Author, Orator and Professor
Listen to his chat with Vaughn on 360 MAG Podcast HERE.
Jefferson Noel, the founder of Barbershop Speaks, is dedicated to providing a comfortable daily space for people to be engaged in intelligent conversation. Starting from a simple question in the summer of 2016, “What would happen if we engage in intentional dialogues about issues that affect us directly in spaces that are common and comfortable for the community,” Barbershop Speaks has been set up as a platform to educate and empower the underserved communities around the country on web3.
He is now also a professor at Florida Memorial University, teaching public speaking, business, and professional speaking. Coming from an immigrant Haitian family, Jefferson deeply understood the importance of education by seeing her parents seeking out a better life in the U.S. as immigrants. During college, after attending student government and being an involved student, he realized that studying for comprehension and real-life application would greatly benefit people’s future life after graduating. The thirst for learning comes from the general public’s respect for knowledgeable people. Therefore, after meeting and being involved with a professor during his trip to Canada to finish his book, Jefferson landed a job as a professor at Florida Memorial University and was determined to bring more value to students.
By keeping the idea that human is a unique live beings and there are different values inside every single human being, Jefferson holds strong beliefs in the power of conversation. During his childhood, Jefferson usually went to barber shops when his father was a barber, where he always listened to those conversations happening around. This is where the idea of the Barbershop Speaks from “The barbershop, in my opinion, is the communities’ classroom where everyone is both the teacher and the student,” says Jefferson.
However, the journey of being in a conversational world has been good and bad at the same time. People see his values while not wanting to pay for the values he brings to the table. Nevertheless, growing up in a family with many role models to look up to, such as his father who is a pastor, and his older brother who always has a clear mind and knows what he is doing, Jefferson has always been humble. He has decided to move forward not focusing on people who are not helping but trying his best to catch good opportunities. According to Jefferson, “As long as I continue to be on my grind, as long as I continue to do life in the proper way, then I know I’ll reach the promise men,” the unavoidable dehumanization coming from his race has never discouraged him but positively motivated him.
Jefferson started connecting to the crypto space about one year ago and was attracted to the technology behind NFT. The ability of NFT to verify ownership of a digital asset on the blockchain made him believe that it is something worth sharing with the whole world. He will attend the NFT-VIP Event, which will happen in NYC through June 19th-22nd, as a speaker on Sunday at 1 pm, sharing how to balance life learning and leadership.
Jefferson is proud to sponsored by Lab22c.
Article by: Iris Li x Vaughn Lowery
