Charles Ames and Harrison Taylor

Language:
English .
Biographical / historical:

My name is Charlie Ames, and I am a second-semester senior from Marietta, GA. I am a Business Economics major who has a strong interest in sales and entrepreneurship through different business ventures in the past. I founded my own vintage resale business, Tomahawk Vintage, in the summer of 2022 and continued to grow the business into a hybrid in-person/ecommerce store that I loved doing for several years. More recently, I had a sales internship this past summer at Coca-Cola UNITED in Atlanta georgia where I continued to learn more about my passion for sales. After graduation, I plan to go back to live in Atlanta, where I'll hopefully be working in a sales position in the beverage or tech industry! I've thoroughly enjoyed my time at Hampden-Sydney and am extremely excited to add to the College's history as the 250th anniversary approaches. I am a third generation hampden-sydney student and love that we have the opportunity to learn more about each other and how the college has changed over the last couple of decades. I am involved here on campus in Greek life as a brother of Delta Kappa Epsilon and also in a few clubs, such as Pit Masters. I have numerous hobbies, such as basketball, golf, working out, painting, video games, pickleball, and cooking.

Harrison Taylor is a marketing and digital media strategist working at the intersection of music, culture, and technology. He currently serves as a Creative Marketing & Media Analyst at Savage Ventures, a Nashville-based venture capital group, where he leads creative marketing & design for brands such as American Songwriter and VICE. Harrison's role includes leading artist discovery initiatives, building songwriting education programs, workshopping digital marketing efforts, and running large-scale contests that connect emerging talent with industry professionals. Previously, Harrison led marketing for Elsie Marshall Whiskey, a singer-songwriter startup bourbon company in Nashville, overseeing brand positioning, experiential activations, and local growth initiatives. This effort was a part of Harrison's work as a Marketing Manager at Fizz in Atlanta, supporting campaign strategy and audience development for Fortune 500 brands such as Atari, Coca-Cola, ButcherBox, Greenlight, and Stuckey's. Across roles, his work centers on brand building, storytelling, and turning creative cultural insight into measurable growth. Harrison is also the founder of About to Boom, a music discovery platform designed to help fans find up-and-coming artists before they break through. About to Boom was built during Harrison's tenure as a Master's student in Digital Media Management at the University of Southern California, where he earned his M.S. in 2025, graduating at the top of his class. Harrison also earned his undergraduate degree in English & Rhetoric from Hampden-Sydney College, where he was a 4-year basketball player, a Harrison Scholar, a member of the Garnet & Grey Society, a member of the President's Men, and the marketing lead for the College Activities Council. He also currently serves on Hampden-Sydney's Young Alumni Council in the role of Secretary & Treasurer - he was named the youngest member of H-SC's 10 under 10 in 2025. Some of Harrison's personal interests include basketball, live music, video games, songwriting, AI technology, and traveling. Harrison was born in Richmond, Virginia, but has spent time living in Atlanta, Virginia Beach, Los Angeles, and, now, Nashville, Tennessee.

Access and use

Location of collection:
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney College Archives & Special Collections
Walter M. Bortz III Library
P.O. Box 7
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (434) 223-6302
Phone: (434) 223-7225
Parent restrictions:
Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files will be provided for use upon request.
Parent terms of access:
The nature of the Hampden-Sydney College Archives and Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. As a result, Hampden-Sydney College claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g. cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning and individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the College assumes no responsibility.