Meet the JCVB Staff

Aaron Mullins, President/CEO

Leads tourism strategy, destination branding, and stakeholder collaboration across one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing regions. Before this role, he served as Director of Communications and Marketing at Visit Bentonville, Arkansas, where he helped position the city as a premier cultural and outdoor destination. Aaron also spent five years on the Walmart Corporate Communications team, partnering with executive leadership to shape national campaigns and manage brand reputation. Earlier in his career, he served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole, grounding his work in public service and policy. With over two decades of experience spanning tourism, corporate communications, and government, Aaron brings a passion for place-based storytelling, crisis leadership, and driving impact through community engagement.

Angel Phillips, Office/Visitor Center Manager

Angel performs accounting functions in accordance with County Finance Purchasing Procedures and assists the President/CEO with the overall financial and logistical operations of the Bureau. She assists in the management and operation of the JCVB offices, including being the liaison to both the county's IT and HR departments for the Bureau. Angel oversees the operation of the visitor center, providing visitor services for leisure and group markets.

Eric Dean, Creative Director

Eric brings the Visit JoCo brand to life visually, helping shape how Johnston County is presented to visitors across everything the JCVB creates. He leads the creative direction and design behind the Bureau’s advertising, publications, print materials, digital campaigns, social media graphics, and other marketing projects, making sure everything feels consistent, engaging, and unmistakably JoCo. Eric also supports the creative needs of our marketing, sales, and services teams. He manages the technical side of the Bureau’s websites, overseeing design, layout, functionality, and ongoing improvements to create a useful and visually engaging experience for visitors. 

Ashby Brame, VP of Marketing & Comms

Ashby leads the Bureau’s overall marketing and communications strategy, finding new opportunities to promote Johnston County and attract overnight visitors. She guides both short- and long-term marketing efforts, including advertising campaigns, public relations, research, special promotions, media outreach, and familiarization tours that introduce journalists and content creators to the county firsthand. She also oversees the marketing team and helps ensure our creative, digital, social media, and communications efforts are working together to tell a consistent and compelling Johnston County story. 

Kristin Radford, Sales Director

Responsible for leading Johnston County’s meetings, events, sports, and group travel sales initiatives. Kristin builds and maintains strong partnerships with hotels, venues, tour operators, meeting planners, and tourism organizations to position Johnston County as a premier destination for meetings, recreational events, festivals, and group tours. As the Sales Director, she manages lead generation, bid preparation, partner communication, data systems, and outreach efforts while representing the Bureau at industry events and ensuring exceptional service to both visitors and partners

Alicia Davis, Digital Marketing Manager

Alicia drives all digital marketing programs, including social media content, website content, and some photography. Alicia is Visit JoCo’s go-to content creator and an expert on all things Johnston County across our platforms. She is always on the lookout for the people, places, events, and experiences worth sharing, creating engaging photos, videos, and stories that help visitors discover more of the county. She keeps our audiences informed and inspired while shining a spotlight on our tourism partners and the experiences they offer.

Kevin Moore, Digital Producer

Kevin helps bring Johnston County to life through photography, video, and audio storytelling. Working with the Bureau's marketing team, he captures the people, places, and experiences that make our county unique and creates content for everything from advertising campaigns to our website and beyond. He also helps manage our library of digital assets, coordinate with freelance creatives, and finds new ways to tell JoCo’s story through engaging multimedia content.

Christina Arena, Visitors Center Assistant

Chris welcomes and provides relevant and helpful information about Johnston County to all visitors to the Visitor Center; she responds to phone and email inquiries and maintains the Bureau's events calendar as well. If you've visited our offices, you've likely interacted with Chris, who is a welcoming face and a warm greeting the minute you walk through the door!