Army Captain Deshauna Barber, the current Chief Executive Officer of Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), is Miss USA 2016, an award-winning international speaker, coach, and entrepreneur. Deshauna uses her experience as an Army officer, former Miss USA, and STEM graduate to impact the lives of people all over the world. Deshauna is a top-rated speaker who is widely requested as a speaker at Fortune 500 companies. She was born in Columbus, Georgia, the daughter of two soldiers. Serving in the military is a family tradition. In 2016, Deshauna was crowned the first soldier to the win the prestigious title of Miss USA. She spent her year-long reign as Miss USA advocating for men and women in uniform and continues her work advocating for service members suffering from post-traumatic stress. She is dedicated to ensuring that service members and veterans receive the support and assistance that they need. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Virginia State University, a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and Services from University of Maryland and she is currently pursuing a Diversity, Social Justice and Inclusion Certification at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Website:  https://www.servicewomen.org/

THE WATERS (KRYSTAL BAKER and STURGIS WATERS)

Where love and music collide, you will find The Waters. An acoustic duo whose core consists of singer/songwriter Krystal Baker and guitarist Sturgis Waters based out of Phoenix AZ, they bring a minimalist approach to progressive folk-rock music.

Her haunting vocals combined with his colorful guitar melodies blend to create a fabric of intimate conversation. The modest and dynamic aspects of the duo create an authentic experience. Once compared to a more multidimensional yet similar vocal sound to that of Natalie Merchant, coupled by his guitar stylings reminiscent of Tim Reynolds, you will find a great combination of distinctive yet familiar sounds.

Playing both their original songs as well as unique arrangements of other artists, their love of music is something we can all connect with

ALEXANDRA EISNER

Alexandra Eisner is a Supervisor on the Suicide Prevention Crisis Hotline for Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, and is also the Founder and Creator of a Suicide Prevention Company called LiveLong Movement. 

Alexandra’s connection with suicide started at age 17 when she first had a thought to kill herself. For nine years she battled and toyed with the thoughts, until ultimately she came to planning and attempting her death by overdosing at a music festival at age 26. The death ended up in an awakening so powerful she promised the Universe she’d dedicate her life to learning about exactly what it is she had just experienced. 

She has since turned to meditation and energy healing to continue the new journey. A year after the attempt she felt strong enough to support others heal from their suicide ideations. In June 2018 Alex started volunteering on the Suicide Prevention Hotline, while working as the Global Security Senior Coordinator for Sony Pictures Entertainment; where she had worked for over 7 years. Shortly later in January 2019, Alex was offered a position as the Security and Secrecy Assessor for Apple TV+. Alex made the move and traveled 50% of the time within the next year around the world managing Apples Studio Productions making sure nothing was pirated or leaked. 

As amazing as the opportunity was at Apple, Alex was once again not feeling strong enough to be on the Hotline and often was having to miss volunteer shifts. Something was out of alignment and she had to make a decision.

Alex has since quite Apple TV+ and became a Supervisor on the Suicide Prevention Hotline in February 2020. 

Every Monday through Friday on the graveyard shift Alex answers emergency calls on the Hotline, which include crisis’s related to mainly suicide and homicide. These calls can range from informational calls to tragic deaths. Alex has answered the phone nearly 500 times and in March, while still as a Supervisor in Training, she managed the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Teen Line, and the Disaster Distress Hotline on her own because nearly 40 counselors were quarantined due to a positive COVID testing in an employee. 

On her own time, Alex has also been hand-making bracelets and giving them to people for free as part of the LiveLong Movement since November 2018. Over 700 bracelets have been sent around the world to people who’ve reached out to her directly in need of support. The bracelets are red to help alleviate self-mutaliation desires and have the words “Live Long” hand-stamped to represent the motivation to ‘live longer’.

From ages 17- 23, Alex struggled with anxiety attacks and used self-mutiliation as a coping skill. During a panic attack while driving one day at 23, Alex drove to a tattoo shop and got the worlds “Live Long” tattooed on her wrist next to her scars as a reminder to live long and not kill herself. She hopes these bracelets have helped others in ways like the tattoo does for her. 

Stephane and Shalee Schafeitel

Early in 2010, Stéphane & Shalee Schafeitel co-founded Success Training Co., a high-performance coaching and consulting company. Stéphane left his highly decorated career in Corporate America and Shalee moved on from her own successful marketing & branding business to begin the company. They made this transition because they were (and are!) extremely motivated to make a positive impact on the lives of others and help them be the best version of themselves. 

They went on to do just that. Success Training Co. is the market leader in Mindpower Coaching™ and Mental Toughness Training™. They help executives and entrepreneurs resolve mental and emotional barriers through a series of impactful coaching sessions that will maximize your clarity, mental toughness, and success. They believe the individuals who have clarity and mental toughness are the most successful people in the world.

With over a decade of experience and thousands of clients, Success Training Co. is committed to helping individuals and businesses thrive through whatever circumstances life may bring. By empowering you with the ultimate success tool—mental toughness—they are here to guide you to your inner resilience to make it through anything.

STEVE TAYLOR

With a sound steeped in the sunlit tones of Laurel Canyon, the mid 60’s pop and R&B of the Brill Building, and the lo-fi synths of early prog rock, Los Angeles resident Steve Taylor makes cinematic, impressionistic psych-folk that pushes the envelope of the singer/songwriter genre. A multi-instrumentalist with a remarkably diverse background, he’s been tapped to play with everyone from LA electro soul group Rhye to bass prodigy Tal Wilkenfeld. He’s steadily recorded his new opus, “The Land of Milk and Honey”, in between international tours and recording gigs. A sparse, moody, and soulful record, it is full of ruminations on the search for an idyllic paradise amidst the chaos and loneliness of modern day life. Sonically, you will find layers of vintage organs, pianos, analog synthesizers, and dead drums, creating a sound that’s both modern and thoroughly informed by 70’s AM rock.

​Influenced by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Nick Drake, and Joni Mitchell, his last album “Has the Size of the Road Got the Better of You?” was recorded at home and at the venerable Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco. The record showed the expanded influence of gospel music, something he explored while he was a guitarist and organist at a number of prominent African American congregations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

​Performing solo and with his band, Steve has played hundreds of shows, including headlining slots at The Independent and The Chapel in San Francisco, The Echo and The Hotel Café in LA, and The Hope & Anchor in London. An avid busker, he has made many fans the old fashioned way, through singing his heart out and pounding out his songs on his portable Helpinstill piano, an electrified acoustic remnant from the 70’s.

​In addition to being an active solo artist, Steve has played as a singer, keyboardist and guitarist with an incredibly diverse range of collaborators, including Rhye, Skylar Grey, Lauren Ruth Ward, Duane Betts, Rogue Wave, Nicki Bluhm, and members of the Grateful Dead, CAN, Guns n Roses, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Deathcab for Cutie, and The Dirty Projectors. 

“Steve Taylor’s dreamy, folky, solo songs recall a long lost time… resonate with sun-flared AM radio gold of the early 1970s as vintage tones warble from an old Wurlitzer while acoustic six-strings intertwine with the watery notes of a lazy electric slide guitar under Taylor crooning like a young Graham Nash.” – iTunes