About Us

Since then, Yuriko has been the general manager at Tour Links (a hotel concierge management company) as well as Tower Tours (a bus transportation company).  She joined the Alcatraz Media family in 2006 as Vice President of Special Projects and currently spearheads the travel insurance and affiliate programs, among other things.

Favorite color: Purple
Favorite city: San Francisco (I love Austin too)
Favorite travel experiences: Kayaking in the moonlight to the luminescent Bay in Puerto Rico and snorkeling with sea turtles in Maui.
Looking forward to: One day, going to Cairo and experiencing the Pyramids

Tony Windsor | VP of Suppliers & Business Development
Tony entered the world in Columbus, Georgia and has lived in over a dozen U.S. cities.  He attended the University of Kentucky and graduated from the University of Central Florida.  His career path began with over 30 years in broadcasting, primarily in local TV news as a reporter, anchorman, manager and professional development consultant before coming to the tour and travel industry.

He began working with Alcatraz Media in 2003 and now heads the staff that develops and maintains relationships with the company’s thousands of tour, activity and travel suppliers.

Favorite places:  Lake Tahoe, Newport, RI and Carmel, CA
Favorite color:  Kentucky Blue
Favorite travel experiences:  The night tour at Alcatraz, double decker buses in London, USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu and golf anywhere.
Looking forward to:  The next trip, wherever it will take me!

Barbara Gray Windsor | VP of Operations
Originally hailing from Dallas, Texas, Barbara attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock.  Previously, her career positions include Office Manager for Windsor Communications, Inc. (a publishing and trade show company) and VP of Operations for First Communications, Inc. (a trade show, conference, and internet job/resume business).  Barbara started working for Alcatraz Media in 2003 at the company headquarters in Atlanta.

Favorite color:   Red
Favorite city:  Rome, Italy
Favorite travel experiences:  Any place with family.
Looking forward to:  Visiting the Mackenzie-Childs farm in Upstate New York.

Sondra Shumaker | Director of Sales
Sondra had an exciting start to her travel career as the Director of Group and Charter Sales for Windjammer Barefoot Cruises based in Miami, Florida.  In this position, she enjoyed 10 years of organizing every conceivable type of group event on different island destinations throughout the Caribbean and beyond.  Sondra relocated back to her hometown of Atlanta in 2006, where she joined the team of Alcatraz Media as the Director Sales.  Her main focus has been expanding the Group and Charter Department.  Given Alcatraz Media’s vast travel partner network, the potential of the department was virtually unlimited which has presented an even more thrilling challenge for Sondra and her staff.  She quickly organized the core department which offers group travel and destination management services worldwide.  She also developed a key tool in our convention services, the webpage www.ManageMyConvention.com, and continues to improve and expand on the service and markets offered.

Favorite Color: Red
Favorite City: I have to pick one??  Chicago or London or…
Favorite travel experience: Trip to a little island off the coast of Madagascar, Nosy Baraha.  We stayed in an open air hut, slept under mosquito nets, hiked the rainforest where we saw lizards, lemurs and leeches (yuck), caught our food with the locals and had to ‘tie down’ our belongings before each day’s activities or the monkeys would take them!
And the impromptu weekend to Rome this year was pretty cool!
Future Travel Plans: Ireland is in my sights next!

Michelle Thornton | Co-Director of Operations & Executive Assistant
Michelle was born and raised in Metro Atlanta. As a student at the University of Georgia, Michelle worked part-time at Alcatraz Media as a  Reservations Agent, beginning in 2004.  When she graduated in 2007, Michelle joined Alcatraz Media full-time as the Reservations Manager, and was promoted into her current position in 2008.  She handles a variety of projects including Vacation Packaging and Social Networking.  She also assists the President and handles many day-to-day activities in Atlanta.

Favorite city:  San Diego
Favorite color:  Blue
Favorite tour market:  Nashville
Best dining experience while traveling:  I stumbled upon the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Diego by accident, and now I eat there every time I visit.

Nikita DeJarnette | Co-Director of Operations
Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Nikita spent the early part of her childhood traveling with her family between Alaska, New Jersey and Georgia before finally settling in the suburbs of Atlanta.  Nikita attended Yale University where she earned a degree in Anthropology with a focus on Archaeological Studies.  While in college, Nikita worked as a part-time Reservations Agent and assisted with website development for Alcatraz Media.

Upon graduating from college, Nikita worked as an Executive Headhunter for a number of Fortune 100 companies before reuniting with Alcatraz Media in 2008 as their Advertising Coordinator.  She has since been promoted to the position of Director of Advertising and oversees the advertisement of thousands of tours and activities offered by Alcatraz Media.

