If you’ve ever attended a conference, participated in a Maestro Town Hall, or watched a Maestro Training video, you may recognize Travis Brown. Travis is our Chief Business Development Officer and the Chief Conductor of all things Maestro.
Travis started in Main Street in 2009 with the Historic Quincy Business District (now known as The District) in his hometown of Quincy, Illinois. It was here that he developed a passion for Main Street. Under Travis’s leadership, the organization grew membership by over 40%, increased revenue, strengthened community relations, went through a rebranding campaign, and saw many advances in technology and innovation.
When Travis left The District in 2014, he began working to make Maestro a reality. In 2016, at the Main Street NOW Conference in Milwaukee, he was there in his tux, introducing Maestro to the Main Street world.
Since then, Maestro has continued to grow into a tool that thousands of nationwide users utilize. Travis continues his involvement with Main Street, having presented at multiple conferences, led trainings, and for the past six years served as the instructor for the Principles of Effective Promotion course for the Main Street America Institute.
Travis believes that the Main Street Approach can help every community and neighborhood. We asked him some questions so you can get to know Travis a little better.
The people. Whether it’s my teammates at The Relish Jar who make it fun to come to work every day or the communities we work with, the people are the best part of my job.
I think about how far we’ve come since that conference in Milwaukee, and it’s incredible. Luckily, I don’t have to wear rented shoes anymore! Over the past nine years, this idea that we had has become a valuable tool for so many organizations.
I am most proud that so many coordinating programs have seen the value in the software and now use it as their state-wide reporting system. A very close second would be the number of times we’ve been told, “You can tell you get Main Street.”
It sounds cliche, but spending time with friends and family. I love watching sports, listening to music (yes, mostly older Country music), and volunteering for various organizations in my community.
I hate to repeat the same answer, but I must say the people. The Main Street network is fantastic and, truthfully, sparked my passion for the movement. Main Streeters have a way to build you up, and everyone seems to root for each other. There isn’t competitiveness because someone doesn’t have to lose for us to succeed.
Main Street has given me so many people that I consider friends, mentors, and partners, and it all starts with a common objective – we want to improve our community.
