Melissa Sturdivant Smith

Melissa Sturdivant Smith, creative director of lifestyle brands at Hoffman Media, lives in Birmingham with her husband, Tyler, and daughters, Ellison and Everlee. She joined the company in 2016 as the lead stylist for Victoria magazine. Initially, her job entailed scouting locations, introducing creative designs and artwork to the photo shoot set, and developing relationships with vendor partners. Honing her talents in building out issues from start to finish, she began creating the magazine’s table of contents. Over the past decade, she has been fortunate to call seven other countries her office, even if only for a few weeks at a time. In her expanded role as creative director, Melissa now helps shape the vision, themes, and covers for titles such as Southern Lady, The Cottage Journal, TeaTime, Southern Home, and Victoria.

Complementing an interior design degree, her extensive background in visual merchandising and operations management for a large-volume retailer deepened her insight into anticipating customer needs and exceeding their expectations. Among her collaborations, Melissa has created artwork for wrapping papers and greeting cards with Dogwood Hill, specialty tabletop designs with Arte Italica, and custom patterns for Busatti Linens. Product development evolved as the company introduced exclusive retreats in which subscribers can step into a magazine’s pages to experience places Melissa has explored on behalf of the publication. At any given time, she may be traveling for content, painting for a new collaborative product assortment, attending a home-and-gift market, combing through an antiques store, or leading an international event down a previously traveled path.

Melissa’s favorite aspect of her career is the opportunity to introduce entrepreneurs and their businesses to the audiences that love Hoffman Media publications. She works hard at curating collected tabletops, styling jewelry in seasonal look-book concepts, or refreshing the interiors of a centuries-old château with fine linens and home décor. Like most involved in the Southern Coterie, she is lucky to be able to say she is living her dream and using her abilities to bring inspiration to all.