Favorite city: Los Angeles.  It’s like New York, but prettier.
Favorite color:  Is gold a color?
Favorite tour type:  Anything involving a beach.
Describe your dream vacation:  Berlin, Germany for the art.
Looking forward to:  Visiting Stockholm, Sweden; London, England; Copenhagen, Denmark and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Julia Brady | Reservations Manager
A native of Jamaica, Julia attended Hunter College in New York City. She has traveled throughout the east coast from Miami to New York City, and also loves to visit the islands. Julia previously worked for Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami in both the Reservations and Group Departments. She joined Alcatraz Media in 2005 as a Reservations Agent, earned the title of Lead Reservations Agent, and was promoted to Reservations Manager in September 2011. With over ten years of customer service experience, Julia enjoys helping people, and has two wonderful children.

Favorite Color: Black
Favorite City: Miami
Favorite Travel Experience: Seven day cruise on Carnival’s Imagination to the Western Caribbean
Looking Forward To: Touring Europe

Sonya R. Chase | Ticketing Manager
A native of Ohio, Sonya enjoyed attending Urbana University, where she majored in Psychology and Social Service.  She and her college sweetheart married and relocated to Atlanta in the late 80’s.  Sonya and her husband Charles then went on to raise two wonderful children while building their careers.

Over the years, Sonya has worked with non-profit organizations and has over 20 years experience in customer service and call-center management.  Sonya joined the Alcatraz Media team in 2005 and has worked very diligently to build and fine tune our Ticketing and Reservation policies and procedures, while staying focused on the day to day operations.  Sonya enjoys helping people.

Favorite color: Pink
Favorite city: New York (but would not want to live there)
Favorite travel experiences: Love Destin Florida (what a perfect sky), Niagara Falls Canada and New York.
Looking forward to: One day, going to both Paris France and Rome Italy

Janice Cullen | Accounting Manager
Born in St. Louis and raised in Nova Scotia and Georgia; wherever she hangs her hat she calls home.  Janice completed a marketing and management program at Columbus Technical College after high school and immediately went to work in the hotel industry.  She worked in the hospitality operations field for 18 years holding positions as administrative assistant, human resource manager, and room’s division manager for a large hotel chain.

Janice moved into the corporate arena in 1992, taking a position as a franchise service manager in Atlanta.  Wanting to experience something different as her two children completed college; she took a course in computer information systems at Gwinnett Technical College in 2001.  For a short time, Janice co-owned a small mail service company and then she worked for a private rehab mortgage company.  After realizing that she missed the travel industry, Janice joined Alcatraz Media in July 2007 to support the accounting department.

Favorite color:   Red
Favorite city:  Monte Carlo, Monaco
Favorite travel experiences:  Primitive camping and hiking with my kids when they were young
Looking forward to:  Traveling anywhere and meeting people

Allison Repic | Operations Team
Allison was born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia and has enjoyed traveling from a young age. She attended the University of South Carolina where she earned a degree in Hospitality Management and was active in Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She spent summers working in hotels and restaurants, with a focus on catering and special events.

After graduating from college, Allison worked as the manager of a doggy daycare for two years until she decided to get back into the travel industry. She is currently the Operations Administrative Assistant and works on a variety of projects throughout the day. Allison lives in Woodstock, Georgia with her husband and two dogs and enjoys playing tennis in her spare time.

Favorite place:  Captiva Island, Florida
Favorite color: Pink (Garnet and black during football season!)
Favorite travel experiences: Honeymooning in St. Lucia, sightseeing in Maui, spring break in Cancun, gambling in Las Vegas, going backstage at the Grand Ole Opry…
Looking forward to: Traveling more!

Michael Brookhart | Advertising & Operations Coordinator
Michael is probably one of the only true Atlanta natives left in the city. Originally starting off his career with the desire to work in the Criminal Justice field, Michael took jobs in hospitality and food service to pay his way through college. Along the way, Michael learned various skills and studied a wide array of subjects. A self-proclaimed renaissance man, Michael enjoys reading and analyzing everything that he can. Also an aspiring actor, Michael has worked as an extra on several TV show & movie sets in his spare time just to stay connected to the entertainment industry. Michael began working for Alcatraz Media in November 2010 in the Special Products Ticketing Department, and moved to the Operations Department in July 2011. He is a proud member of the Alcatraz family, and hopes to be a part of it for a very long time to come.

Given the title of Advertising & Operations Coordinator, Michael will soon be traveling the country and the world along with other Operations Department team members to meet with our valued tour operators and assist with supplier and customer satisfaction. “There is always more to learn about what we sell and how to better serve our customers.” He also manages new advertising campaigns and website developments which will provide greater exposure to tour operators and various other businesses in hundreds of cities around the world.

Favorite Colors: Black, Red, Purple
Favorite City: New York, thus far.
Favorite Travel Experience: Washington DC with friends.
Looking Forward To: Living life to its fullest, meeting new people, and learning new things.
Favorite Quote: “We are either Kings or Pawns” – Napoleon Bonaparte from the Count of Monte Cristo