
How One Literacy and Life Skills Program Is Transforming Classrooms and Student Lives
Something powerful just happened at Hillcrest High School… and it’s exactly what so many schools need right now.
After a semester of using the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education Program, I had the chance…

Celebrating Grandparents Day: How I Turned Grief Into Something Grief On My Grandparents Day First Without My Grandmas
This Grandparents Day is bittersweet for me. It's the first one without my grandmothers, Agnes Idella “Dorothy” Jones Owens and Ocie Lee Woods Williams, who both transitioned this year. They were two of the strongest, wisest women…

Actions and Accountability, Choices and Consequences: The Capital Murder of My Cousin, Avis Terrell Jones
August 22, 2021, that was the last time I saw my cousin Avis Terrell Jones. He was showing me around a house he was fixing up for his mother. It was about two months before his life was tragically taken. I had gone to visit his father, my great…

10-DAY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY COUNTDOWN- DAY 3: Take Action and Persevere
Here comes the scariest part…taking action! Then sticking with it when it gets hard.
It’s Day 3 in my 10-day countdown to my 10th anniversary of my last day before becoming a full-time speaker and entrepreneur.
Yes, I’m celebrating…

Marcus Heaston S.O. What! Success Story
It’s funny when you meet someone who has “known” you for 20 years.
Because I’m on a mission to impact as many youth and young adults as possible with the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education Curriculum, I am always…

Burned by Bullying, Victorious as a Veteran – Justin Brazil S.O. What! Success Story
Once I started sharing my story, I began to hear and embrace the stories of others more and that includes Justin Brazil story.
A few years ago, I spoke on a local panel and met an amazing man with an incredible story of resilience. One of…

Persevere to the End
Today as I celebrate my 42nd birthday, I also reflect on my 15th birthday when an incident that happened so fast changed everything about my life.
And made me question if I would be successful.
What I learned in my journey, 26 years after…

10 years later. 5 More Life Lessons from My Story
Ten years ago, I shared my story and life lessons in my first book, Life After Birth: A Memoir of Survival and Success as a Teenage Mother. I had no idea then what would happen when I told it. A new chapter in my life started back then. And…

Single Moms: Keep Your Dreams Alive
Single mothers out there, keep your dreams alive because God fulfills them.
By the time I went to graduate school to study for my MBA, I had already achieved a lot in my career and life. Now, I wanted a relationship for myself and a father…