He was raised in the conservative south, where being gay would surely be shunned both societally and politically. Yet Jay Claypool found his calling here, twice.

Growing up wasn’t easy in Augusta, Georgia but when Claypool discovered drag, it authenticated his identity and led him to find support in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

As his Dixie Crystal persona rocked the Augusta nightclub scene, 9/11 happened. Like many at that time, Claypool reassessed his life, which led him to an air force recruiter.

His active status in the military morphed into a 20+ year career. But there was a catch. It was the “don’t ask, don’t tell” era. Yet, he continued to perform in drag. This has led Claypool into penning, Gay AF: The Military Career of a Georgia Drag Queen. His book takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and how to reconcile an unwelcoming social climate.

CONNECT WITH JAY:

https://www.instagram.com/dc_dixie/

https://www.amazon.ca/Gay-AF-Military-Career-Georgia-ebook/dp/B0CV2JC7GH

He’s a master hairstylist and stage artist who has raised millions of dollars for charity. Rod Sickler is known as an innovator in the beauty industry. The owner of Rod Sickler Salon & Spa, Clutch Cuts, and Images by Rod & Co, Sickler has taught some of the best stylists in the industry.

A licensed cosmetologist and barber with an advanced degree from the Vidal Sassoon Institute in London, Sickler trained with Sexy Hair founder, Michael O’Rourke, and has toured the world as a stage artist throughout his career.

He’s been featured in InStyle, Elle, Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, and more.

Sickler is the Global Artist Director for IdHAIR Worldwide and the owner of IdHAIR North America.

CONNECT WITH ROD ONLINE:

https://rodsicklersalon.com/

https://rodsickler.com/

https://www.idhairnorthamerica.com/education/cosmetology-school-partners/

https://www.facebook.com/rodsicklersalon/

https://www.instagram.com/rodsicklersalon/

They may call European football, or soccer, The Beautiful Game, but in America, the sport that owns that title in soul and spirit is baseball. Anyone who has ever attended a game in person, whether it was double A, triple A, or professional – every experience has one thing in common: atmosphere.

Ken Smoller has spent a lifetime capturing the sights and smells of over 2,350 stadiums in 48 states and 24 countries. But it is Chicago and Comiskey Park that holds a special place in his heart. Not just because it’s his home, where he grew up a White Sox fan, but it’s the history, the character, and the romance of a place where baseball has lived its greatest and darkest moments in time.

A photographer, writer, and founder of the sports travel website, Stadium Vagabond, Smoller has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and serves as General Counsel for a major real estate developer in New England. While he may live in Massachusetts, the spirit of Chicagoland and Comiskey Park has called upon him to chronicle the imagery for the documentary The Last Comiskey, about the final 1990 season of the original stadium which was written, directed, and produced by Matt Flesch. Smoller has subsequently published a book capturing these iconic images as a love letter to this baseball legacy and the White Sox franchise.

Smoller’s mantra, and through his images, is that the best way to understand the culture and fabric of a place is through its sporting arenas and stadiums.

CONNECT WITH KEN ONLINE:

stadiumvagabond.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-smoller-2786bb1/

www.lastcomiskeybook.com

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He flew over 3,750 fighter hours with 1,240 arrested landings on multiple aircraft carriers. He completed five tours at the Pentagon. Former Top Gun fighter pilot and Retired Two-Star Admiral Mike Manazir spent 36 years in the United States Navy with 15 overseas deployments. His duties included Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Warfighting Systems.

Today, Manazir is Vice President of Navy Systems, Government Operations for The Boeing Company. He’s also a sought-after speaker.His book: Learn How to Lead to Win, is a collection of stories and lessons from his tenure in the U.S. Navy.

Communications is a key component when managing high performance teams in chaotic environments and risky operations, such as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier like the USS Nimitz or commanding an F-14 squadron. Manazir has seen it all and then some. What he does with his books, speaking, and message is teach others how to lead from their heart and not their title.

CONNECT WITH MIKE:

https://mikemanazir.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemanazir/

https://www.facebook.com/mikemanazir/

https://www.instagram.com/mikemanazir.com

What an arrested landing looks like: 

Transgender and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights have been front and center of political dysfunction for generations. Society’s hypocrisy and hate is blasting in bright pink neon if you look at pop culture and revered characters over the years. Tim Curry in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, and several Halloween costumes to name a few.

Savannah Hauk is a non-binary TEDx speaker, author, podcast host, and 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate. They know what it is like to live a dual life. Crossdressing is how they manifest their gender identity.

Hauk is a previous guest and so much has transpired socially and politically since that interview. While where one lives has always had an impact on how one is treated socially, today there is a disturbing and hateful trend to erase a community’s human rights in a war-like fashion.

Understanding, education, and tolerance are needed to combat the misconstrued messaging being spewed by a minority group still trying to hold onto power. We may not solve society’s issues but it’s a discussion we need to keep shining a light on. These are our neighbors, our children, our siblings, and friends. We owe it to everyone to work towards making this world more inclusive.

Meanwhile, Hauk’s book, Living with Crossdressing – The New Normal, is available on Amazon and other book platforms.

CONNECT WITH SAVANNAH ONLINE

https://livingwithcrossdressing.com/

Facebook @livingwithcrossdressing

https://www.amazon.com/Living-Crossdressing-Defining-New-Normal-ebook/dp/B078K3GCJL/

When looking at his childhood, it’s no surprise that D’Angelo Stefani’s life morphed into a statistic. From living with drug addicted parents in an abusive household, to being shuffled through the foster care system, to being homeless at age 11, drugs and crime are almost inevitable if there are no capable adults in the room to guide you.

