Marlon Smith is on a mission. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. As a college student, Marlon’s proudest moment came when he founded Street Academics, a youth leadership program, where college students provided mentoring for high school and middle school students.

Marlon’s corporate experience includes working as a systems engineer for two fortune- 500 corporations, IBM and Hewlett-Packard in Silicon Valley. During his lunch breaks, Marlon traveled to various schools to share strategies for helping struggling students maximize their true potential.

On January 15, 1992, Marlon listened to his heart and resigned from Hewlett-Packard to follow his mission of inspiring more individuals and communities to be their best.

As a keynote inspirational speaker and leadership consultant, Marlon has empowered corporations, organizations, schools and communities in 45 states and 17 countries throughout the world. Because of his unique presentation style and impact, Marlon has traveled abroad on numerous speaking tours throughout the former Soviet Union (in Moscow, Gorney-Altay, Kazakhstan), Canada, Mexico, Japan, England, the Caribbean, Botswana, LeSotho, Ghana, Swaziland, Australia, and South Africa.

Marlon opened a Success By Choice office in South Africa where he produced the “Motivational Mondays” television series and “Success is Your Choice” radio program.

Marlon was featured in ESSENCE Magazine as one of the top inspirational speakers. Contributing to the Tony Robbins’ Global Youth Leadership Summit for 16 consecutive years, being a contributing author to the international best-selling “Chicken Soup for the Soul”, and being a semi-finalist for Oprah’s BIG GIVE program, Marlon feels blessed to share insights that produce results.

Marlon is an Amazon #1 best-selling author and his books are impacting the world.

Today, Marlon lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and has daughter Jade and son Cory.

“Drs. Ken and Anna Ghee are an inspirational couple dedicated to the uplift of individuals, couples, families and communities for a better humanity.  Dr. Ken Ghee is a multiple award winning Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology and Africana Studies at the University of Cincinnati. His scholarly research, interests and community work revolve around cultural identity development, academic achievement and institution building.  Dr. Anna Ghee is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Xavier University (Cincinnati) and a licensed Clinical Psychologist. She specializing in cultural and familial influences on risk and resiliency and substance abuse. She teaches undergraduate experimental psychology, statistics and also advanced clinical skills in the Graduate school.  Together they offer both scholarly insight and personal experience for building and sustaining love and leadership in relationships and family, as the first and foremost institution of personal development and community empowerment.”