Bio

Innovative Visionary, Leader, Hip-Hop/Rap Recording Artist, Urban Entrepreneur, Inspirational & Motivational Speaker, Social & Criminal Justice Reform Advocate & Activist, Actor: I’m a disruptor in every sense of the word with my relentless focus, ambition, determination, grind, and hustle. I’m also a System Impacted individual (formerly incarcerated, etc.) with only an 8th-grade formal education (but obtained my GED) and being self-taught beyond that. Despite the challenges of my past I refused to allow it to dictate my future and prevent me from excelling. I'm a lifelong learner who values knowledge and the majority of my value as an individual lies in my real-world life and lived experience, inherent skill set, and intuitive thinking, beyond any formal education I possess. I’m a critical and strategic thinker and as an accelerated learner with a strong comprehension ability and growth mindset, I've always been able to strategically leverage those skills, with an extraordinary ability to attract and build rich relationships and network with individuals at high levels from various industries. This has allowed me to draw out, seek and engage various opportunities for personal, social and professional advancement. My personal life story and entrepreneurial journey of redemption has been featured via such major media outlets as Forbes, TechCrunch, Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur, and Inc. I’m embedded in urban culture as a whole and possess over 25 years of experience in the independent urban music industry around being a record label executive, engineering, recording, producing, songwriting, performing, and media. In 2015 I became Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR) and Executive Assistant to CEO Greg Selkoe at Boston based e-commerce streetwear company Karmaloop. In 2015 I founded my first fintech startup, BLAK Fintech, focused on empowering the Unbanked and Underbanked. May 2017-January 2018 I was an Intrapreneur and Brand Ambassador at fintech startup Mobility Capital Finance (MoCaFi), leading their social impact initiative around formerly incarcerated and incarcerated demographics, also assisted in their digital marketing and business development efforts. In 2018 I graduated Udacity's Digital Marketing Nanodegree program. This course gave me a 360-degree understanding of digital marketing, where I gained real-world experience running live campaigns learning from top experts in the field. In 2022 I founded my second fintech startup, Solvent, focused on financial empowerment and wealth building for the System Impacted. Visit www.justsolvent.com.