After serving on the Yellowhammer Multimedia team for just under a year, Birmingham resident Courtney Hancock has been named CEO of SoulGrown, Alabama’s premier lifestyle brand.
The 29-year-old Huntsville native holds extensive experience in the fields of media, marketing and communications. Deeply rooted within the heart of Alabama, Hancock for 12 years has called the Magic City her home, where she lives with her husband and son.
Hancock holds a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Samford University. Soon after launching her career in marketing and communications, she began pursuing her master of science in organizational leadership from Charleston Southern University.
Hancock’s youth, lived experience and perspective allows her to reach SoulGrown’s target audience and expand the brand’s readership.
With her finger on the pulse of culture and storytelling, Hancock has brought her skillset of creating impactful written and visual content to SoulGrown in a way that has made a measurable difference. Her invaluable skillset uniquely positions her to lead SoulGrown into its next phase.
“The people of Alabama deserve to have their story told in a way they can be proud of,” proclaimed Hancock. “A representation that exemplifies what it really feels like to live here. For the first year of SoulGrown, the team did an incredible job building a strong foundation of content through beautiful images and meaningful storytelling that over 100,000 people engage with. We’ve proven the market for pro-Alabama content heavily exists – specifically among millennials.”
According to Hancock, the Yellowhammer State is uniquely positioned to capitalize from Americans’ desire for enhanced quality of life.
“Now it’s time to take that to the next level. Establishing Alabama as ‘The Soul of the South’ is our vision,” she added. “As we’ve seen many people over the last couple years relocate to the south the data shows us there is an overwhelming desire for the quality of life afforded here. From our award-winning food scene to our diverse landscape, the culture of hospitality to the vibrant sports community; from outdoor recreation to luxury home design, and most of all, our people – This is Alabama’s time to shine.”
“The world is watching, it’s ready for us, and SoulGrown is going to give them the real Alabama,” pledged Hancock.
A skilled an artful promoter, Hancock has grown digital audiences by the thousands and created viral content at each stop throughout her young and impressive career. Her talent was on full display at Highlands College, where Hancock began her tenure as an entry-level marketing administrator and ascended to director of communications.
Prior to becoming director of creative services at SoulGrown, Hancock developed content for southern culture publication Good Grit Magazine.
Hancock found her love for writing and putting thoughts to print long before adulthood. As a child, she wrote personal blogs and submitted poetry to school publications, quickly finding success in her writing as she was published shining a spotlight on women of the South.
Hancock was raised in a military family and was based at Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal for the majority of her middle and high school education. A military upbringing afforded Hancock with the opportunity to travel and live a variety of experiences, which has proven to be invaluable to her professional success.
Her parents, she said, served as inspiration to reach her fullest potential.
“I always looked up to the way my mom had a successful career but could still be a wife and a mother,” said Hancock. “I was never the ‘straight-A’ or favorite student, but I remember my dad telling me that some people are book-smart and some people are street smart and that I might not be on the ‘honor roll’ but that I would be great at adulthood and excel in my career. I took him seriously and harnessed what gifts I did have, my words and my ideas, and made them my power.”
Hancock is uniquely positioned to champion Alabama as not only someone who holds history in the state but also as someone who has chosen to build a life in the South’s cultural beacon.
