Presley Dassow joined the agency as the communications specialist in March.

Presley was raised in Portland, Tennessee, a small town right on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. When she was growing up, she worked a variety of jobs, which included picking and selling vegetables for her cousin’s farm and working at her family’s barbeque and catfish restaurant.

After high school, she moved to Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee where she studied English while also working at a local coffee shop. In May 2023, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in literature and creative writing.

Though Presley loved the creative and community-centered role she held at the coffee shop; she was excited by the opportunity to pursue a career related to her degree. She has enjoyed finding ways to merge the experience she gained through her position as a manager and head baker with her education and applying that to her role as a communications specialist. She has a special appreciation for the agency’s emphasis on customer service and creativity and looks for opportunities to apply these principles to the work she does.

When Presley first joined the agency, she appreciated the wide array of materials and reports she was given to read through. There have been many opportunities for her to learn something new, which she greatly enjoys. Though she didn’t expect to become so interested in the nuances of the planning process, she quickly realized she had a particular interest in Historic Zoning and Design Review cases and has enjoyed learning more about them. Other highlights of her day include her standing desk and how helpful her coworkers are.

When she is not in the office, Presley can be found baking, hyper-fixating on a new craft, walking in some of Knoxville’s beautiful parks, or watching TV with her husband and two cats.