Our Team

Dan Merrell President CEO, Founder and Captain – Dan serves as Propeller’s president and a member of the board. He founded Propeller Consulting in 2004 and is one of the reasons we are all here. Dan has vast experience as a senior marketing executive in the kids and family entertainment industry. In addition to overseeing all marketing, sales and retail distribution for Big Idea Productions, Dan has also served as a senior executive of HIT Entertainment, Lyrick Studios and Best Video Distributors. Throughout his over twenty year career, Dan has been instrumental in the successful launch, distribution and sales of leading family entertainment brands like VeggieTales, Bob the Builder, the Wiggles and Barney the Dinosaur – resulting in over $1 billion in consumer sales collectively. Dan has been responsible for guiding Propeller since its inception and is the driving force behind the growth of the company. Dan and his wife Debbie live in Brentwood, TN; along with Debbie’s greyhounds and the most impressive DVD and video game collection you have probably ever seen. Email Dan: dan@flypropeller.com

Bob Elder Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Bob has worked in the Christian product marketplace for over 20 years. He began his career with Family Christian Stores, serving in the store operations and merchandising departments for nine years, before moving to Nashville to work with Word Entertainment. As head of distribution marketing at Word, Bob was responsible for selling and merchandising multi-platinum recording artists and videos to the Christian retail channel. In 1999 he was recruited by Big Idea Productions, the award winning production company and creator of VeggieTales® to head up their Christian sales department. In 2003, Bob launched E3 Strategic Solutions to serve the Christian marketplace; which he folded into Propeller in 2006. Bob is responsible for the day to day management of Propeller’s office, staff and operating budget; leads our weekly staff meetings and makes quarterly reports to the board of directors. How he finds time to also be heavily involved in ministry to men and couples is a mystery to all. Bob and his wife Heidi have two children, John (20), and Emily (18), and are active members of Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN. Email Bob: bob@flypropeller.com

Andy Peterson Vice President – Andy began his marketing career at BMG Entertainment’s Reunion Records in 1995. It was from there that he moved on to help launch the highly successful independent label Rocketown Records, founded by Grammy Award winning Christian recording artist Michael W. Smith. In his time there the label saw tremendous sales growth, launching the careers of Dove Award winning artists Chris Rice and Ginny Owens among others. In 2002, Andy accepted a position as senior marketing director at Warner Bros. Records, serving its Word Records imprint which housed a diverse roster of legendary artists like Amy Grant, Sixpence None the Richer, Point of Grace and Randy Travis. Andy then went on to head up marketing for Thomas Nelson Publishers’ specialty books division which included the Tommy Nelson imprint. In 2005 Andy joined Propeller as its second staffer and has remained a key part of the company’s identity since – overseeing a number of creative aspects for the organization in addition to clients representing music, publishing, film and non-profit work. Andy and his wife have been married for nearly 15-years. They live in Nashville, TN. Email Andy: andy@flypropeller.com

Sue Beddingfield Vice President – Sue joined Propeller in 2006 and brought her 20-plus years of experience in launching and building brands with her. Before joining Propeller Sue ran Surround Marketing Group, specializing in developing and implementing business, brand and marketing plans, primarily for children’s and family brands. Her work history includes a stint as senior vice president, marketing, for HIT Entertainment (formerly Lyrick Studios), where she authored innovative marketing programs for many blue-chip children’s entertainment brands. She was a member of the executive management team responsible for developing and maintaining Barney’s classic-character status in the preschool category. Additionally, Sue created and managed launch plans for popular characters Bob the Builder and The Wiggles, building Bob to an award-winning (License of the Year) $100 million launch in the U.S., and generating a media and sales frenzy with The Wiggles. She also designed the brand extension plan for Angelina Ballerina, growing Angelina from a classic book character to a successful television and video series. Sue and her husband Bobby live in Dallas, TX with their daughter Molly Grace. Email Sue: sue@flypropeller.com

John Thompson Senior Vice President – John brings more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience in Christian media and ministry, including management positions with Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs where he led corporate marketing initiatives, synergistic marketing planning and the management of the in-house creative agency. Prior to this, John served as a Senior Account Executive with The Puckett Group Advertising in Atlanta representing clients in video entertainment, publishing, music, banking, technology and health care markets. Most recently, he joins Propeller from LifeWay Christian Resources where he has served as the Senior Vice President of Content Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances for the B&H Publishing Group, playing integral roles in Fireproof and Courageous publishing teams and previously as the Vice President of B&H’s overall marketing efforts. John and his wife Angela live in Brentwood, TN with their two teenage children. Email John: john@flypropeller.com

Laura Beth Stubblefield Director of Marketing – Laura Beth Stubblefield has been part of our team since 2008. She is our tactical marketing director in addition to her unofficial duties as commissioner of the annual board game competition. Her experience in project management first began in manufacturing, and after three years LB (as she is known in the office) made the move over to marketing. As a planner and executer of the marketing initiatives set forth by the Propeller team, Laura Beth enjoys seeing clients’ ideas make their way into the marketplace. She currently helps oversee areas such as website design and development, packaging, strategic partnership outreach, and event and trade show planning. She lives in downtown Franklin. Email Laura Beth: laurabeth@flypropeller.com

Tiffany Long Marketing Manager – Tiffany has over 16 years experience in the business of entertainment and she has worked in both the film and music industry.  She joins Propeller as a marketing manager where she is looking forward to using her past adventures to help bring to life the ideas, plans and dreams of our clients.  Tiffany helped to launch the independent label Squint Entertainment and was part of the team that helped Sixpence None The Richer achieve platinum level success.  She has also worked as a script supervisor on feature films and worked on the marketing team for Facing The Giants and The Second Chance.  Travel is one of her favorite hobbies and she has been fortunate enough to travel to places as exciting as Morocco and Paris for her work.  Tiffany lives in Brentwood with her husband and 3 boys that constantly remind her that few things in life are as rewarding as helping someone’s ideas take flight. Email Tiffany: tiffany@flypropeller.com

Angie LoSchiavo Marketing Coordinator – Having spent several years in New York City in interior design project management and sales, Angie is happy to be back home in Tennessee with her husband Tom who is a singer & songwriter. As a marketing coordinator, Angie assists with client projects that are distributed by the Propeller team. She is on the front line of coordinating nearly every aspect of campaigns we’re engaged upon and very quickly has become someone we could not live without. Email Angie: angie@flypropeller.com

Hope Duffie Marketing Assistant – Hope recently graduated from Baylor University with a degree in marketing and moved to Nashville to pursue her career.  A native Texan – which she reminds us of frequently – Hope loves all that Nashville and its surrounding areas have to offer.  As a marketing assistant, Hope enjoys interacting with all of Propeller’s clients and working on projects with the team here. For many Hope is the first impression they have of Propeller, and we think that is just perfect. Email Hope: hope@flypropeller.com