NEWS RELEASE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Eric Williams CEO, Williams Media 502.299.4249 eric@slmag.net Dave Mahanes Owner/Publisher, Sophisticated Living Nashville 615.495.4250 dave@slmag.net Melissa Mahanes Owner/Editor-In-Chief , Sophisticated Living Nashville 615.308.9294 melissa@slmag.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Local ownership of the Nashville edition of Sophisticated Living Announced Nashville, TN, August 31, 2020 – Eric Williams, CEO of Williams Media, announced today that Melissa and Dave Mahanes have assumed ownership of the Nashville franchise of Sophisticated Living, with the magazine’s November/December 2020 slated to serve as the first under the couple’s leadership. “Melissa and Dave have been avid readers of Sophisticated Living since we began publishing in Nashville in 2015, and we are thrilled with the energy and excitement they bring to the table,” said Williams. Melissa and Dave have been married for 26 years and moved from New York to Nashville 18 years ago. Melissa is originally from Greenwich, CT, graduated with B.A. in Fine Arts from Vanderbilt University, and is also a graduate of Sotheby’s Fine Arts Program. During her career, Melissa worked for Sotheby’s and contemporary art dealers Larry Gagosian and Anthony d’Offay in New York. Her graphic design company, Kalligraphia, has designed invitations for many popular Nashville fundraisers. Since moving to Nashville, Melissa has been very involved in the Nashville community serving on the boards of Nashville Ballet and Sexual Assault Center, as well as Co-Chairing The Mad Hatter, Ballet Ball, Symphony Ball, and Swan Ball Auction. Dave grew up in Nashville, attended Ensworth and MBA, graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Duke University, and received his M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management. Dave spent most of his career as a banker in New York and Nashville. Also very active in the Nashville community, Dave has served on the boards of Belle Meade Plantation and Equal Chance for Education, the advisory boards of W.O. Smith School, and the Nashville Symphony as well as serving as a Deacon for the First Presbyterian Church.
Melissa and Dave look forward to bringing their creativity and passion for the arts, the finer things that Nashville has to offer, and the Middle Tennessee non-forprofit community to Sophisticated Living Nashville and Sophisticated Giving. Founded in 2003 in Louisville, KY and now firmly established in eight cities with a combined circulation in excess of 100,000, Sophisticated Living caters to the interests of affluent men and women with a proven, award-winning, and cityspecific editorial schedule and a unique-to-the-industry full-page-only advertisement format that combine to impart each bi-monthly issue with coffee-table-style book appeal. Sophisticated Living offers a multi-channel approach to reaching readers, including a newly redesigned website, active social media engagement, timely newsletters, and signature events. Williams Media launched the franchise model in late 2011 as an effective way to grow the Sophisticated Living brand by utilizing the personal and business connections of tastemakers and businesspeople across the United States. “As we expanded into new markets, it quickly became apparent that the type of niche publication we’ve developed is best introduced into a new city by those who are immersed in the local lifestyle the title represents,” explained Williams. “As engaged, philanthropic long-time residents of Nashville, Dave and Melissa are a perfect fit.”