COO, Byrne Media
Wayne Morris joined WHHI-TV as a part of the new ownership group in June of 2006. Before joining WHHI-TV he worked for Raycom Media in Columbia, SC. Wayne received a Marketing Degree from Clemson University in 2004. Wayne served as General Manager for WHHI-TV and is now Chief Operating Officer for Byrne Acquisition Group (WHHI-TV Parent Company). To learn more about Byrne Media's team, visit their website. Wayne is married to Ashley Morris and has 3 children: Sophie, Steven, and Sarah.
WHHI General Manager
jjeremiah@whhitv.com
(608) 630-5219
Jessa Jeremiah first joined WHHI-TV as an on-air personality in 2012 anchoring one of the station's first newscasts. From there, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin and helped grow the Byrne Group's new CW57 station as Account Executive and On-Air Personality. As the station transitioned to "Wisconsin's 57 Television", she was promoted to General Manager. After working for another Madison-based station for several years, she has returned to her work family at Byrne Media as General Manager of WHHI Television and joyfully returns with her husband to the Lowcountry to raise her two daughters, Primlee and Paislee.
Director of Business Development, Byrne Media
zach@byrne-media.com
Zach Washburn joined Byrne Media in 2020 as the company's Director of Business Development. Native to Greenville, SC, and Clemson Alum, Zach's experience in working with local & regional businesses across the Carolinas has led him to become a strategic fit for the growth of Byrne Media. Zach has held positions with local ABC & FOX TV affiliates between the Upstate and Low Country, and most recently with Clemson's multimedia rights holder, JMI Sports. Zach also serves as head of Byrne Media's digital marketing platform. He is married to Caroline Washburn and resides in Greenville, SC with their yellow lab, Sunday.
General Sales Manager
Jessica Sarrett moved to Hilton Head Island 5 years ago, and has been the General Sales Manager at WHHI-TV since 2016. She attended Blufield State College on a full softball scholarship, and immediately began working in marketing and media sales upon graduation, totaling over 14 years of experience. Aside from marketing experience and knowledge, she is also a licensed captain and enjoys fishing any chance she gets. In her spare time, she also enjoys fitness and yoga – because it’s good for the soul. She has the most amazing daughter who keeps her on her toes, and is her motivation for everything she does. Jessica feels truly blessed to work at WHHI-TV with her wonderful staff, and loves the beautiful Lowcountry!
Account Executive
Susan Green joined the WHHI-TV family in June of 2019. She’s been a resident of the area since 1985, and prior to WHHI-TV, she had a 30-year marketing career at The Island Packet, a McClatchy Company. She is married to a local retired Hilton Head firefighter and has 5 sons.
Production Manager
Originally from Virginia, Jeremy expanded his video skills with local TV and freelancing. When moving to the Lowcountry in 2011, he began working production with WHHI-TV and has enjoyed being close to the local community ever since.
WHHI Production Coordinator
Originally from Pennsylvania, Maria Isabel Sowden moved to Hilton Head Island in 2019 after graduating from St. John’s University in New York with a Bachelor's of Science in Television and Film Production. Originally freelancing for two years for WHHI-TV, she is now a production coordinator and weather reporter for the WHHI News.
Remote Operations Producer
lljproductions@yahoo.com
Larry Jacquemotte has had the opportunity to work with regional sports networks as a producer, director, remote operations producer, coordinating producer, and behind the camera. He's worked in a variety of sports, including basketball, football, hockey, minor league baseball, and volleyball, along with professional leagues such as the NHL, MLB, NBA, WBL (World Basketball League), and in venue for the video board at the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland. He has also worked in strategic planning with a local sports network and in radio, television, and cable advertising and sales. He now works with WHHI TV in freelance production for sports and various programming.
Larry and his wife, Jacki, moved to Hilton Head Island five years ago from Toledo, OH. In their free time, they volunteer at the St. Francis Thrift Shop and the library. You can often catch them at the pickleball court.
WHHI News and Program Manager
Lisa Richardson has been a Lowcountry resident since 1995 and has always had an interest in TV & Media since she was a kid. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a Human Resources Major. She has worked in full-time community ministry with a focus on ministry communications for 15 years along with hosting a show for WHHI for 6 years. She has long been involved in many aspects of our community, the area schools, and sports.
