Hidden Gems: Meet Shannon Briggs of Campfire Collective
Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Briggs
Hi Shannon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Like many professional beginnings, I waited tables throughout my college experience. What was supposed to just be a job to pay the bills while in school became a winding professional journey that led me to where I am today. During a summer break in between graduate school years, I reached out on a whim to one of the owners of this local, family-owned restaurant and asked for a marketing internship. She said yes and hired me immediately as the company’s first Marketing Intern. That internship turned into a part-time Marketing Assistant role, and then after my graduation became a full-time Marketing and Events Coordinator role.
My first full-time job gave me the freedom and flexibility to discover my strengths and passions within the marketing industry – public relations, social media, writing, and community engagement. I also had the opportunity to meet people in my city who were passionate and community-minded just like me. From there, I had people ask me to help with social media for their organizations, just like I did for my company, and I began to freelance on the side.
Four years later, my freelance career had grown so much by word of mouth, that I realized I was working two full-time jobs. After ten years of working for this incredible restaurant chain, I left in 2015 to pursue freelance work full-time. I continued to grow so much, that I hired my first team member less than two years later.
In 2022, when my business had grown to a team of six, I knew the time was right to transition from Shannon R. Little Communications to Campfire Collective. Working collaboratively with my team and clients, my goal is to provide consistent and reliable marketing campaigns to meet each client’s specific and unique needs, and to have fun while doing it.
Now, in 2025, we are a team of twelve that embodies the mission to empower our clients through strategic, community-focused marketing. The intersection of community and marketing have been my core passion since I discovered how the two work together during that college internship, and I am thrilled to live it every day.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course it hasn’t been a smooth road! What entrepreneurial journey has? I jumped into freelancing with no prior agency, leadership, or business experience. Launching a full-time freelancer career as a young professional with extensive hospitality and customer service experience, who knew a good bit about marketing, was full of challenges. My whole path has been trial and error, with a lot of googling, questions, mentorship, and figuring it out along the way. I learn something new every day, which is part of the fun. I get bored easily! Learning how to hire, lead, and manage a team has been one of the biggest learning curves that I am still navigating today. While I have grown this skillset significantly since I first hired someone in 2017, I am still reading, journaling, and learning about it regularly. My team is encouraged to give me feedback on this, so I can learn from them too.
As you know, we’re big fans of Campfire Collective. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Campfire Collective is an award-winning boutique, full-service marketing firm based in Memphis. With a mission to empower our clients through strategic, community-focused marketing, we work closely with clients to provide social media campaigns that burn consistently bright, creative marketing strategies that direct companies to their goals, email campaigns that guide readers through announcements, and polished, clear public relations that spotlight clients in what they do best. Much like a fire, our approach is warm, friendly, and steady.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Relationships are at the core of success. In marketing, especially community-focused marketing, we cannot work in silos. Building relationships with your clients, team, community, and professional network is vital to creating successful campaigns and a fulfilling career. Our most successful projects include collaboration from all four of these. Plus, they lead to happy clients and make the work much more fun!