Akeem Shannon’s story demonstrates how a fear of failure means a fear of trying and less effort means missed opportunities. Despite earning a full tuition scholarship to Howard University to earn a chemical engineering degree, his mindset of fear caused him to lose his scholarship, drop out and go into a really dark place. Bathing in his failure, he faced his high achieving parents and was surprised to learn their disappointment was not in his setback but rather in his inability to ask for help.

This “rock bottom” experience motivated Akeem to redefine his relationship with failure, improve his overall awareness, shift his creative energy, embrace his sense of self and go all in holding nothing back. Instead of living a life full of regrets, he is living a dream that includes connecting with world famous rappers Sean “P Diddy” Combs, Snoop Dogg, and landing a deal on Shark Tank.

As CEO of Flipstik (now sold in over 3000 retailers including Target, Best Buy, AT&T, T-Mobile, and QVC), Akeem's story is currently featured at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s “Cellphone: Unseen Connections” exhibition in Washington D.C. and he is featured in INC Magazines top 50 fasting growing consumer product companies in 2023.

@getflipstik, @akeemshannon