Host Jeremy C. Park interviews Rashad Rayford, an award-winning thought leader, speaker, poet, and actor, who shares his journey from spoken word poet in Nashville to becoming a sought-after keynote speaker, particularly discussing his popular keynote “A D.O.S.E. of Story” which explains how four brain chemicals (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins) influence decision-making in the workplace. Rashad shares his journey from being a spoken word artist in Nashville for 25 years to becoming a keynote speaker. He describes how his first corporate speaking opportunity began when someone from a company approached him after a performance at the Frist Art Museum.

What happens to a family when someone they love is incarcerated? And what happens when, after decades of waiting, they finally come home? In this episode of the cityCURRENT Show, Andrew Bartolotta sits down with Nashville-area author Shalanda Thompson to share the remarkable true story behind her memoir, Around the River Bend: A Memoir of Love During Lockup. What began as a childhood friendship eventually became a love story under extraordinary circumstances. Shalanda reconnected with the man who would become her husband while he was incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, where he ultimately served 25 years. Their