Anna Brakefield is the well-rounded, business-savvy, family-woman that so many of us aspire to be.
From a small town in rural Lawrence County, Brakefield’s career journey has taken her full circle. Beginning in New York City as her early career in advertising was taking off, to a stint in bustling Nashville, and eventually back to her sweet home Alabama roots, skill and sentiment collided into the thriving family business of Red Land Cotton.
As founder, Brakefield pioneered the company’s success and has been the face of industry education to surrounding agricultural communities” “education is at the heart of it for me.”
Within the fibers of the cotton products produced at Red Land Cotton, Brakefield is on a mission to share the realities of “the level of effort required to produce the cotton crop, and the cotton into a good, around the world.”
Every part of their family story is woven into the products created from the red-earth farm in smalltown Alabama.
“I want our customers to understand the story, the passion and the love behind it,” she said.
A lot of that love comes from family. Brakefield, a mother of two, doesn’t shy away from wearing so many hats, but rather embraces an intertwines them all together.
“Having to wear so many hats make you even more equipped to run a business,” she said. “It gives you the principle and mindset that everything is doable.”
Brakefield is clear that in taking on various roles as a high-capacity leader, sharing the burden is a necessity. She attributes her shared success to having “a great support system in my spouse and a great team around me.”
In addition to wife, mother, and founder of Red Land Cotton, she oversees company sales, marketing, and product development. Brakefield is active in of her church, volunteering with the children’s ministry on Sundays.
Brakefield also serves on the Young Farmer’s Advisory Board appointed by Alabama Farm Credit. Her involvement with the board is in raising up more young farmers.
“It is becoming so capital intensive to start a farm so there’s not as many young people starting farms,” she said. “How can we serve up and coming farmers?”
When asked how she remains focused and equipped for leadership, Brakefield saysid, “it’s a balancing act.”
And while the scales remain balanced, there’s no stopping the momentum of Red Land Cotton any time soon.
Brakefield said her priority is to continue “remaining prepared and smart for any and all economic twists and turns, while also making things that are new and innovating the brand.”
She and her team have just collaborated with a Georgia mill to produce its first knitted fabric and have more collaborations in the works .
With the company’s continued upward trajectory and Brakefield’s presence as one of the state’s young female leaders, there is much more to come from this Woman of Impact.
