After a successful career in technology and management, Laurie opened the Durango FASTSIGNS® in 2009. In 2013, she purchased DurangoTV. Laurie was the Colorado State Competition winner with her 2018 Business Plan for starting a visual communications company. She was also awarded Entrepreneur for the year award in 2020 by Durango Chamber of Commerce and FASTSIGNS Award her their prodigious FASTSIGNS Franchisee of the year in 2015.

After stints in Austin and Silicon Valley, Nathan co-founded Web Services Management in Durango in 2010 - a boutique web services and software company. A seasoned entrepreneur and technology architect, he has built several Content Management Systems (CMS) systems for media companies, and has deep experience weaving web, mobile, cloud and backend technologies into cohesive systems.

Hannah joined the Local NEWS Network team as a video journalist in February 2021 after completing a Master's in International Journalism from Cardiff University in Wales. A Durango native, she enjoyed learning about her community in a new way through the lens of her camera. Hannah took over as News Director in the fall of 2022 with the goals of increasing the scope and range of the Local NEWS Network in Durango, Montezuma-Cortez, and Farmington.

After an award-winning journalism career, she joined Laurie in 2013 to launch Durango TV and blended her knowledge of journalism and public relations to build a proven process for creating short video news stories that are relevant to the community and have in-depth reporting. As NEWS Producer of LNN, she trains journalists how to transition from a print-based writer to a video journalist, how to find relevant and important stories in their community, and how to write stories using the LNN VideoScript Template™.

Wendy Graham Settle (PHR, SHRM-CP) is a dynamic Learning and Development professional with a passion for marketing. Her superpower is clear written and verbal communication on camera or in front of live audiences. Her rich 20 year career includes work with small tech startups and large Fortune 500 corporations. Wendy's international relations background and energy for travel and languages gives her a global view that makes it easy for her to quickly connect and influence. She is a credentialed human resource professional through the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Human Capital Institute (HCI). Outside of corporate training, Wendy leads a variety of music, song and dance events across the USA and around the world.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Film from Montana State University, Zach moved to Los Angeles where he worked freelance in the film and television industry. When the pandemic brought him back to his hometown Durango in 2020, he had a serendipitous encounter with Matt Crossett of the LNN while hiking, and soon after joined the LNN team. As videographer and editor, Zach employs his love for visual storytelling to produce content that's relevant and engaging to the community he loves the most.

Hayley is a Colorado native who has called Durango and the greater Four Corners area home for the last sixteen years. She joined the Local NEWS Network team in the spring of 2022 to grow and expand Local NEWS in Farmington, New Mexico. Hayley's relentless enthusiasm and drive to build community has led to stronger partnerships in Farmington and a growing base of followers in the Four Corners area. If she's not hosting a new segment or making new connections, you can find her outside hiking, paddleboarding, playing with her kids, or running around with her German Shepherd pup.

Allison is Executive Director of the Warehouse Business Accelerator and has a passion for helping visionary leaders and growing organizations make greater and more positive impacts in the world. Previously, Allison was the President of Prosci Inc., a global training and consulting organization specializing in the discipline of change management, and led the team responsible through the founder's exit, two Private Equity transactions and two international add-on acquisitions. During her tenure, Prosci's top-line revenues and bottom-line profits tripled and Prosci was named to Forbes' ‘Top 20 Best Places To Work’ list. Allison graduated from the College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics, the science and power of language and communication.

Drue Townsend has over 30 years of experience as a marketing, advertising and communications professional in the sign and visual graphics, hospitality and telecommunications industries. She has a wealth of business-to-business experience working directly for franchisors, manufacturers, and advertising and marketing agencies that have been family-owned, privately held, or private-equity owned. Prior to creating An Outside View Consulting, LLC in March, 2020 to offer marketing advisory services to small and medium-sized businesses, Drue spent 24 years in positions of increasing responsibility with FASTSIGNS International, Inc., most recently, as the Senior Vice-President of Marketing.

Kim has 25 years of experience spanning film, television. digital signage, digital media, technology, ad sales and marketing. She was recruited right out of the University of Central Florida to help launch PetCARE TV, a combination Place-Based Media Channel in Veterinary offices and on Cable TV. When PetCARE TV was sold, she helped them transition to a digitally delivered Broadband network and launch a sister channel in pediatric offices called KidCARE TV. She is the only woman ever to be elected Chairwoman of the Digital Signage Federation and during her tenure was tapped to write the industry standards manual on creating content for the Digital Signage Industry. She is currently chairwoman of ACE (Associates for Connected Experiences.)

David Weir is a journalist and author who has published in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The Economist, The Nation, salon.com, wired.com, Mother Jones, California, New West, New York, LA Weekly and many others; is a co-founder of the Center for Investigative Reporting; author of four books; a former executive at KQED, Excite@Home, Salon, Wired; and taught journalism at U-C Berkeley, Stanford, and SF State for many years.

Mark is Executive Vice President, Franchise Support & Development for FASTSIGNS International and has over 20 years of experience in all aspects of franchising in both consumer industries (home services, food and retail), as well as business-to-business (flooring; signs and graphics). He joined FASTSIGNS International in 2009 and today leads Franchise Support (including Training, Operations and Supply Chain) and global Franchise Development. Since joining the company, the brand has added more than 200 locations domestically and signed international agreements to enter twelve new countries (UAE, Malta, Italy, Greece, Chile, Spain, the Caribbean, and 4 others in the Middle East). Prior to joining FASTSIGNS, Mark was the Vice-President of Franchise Development for 8 years for multiple franchise-owned brands at CCA Global Partners including ProSource Wholesale Floor Covering.