She and her husband have 3 teenage girls.
News Anchor & On-Air Personality
Betsy McDaniel has a B.S. degree in design and merchandising. She has a diverse career history, including running a business where she conducted training and compliance workshops for groups from 5 to 15,000, writing a successful blog, and co-founding a corporate and event gifting service. Eleven years ago, Betsy and Chris, her husband of 26 years, sold their financial services business and decided to join her parents, island residents for over thirty years, in making Hilton Head Island their home.
WHHI is her first foray as a TV personality. She is very grateful for the opportunity to connect with and share the communities that make the Lowcountry such a wonderful place to live. It gives Betsy and Chris great joy to watch their children pursue their dreams and goals. Their son, Skylar, is a master’s in biology candidate at Utah State University. Their daughter, Lily, is training for her dream of becoming a professional dancer at Steps on Broadway, a dance conservatory in New York City.
News Anchor & On-Air Personality
Ally McNair has worked in radio and TV in New England and on Hilton Head Island. Her local television experience included hosting and producing of WHHI-TV's The Lowcountry Report and Hilton Head News for several years. Ally has continued her relationship with WHHI-TV as host of Real Estate Update with James Wedgworth.
Earlier in NH, Ally hosted and produced NH Outlook, a nightly news and public affairs show, on New Hampshire Public Television. She anchored live coverage on public radio and public television during the historic impeachment inquiry and trial of New Hampshire State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Brock. She has earned a variety of awards from the Associated Press, New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters, three New England Emmy Nominations, and the Emily Cluett Award for Outstanding Courage and Fortitude.
While serving as AARP State President in New Hampshire, Ally hosted one-on-one conversations with the 2008 presidential candidates, which were covered by both the local and national media.
News Anchor & On-Air Personality
An 18-year Hilton Head Island resident, Bob Stevens is almost a native, bringing a passion for Island life from a decades-long media career at ESPN, and in local television and radio in Cleveland and Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was a proud graduate of the University of Tulsa. He's even more proud of the achievements of his wife Janet, and daughters Kata and Caroline, who have ventured into their own careers from the Hilton Head Island public schools through Fordham University and the University of Edinburgh respectively.
News Anchor & On-Air Personality
Robyn Zimmerman has had a long career in the communications and public relations field. She served for 16 years as the Director of Public and Community Relations for Greenville Health System in Greenville, SC, and most recently as an Executive Communications Strategist with Crawford Strategy, a full-service Marketing and PR firm also in the Upstate. Prior to that, Robyn worked for the state of South Carolina with several state agencies in Spokesperson roles and served as Press Secretary for Governor David Beasley.
Robyn also worked in television broadcasting for 12 years with WSPA-TV 7 in Spartanburg, SC, KGUN TV in Tucson, Arizona, and SCETV in Columbia and served as an Adjunct Professor in Communications for Furman University, the University of South Carolina, and Greenville Technical College. Robyn currently works as a TV Host and News Anchor locally at WHHI-TV and is very active with the Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island and St. Luke’s Church. She and her husband Len have 5 children and 11 grandchildren with another one on the way!
On-Air Personality
Dr. Debi Lynes has an extensive career exploring the relationship between the physical environment and its influence on health and wellness. She has combined her 30 years of experience as an interior designer and 15 years in private counseling to hone her practice and is now respected as an expert in her fields.
She is licensed in working with eating disorders as well as substance use and dependence. She is CAPS certified as an aging-in-place specialist. Most recently she has added certification in treating insomnia and related sleep disorders.
She is also a well-regarded television host of Lynes on Design, airing for 10 years, and HEalthy Living, on-air for the last 10 years.
On-Air Personality
Kathryn Mademann recently moved to the Lowcountry from Montreal, QC. She has had a dynamic career spanning over 30 years in fashion, media, and communications. She has hosted several TV shows such as On Trend, a fashion makeover show, To Your Health, discussing the latest health issues, and Real Estate Now. As part of the WHHI-TV team, she hosts 843-TV, a community-based show, and covers many stories for the news.
On June 1, 2021, Kathryn launched her own Lifestyle & Travel TV Show, Coastal with Kathryn.
Kathryn also founded and owned her publishing company for 13 years, where she launched two magazines (print & digital), and authored three children’s books.
