinating Gen X professional story – which includes beginning her career as a ball-girl for the Miami Heat, to her current role of leading the brand for the Atlanta Hawks.

Also at the beginning of this special episode, Melissa and I briefly spend some time talking about the unfortunate and tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna – and what Kobe meant not only to us personally, but also to our generation.

Listen!

Melissa Proctor serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of both the Atlanta Hawks and the State Farm Arena (the home facility of the Atlanta Hawks) .

In this role, Melissa oversees the day-to-day operations of the club’s marketing, Hawks Studios, live experience and production, brand merchandising, creative services, corporate social responsibility, brand communications and basketball development teams. She also works closely with executive leadership to provide strategy for the organization.

Beginning her career with the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Melissa served in brand development and strategy positions for Turner Entertainment Networks (including TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), truTV and Peachtree TV), Cartoon Network and Turner Media Group. Additionally, she helped to create the first Corporate Social Responsibility division in Turner’s UK office.

Part of the NBA since high school, Melissa was the first “team attendant”/ ball girl for the Miami Heat organization, and in later years, returned to work for the Heat in the basketball operations division.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Melissa Proctor on LinkedIn
• Melissa’s blog on Medium
• Atlanta Hawks’ Official Website
• Jeff Hilimire on Gen X Amplified

Melissa’s Personal Theme Songs

• “Wining Queen”, by Denise Belfon
• “Vibes Cyah Done“, by Machel Montano
• City Girls Official YouTube Channel
• “Do I Do”, by Stevie Wonder

Thank you for listening!