Founder and President

Colleen is a veteran public relations and marketing communications professional with 30+ years of experience that includes top national firms, large corporations, niche consultancies and integrated shops. Prior to founding BRANSTORM PR & Marketing in 2006, she was SVP, Director of Public Relations at Luquire George Andrews (LGA), one of Charlotte’s top agencies.

Her background spans a wide range of categories and includes brand-building efforts for household names such as Hanes, Chick-fil-A, Bissell, MCI, Newell Rubbermaid and Wachovia (now Wells Fargo). Today, her clients range from professional service firms and developers to entertainment and consumer product companies.

Prior to joining LGA, Brannan was vice president of public relations at Mullen in Winston-Salem, N.C., Before that, she spent a decade in Atlanta at top national firms, Ketchum and Cohn & Wolfe, as well as client side on the PR and corporate communications teams of MCI and media giant, Cox Enterprises.

Colleen got her start on the consumer healthcare team at Ketchum PR in Washington touting the benefits of aspirin the wonder drug where her team won the prestigious PRSA Silver Anvil Award. Since then, her career has taken her on top of the Olympic stadium, back stage at the CMA Awards, on the field for the inaugural WUSA match, in stores as a secret shopper and on the local campaign trails.

Career highlights to date include managing Centennial Olympic PR for Hanes, becoming Media Director of Cohn and Wolfe, leading the Field PR team at MCI, launching the first-ever women’s pro soccer league (WUSA), heading external communications for Cox Enterprises and starting her own firm in 2006.

Locally, she has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Charlotte by the Mecklenburg Times twice (2010 and 2014), a Top 25 Women in Business by the Charlotte Business Journal twice (2011 and 2022), a Mecklenburg Times ICON (2018) and a member of The Charlotte Ledger’s Inaugural 40 Over 40 Class (2020). In 2023, she received PRSA Charlotte’s top honor, the Infinity Award, given to a practicing PR professional who is committed to the ethical practice of PR and has dedicated their life to the profession.

Colleen is an active member of the Charlotte Uptown Rotary Club, Women Executives (WE), and Hospitality and Tourism Alliance (HTA). She is a graduate of Leadership Charlotte Class 30, past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO Charlotte) and a 30+ year member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). In 2020, she became a licensed NC Commercial Real Estate Broker, passing the state and national exams on the same day.

In the community, Colleen has served on many nonprofit boards including SHARE Charlotte (Chair 2020 & 2021), Uptown Rotary Club (Secretary), JDRF (7 years) and Providence Day School Charger Club to name a few. She also pens a popular humor column for The Charlotte Ledger. A native of Springfield, Virginia, she is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications. She currently lives in Charlotte with her Clemson Tiger husband, Scott. They have two semi-grown children: Nicholas (22, a recent UNC – Chapel Hill grad working in ATL and Phoebe (21, USC Trojan majoring in the music industry.)

Contact her at [email protected].