Kathryn is known for her fashion career as being an international image stylist. She is a guest lecturer at Canyon Ranch, a 13-time winner of Travel & Leisure Spa Award and Hilton Head Health (H3), the country’s #1 wellness and weight loss resort & spa, and works with clients around the world.
In 2018, Kathryn presented a powerful TEDxTalk, “Know the Power and Strength of your Presence.”
Kathryn loves living in the Lowcountry and has an adult son who lives in Austin, TX.
On-Air Personality
Diane Fisher Simmons is an Arts and Fitness Professional and was born and raised in South bend, Indiana where she received her AA degree in humanities and a BA degree in theatre with a concentration in performance. She completed post graduate training at the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver, in the Greek Islands and in NYC and Chicago. She's worked as an Actor/Director/Writer/Sound Designer and Instructor for the stage since 1997 and has worked in film and television (on both sides of the camera) since 2003. Diane has also worked in Arts Management as an Artistic Director at Chicagoland theaters and churches, where she also worked in full-time ministry and with inner-city youth. She currently trains fitness clients and acting students and works for community theatre here in on Hilton Head Island, where she relocated to from Chicago with her Husband and cats in 2014. Diane is thrilled to join the fantastic team at WHHI and get more immersed in the community, while working in her Father's line of work at a television station.
Sportscaster
Originally from the upstate, Daniel is a 1994 graduate of Furman University where he was member of the 1993 Southern Conference Champion men’s golf team. Daniel has called the Lowcountry home since 96 and he and wife Debbie are Realtors with Charter One’s Charles Sampson Team. Daniel has been a color commentator for the RBC Heritage since 2012, appearing w Tom Kinder in the “Heritage Wrap Show”. He was the original show host of WHHI's “Golf Center” in 2012 and most recently worked as color commentator alongside Marcus Walsh for WHHI Sports 2021 Football Bowl Series.
Sportscaster
Kevin Libby joined WHHI-TV in 2012 as a contract field producer for WHHI News and camera operator for WHHI Sports after meeting former Bluffton News anchor Anneliza Itkor. Sales specialist Tony Virga took Kevin under his wing and taught him to write and produce TV commercials. Concurrently, Kevin developed on location news packages with the support of Ally McNair, who wrote and hosted the Lowcountry Report and later The Hilton Head News. With Ally’s guidance, Kevin began appearing regularly on news programs as a political reporter and transitioned his on location segments into ‘Libby on Location’ or ‘LOL’ segments that integrated levity into soft news coverage. Ally picked Kevin as her replacement when she left the Hilton Head News in 2013 and later Kevin transitioned to cover Jessa Jeremiah’s Beaufort News broadcast after WHHI retained the talents of veteran anchor Bob Stevens to cover Hilton Head. Kevin has produced and edited his own on location hard news interviews with politicians such as Congressman John Lewis, Governor Mark Sanford and Senator Lindsey Graham. In 2018, Kevin left WHHI News in consideration of his advancement in the banking industry.
Today, Kevin works as a camera operator for WHHI Sports' football coverage and a color commentator on basketball games beside the intrepid play by play call of his good friend Marcus Walsh. He moonlights as a banker with First Citizens Bank on Hilton Head Island and resides in Bluffton, SC.
In his free time Kevin enjoys voice acting, playing basketball, piano and producing The Marcus Walsh Show, a sports podcast available everywhere podcasts are sold.
Kevin is thankful to Wayne Morris, Jeremy Pope and John Byrne for giving him a career in broadcasting.
Sportscaster
Marcus Walsh joined WHHI-TV in 2013 as a contract broadcaster. He has since worked as a voiceover announcer in advertisements, conducted on-location interviews for the WHHI News programs, and is a staple voice on WHHI Sports.
Behind the scenes, Marcus has supported local events such as the Heritage Golf Tournament. Since June of 2021, Marcus has worked as a front desk face and voice by phone for WHHI TV.
Marcus attended Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, graduating in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Sports Communication Major with a minor in Speech Communication.
Off the clock, Marcus is Vice President of the Bluffton Chamber Young Professionals program, host and creator of the Marcus Walsh Show Podcast, and a singer in several Lowcountry choirs. Marcus enjoys hanging out with his family and friends, golfing, watching sports, and spending time out at the pool or beach.