It was after he served ten years in prison for a bank robbery that Stefani opted to create a better life. He doesn’t sugarcoat his past, especially his soon to be published memoir: On My Own.

As Stefani leads his audiences on a trip through his journey of survival, he reminds us that it’s resilience that lets us discover our true selves and reinvent our lives to what makes us whole.

CONNECT WITH D'ANGELO ONLINE

https://dangelostefani.com/

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CZCVNBD4

https://www.facebook.com/Boston2Tulsa/

https://www.tiktok.com/@dangelo.boston

It was a global pandemic that the world was unprepared for. Millions died. Many millions more still suffer from long-term effects. At the time, we were shocked by the images, and scared.

One could say the epicenter of Covid-19 was New York City, where the dead overwhelmed the morgues. Who could forget the images of the trucks lined up outside hospitals to stockpile the bodies? Nobody was immune and everyone had a story.

Lorraine Ash is a journalist who documented some of these accounts in her book: Corona City: Voices from an Epicenter. She anthologizes stories from some of the people who worked on the frontlines of the pandemic, who were sick and survived, and how this moment in history shaped our new normal. It’s important to note that 100 percent of the book’s proceeds go towards hunger relief.

This is the third book for the award-winning Ash, who is a book editor and author coach. She has covered stories about the White House, homeless shelters, disaster zones, psychiatric wards, and more. Her stories provide a raw, unfiltered look at life at its most vulnerable moments.

https://lorraineash.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorrainevash/

https://www.facebook.com/LorraineAshAuthor/

https://muckrack.com/lorraine-ash

Dan Henk defines the term warrior. You could say that his chosen genre of dark sci-fi horror defines his life. If dark science fiction looks unflinchingly at things that make us uncomfortable without a sugarcoat, then that would amply describe the plot twists that this artist and writer have experienced.

Like an HBO drama series, Henk has seen his fair share of villains. Experiencing homelessness and societal rejection are one thing. Surviving a violent car crash, only to have a thumb tendon severed by a gun-wielding crackhead is another. But that’s not all. Diagnosed with brain cancer in 2001, surviving surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, Henk married three months later, only to lose her when she was killed on a motorcycle by a hit and run driver.

Still, no matter what dark energy life tries to throw at him, Henk survives and puts a large stamp on life. He is a well-known tattoo artist, painter, and the author of several books. He hosts the podcast series Skull Session, which interviews authors and artists about their methodology and project development.

Henk’s art is extraordinary. His gift has decorated the covers of several metal bands, the pages of independent magazines, and book covers. His books are like putting his artwork into words. With rave reviews in Amazon, his stories are every bit as compelling as his art.

https://www.tiktok.com/@danhenk

https://danhenk.com/ https://abyssartstudio.com/dan-henk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-henk-27775214/ https://www.facebook.com/deadguyllc/

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dan-Henk/author/B005Q4RQ8Y?r https://www.youtube.com/@danhenk

Have you ever been in a funk where life has gotten stale, and you’re unsure of the direction you want to take. Or maybe you were laid off from a long-term corporate job and are having a hard time finding a decent paying non-service industry job that isn’t physically taxing. Maybe you’ve had enough of a toxic workplace but don’t know how to move on. Do you need to reinvent yourself?

Having the nice job and doing everything right doesn’t always lead to fulfillment. Chazz Scott has been there – burnt out, where everything felt like a chore. Working harder wasn’t the answer. Like all of us, he needed more.

Scott studied neuroscience, meditation, and learned how to tap into the human potential. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Master of Science degree in Cyber Security. He was named a BE Modern Man by Black Enterprise, was selected as Top 30 Under 30 by (historically black colleges and universities) HBCU Buzz, and a recipient of The Positive People Award by The Baltimore Times.

Scott is also the author of Success Starts Within: Achieve Your Potential through Radical Self-Care.

CONNECT WITH CHAZZ:

www.chazzscott.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChazzCScott

http://instagram.com/chazzcscott

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesscott15/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxOzahJTsJHYbWe10_ey_WQ

Are you happy? Well, there is a scientific measurement that can confirm how happy you really are.

There are statistics to show that happiness practices in the workplace increases productivity, innovation, lowers sick leave, and reduces turnover.  

Dr Alphonsus Obayuwana was a medical student in 1979 when he was awarded a national research grant and SmithKline Medical Perspective Fellowship. The task at hand was to develop an instrument for measuring human hope, to detect hopelessness early on so assistance could be offered in time to prevent suicide. The grant resulted in the Hope Index Scale, which has been used by Fortune 500 companies and global institutions.

He has taught and mentored medical students, resident physicians, nurses and fellows in the art and science of caring and promoting happiness for themselves and their patients. A physician-scientist from Ohio, Dr. Obayuwana is the founder and CEO of Triple-H Project LLC, an entity that trains and certifies happiness coaches. He is also a retired major in the United States Air Force (Reserve).

The Happiness Formula is a scientifically proven unit of measurement, a five-minute tool that can accurately identify and differentiate happy and unhappy people from various scales, but it’s more than just a mathematical equation.

https://triplehproject.com/

https://www.facebook.com/triplehprojectllc

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alphonsusobayuwana/

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Happiness-Formula/Alphonsus-Obayuwana/9780757325083