The Platinum Mask

Desmond Blair is a Dallas-based artist and problem solver and has been ever since childhood. Blair was born without fingers. Through navigating learning how to write without hands in school, Desmond discovered a love for art and animation. It was this love for animation and animated storytelling that inspired Blair to expand his artistic talents. Blair’s tenacity, determination, and drive emp...

My name is Carla Majeno. When I was almost 18, I had a plan. I knew how everything would turn out and as long as I stayed on this path everything would be great because it would be according to plan. Everything changed when I found out I was pregnant. I spent countless hours on YouTube looking up videos of pregnancy and what it means to be a “mom” and felt like I needed to know everything in...

Malik Johnson is an actor, singer-songwriter, producer, and content creator from Fort Worth. Surpassing over 250,000 streams in 20+ countries with music largely self produced in his closet, his music is largely influenced by real life situations. His most popular songs include Expectations, Carmen Sandiego, & No Hard Feelings. Malik got his start in musical theater and considers acting his fir...

Mohammad Altawaha, also known as “Abu Omar,” is a serial entrepreneur based out of Houston, Texas. Originally from a small village in Jordan, Altawaha moved to the United States to pursue a Master’s Degree in 2008. During his time in school, Altawaha worked in various restaurants across Houston & rediscovered his passion for cooking. Equipped with his own set of signature recipes and firsthand...

Ashley Durden started her business (El Bosque Plus) working with teen girls in 2017 in Juarez, Mexico. Since then her work has grown from just working with teen girls in Mexico, to working with all teens in both Mexico and the United States. El Bosque plus is about enriching teens through this time in their lives and helping them live life (now) by putting their best foot forward. Ashley...

DEV WULF T he story of the native Houstonian begins with his hometown as the opening backdrop for a long journey in musical identity. From playing in bars on Saturdays and churches on Sundays, the Texicana frontman would gain a versatile understanding of multiple genres spanning from rock, hip-hop, blues, and country. Since his move to Dallas in 2008, the Americana singer would go on to open for n...

Latesha Burnley is a DFW based artist, currently tattooing out of TNT Tattoo Company. She has been tattooing professionally for 3 years. Her style consists of bold and colorful neotraditional, noveau, and pop culture inspired designs. Find her portfolio, current projects and booking info on instagram @Elle_tattooer

Growing up in a household as a first generation Pakistani American wasn’t easy. Although it came with a set of high expectations, I was driven to challenge myself to do the best I could and reach my own personal goals. I found myself struggling to find hobbies that were appropriate for both of my cultures, when I was inspired by my mom's talent of sewing Pakistani dresses.  I loved shadowing...

Meghan Forest Farmer has woven her way through the fashion pipeline over the past 10 years, but currently works as a fashion stylist, both on photo shoot sets, and in the wardrobes of her personal styling closet. After learning of the unfortunate, darker side of the fashion industry, specifically within garment manufacturing, she made sustainability and ethical fashion a mission for her personal l...

Wendy is a mental health and acne awareness advocate with a mission to end acne stigma and harmful stereotypes associated with this skin disease. After personally suffering from cystic acne and acne scars for over 20 years, she started The Acne Effect in December of 2019 in order to raise awareness and educate the public about the impact acne has on mental health.

Bo Sijuade is a Nigerian-American tech entrepreneur. Born on December 27, 1995, in Baltimore, Maryland, raised in Las Vegas, NV, and Dallas, TX. He is the Founder, CEO at On Touch Go a startup that transforms rideshare vehicles into a new format of geofenced advertising utilizing interior displays.

Morgan & Devyn Overton own Overton Family Jewels, a crystal and metaphysical online store. Morgan has been studying and collecting crystals her entire life & Devyn is a GIA Certified Gemologist. We started OFJ out of shared interest, and we are passionate about staying educated and ethical. We know that our niche industry supports small mining communities all over the world, and we underst...

Slaughter was born in Fort Worth, Texas and began acting in local theatre as a child. At the age of 15, he successfully auditioned for a boy band called Sons of Harmony where he was given the opportunity to tour with Destiny's Child and open for Bon Jovi and Jessica Simpson. Three years later, in 2001, the band broke up, after which Slaughter moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. In 2...

Dexia Smith is the founder of the Advocates Of Sexual Assault Awareness (AOSA, which partners with other organizations to raise awareness and funds for survivors. AOSA hosts an annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) Event with proceeds benefitting local nonprofit organizations related to sexual assault. When Dexia Smith is not dedicating her attention to this amazing organization, she's work...

The thing about Westonn is his smooth yet energetic RnB voice. Mix that with creative, catchy and unique songwriting and you have one of Dallas's most promising artists. After deciding to pursue music for the last three years, his skill, determination, and music have grown noticeably. If RnB and Pop had a new-age love child, Westonn would be his name. His music is inspired by the late 90s/2000s so...

Jennifer Ellison, co-producer of the River & Blues Festival in Fort Worth, TX, has been in the event industry for over 15 years. As the owner of Ellison Event Productions, Jennifer has planned hundreds of events of all types and sizes, from intimate dinners and weddings to fundraisers and concerts. She and her River & Blues co-producer, Omar Ortiz, have carefully curated a festival&nb...

Chris showed up in the acclaimed show "The Circle" an American reality competition series created by Studio Lambert and Motion Content Group which previously broadcast on Netflix. It is a game show and Chris stood out enough to be noticed as a challenger. The configuration of the game The Circle is that all players are in a loft however they can't meet each other but yet should converse with one a...

Amy has been conveying her emotions through music since she began songwriting at eight years old, specifically recalling times where she would fight with her mom, run into her room angry with a sharpie in hand, and write a song on colored construction paper. Early musical influences include Amy Grant and Taylor Swift; she learned to play Swift's entire discography by the time she finished elementa...

KRISTO BLANC is a Hip-Hop/R&B/Pop artist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He first stepped onto the scene in 2018 with singles like Foreign Toyz & ATL/BTL. In April 2019, he released his first EP, PSA: Failure to Launch. In March 2020 during the global pandemic Kristo continued to release projects and surprised fans with the project "KOBRA AURA 2020". With his new single "Nude" featuring King...

Katrina Strohl is a Navy veteran who served as an Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM). Now, with over ten years of Human Resources (HR) experience, several HR Certifications and multiple Career Coaching Certifications, Katrina continues to serve others. In 2018, Katrina decided to take her own life after internalizing the behavior of a toxic workplace. Since then, she has become a huge advocate of m...

It is said, "art is often a reflection of the artist." This statement is definitely accurate with XDezend, a music producer and DJ based in Dallas, Texas. The name XDezend, a kind of acronym for a fictional word EX-Descend, represents how the artist is no longer descending into many lows in life: the lows which stemmed from mental illness and alcohol/drug addiction. After overcoming numerous obsta...

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...

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...