Eleanor Smith Gilliam

Co-Founder & CEO, TOP LINE Advisory - CMO/CBDO/CSO + Strategy, Growth, Development and Communications for Healthcare Companies and Professional Services Firms

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

About

Eleanor has more than 20 years of marketing, business development and strategic management experience. She has a primary focus on teaching companies how to attract new work through deploying strategies intent on expanding client relationships, building national brand equity in sophisticated sectors, creating successful business development plans and integrating talent critical to the growth of the companies she represents - all while meeting the overarching strategic goals for the companies she serves. Her management skills include hiring the right talent; analyzing financial performance; monitoring utilization and resolving productivity and profitability issues. Eleanor has led post-M&A integration and facilitated communication between teams with respect to true cross-selling wins and other collaborative activities. As the Chief Client Officer for Barnes + Thornburg, an AmLaw 100 firm, she led a team of more than 50 people executing marketing, communications and operations. She also served as a Managing Director for the Healthcare Practice at Bass, Berry & Sims, the country's second largest health law firm. Eleanor served at Bass for more than 17 years and was responsible for strategic planning and implementation of initiatives related to client development, service and satisfaction, serving clients in healthcare, the country's most complicated industry. Eleanor is a member of the Nashville Health Care Council’s Leadership Health Care and the American Health Lawyers Association. She is a past Chair of the Nashville Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association and served on the Board of Directors for Our Kids, Inc. since 2006. In addition, she was a Nashville Emerging Leader Award Finalist in the category of Business Services and a recent contributor to the US Government's Health AI Task Force.

Experience

  • Chief Strategy Officer at Maverick Health Policy
    Jun 2026 - Present · 2 mos

  • Fractional Chief Strategy Officer at Circa Brand Agency
    Jun 2026 - Present · 2 mos

  • Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Top Line Advisory
    Aug 2024 - Present · 2 yrs

    Fractional CMO for all professional services firms.

  • Chief Marketing Officer at SageSpring Wealth Partners
    Sep 2025 - Jun 2026 · 10 mos

  • Chief Client Officer at Barnes & Thornburg LLP
    Sep 2022 - May 2024 · 1 yr 9 mos