We recently connected with T Walker and have shared our conversation below.
T, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
When I first had the idea for gallery curation I had just moved back to my moms house in Jacksonville, NC from Wilmington, DE. In Wilmington I experienced art in another level. Downtown Wilmington had an untapped arts district that I’d explore and Philly was right up the highway where I’d explore a lot more. I had also been dating a phenomenal creative and saw the potentials of her work and the freedom it could create business wise. All of this traveled back to NC with me. I had friends who had beautiful work just sitting in their rooms because there was no where in Jacksonville to display or even an appreciation for the arts. I decided that I’d bring it to life. My brother and I started an organization S.O.U.L. Society, a non profit for uplifting community, specifically the youth through the arts. Our first experience we created was “The Peace Festival” to combat gun violence and rise of crime in our hometown. We booked PNB Rock before he blew up and other local talent. I wanted an art exhibition so I built one with plywood and displayed my friend Keisha Keys work. The festival ends, someone wins a piece of art and we have to deliver. During the week of delivering the work, I’m cleaning up my moms garage because I wanted to do my first show there. I hadn’t mentioned it to her I just started doing it. I had it all cleaned up and the day came to deliver the art work. The place of delivery was by a tattoo shop. The owner of the shop saw the art work. That sparked conversation which lead to me sharing my idea of my art exhibition. His shop was new and could use traffic so he offered his space free of charge. That birthed “The HeART Gallery” in 2015. Ths first one was HUGE, the second one was so large we had to find a new venue. The area was gaining an appreciation for art, but the artist confidence begin to boost. For me, I was learning a new business. The set up was new, I have a background in sales but this was a new way to break bread with my friends, not some company. Soon the exhibition and experiences would go from Jacksonville, NC to Greensboro, NC to Washington DC to Portland, OR and more. More exhibitions have developed since then ans have become hugely anticipated.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a man of many hats. I am an artist first music has allowed me to travel the country, sharing stories with people and displaying my craft. I am grateful that my talent has allowed me to expand my views, as well as share with the world the art also created by my friends I am now not only a hip-hop, artist or poet. I am an educator in the world of hip-hop, poetry and creative writing. I am also, a creator of experiences, some of my experiences or things like fire for therapy, a Healing experience in nature, the alkaline festival which is a celebration of health and wellness utilizing the arts. I am also a partner and brand ambassador for live alkaline water.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
My business partner is my first cousin Bradford Simmons. we grew up together We have been sharing ideas all of our life, and we got into adulthood and began to experience issues in our community that we wanted to change. We had been experiencing things in our own lives, that we wanted to share those experiences, hoping that they could have a positive impact on the future of our community
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
One of the things about being an artist is that people don’t naturally want to pay them. So to travel the world in the way that I wanted to for people to experience my stories in a ways that I’ve wanted them to, to even make the money that I’ve wanted to make, I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of different things sometimes that meant dates sometimes that would mean sleeping in my car in Portland, Oregon sometimes that means sleeping on friends couches just so that I could continue to execute my dream, but my faith and belief that I could execute my dreams is what got me where I am today
Contact Info:
- Website: HeavyEnergyuniversity.com
- Instagram: Twalkernc
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@twalkerrecordme?si=U27YM_jB0CFIlwA_