Matt Headley

I’ve spent most of my life in Anniston and the surrounding communities — as a pastor, a farmer, a vendor at the Downtown Market, a writer, a software builder, and now director of the farmers market where I used to sell vegetables. Before that, four years doing urban youth ministry in Muncie, Indiana, which is where I first learned what it means to work in a city that’s trying to find its way.

My graduate work was in theology and urban ministry — community development, neighborhood revitalization, the long work of helping people build something worth keeping. That framework has shaped everything since, including the software I’m building now.

I trained in music and theater at Jacksonville State University. Opera, stage productions — lead roles in The Pirates of Penzance and Sweeney Todd. For nineteen years I served as a pastor, including officiating weddings and funerals for the families in my congregation. My wife Heather and I built a flower farm from the ground up, with our kids underfoot and permaculture principles guiding the soil. We had to close it. I still drive past farms.

I write profiles of Northeast Alabama small businesses and community figures at Southern Legends. I build tools for community organizers — pastors use SermonCoach, farmers market vendors use MarketDay, and event planners coordinate through Gather. I build websites and brand strategy for local businesses through Plainspoken Blueprint. I run The Aisle — a bridal marketplace and expo series for Eastern Alabama couples and vendors.