A life shaped by grit, kindness, and the places that hold both
Words by Ashley Locke
There are people who tell stories, and then there are people who have lived enough life to understand why stories matter in the first place. Edie Hand is the second kind.
She grew up in Burnout, Alabama, a small community where her family owned a country grocery store. It was the kind of place where people loved to gather and conversations mattered as much as transactions. It was where she learned early how to read people. She didn’t call it branding back then, but that’s what it was: figuring out what makes someone stay, and figuring out what makes them come back.
“I learned relationships were my strongest suit,” she says.
That instinct carried her far beyond Burnout. By sixteen, she had already started working toward a life that would take her across the South and eventually across the country. She wrote for Southern Living. She toured cities cooking and telling stories. She built one of the first all-women advertising agencies in Alabama in the mid-1970s, at a time when that kind of leadership was still rare. The work kept evolving, but the through line stayed the same. She understood people, and she knew how to connect with them.
The story does not move in a straight line, though. It never does.
Edie talks about her life in chapters, and there are some that are harder to sit in than others. She lost two of her brothers in separate car accidents, one at nineteen and one at twenty-three. Years later, she lost another brother to an aneurysm. It is the kind of loss that reshapes a family and alters the way you move through the world. She does not soften it when she talks about it, but she does speak about what it gave her. Those experiences deepened her empathy and gave her a kind of resilience she would grow to recognize as grit.
That understanding became central to her work. She began to focus more intentionally on storytelling as a way of helping people feel seen. Over time, that grew into Women of True Grit, a project she started more than twenty years ago that highlights the stories of women who have endured, built, and kept going.
What began as an idea turned into books, television segments, and partnerships that carried her into rooms she once only imagined being in.
Travel became part of the rhythm of her life, though she does not talk about it in terms of destinations. It shows up in the way her story unfolds, bouncing from Alabama to New York to Memphis to Los Angeles, shaped by the people she met along the way. She recalls learning etiquette from global leaders during a project with FedEx, an experience that reinforced something she had already known growing up. How you treat people matters. It always has.
“It will authentically light up the world around you without restrictions,” she says.
Now, as she approaches 75, her work continues to shift in ways that feel deeply personal. Her focus has turned toward younger generations through This is My Grit 101 for Teens, a program designed to help young people process their experiences and build confidence. She uses pearls as a teaching tool, each color representing something different.
The idea is simple, but it stays with you. What we go through shapes who we become, and even the difficult parts can turn into something meaningful over time.
Despite the places her work has taken her, the stories that stay closest to her are still rooted in the South. For Edie, travel is not always about where you go next. Sometimes it is about recognizing what has shaped you, and finding your way back to it.
Edie Hand’s Alabama
A few places she keeps coming back to
Green Top Barbecue, Dora
A longtime favorite where the smoked chicken salad is always the right choice. It’s simple, consistent, and exactly what you hope it will be.
BrickTop’s, Vestavia Hills
A go-to for brunch. Comfortable without feeling casual, and the kind of place where conversations stretch a little longer than expected.
FIVE, Tuscaloosa
Known for its flat fried chicken and a space that feels a little different from the rest of the city. It’s a place with personality.
Trowbridge’s, Florence
A nearly century-old counter spot where a grilled cheese and a milkshake are enough to slow you down for a while.
Small Town Main Streets
Franklin, Cullman, Jasper. Walkable, personal, and filled with shops that reward you for taking your time.
