Built By Owners. Run Like It.
We were business owners first. HRZN Creative is a Trussville, Alabama creative agency founded on a simple split: one founder who has run businesses for over sixteen years, and one who has produced for hundreds of them. Strategy from the mind. Execution from the hands. You will never be handed to a junior team, because the founders are the team.
Trussville Based
Owner Founded
No Outsourcing
One Standard
The problem
Agencies talk about your business. We have actually run them. That changes everything.
The Mind.
The Hands.
The Hands.
Two founders, two halves of every project, zero handoffs.
CEO / The Mind
Andrew Rape
Strategy, Design, Web, Marketing, Social
Andrew has been a business owner continuously since 2010. He owns and operates four active businesses, spanning a gym that ranks among the longest-tenured in Alabama, a multi-venue event campus in Trussville, a medical IV therapy company, and HRZN Creative itself, alongside a portfolio of commercial and residential real estate. He holds a Marketing degree from UAB's Collat School of Business, where he served as Executive Vice President of a Top 20 nationally ranked American Marketing Association chapter.
Marketing is not something Andrew oversees. It is something he does daily. He designs and builds every website HRZN delivers, shapes every brand and campaign strategy, and personally runs the marketing and social media accounts for every business he owns. The playbook he brings to clients is the same one growing his own companies, tested with his own money on the line for over sixteen years.
Marketing is not something Andrew oversees. It is something he does daily. He designs and builds every website HRZN delivers, shapes every brand and campaign strategy, and personally runs the marketing and social media accounts for every business he owns. The playbook he brings to clients is the same one growing his own companies, tested with his own money on the line for over sixteen years.
16+ years of continuous business ownership
Four active businesses plus commercial and residential real estate
Designs and builds every HRZN website
Runs marketing and social for his entire portfolio
UAB Collat School of Business, Marketing
Co-Founder, Lead Creative / The Hands
James McCool
All Production, All Craft
James is the operational engine of HRZN Creative. Every service the agency offers, he personally executes: cinematic video, photography, headshots, podcast production, and aerial. He has filmed and produced for hundreds of businesses, organizations, and agencies across Alabama. There is no outsourcing, because there is no need.
His background spans two worlds. He is an active sworn law enforcement officer with years of experience on patrol, in narcotics, and on SWAT, and he manages his department's official social media and FAA UAS drone program. He holds FAA Part 107 certification and operates Remote ID compliant aircraft with LAANC authorization capability, including night operations. When James walks onto a set, it runs the way a scene does: prepared, safe, and decisive.
His background spans two worlds. He is an active sworn law enforcement officer with years of experience on patrol, in narcotics, and on SWAT, and he manages his department's official social media and FAA UAS drone program. He holds FAA Part 107 certification and operates Remote ID compliant aircraft with LAANC authorization capability, including night operations. When James walks onto a set, it runs the way a scene does: prepared, safe, and decisive.
Hundreds of productions across Alabama
Active sworn law enforcement officer
FAA Part 107, LAANC, night operations
Every frame, personally executed
How the Split
Serves You.
Serves You.
Why two is the right number.
01
Strategy Meets Craft
Every project gets an owner's strategic eye and a craftsman's execution. Neither is optional, and neither is delegated.
02
Direct Access, Always
You talk to the people doing the work. Questions get answers, not ticket numbers.
03
Decisions Move Fast
Two founders means proposals, revisions, and calls happen in hours, not committee cycles.
04
Accountability Has a Face
When HRZN commits to something, the people committing are the people delivering. Our names are on it.
05
Range Without Handoffs
Web, video, photo, podcast, aerial, and strategy under one roof, executed by the two people you met on day one.
06
Skin in the Same Game
Both founders live and do business in the same metro you do. Your market is our reputation.
What We Believe.
01
Strategy Before Cameras
Content without a goal is decoration. Every project starts with what it needs to accomplish, and the creative serves that.
02
Real Beats Polished
Your actual business, your actual people, your actual work. Authentic content from a real team outperforms stock perfection every time.
03
Local Is an Advantage
We live where you do business. The Birmingham metro is not a market we service. It is home, and our name rides on the work here.
04
Ownership Matters
Your site, your footage, your accounts, your rankings. We build assets that belong to you, because that is what we would demand as owners.
05
Say the Hard Thing
If an idea will not work, we say so before you pay for it. Honest counsel is the actual product; the media is how it ships.
Common Questions.
Where are you located?
Trussville, Alabama, at 139 Railroad Street, Suite 7, serving the Birmingham metro and all of Alabama, with national travel for the right work.
Who actually does the work?
The founders. Strategy and web from Andrew, all production from James. Nothing is subcontracted or shipped overseas.
What makes HRZN different from other agencies?
Owner experience on one side, complete in-house execution on the other, and one accountable team from strategy through delivery. Most agencies can claim one of those. We built the company on all three.
What industries do you serve?
Local business, real estate, healthcare, fitness, churches, weddings, automotive, and public agencies, almost all across the Birmingham metro.
How do you price work?
Flat-rate, scoped in writing before anything begins. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
How do we start?
A short conversation. Tell us the goal, and we will give you a straight answer on the path, the timeline, and whether we are the right fit.
Now You Know Us. Your Turn.
Tell us about your business and what you are trying to build. We will meet you with a straight answer.