20 Under 40 Recognition
Meet the inaugural 20 under 40 class of 2022
Tate Fall
Job Title: Deputy Director of Elections, Arlington County, Virginia
Fun Fact: One of my hobbies is making personalized koozies, and I also collect them – I own over 100! Needless to say, I never have a problem with keeping my drinks cold.
Brandon Young
Job Title: President & CEO
Amanda Loper
Job Title: Principal
Fun Fact: After living in San Francisco for 10 years post graduation, she and her family relocated to Birmingham where Amanda and her husband Brandon opened up a wine shop with Trent and Chere Stewart called Golden Age Wine in Mountain Brook, AL.
Emily Traylor
Job Title: President, Eye Cloud Pro and Practice Director EHR
Fun Fact: I come from an “Auburn engineering family.” My grandfathers, uncles, and parents were all Auburn engineers, and I have a cousin who is an Auburn engineer as well. Starting with my grandfathers, that’s 8 Auburn engineers in the family!
Allison Johnston Frizzo
Job Title: Managing Partner
Fun Fact: I love helping animals and have been active in animal rescue. We have fostered over 40 dogs saving them from euthanization to-date.
Meghan Milks Nicholas
Job Title: Vice President, Global Supply Chain
Fun Fact: I love to travel and one day hope to visit all 7 continents! I have been to 5 of 7 so far!
Susan Scott Carothers
Job Title: President & CEO SC Events & Communications
Fun Fact: In 2015 Susan published her first children’s book, “‘Twas the Night Before Gameday,” a story about uniqueness and camaraderie among all of the SEC mascots. The book’s publicity tour included game day book signings on campuses around the SEC and interviews on the Rick & Bubba and Paul Finebaum shows.
Christa Cotton
Job Title: CEO
Fun Fact: My original dream was to be a Rockette, but I was too short to try out when I turned 18.
Dr. Cameron Mosley
Job Title: Psychologist
Cody G. Sanders
Job Title: Director of Public Affairs at PLUS Communications
Fun Fact: In 2021, I decided to get in the ring (literally) and fight cancer. Through Haymakers for Hope, I registered with USA Boxing and competed in my first amateur bout. In addition to being streamed through a pay-per-view service, the fight took place in front of an audience of nearly 5,000 people at The Anthem in D.C. It was a charity match and I raised nearly $20,000 for cancer awareness. A large portion of the funds raised went to Coach Bruce Pearl’s AUTLIVE foundation. If you are not familiar with the great work Coach Pearl is doing off the court, I highly encourage you to do some research and get involved.
Dr. Zachary Jones
Job Title: Research Scientist
Favorite Auburn Memory: 1) Waking up early for Barbecue House breakfast with classmates before big tests in Funchess Hall. 2) Watch parties with the Triangle Area Auburn Club: It was so impressive to see how strong the Auburn Family’s connection can be, even several hundred miles from Auburn.
Evan Thomas
Job Title: Co-Owner of the Thomas Twins Team - Nashville Realtors ®️ at PARKS Real Estate
Fun Fact: If you put an H in front of my name and an H in front of my twin brother’s name, you get… (H)Evan & (H)Elliott; This was not intentional.
Dr. Brandon Smith
Job Title: Assistant Professor of Ruminant Nutrition in Forage Systems
Fun Fact: I have quite an impressive collection of bowties. When my wife and I were dating, she bought me a bowtie because I had been ruining several of my ties while working cattle in the field. She thought that the bowtie would allow me to dress the same, but keep me from getting anything on it. I really liked the tie, so I started wearing it, and she started getting me more and more. By the time I had finished my first semester of teaching at Tarleton State University, I was known campus-wide as “Doc Bowtie.” You will never find me teaching class without one! In fact, to this day, I have an Auburn coffee mug in my office personalized for “Dr. Bowtie.”
Stephen Smith
Job Title: Associate Regional Counsel, Office of Regional Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4
Fun Fact: I worked on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico during my summers at Auburn, which I now credit for my career in environmental law. I also have five brothers—four of which attended or currently attend Auburn (as mentioned in my bio). We are six sons from two different moms/marriages and ages spanning 43 to 18. The four oldest have pursued very different, yet successful careers—one as an artist/professor, another as a pastor, me as an attorney, and another as a professional athlete—with the two youngest still pursuing their own passions at Auburn.
Dr. Chris Martin
Job Title: Assistant Clinical Professor, Auburn University College of Nursing
Fun Fact: As a child, I struggled with a stutter while speaking. Thanks to a great team of speech language pathologist, I learned different techniques to speak clearly. Now as a professor, I pretty much get paid to talk to students every day.
Sami Peck
Job Title: Digital Commerce Senior Analyst
Fun Fact: Every summer since she was 8, Sami has gone camping in Canada’s Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario.
Morgan Busby
Job Title: CEO at Financial Media Corp
Fun Fact: I am a picky eater and not one to experiment. I’ve never eaten an Oreo or had a cup of coffee!
Caroline Spradlin
Job Title: Commercial Litigation Associate
Fun Fact: I started a saltwater aquarium in 2020, and it is currently home to over twenty-five rock flower anemones, mushrooms, and an adorable fish named Athena.
Ashley Gann
Fun Fact: TBA
Richard Wilt
Job Title: Director of Operations
Favorite Auburn Memory: Graduating