In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Mane Room
310 N Pine Street
Florence, Alabama, 35630
United States

Amanda German

Amanda German is a 2014 graduate of the University of North Alabama with degrees in history and geography. She studied public history at the University of New Orleans, and is now studying to be a medicinal herbalist and plans to study as a birth and postpartum doula. Currently, she homesteads full time on 3.5 acres with her husband, Nick, and her daughter, Cecilia. She is also co-director of education for Alabama Coalition for Vaccine Rights.

Amanda Dobra Hope

Amanda Dobra Hope serves the world as a holistic life coach, writer, author, guide, evolutionary, visionary, and healer. Possessing a strong desire to search for underlying truth in all situations was a trait that guided her from a very young age. Rather than pointing out what everyone needed to look at in order to free themselves from the emotional bondage she could see that they were in, she learned to strengthen herself to be able to hold space properly for those who desired her assistance in order to guide them to their own inner truth. A huge proponent of “doing the inner work,” Amanda’s teachings speak to the necessity of personal growth work in order to allow healthier relationships with yourself and others, as well as to inspire and affect those around you—ultimately causing a ripple effect out into the world. She speaks and writes on topics such as: authenticity, how to effectively hold space for yourself and others, how to find your authentic self and live your life in alignment with it, and the healing of the masculine and feminine both as energies as well as how our physiological embodiment affects the way we navigate the world we live in. Find her at: www.itsasyoulikeit.com.

Brandon Wolverine Narmore

Coming from a rough and troubled youth, Brandon Wolverine Narmore was adopted into a family that taught him to set his own standards of life. “You get the life you choose,” quickly became a quote Brandon implemented into his daily life and still holds true today. His optimistic approach to life gave him the courage to pursue his passion and begin a career in special effects make up. While working in California to get established in the highly competitive film industry, a part time sales job quickly turned into a lucrative and unexpected career. Dedicated to bringing fun and humor to every aspect of his life, Brandon found success as a car salesman, but not the stereotypical type you would imagine. After five years in the industry, Brandon’s unique approach to social media marketing has been highlighted nationally at the annual Automotive News’ Best Dealerships to Work For event in Chicago and contributed to the development of lifelong repeat customers. Brandon utilizes his personality and quirks (including his unique middle name) to create a buying experience unlike anything his clients have ever experienced.

Elizabeth Nilsen

Elizabeth (Liz) Nilsen is senior program director of the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University. Liz’s passion is to create programs and experiences to develop the next generation of thinkers and doers. She teaches agile strategy and coaches leaders at all levels throughout the US and Canada. Her background includes leadership of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiatives at local, regional, and state levels, as well as higher education change initiatives. She started her career in nonprofit management and continues to work with community leaders to address complex challenges. Liz is co-author of Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership (2019) as well as various articles and guides for leaders facing big issues.

Emily Thompson

Emily Thompson is an entrepreneur and author dedicated to exploring the intersections between connecting with nature and fostering and expressing creativity. She's an expert in creative entrepreneurship and online business, with a background and hobby in earth sciences and seasonal living. For over 10 years, Emily has helped creative entrepreneurs build businesses, first with branding and websites, and later through teaching and coaching. In 2015, Emily started Being Boss, along with her co-founder Kathleen Shannon, a podcast and resource for creative business owners. The Being Boss podcast boasts over 7 million downloads and has been recognized as a top business podcast by Apple, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc, The Huffington Post, and more, with a dedicated, global audience who tune in for from-the-trenches business advice and illuminating interviews with industry experts. The impact of the podcast guided Emily to co-write her first book, Being Boss: Take Control of Your Work and Live Life on Your Own Terms, released in spring 2018. Also in 2018, Emily pulled her passions for creativity, entrepreneurship, and nature together to start her latest business project, Almanac Supply Co. - this time with her life partner, David, a retail shop focused on making and curating goods that inspire a connection with nature. Through this work Emily deeply explores the practice of seasonal living. Emily is a Florence, Alabama-native who lives with her partner David, their daughter, and dog, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she can be found sitting on her front porch, poking around her garden, or planning her next adventure.

Ethan Sak

Born in 2001 in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama community where music is actually in the drinking water. Ethan Sak has had the fortune to see, visit and learn from Grammy winners, CMA & AMA award recipients at local restaurants, church and venues every day. "It is so awesome to share my love and passion for music with people who are so accomplished. And it's even more awesome that these great artists have shared their love of music and their inspirations with me!", says Ethan. He's been playing piano since five years old and began writing music notes before learning the alphabet. Music is my best way to express himself and Ethan hopes everyone can feel what he's try to share in his songs' lyrics and music.

