Episode 60 with Joel Babbit

Joel Babbit is the CEO of NARRATIVE CONTENT GROUP -- one of the nation’s leading content marketing companies. It creates, distributes, and publishes content for its own websites and in partnership with many of the world’s leading brands, including AT&T, Coca-Cola, Mercedes, Georgia-Pacific, Newman’s Own, SC Johnson, Delta Air Lines, and Bacardi. Websites owned by NARRATIVE include Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) – its flagship property, and the most visited for-profit site in the world for news and information related to sustainability. The company was founded in 2009 by Babbit and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and its equity partners include CNN and Discovery Communications. Prior to launching NARRATIVE, Joel spent over 25 years in the advertising and public relations industry. He began his career at McCann-Erickson, where he worked on The Coca-Cola Company account, and was a co-founder of Babbit & Reiman Advertising (acquired by Gold Greenlees Trott) and 360 (acquired by WPP's Grey Global Group). He also previously served as President of WPP’s GCI Group and Executive Vice President of Chiat/Day. Following Atlanta’s selection as host for the 1996 Olympic Games, Joel took a leave of absence from the private sector and was appointed as the City’s first Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. He has been active in numerous civic and non-profit organizations including Young Presidents Organization, The CDC Foundation Board of Visitors, Management Executive Society, GCAPP, The Atlanta History Center, and The Anti-Defamation League. He is a Director of Primerica (NYSE: PRI), GreenSky Credit, and The National Health Museum. In 1992, Joel received the John Drewry Award for Distinguished Achievement in Journalism and was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist in 1997. In 2015, he was awarded The John Holliman Lifetime Achievement Award by his alma mater – The University of Georgia’s Henry Grady School Of Journalism.