Congratulations to our employee of the month, Alana Peters! Alana joined the Buzz Franchise Brands family in March. She joined at quite a unique time, when our premier holiday lighting brand, formerly known as Grand Illuminations, was in the midst of a rebrand to Wonderly Lights. Alana stepped in with the official title of marketing manager, but she wears many more hats that fall outside the role of marketing. Her adaptability and go-getter mindset made the rebrand smooth and successful!

Get to Know Alana

Alana was born and raised in Northern Virginia (NOVA) but has lived in Virginia Beach for the last 10 years after attending Virginia Wesleyan University, majoring in Communication with an advertising focus. She has worked in advertising and marketing both on the agency side and for companies in-house, starting her career at a local ad agency and migrating to the Cavalier Resort before finding franchise marketing. Most recently she was supporting a variety of franchise brands in public relations.

For fun, Alana says she "enjoy(s) a good movie night with my roommate (who I have lived with since college also… please someone find one of us a husband) or getting outside with my Golden Pyrenees, Moose."  

Why We’re in Wonder of Alana

With her great sense of humor and dog lover tendencies, paired with her strong marketing background, Alana fit in effortlessly from the start. She’s thoughtful, strategic, and process-oriented, which have all been paramount in the rebranding process and in the growth of the new Wonderly Lights brand. She’s also dedicated and passionate, always making sure franchisees are well taken care of and set up for success. While she’s no nonsense when it comes to getting things done, she’s also hilarious and approachable, making her the ideal teammate to both coworkers and franchise owners.

Here's what one of her coworkers had to say about working with Alana.

"It is truly a wonder how much Alana has accomplished in just 6 months with Buzz Franchise Brands. She jumped into her role at a critical time for the brand and has moved mountains to help prepare our franchisees for this season. From the Grand Illuminations to Wonderly Lights rebrand (no small feat in itself) to website redesigns, developing and executing on marketing training, onboarding marketing vendors, and building marketing plans - there are simply too many major initiatives to list that Alana has been behind. Perhaps most importantly, she has shown an incredible dedication to her work, our team, and the franchisees. She is a true bright spot for Buzz Franchise Brands and well deserving of Employee of the Month!"

Fun Facts About Alana

Here are a few insights into Alana’s life to help you get to know her even better.

How do you spend most of your time? I spend most of my time with my dog Moose, walking or going to the beach, or playing and laying around.  

Favorite show or movie? My favorite movie is Forrest Gump. I watch it about once a month.

What's your worst habit? My worst habit is that I don't delete emails, and my personal email has over 11,000 unread emails. Not sure what to do about it at this point.  

Congratulations, Alana! Your excellent work and uplifting demeanor each day is a true testament to the person you are. We are so glad to have you as part of our Buzz Franchise Brands family, and can’t wait to see you grow and shine alongside Wonderly Lights!