A recent story on Knoxville native, Pellissippi State and UTK graduate Frank Lett shares a journey of support and success. I am sharing the article with permission.
Frank Lett grew up in Knoxville and planned to play college baseball at ETSU. Those plans were sidelined due to an injury. He attended a few community colleges, but decided it was time to take life seriously and not focus so much on sports.
Since he still lived in Knoxville, he enrolled at Pellissippi State Community College. While attending Pellissippi State, he worked part-time at a fitness center owned by former Lady Vol Pat Hatmaker. Frank earned an associate degree in Business Administration and earned a certificate in Leadership. After Pellissippi, he went to UT and majored in sports management.
According to Frank, Pellissippi State definitely played a role in preparing him for his current occupation. The college provided foundational experiences and prepared him for the classes that he would take at UT.
The college also gave him some unforgettable moments. He recalls a humorous punctuation video that was shown in a creative writing class. The video had sound effects for the various parts of the English language. He still thinks of this video on occasion when he writes. He also fondly remembers professor Roger Crowe, whom he says “was a good influence.”
Frank is the president and chief tourism officer at Visit Kingsport, the DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) that performs many services for the city of Kingsport community.