Faith Jones

Faith Jones is an international corporate attorney and executive coach who capitalized on her unusual background to create her unique “I Own Me” framework which works to empower women in business and personal relationships. Her passion and focus is to inspire women to take back responsibility for their own lives, decisions, businesses, and bodies through education and by changing the societal systems and laws that have prejudiced them for centuries. Faith, who graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and with honors from UC Berkeley Law School, was named the Top 40 Under 40 M&A Advisor in 2015. She began her career as an attorney with Skadden Arps where she represented clients in a wide variety of cross-border corporate transactions. After Skadden, Faith headed up Walton & Walton LLP’s corporate practice where she represented varying clients from start-ups to Fortune 500s. Her multi-cultural background and wide variety of experience and interests adds to her ability to develop creative solutions for non-profit as well as for-profit companies across the globe. As a world traveler, she spent much of her early life in South East Asia and speaks Mandarin Chinese. She has worked with businesses and government leaders in the Pacific Rim and uses this insight to assist clients in understanding the unique opportunities available in Asia. She is the inventor of the Personal Air Filter device, a non-mask, wearable air filter for polluted areas, and she has experience as a humanitarian aid worker in Kazakhstan, Russia, Japan, and Taiwan. She is currently writing her Memoir with HarperCollins Publishers.

Heath Butler

Heath Butler grew up in the Shoals and recognized the creative spirit permeating the area early on. Graduating from UNA with a degree in Communications, Heath has worked in radio, music, public speaking, and marketing. His time in music and speaking allowed him to travel the United States and into other parts of the world. He has a passion for helping people be their best. He currently works for Listerhill Credit Union as People Engagement Partner — creating and managing eLearning content while increasing employee engagement through communication, development, and community volunteer efforts. Heath and his family love to travel and are proud to continue making this area home.

Jill Johns

Jill Johns spent 15 years putting everyone else’s needs ahead of her own. No more. As the co-host of The Pause Button 2.0 podcast, this effervescent bundle of creative energy encourages burnt-out and stressed-out people to upgrade their self-care. As the founder of Space To Thrive (a mindfulness resource and retreat center), Jill inspires people, especially breast cancer survivors like herself, to press pause. In her role as coach/consultant at Jill Johns International, she helps her clients shift from entrepreneurship by default to entrepreneurship by design.

Justin Kier

Justin Kier has seen firsthand the result of changing the question from “How do I do this on my own” to “Who can I do this WITH.” After years in the education and fitness industries, his transition to corporate speaking and leadership coaching came when seeing the power of intentional collaboration. He has worked with all ages, from high school students to Fortune 500 companies, to build high-performing teams and executives. He is a Keynote Speaker that you can find at justinkierspeaks.com and a Lead Teamwork and Leadership Facilitator with Atlanta Challenge, that has been doing team building and coaching in Atlanta for the past 15 years. He is also the co-host of the Suited For Life Podcast, a podcast geared towards helping men move their lives from good to exceptional in all areas. All too often men feel alone in trying to be leaders in their families, businesses, and communities. It is Justin’s mission to shift the perspective from trying to be the “Lone Ranger” that has all the answers to building partnerships that help move their lives forward and have a positive impact on the world around them.

Liz Nilsen

Elizabeth (Liz) Nilsen is senior program director of the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University. Liz’s passion is to create programs and experiences to develop the next generation of thinkers and doers. She teaches agile strategy and coaches leaders at all levels throughout the US and Canada. Her background includes leadership of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiatives at local, regional, and state levels, as well as higher education change initiatives. She started her career in nonprofit management and continues to work with community leaders to address complex challenges. Liz is co-author of Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership (2019) as well as various articles and guides for leaders facing big issues.

Oliver Asis

A Transportation Engineer working for the California Department of Transportation over 10 years. Oliver says he has the dream job he wanted since he was in the 6th grade. He has loved everything transportation since he was young. He built freeways in his room as a kid and used to pretend he was a traffic reporter. Currently studying for his Professional Engineering license, he has the goal of one day helping improve transportation for all of California. It is his dream to see a transportation system that integrates various modes of transport from bikes, buses, cars, to train. A great transportation system serves all commuters equally. One of his claims to fame is getting to talk to Roman Mars from 99 Percent Invisible about Public Works. When he is not working on transportation solutions, he is out and about photographing the world. Oliver is also an award winning professional photographer. Specializing in Wedding, Landscape, and Architectural photography, he has won awards from the Professional Photographers of San Diego County and won both the Judges and People’s Choice from Adobe’s CreativeJam. He is currently on a personal quest to visit and photograph all 61 US national parks.

Southern Word

Founded in 2008 based on successful spoken word youth development and education strategies; educators, youth development professionals, writers, and poets built Southern Word from the ground up without substantial institutional or investor backing at the start. We have grown to be a national, non-profit leader in the spoken word education field, serving more than 7,500 youth, 67 schools, and 12 Tennessee counties last year. Due to our passion for helping youth develop their voices and map their own futures, we have extended programming into music production and writing of all genres. In a culture which aggressively markets products and lifestyles to youth, Southern Word equips youth with the tools to transition from passive consumers into active thinkers, creators, and projectors of their own positive identity. From guiding and hearing the stories of tens of thousands of youth, Southern Word understands our society’s shortcomings as they relate to youth engagement, literacy, diversity, and mental health. We are responding effectively to some of our most entrenched educational and youth development challenges.