TEDxWestMonroe Team

Clayton Poland is the organizer and emcee of TEDxWestMonroe. He has over 25 years of experience as a civil engineer, speaker, author and storyteller who's spoken to groups and teams as well as audiences of thousands. He encourages folks to focus on the good stuff in life. For him, that most important good stuff is family. In fact, much of the inspiration and stories he delivers to companies, organizations, communities and educators all over the country, are rooted in spending almost a million miles on the road with his wife and three kids over the years, experiencing and learning life simply by living it as a family.  

His message is simple, yet incredibly transformational. By building a “culture of family,” we can rethink how today’s dynamically changing businesses and communities can grow and adapt through the power of restoring simple, universal values designed to reconnect us to the parts of life and business that matter most.

Samuel is driven by empathy for his fellow man. If it only took a $4 bus ticket to change someone’s life forever, would you do it? What if it was $10 and a hot cup of coffee? What if it was as simple as starting a conversation? Inside every person is the powerful life saving gift of empathy. Using his experience as homeless and addicted to heroin, Samuel shows us the powerful life saving effects of empathy in practice. The same practice he's seen time and time again helping people out of the worst circumstances.

When the standards of society and the prejudices in our own minds eliminate the possibility of becoming more empathetic and compassionate, what is lost? Our sense of community? Our responsibilities as fellow humans? Samuel shares the facts and illuminates some of the pitfalls of addiction and homelessness. Empathy can be applied practically and the result of its application is a connection with our fellow man.

Samuel is also a lover of all things related to audio / visual. He has a keen eye for photography and videography and is a valuable asset to our team.

Tucker is a results-driven connector,  personal and organizational brand architect, leadership coach and public speaker with over 25 years of success in building personal and professional brands, developing experiential marketing strategies, constructing strategic communications programs, advising emerging entrepreneurs and coaching keynote speakers, conscious-driven businesses and thought leaders through impactful storytelling. 

He thrives as an entrepreneur, core team leader, industry mentor and catalyst for generational movements that ignite societal change through the power of voice. He has helped 200+ speakers and thought leaders take the stage and share their global ideas for change, including the highly sought after TED platform. His clients have been featured on TED, Goalcast, Upworthy, The Today Show, the Sundance Film Festival and hundreds of podcasts. With one goal in mind… to share a courageous, vulnerable voice and have a powerful seat at the table of global conversation, every opportunity they can.