Nerdy Optimism The Fearless Campaign

My name is Marshun Meadow. Artist name $hun. I’m 27 years old. Originally from Memphis but grew up in Houston, TX. Bachelors in health science from Stephen F Austin State University. I’ve been a artist for about four years. I have two projects out available everywhere.

Melody Malone Bogan, a forever Memphis native who currently lives in  Columbus, OH with darling husband, Carl of 14 years and their beautiful  trifecta, better known as Boganland's Finest: Carl "Allan", Vivian, and  Samantha. Living life fully trusting God in all things marriage,  parenting, while navigating balancing full-time caregiving of a special  needs child with full-time work helping people in their respective  disability journeys. Soaring high sometimes and yet still growing with  great humility in preaching, writing, and facilitating a daily prayer  and scripture reflection group of women, called the "Soul Sisters". Once  upon a time, received both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The  University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2000, 2002, respectively) with  lofty goals of next tackling the doctorate, but life and love happened,  so the next chapters hold promise, potential, and with great certainty  some laughs, tears, joy, and miracles.

Tiran Jackson has gone through an incredible transformation and journey recently in his life. He grew up in rural Alabama and was a very good student, with a strong STEM background through school, while being a multi-sport athlete. With a strong work-ethic and determination to improve his livelihood, he was able to earn a full academic scholarship to Tennessee State University, earning an engineering degree from Tennessee State University (TSU). As Tiran was graduating from TSU, he met the woman who would become his wife, Maleka, who was a teacher at the time. Upon graduation, they moved to Indianapolis and he began his career as an engineer at Rolls-Royce. While working there in various engineering capacities producing gas turbine engines for 8 years, he earned several accomplishments, including being identified as an Early Career/High Potential (ECHP) leader, led teams to generate over $3MM in engineering cost savings, and was nominated for the ‘Black Engineer of the Year’. He also earned his MBA from the University of Indianapolis and began his family where their son, Cameron, was born. They later moved to Atlanta, where he progressed through his career into numerous positions of leadership with various companies, along with Maleka, where she was a human resources executive, focused on improving diversity and inclusion in numerous Fortune 500 companies.

However, Tiran’s life took a sudden and dramatic turn. In June, 2018, while he and Maleka were on a vacation celebrating their 15 years of marriage, the couple went on a boating excursion. Several minutes into the tour, there was a catastrophic explosion, severely injuring Tiran, but tragically Maleka did not survive the explosion. Since that ill-fated moment, life has not been the same for him, nor would it ever be again.

Since then, Tiran has had to face tremendous challenges as a result of this tragedy. He’s had to face the emotional pain of unexpectedly losing the love of his life and their son losing his mother, the physical challenges associated with being permanently handicapped, losing his left leg and learning how to function in the capacity that he remained, the mental outlook associated with figuring out how to move forward with his new life now that everything that he was used to was going to be different, and spiritual aspects of trying to understand and accept why this had to happen.

Tiran has reached some of his lowest points imaginable, but despite this, found the courage and fortitude to not only withstand what life has thrown at him, but take it and become the epitome of what strength is, while inspiring others to overcome the challenges faced before them. His positive outlook and faith in God has driven his physical and emotional recovery allowing him to be capable of withstanding the other challenges that he never imagined before him.

His perspective on life had to change in order to awaken the inner strength to not only ”keep moving forward”, but to also lead and create a path for others. He has found that his purpose is far greater than he ever imagined. In order to do this, he has had to make major transformations in his life. His story is inspirational, and as he continues to follow the path that is set before him, he hopes to aid others as they overcome the challenges within their journey as well.

Ashley D. Gilmore, is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor-Associate and National Board Certified Counselor. She is the founder of Gilmore Counseling and Consulting Services, PLLC and Clinical Coordinator at Structured Family Interventions, LLC. Ashley works to educate, inspire and elevate individuals, families, groups and organizations toward emotional and mental wellness. She has obtained degrees from Purdue, Indiana and Capella University. She is a wife and mother, an advocate for self care and the uplifting of the African American Community.

Thomas James is a United States Air Force Veteran turned Licensed Cosmetologist and Barber Instructor. Before finding his love behind the chair, James graduated from Austin Peay State University with a degree in Political Science. After hearing his grandfather (Master Barber of 45 years) announce his retirement, James enrolled in barber college and followed it up by becoming a licensed cosmetologist as well.
As a State Board Preparations Instructor, he helped raise his school's license rate to the highest in Tennessee. James has taught on numerous platforms such as Premiere Orlando, Birmingham, and Philadelphia, Bronner Brothers, International Beauty Show (IBS) New York and Las Vegas. He has also has worked with the Original Barber Brand "Major League Barbers" all over the United States.
He also had the pleasure to present for the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS). His methods of problem solving are second to none. He is currently living his dream of teaching "The Blueprint", a book he wrote to help barbers and cosmetologists pass their State Board exams. Currently, he not only teaches but produces continuing education seminars for beauty instructors to keep their license current.

Rebecca Hood is a recent graduate of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Although she is a Nashville native, her career will begin in Atlanta, Georgia with Deloitte Consulting as a Business Technology Analyst this fall. Rebecca enjoys serving her community through interactions with the youth and spending time with her family and friends.