Leo Events was recognized with a Rocky Top Business Award. Pictured from left to right are: Spencer Broocks, VP of Finance, Kevin Brewer, Co-Founder and Partner, Cindy Brewer, Co-Founder and Partner, and David Kenyon, Senior Vice President of Production.
College of Communication and Information alumna Cindy Brewer (’91) believes exceptional professional communication is the most important skill needed for success in the business world.
She could not be more thankful for the communication skills and experiential learning opportunities CCI provided her as an undergraduate student, which she said greatly contributed to the success of LEO Events, a corporate event production company she co-founded and is the principal of, based in Memphis, Tennessee.
That success was recognized with a Rocky Top Business Award from the University of Tennessee Foundation, which is presented annually to recognize the fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UT alumni. This was the second consecutive year LEO Events received the award, ranking eighth out of the 64 companies recognized in 2025.
Brewer’s start in the event industry was an entry level public relations job at the Nashville Zoo, where she did a bit of everything from press releases to group sales. From there, she worked for a golf resort, the Hard Rock Café, and the Beale Street Entertainment District before deciding to strike out on her own in the industry with the formation of her first company and predecessor to LEO Events, Destination King, with her now-husband Kevin Brewer.
“Honestly, the very core of my early success was through my public speaking and presentation skills that I learned through my broadcasting and journalism classes at CCI,” Brewer said. “I felt comfortable speaking in larger groups and communicating passionately (yet professionally) on the benefits and features of the attraction, resort, or venue I was working for at the time.”
Since starting her entrepreneurial journey, Brewer has experienced her fair share of challenges that can derail an event management company, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. She attributes her ability to weather those tumultuous times to her education and experiences at UT.
She recalled how the Persian Gulf War made the May 1991 graduating class anxious about job prospects after college. Brewer said with the war, hiring freezes followed—especially for network news—so her last few months as one of 17 graduating seniors from the Department of Broadcasting, which eventually became the School of Journalism and Media at CCI, were spent scrambling to pivot and find employment opportunities outside of what she was trained to do the past four years.
“Resilience, adaptability, flexibility, hard work, optimistic attitude, and the mindset that ‘nothing is guaranteed’ has carried with me into my professional life ever since,” Brewer said. “The 2020 pandemic was a challenge to our industry and to my company. And thankfully, the Gulf War career pivot 29 years prior taught me a lot about how to handle obstacles and persevere through.”
She continues to apply the various communication skills she learned in classes with professors such as Sam Swan and Dhyana Zeigler to the event management field. She is grateful for their mentorship which allowed her to confidently explore in order to find her passion.
“Corporate event professionals are brand storytellers,” Brewer said. “Day in and day out we strategize, design, write, script, create, and produce events for our clients that tell their story or push out their messaging, custom built for the audience at hand. If you don’t know your client and you don’t understand their audience, then you cannot produce effective and successful events.”
To CCI students interested in joining the business world like her, Brewer said “develop a trade.” She said students should do all they can to capitalize on the plethora of experiential learning opportunities available at CCI such as study abroad trips, internships, and practicums.
Brewer took advantage of such opportunities as a student. This included working as a news anchor/reporter for WUTK-AM and Knoxview, a student-run news television show that aired weekly on WBIR Channel 10, as well as interning at the local station.
“Real world experience pays off with real jobs—take advantage of every opportunity presented to you,” Brewer said.
Carrying The Volunteer Spirit
Admittedly, Brewer was not much of an engaged alumna after leaving Rocky Top. But, that all changed following CCI Dean Joe Mazer’s visit to Memphis in February 2022.
She said once she understood his vision and strategy for exponential growth at CCI she wanted to do what she can to help. This led to several mentorship opportunities with students and the creation of the LEO Events Fellows Program, which seeks to prepare students for successful careers in corporate event management by providing participants by integrating curriculum with hands-on industry experience. In addition to providing students quality experiential learning experiences, the program is also associated with the Corporate Event Strategy, Promotion, and Production minor, which is administered by CCI in collaboration with the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
Brewer is also a sitting CCI Board of Visitors member since 2023 and, this fall, is looking forward to being more plugged into campus as her two sons start their college careers on Rocky Top. One plans to study sports communication at CCI while the other is interested in sports tourism offered through the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
“When I am on campus at UTK, I am truly inspired by everything the university is providing to its communities in so many ways,” Brewer said. “I’m over the moon excited that they will benefit so much from the innovation and leadership at UTK right now. It’s just a great place to be.”