Sybil Topel

Sybil McLain-Topel, MFA, IOM, has served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce since 2014. Shortly before joining the Chamber, she completed an MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta.

In Chattanooga, she serves on the board of ArtsBuild, Co.Lab, and the Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians, which covers three states and 48 counties. She’s an active member of the Public Relations Society of America and Rotary International. She serves as a mentor for the SCAD Writing Program. She completed both the Holmberg Arts Leadership Institute and Leadership Chattanooga programs.

During grad school she wrote regularly for an international career blog based in Singapore, interviewing executives from St. Louis, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Lillian E. Smith Center has awarded her several writer residencies starting in 2014. Sybil began her career in Nashville as a reporter and editor for the wire service agency United Press International and lived there for more than 20 years. Prior to moving to Atlanta, she led branding and digital communications strategy at Street Dixon Rick Architecture (now Orcutt | Winslow.)

She served for eight years on the CABLE Board of Directors in Nashville, from 1995 through 2003, serving as President for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. Earlier in her career she worked with Dallas-based Spaeth Communications, providing communications consulting for FedEx, AIG, and a number of healthcare clients. She also worked in marketing and communications for AT&T and Truist.

Sybil believes in the value of life-long commitments to civic and professional leadership and she served as president of two professional organizations: CABLE and the Nashville Chapter of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), which provides continuing education and certification for marketing professionals in the Architecture/Construction/Engineering fields.

Her writing has been published in numerous magazines and journals. Once – back in the day when the original songwriting pirate actually was turning 40 – she interviewed singer Jimmy Buffet, a claim to fame that at least one first cousin calls the pinnacle of her career. In addition to working on a book of fiction inspired by a true story, she creates fine art photography offered through In-Town Gallery in Chattanooga.

Her fine art photography body of work falls into three loosely defined areas – pop culture layered with art references; quirky, often humorous juxtapositions; and emotionally charged landscapes. In 2022 the Hunter Museum’s Underground Auction Committee selected two of her works; in 2017 the Hunter Museum’s Spectrum Auction Committee selected one of her photographs. Three fine art photos are featured in The Edwin Hotel in Chattanooga and her work is displayed in California, New York, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Instagram, WordPress and Facebook accounts: Art South Now.