OWNER & CEO Ian Griffin EDITORIAL MANAGER Oliver Robbins MAG ART & DESIGN Ellie Borromeo CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Tannika Wester
publisher's note
ian griffin owner and ceo
Last month, my good friend and colleague, Oliver Robbins, penned his first publisher’s note in our annual SEC Preview that comes along each August. This particular issue is always chock-full of my opinions as it is, so I thought it would be nice to have someone else’s voice welcoming our readers to what I admit is my favorite edition of our magazine each year. Oliver manages the editorial staff at V3 and is an invaluable member of the team here. He has an ability to really connect with people, which stems from the fact that he never asks a question he doesn’t genuinely want to hear the answer to. It doesn’t matter if you’re a stranger or close friend, if you share a thought with Mr. Robbins, he is going to listen, digest it, and offer his advice or opinion in a manner that allows you to digest it in return without fail. Outside of the work we do in putting this publication together, I have come to cherish my chats with Oliver about the state of the world we live in, a topic I steer clear of in this note 99.9 percent of the time. Because I’ve subscribed to the “don’t discuss politics and religion and you can be friends with everyone” mantra, I try to do just that. But during a conversation with my friend a few weeks ago, something hit me like a ton of bricks that I just couldn’t shake. As we talked about racial tensions in the world and the senseless violence between what I honestly believe is the minority of law enforcement and the black community, Oliver shared with me some of the struggles he has endured as a black man trying to succeed. He then explained that he believed working for V3 had opened a lot of doors for him and thanked me for giving him the opportunity to work here. I was appreciative of the thanks, but caught off guard that hiring an individual who was qualified for a position could have that kind of impact … black, white, blue or purple. To me, Oliver represents just about everything good in people, so choosing him as someone to represent this company was a no-brainer and one of the best decisions I ever made. Even though I was raised to believe that people are people, no matter what color, how could a white kid born to a middle-class family possibly understand what life is like for anyone of another color, creed or sexual orientation … unless I asked them? What happens when people from two different walks of life really listen to each other’s perspective is progress.
Ian Griffin, Owner
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v3 magazine
WRITERS J. Bryant Steele, Oliver Robbins, Erin deMesquita, Holly Lynch Corinna Underwood, Tripp Durden, Greg Howard, Cecil Disharoon, Lauren Jones-Hillman, Jim Alred EXECUTIVE PHOTOGRAPHERS Derek Bell Cameron Flaisch PHOTOGRAPHERS Caleb Timmerman Ellie Borromeo AD SALES & CLIENT RELATIONS Chris Forino AD DESIGN Laura Allshouse Ellie Borromeo PUBLISHER V3 Publications, LLC CONTACT One West Fourth Avenue Rome, Ga. 30161 Office Phone 706.235.0748 v3publications@gmail.com CREATOR Neal Howard
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