Who We Are

TLC Marketing Consultants grew out of a vision to provide business owners the marketing expertise of a Chief Marketing Officer without the commitment and cost of a full time employee.

Our marketing firm is a culmination of 100 + years of sales and marketing experience working with national, regional and local companies across the financial, home services, auto, retail, legal, entertainment, and restaurant industries. Additionally, we are experienced in working with non-profits and governmental agencies.

TLC has expertise in many niche areas such as digital marketing, internet marketing, social media, sponsorships, sales training and consultation, and building annual and long-term marketing plans.

We are not a “traditional” marketing company and are always up for a unique marketing challenge. This allows us to customize our efforts to our client’s specific needs. You will not find a cookie-cutter approach here.

Tammy Fruits

CEO

Google Ads Certified

Tammy Fruits, CEO and Owner, brings a wide array of experience and depth to TLC Marketing Consultants, LLC, as a former executive in the Live Concert, Professional Football and Broadcast Television industries. Her professional experience includes 20 plus years with Live Nation with her final role as that of Senior Vice President of Sales for the organization, seven years as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Kansas City Chiefs, and four years with Scripps Media in sales management of both digital and broadcast assets. It was here that her passion for digital and social media marketing bloomed.

Her areas of specialty include All Areas of Marketing Planning and Implementation, Business Development, Revenue Growth, Public Relations, Broadcast and Digital Media Expertise, Sponsorship Negotiation and Activation, and Community Stewardship.

Fruits is an accomplished, high-energy senior business executive with a diverse and proven track record of driving revenues, expanding business relationships, increasing brand value, improving operations, and projecting a positive corporate image to its customers and the community. She brings her skill in all aspects of corporate marketing, from creation and strategy to development and execution to our partners’ businesses. She also brings thirty years of experience in recruiting, training, building, leading and retaining high-performance sales teams to drive mission-critical endeavors to successful completion.

She enjoys a colorful career and has been a featured speaker at many sales and marketing engagements. A Topeka native, she holds a degree in Business Finance from Washburn University. She is married to her sixth-grade love, Troy, and has a son, Chase.

Lexie Longbine

Agency Manager

Lexie Longbine brings a wealth of experience and expertise in her role as Agency Manager, drawn from her tenure as a Senior Account Executive in the pharmaceutical marketing sector. Her background in managing accounts and projects across various marketing channels, including digital and print tactics, underscores her versatility and proficiency in navigating diverse campaign landscapes.

In her previous role, Lexie served as the primary point of contact for key accounts, overseeing the execution of projects from inception to completion. Her responsibilities encompassed a wide range of tasks, from developing project plans to facilitating product launches across multiple channels such as website development, digital display ads, email marketing campaigns, broadcasting and more.

Beyond project management, Lexie played a crucial role in fostering strong client and partner agency relationships, ensuring clear communication and satisfaction throughout the project lifecycle. Her ability to adhere to timelines and budgets while delivering high-quality results underscores her commitment to client success.

Lexie’s educational background is in Mass Media with a focus on Creative Advertising, supplemented by a minor in Communications from Washburn University, which provides her with a solid foundation in strategic marketing and communication principles.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Lexie is preparing for a significant personal milestone—her upcoming wedding to her fiancé, Jordan, scheduled for September. Together, they share a love for their two dogs, Milo and Nelly.

Rebekah Gilman

Marketing Coordinator

Bekah, originally from Colorado Springs, moved to Kansas City after graduating from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She worked as a social media marketing intern during her junior year and as a content marketing intern during her senior year before joining the TLC team full-time after graduation. Bekah is passionate about photography, travel and meeting new people! While she’s off the clock, Bekah enjoys hiking, taking photos and spending time with family.

Kynden Robert

Marketing Assistant

Kynden Robert grew up in Olpe, Kansas, and attended Emporia State University, studying at the School of Business, with a BA in Business Admin and a concentration in International Business. He is our first Hornet hire, and we are thrilled to have him on the team!

He spends his free time creating artwork via painting canvases or doing oil pastels and is passionate about travel, fashion, and thrifting clothes! He suffers from chronic shoe addiction but prefers a more positive term to refer to himself, which would be ‘Sneakerhead.’ This works out well for us when we want to admonish him for something- “Hey, Sneakerhead, dial your game up!”

Mike Kennedy Law

Marketing, Media, Event & Sponsorship Consultant

Mike Kennedy began his career in his hometown while attending high school in Emporia, Kansas in 1976 at KVOE AM FM Radio. From 1977 to 1981, Mike attended college and earned his degrees in Broadcasting and Business Administration while continuing to work on-air in Emporia and Colby, Kansas.

In 1984, Mike became the youngest owner of a radio station in the United States, at that time, by purchasing the station WFXI-AM in Florida. He returned to Kansas to assist in the signing on of Country KEGS 101.7. In 1988, Mike moved to Kansas City to work with KXXR-FM.

In 1993, Mike helped signed on Q104 as a “Young Country” station which continues in this format to date. For more than 25 years, Mike programed KBEQ and hosted the Morning Show from 2002 to 2016. During his tenure as Program Director and Morning Show Personality Mike developed and assisted in booking and producing three major annual events in the Kansas City Area:

Hot Country Nights, P&L
Y’allapalooza (Azura Amphitheater | Starlight Theater)
Q104 B-Day Bash (Various including Whiskey Tango, Beaumont & More)

Concurrently, while programming KBEQ, he owned and operated the station KXBZ / B104.7 in Manhattan, Kansas. He also signed on to two other radio stations in that period. Mike worked as the Vice President of Country Programming for Wilks Broadcasting / Steel City Media from 2007 to 2017.

Career Highlights Include:

2006 Elected to the Board of Trustees of the Foundation at Emporia State University.
2014 Received Kansas City Media Legend Award from the Kansas City Media Mix Organization.
2015 Inducted into the 2015 Country Radio Hall of Fame in Nashville.
2015 Named one of the Top Country Programmers by Radio Ink.
2016 Received Distinguished Alumni Award Emporia State University.
Management of Chiefs Radio Network

Devon McAnany

Copy Editor and Reporting

Devon joined TLC Marketing Consultants with a B.A. in Advertising & Public Relations from Loyola University of Chicago. She also has an M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction (Early Childhood Education) from UMKC. Devon is a native of Kansas City, and her husband James builds Tiny Houses! She is a passionate reader, writer and dog lover. She also digs a good glass of wine now and then!

Debra Tucker

Accounting

Well, someone has to count the money and pay the bills. Deb handles chasing us all down for receipts and info like a pro, regularly lighting one of us up! What she doesn’t know is that we often “forget” to mess with her. When Deb isn’t lecturing us on “loose accounting practices,” she is on a lake somewhere with a beer in her hand listening to Kid Rock.

Dustin Ackart

Digital and SEO Specialist

Dustin is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He has been creating websites and running digital marketing campaigns for over 15 years. He has worked with multiple companies and industries across the country to create a better online presence for businesses and increase their overall sales.

Dustin is also the proud dad of two little girls and the proud husband of his wife that works as an assistant principal for Liberty Public Schools. Outside of work, Dustin can usually be found near a lake, pond, or ocean fishing for anything that will bite!

Online marketing for Dustin is a lot like fishing, you have to have the right bait, and more of it, in the water to catch more fish.