Cover Stories
We often identify ourselves based on what we do, believing it is our identity. This fixed identity is often tied to the core of our sense of self when defining who we are. Sometimes we are seen as being one thing, when we have more to offer. Renown classical pianist Lili Liu knows this dilemma all too well. Her identity reaches far beyond the practice room or the global stage. Lili is constantly on a mission to reinvent herself, to grow and seek out new ways for self-expression.
Paul Lamar Hunter grew up in a two-bedroom house with twenty-one siblings, often without enough food, clothes or space to sleep to go around. Despite this, he’s overcome the perils of poverty, neglect, abuse and family dysfunction to become the first in his family to earn a college degree. His story is proof that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. The proud father of four shows that neither limits nor lineage determines the quality of one’s life. Though adversity changed the trajectory of his life, his touching story about personal triumph and beating the odds will inspire you to persevere.
“Life is what is happening to you now, so try to live it as best you can, and keep trying to grow and learn.”
Ultra_Eko is an independent hip hop artist from South London, UK. He writes songs based on the message he wants to put into the world, from a place of passion and love for music. His debut album Off the Grid works on several levels in terms of its meaning and can also be interpreted as a call to arms in terms of how we are all living our lives.
Chris Kelly is a Black Founder and Education 3.0 Curator of world-class digital educational experiences. He has spent the last four years teaching at the International College of Beijing, and has now returned to the US to launch Onyx Global, his first initiative as a Founder. He is also a Doctoral Candidate in Adult & Professional Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focusing on International Education Administration and Leadership. He trains people on how to become efficient effective learners for the rest of their lives through The Onyx Learner Academy, a self-directed digital learning experience that will help learners both in-person and online, for post-COVID and on into the future.
Dr. Alan Barnard is a serial entrepreneur, app developer, author, speaker and one of the leading Decision Scientists and Theory of Constraints experts in the world. His life goal is to help people discover and overcome their own limiting assumptions or beliefs that could be blocking them from seeing and unlocking their inherent potential.
For over thirty years, Dr. Barnard’s research has been focused on two simple questions. Firstly, why do good people make, and often repeat bad decisions? And secondly, is it possible to develop simple decision support methods and apps that can help people avoid common decision mistakes to help them make better, faster decisions when it really matters?
When the world was shaken with the most horrific pandemic humanity had ever seen, UStrive Manufacturing answered the call to help front-line workers in need. When the pandemic hit, they immediately got to work making a difference. They pivoted from being a U.S. certified organic t-shirt manufacturer for some of the top brand names in the country to making masks and gowns. UStrive is helping communities in big ways by innovating, scaling up to meet demand and partnering to expand capabilities. A pivot helped this company not only make an impact, but show what forward-thinking innovators can do in a time of need.
We all have moments where we are faced with challenges. How we face those challenges and move past them is an important process in growing as an individual. This is hard enough as adults, but children may not have the maturity or tools to move beyond their struggles. So, what can they do? This is where Dee Bryant comes in.
Dee Bryant is retired military leader, a motivational speaker, and a two-time published author, with one goal in mind—helping to inspire children towards positive change. Dee is determined to help kids tackle the issues before them, while getting them to understand, that they can move past their fear consisting of self-doubt, fear of failure, or fear of making mistakes.
Did you ever step outside after being inside all day, and just breathe in the fresh air? Nature is soothing in a way that goes down to our soul. We reconnect on a cellular level with healing that slowly unravels our tightly bound stress. For some people, that’s enough. Others need more, like talking or healing modalities that allow you to release those bits of you trapped inside. That is where Dr. Tanisha Denise Manning comes in. She answers nature’s soothing call.
Tanisha is a combat veteran, author, certificated yoga instructor and the owner of Dama Bonita Holistic Counseling and Spiritual Retreats in beautiful Puerto Rico.
Protests erupted around the world after the death of George Floyd on May 25th, and the threat of a global pandemic calmly took a backseat. A rush of justifiable rage flowed against ongoing racial injustice. There’s so much pain and anger. Regardless of face masks, the agony spilled from peoples’ eyes, unable to remain hidden.