The heart of our mission is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our communities. In the recent weeks, we’ve had the privilege to connect with some incredible artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with the incredible group below.
Lauren Brown
We provide compliance, management, training, and intellectual property protection (IPP) solutions to start-ups and small businesses in a variety of industries. Our company uses a strategically sound and a coordinated approach that ensures compliance, management savvy, accountability, and profitability. Our motto is “Your Regulatory Health is Your Business Wealth™. Read more>>
Galey Grimes
Fast forward to August 2023, when, encouraged by a dear mentor, I made the bold leap into entrepreneurship by founding Galey Grimes Interiors. With a deep passion for design and a commitment to creating luxurious, functional living spaces, I embraced the challenge of building a brand from the ground up. One of my first breakthrough opportunities was collaborating with Chris Dickens of DickensBuilt for the 2024 Vesta Home Show—a project that perfectly captured our vision of blending timeless elegance with modern sophistication. Read more>>
Adaria Crutcher
I co-founded Storyunfinished two years after my father’s death. When my dad passed away, I felt long periods and sadness and anger. I was confused about how to carry on with life; most importantly, I felt alone through the process. Very few children around me had lost a parent, so I felt different from my peers. Fast forward to my junior year, I saw multiple students struggling with their mental health. The recurring pattern was that they all felt isolated from their peers. Seeing these kids feel alienated like I once did inspired me to create Storyunfinished, a mental health awareness and suicide prevention page for my school. Read more>>
ThunderGun
I originally jumped into the Memphis music scene in a couple of cover bands. Between playing Led Zeppelin to Ozzy covers, I’ve hit a lot of genres and bands in my years. However, my friends and I got around to forming what we believe to be our prodigy child, ThunderGun: featuring myself (Michael Ragsdale), Griffin Taylor, Ella McCalister, and Jeff Burch. While we’re still a little torn on what genre we particularly fit into, we would all agree we bring a heavy sound to your ears. However, we always strive to make something that everyone can listen to. As long as it’s loud! Read more>>
Kristen Miller
I’ve been working with older adults for over 16 years and over the years have acquired a passion for helping those living with dementia. I heard about the Memory Cafe concept – developed in The Netherlands in the late 1990s by Dr. Bere Miesen- and thought it was something that could benefit people here in Memphis. I spent a year trying to get other people to start one, but was met with a lot of resistance so I started one on my own with the intention that it could have a mobile platform in order better meet people where they are. Eight months later we founded Memory Makers of the Midsouth, a 501c3 nonprofit to manage and grow our Memory Cafes in this region; right now we have nine Memory Cafes that each meet monthly in the greater Memphis area. Read more>>
Ka’Dedrick Richardson
I was born and raised in the south part of Memphis, where sports shaped much of my youth. Football, in particular, played a central role in my life, but I always balanced athletics with strong academics. My playing career took me across the country—starting at Fullerton College, then Western Illinois University, and ultimately finishing at the University of Memphis, where I earned my degree in Finance. Read more>>
Montez Fifer
There have been many lessons during this journey. Some of the lessons come with trial and errors. You have to find your target audience. That takes time. Then you have to find what your audience likes. That also takes time. I call them lessons and not losses. In 2021 I invested over 10k in my brand, and It didn’t go as planned . Read more>>
Gabriel (Gabe) Rye
If you had told me years ago that my career would take me from the disciplined halls of an Air Force ROTC program to leading celebrity-driven brand campaigns in Los Angeles and New York, I might have laughed. Back then, I was focused on early morning drills, earning my degree, and figuring out where I belonged. But looking back, it’s clear that every step—from military training to waiting tables to marketing high-profile national campaigns—was part of building the grit and grind that define my career today. Read more>>
Michael Scruggs
I left radio after two years and worked as a Project manager for a hospitality leading the fundraising projects. After 3 years, one of my close friends Ramone felt like I would be good as a teacher and he helped to open that door for me. I transitioned into education, started mentoring my former students and I’ve been mentoring them since. If it were not for them, I wouldn’t be who I am today. My former students saved my life! Read more>>
