Michelle Epling brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and professional volunteering. She brings a diverse and wide range of experience from business development, corporate direct sales and sales coaching, two entrepreneurships, love of volunteering with major non-profits, and her love for the city of Madison. Through her own personal experiences, she can relate to large and small business owners and the challenges they face every day in running their businesses. 

Michelle is a graduate of Auburn University where she earned her BS in Business Administration – Marketing. She has worked for years in the financial industry with earning two insurance licenses (Life & Health and Property & Casualty) and coaching employees on how to help support their customers with the best products on their loan products to protect their families.  She has earned the distinguished 2014 President’s Council being named #2 in the company across all Lending Protection Managers in the nation for Cuna Mutual Group. 

Michelle has ventured out and started her own online clothing business for three years called “The Berry Vine” where her and her Mom learned how to run their own business by holding “trunk shows” and setting up booths selling clothing and jewelry.  This business grew into managing all product sales and development for her family business, Newberry Pecans, which is the largest pecan orchard in North Alabama.   

Michelle’s insight to partner with an outside professional food packaging company to launch their first food product line earned Newberry Pecans a Bronze ADDY award in the state of Oklahoma for the Pecan Packaging Campaign with their marketing company Robot House.   Michelle also led the brand Newberry Pecans to reach their first national brand deal with Lenox.com by managing their social media account by posting beautiful and fun photos of how to cook with pecans!  You can enjoy Newberry Pecans at local restaurants such as La Esquina Cocina and Pizzelle’s Confections. 

In her short 4-year career in the Chamber industry, Michelle Epling helped guide her team last year to have the Chamber receive accreditation through the Alabama Chamber of Commerce Association for the first time in their 31-year history. 

Michelle Epling was named Alabama Chamber Champion for 2024. Created in 2020, the Alabama Chamber Champion award recognizes an emerging leader with five or fewer years of professional service to the chamber industry. 

Michelle also believes in continuing her professional development journey and has completed three out of four years of the Institute for Organization Management Training . Michelle currently serves as a committee member since 2022 with ACCE for the Finance and Advisory Council.   

Michelle is a current member of the Women’s Economic Development Council, Gothic Guild, and her past volunteer experiences include the Botanical Gardens, Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater and Academy, Huntsville Ballet, and the Huntsville Area Moms of Multiples.   Michelle has been nominated twice for her longtime volunteer efforts with the arts community in the cities of Huntsville and Madison as a nominee for the Katherine Lester Award through the Huntsville Ballet Association.  

She and her family have been residents of Madison for more than 15 years. Her husband Adam Epling works cloud security company Sysdig and was named the Madison City Chess League Coach of the Year in 2024 for his work as the elementary school chess coach at their twins’ elementary school. 

Her children attend a local Madison City elementary school where Michelle currently serves as Chair of the “Wisecats Club” (Grandparents Club) for the PTA.  In her free time, she enjoys doing art projects with her twins, shopping local at all our local retail stores, attending her twins Irish Dance competitions and going to the beach with her husband and twins and sewing her own clothing and meal prepping!