Monroe Made: Hunter Lankford

Hunter Lankford, a 2014 graduate of Sequoyah High School, is the owner of ORCA Pools and Outdoors and a real estate investor in Monroe County. Today, he is proud to build businesses, create jobs, and raise his family in the same community that helped shape him.

Hunter will be the first to admit that his educational journey wasn’t a traditional success story. He wasn’t always the best student and, at the time, struggled to see how school connected to the future he wanted. Looking back, however, he realizes his education was shaped just as much by the people who believed in him as it was by what he learned in the classroom.

Raised by a single mother who worked multiple jobs, Hunter credits her with teaching him the value of hard work and giving him the confidence to believe he could accomplish big things with his life. He also credits his wife with pushing him to finish high school and continuing to encourage him throughout everything they have built together.

Hunter remembers several educators who refused to give up on him, including Skeet Black, Lance McConkey, Kristie Tallent, and Nancy Hovanic. As an adult and now a parent, he has an even greater appreciation for teachers who recognize potential in young people before they are able to see it in themselves.

Another important influence was his Papaw, Jim Lowry, a Monroe County native who taught Hunter to solve problems and never be intimidated by something simply because he didn’t already know how to do it. Those lessons have stayed with Hunter throughout his life and career.

Professionally, Hunter is especially proud that he has been able to build businesses in Monroe County and provide opportunities for others. He is grateful for the tremendous support his businesses have received from the people of this community. Personally, though, he says his greatest accomplishment is the life he and his wife have built together and the family they are raising.

Hunter hopes his story encourages students who may not have their futures figured out just yet. “Your grades, your struggles, or who you are at 14, 15, or 16 years old do not have to define the rest of your life. Listen to the people who genuinely care about you, surround yourself with people who push you to be better, work hard, learn how to solve problems, and have enough confidence in yourself to take a chance when opportunities come.”

Hunter’s story is proof that education extends far beyond the walls of a classroom. It is shaped by family, teachers, mentors, hard work, and a community that believes in its own. For Hunter Lankford, all of those things have helped make him Monroe Made.