Hueman Collective: Creating a Place to Learn, Connect, and Be Inspired
There’s something valuable, and even powerful, about connecting with the people around you. Being around others and learning about their lives–their struggles and successes–motivates and inspires us as humans.
Words & Photography by Hueman Collective
There’s something valuable, and even powerful, about connecting with the people around you. Being around others and learning about their lives–their struggles and successes–motivates and inspires us as humans. Through this, we’re able to draw a sense of togetherness in a world full of individuality.
Uniting and inspiring people is what founder Henry Williford had in mind when he began shaping the idea of what is now Hueman Collective. After enlisting the help of his wife, Heatherly Williford, and sister, Cynthia Williford, they began working on growing this concept into a reality.
Hueman Collective is an online publication that showcases the local people, businesses, cultures and creators that make up the local community. By telling their stories, Hueman Collective helps people to see the life that’s happening within miles of their own.
The name, Hueman Collective, is a spin on the traditional spelling of “human,” inserting an “e” to signify the varied elements each person brings to their unique human experience like the different hues of the color spectrum.
“Inserting the ‘hue’ into our species’ name implies that there’s more than one look to this human experience we all go through,” Cynthia explained. “And the second part, ‘collective,’ represents just that–a collection of people and their stories in one place.”
“We try so hard to be different and to stand apart, but we’re never told that uniqueness is only half of a whole. We’ve been taught to believe that collectivism is a human flaw, but when we bring our unique characteristics together is when we truly inspire those around us.”
This idea was first birthed when Henry and Heatherly moved back to Opelika, Alabama, after a few years of living in a larger city. They knew there was a thriving community that was growing and taking shape in the small towns of the Southeast and wanted to connect, but they couldn’t quite find the right avenue to do so.
“That got us thinking, why can’t we do something to connect people to their community? There are all kinds of things out there, whether it be social media or advertisements, that are telling you how cool somewhere else is. There’s not a lot trying to tell you how beautiful where you are and your community is. We really wanted to be able to find that for ourselves and be able to provide that for other people as well.”
Through published content, events and being active in the community, Hueman Collective hopes to inspire individuals to love where they are.
“Though people often try to find inspiration by traveling to different places, we hope that tracking with Hueman Collective will give them a chance to see their world, their day-to-day, through different eyes,” Heatherly said.
As Hueman Collective continues to grow, they’re inviting the community to join them. They hope that every facet of the community will step outside of their comfort zones, crossing the boundaries of age and race, and come together to learn more about each other and, ultimately, connect and support one another.
“I think we often dismiss and dislike the things we don't know, because they make us uncomfortable. We categorize ourselves into these certain boxes, and we shy away from what doesn’t fit the mold of the boxes we’ve chosen for ourselves. We’re willing to occasionally peek into other boxes, but we’re too afraid to leave our own,” Heatherly reflects.
Human Collective is an opportunity to break down those stereotypes that divide us—to unite and inspire individuals that ordinarily wouldn’t cross paths through a common theme: community.
“We try so hard to be different and to stand apart, but we’re never told that uniqueness is only half of a whole. We’ve been taught to believe that collectivism is a human flaw, but when we bring our unique characteristics together is when we truly inspire those around us—not because we want to be someone other than ourselves, but because we want to embrace and understand something outside of our own human experience. We all have the potential to impact the world we live in with our unique strengths and weaknesses, but together, united in our individuality, we can do far greater things.”
The goal for Hueman Collective is to encourage others to step outside of their boxes, to unite with those around them, and to contribute to and embrace the whole of their community.
Those wanting to come along for the journey can track with the team through their website, hueman-collective.com, or on social media @hueman_co. Have an idea of the next person, business or location they should spotlight? Reach out at huemancollective@gmail.com.
