The Platinum Mask

Chris Brainard's passion for health and performance all started from growing up as a kid and playing multiple sports. He was an undersized athlete through middle school and high school and knew if he was going to make a name for myself, he was going to need to outwork everyone else.

Going into middle school and high school, Chris dedicated himself to become one of the top athletes in the area. His sophomore year, he chose to solely focus on being a wide receiver for Southlake Carroll High School. This was a big shift for Chris as it forced him to continue to do extra work when he knew everyone else was resting. It was his way of knowing that he was getting one stop closer to his goal.

Within Chris Brainard's junior year of high school, he ended up starting at wide receiver for one of the top programs in the country. Through this experience of learning from great Coaches such as Todd Dodge and Kirk Rogers, he learned the fundamentals of discipline and always going the extra mile.

After high school, Chris went on to play football at the University of North Texas. In 2015, he graduated with a BS in Kinesiology. Shortly thereafter, Chris chose to focus on helping people become the strongest version of themselves through fitness and performance and took over a family-owned small business that his dad started 21 years ago… As of today, APE Fitness & Performance has helped hundreds of athletes and adults achieve optimal health and performance.

Kendall Williams is the CEO and Founder of Regal Black LLC. This business is a full service entertainment company offering talent management, artist relations, publicity, and marketing. They are passionate about the music industry, breaking artists, and creating relevant content to engage those enticed by music culture.

Rafael Listo Gaitan is an undefeated professional boxer out of Grand Prairie, Texas. Also amateur stand-out finishing his amateur career with 68 wins and 3 defeats, capturing multiple national titles. 7x Golden Gloves Champion, Jr. Olympic Champion, #1 in the Nation at Heavyweight Division, #2 in the Nation at Super-Heavyweight, #3 in the Nation as a Light Heavyweight also ranking #4 in the World.

Kirtana Banskota is a first-generation Nepali American filmmaker based in Austin, Texas. A producer, writer, director, and actor, Banskota wears multiple hats when it comes to the entertainment world. She is the founder of Banskota Productions, an international production house based in Austin as well as Kathmandu Nepal that celebrates storytelling from all across the globe. Banskota wrote and co-produced the very first audience interactive Bollywood Theatrical Production called The Big Fat Indian Wedding in Austin, TX.

Christopher Joseph Gonzalez, the man behind the brand known as C. Joseph Art, has always had a love and talent for art.  He started at a very young age learning to hone his God-given ability to draw, and grew it into a passion not only to paint but sculpt as well.  Growing up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, he gained appreciation for color and art through his environment as well as from his Mexican-American heritage.  In his early 20's, Chris started painting murals as a free-lance artist.  That opened doors for him in many ways including a career as a production designer, where he was able to use his art to create designs and projects with companies like Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Marriott International, and many more.  Over the last 20 years, Chris has grown his knowledge and talents in both art and business and has been able to merge them together to meet his clients' needs with great professionalism.  Recent projects and murals have allowed him to expand his creativity and grow his brand not only here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but all over the world.  Outside of his faith and his family, art has been one of the biggest driving forces in Chris' life.  He has always had the passion and desire to share his art with as many people as he could, whether it be through canvas paintings hanging in the lobby of a hotel, a mural displayed on the busy streets of Fort Worth, a unique one-of-a-kind commissioned painting hanging in the privacy of one's home, or a mural surrounding a crib in a baby's room bringing joy to them as they drift off to sleep.  Chris' ability to captivate his audience through his use of color and design, truly make him a unique artist that adapts and grows in each piece he creates.  We hope that his art has in some way spoken to you, inspired you, and given you joy for today and hope for a wonderful tomorrow.

Robbie started Unusual Retail in 2016, mostly out of a need to shop. Vintage shopping for him started in the mid 1990s as a teen shopping for bellbottoms to sell to friends.

But the real story of Unusual Retail starts in October of 2020 when Robbie met Amy. Both are obsessed with 1960s décor and fashion, both spent many years in retail, and they are the same type of weird. It’s the perfect pairing. Robbie spent years working his way up through the retail ranks from store manager, district manager, and corporate operations. Amy worked with designer brands and eventually as a buyer for big box retailers.

When you shop Unusual Retail you are not only carrying on the story of a well loved item, but helping two lovebirds follow their life-long dream of owning their own retail store.

Melanie Gibson began taekwondo training at age ten. At age twelve she stopped taekwondo to pursue other interests, and resumed training in her early thirties.

Although Melanie had academic and career achievements throughout her life, she struggled with mental illness and low self-esteem. After making some progress through psychiatric treatment and counseling, she knew she needed to do something more substantial to make lasting changes. Returning to taekwondo had always been in the back of her mind, and the timing was right.

Taekwondo proved to be not only an opportunity to re-learn a beloved skill from her childhood, but also a means to build her self-esteem and confidence, and heal from old wounds. It brought a needed excitement and purpose to her life, which she shares in her blog Little Black Belt (http://littleblackbelt.com). While continuing to work at her full-time job, Melanie dedicated herself to taekwondo training and earned her first degree black belt in 2015. In 2017, she earned her second degree black belt. Although a pandemic and knee injury sidelined her training in 2020, Melanie plans to return to taekwondo and test for her third degree black belt.

She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Texas Woman’s University, a Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas, and an MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington. Melanie has worked in the healthcare industry since 2004, with roles as a hospital librarian, corporate trainer, and learning designer.

Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Chris Gronkowski was the middle of the 5 Gronkowski brother's.  Playing sports throughout his childhood and high school, he accepted a full scholarship to play division 1 football.  He graduated from the Univ. of Arizona with a bachelors degree in Accounting.

Chris went into the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and went on to start for 3 different NFL teams including the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, and the Denver Broncos.

After his NFL career ended, he and his wife Brittany created and grew their online personalize gift shop into one of the biggest and best personalized gift stores online. With their successful company Everything Decorated running smoothly, Chris saw another opportunity in the market.

After his NFL career ended, Chris continued to live an active lifestyle.  During a hot summer Texas day, Chris was at the gym lifting weights.  When he went to take a sip of water from the bottle he had brought with him it was warm and had a lingering taste from the protein shake he had made the day before.  Frustrated with the shaker bottles he had been using for year, he went home to try to find something better.  Chris noticed there was nothing on the market that fit his needs and set out to make a product that would be ideal for not just the gym and mixing protein shakes but also for everyday use at the office.

Chris created Ice Shaker and launched the product in December 2016.  After 5 months he was able to generate about $80,000 in sales.  Chris was able to get onto the show ABC's Shark Tank at this point and pitch to the Sharks in which he was able to land a deal with Mark Cuban and Alex Rodriguez.

Bora is an experienced professional who is passionate about, social impact, early education equity, and innovation. Bora was born in Albania and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1996. She graduated with a B.A. in corporate communications from SMU in 2013. She earned an M.B.A. in Finance from SMU's Cox School of Business in 2019. Currently, as the Assistant Director of Programs and Director of Studies at Southern Methodist University, she manages program development and community involvement in ethical public leadership.