In my junior year of college, I started a social media marketing agency, Social Hour Media, and I joined Samford's Startup Incubator as a resident. Over the latter half of college, I balanced a full course load and extracurricular activities, while continuing to work on and grow my business. During my senior year of college, I had noticed that my only inhibitor to growth was time, which there never seemed to be enough of. Deciding that I wanted to take Social Hour Media as my full-time venture upon graduation, I spent the entirety of my senior spring semester competing in a variety of student entrepreneur pitch competitions to raise funding to support this goal. Representing Samford University in SOCON's Entrepreneurship Challenge, Social Hour Media took first place in their for-profit division. Further, I advanced to EO's Global Student Entrepreneur Semi-Finals Competition in San Diego; and I ultimately raised over $6,000 in funding to launch my business following graduation.Social Hour Media came from a desire to go beyond showcasing a brand's products or services on social media, but to showcase the stories, experiences, and faces behind a brand as well. With the explosion of short-form video content, like TikToks and Reels, we seek to combine creative expertise with data analytics to create engaging and effective social media marketing strategies for brands. We come alongside brands as a member of your team to learn more about your story, your team members, your community, and more, to create content that is intentional and true to a brand's voice. We weave these elements into your business goals and use data analytics to formulate a social media strategy that paints a bigger picture and ultimately turns a social media user into a consumer of your brand.As an individual and founder, I've always loved the art of storytelling, and I tend to resonate with brand's that share the heart behind what they do. With over five years of social media marketing experience and the ability to adapt with the ever-changing landscape of social media, I look forward to continuing to build my own brand on these values and sharing others' stories along the way.