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![[Solidcore] CEO Bryan Myers Is Protecting The Best Parts Of The Business While Embracing Technology To Prepare For Its Future](https://cdn.afrotech.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Bryan-Myers.jpg "[Solidcore] CEO Bryan Myers Is Protecting The Best Parts Of The Business While Embracing Technology To Prepare For Its Future")
Bryan Myers is prioritizing responsible growth at [solidcore]. Before Myers started working for [solidcore], he was a client. He took his first [solidcore] workout class 11 years ago and didn’t initially foresee having a greater presence within the company, which offers high-intensity, low-impact workout classes done on a reformer machine, according to its website. In 2018, he joined as chief operating officer, bringing experience as a project leader at Boston Consulting Group and as a former vice president of strategy and financial planning, as well as new-store development, at sweetgreen, per his LinkedIn. Today, he leads as the president and CEO of [solidcore] — after serving as president and COO — succeeding founder Anne Mahlum. Being a client-first leader is his superpower, he told AFROTECH™ in an interview. He has maintained empathy for the client experience and a deep appreciation for the coaches. Protecting The Culture Of [Solidcore] Myers views his takeover as a unique...
Dr. Abi Oladele has launched a science-backed oral brand that prioritizes health over aesthetics. The first-generation Nigerian American was raised in Trenton, NJ, with high expectations on her to succeed, which she internalized as her parents’ desire to ensure their sacrifices weren’t in vain. And they certainly weren’t, she told AFROTECH™. While her father wanted her to become an orthopedic surgeon, she chose to become a dentist. This career would also allow her to marry her interests in the arts, including drawing and sculpting, she shared. “After learning more about exactly what dentistry entails, it’s definitely a mixture of art. It’s definitely a mixture of science and using my hands,” Dr. Oladele told AFROTECH™. “And because I loved using my hands and designing, crafting all those different things, I was like, ‘I can choose a career where it would be accepted by my family and my parents and would actually change people’s lives.'” She attended Howard University, earning a...
Blavity Media Group (BMG) and The Gathering Spot (TGS) have announced an exclusive partnership that positions BMG as the sole sales and activation partner for TGS’s sponsorship portfolio. The collaboration creates a new platform connecting brands with Black America’s most influential professionals, both through digital media and in private gathering spaces, according to a news release. “The Gathering Spot built physical spaces with the same philosophy we brought to digital media: that Black professionals deserve to be seen fully, not as a demographic, but as a community,” said Blavity Inc. CEO and Co-founder Morgan DeBaun. “Together, we’re creating something that reflects how our audience actually lives, online and offline, in content and in community. For brands that want to show up authentically, this is the way in.” How Blavity And The Gathering Spot Support Black Professionals BMG is the largest digital media platform amplifying Black culture . Together, its six brands —...
The long-awaited Obama Presidential Center will officially open to the public on June 19, 2026 — Juneteenth — on Chicago’s South Side. In a press release on Saturday, March 7, the Obama Foundation announced that the center’s dedication will take place on Thursday, June 18, with the campus opening to visitors the following day. Celebrations will run through June 21 with “a series of events that bring together the changemakers, community members, volunteers, and supporters who made the Obama presidency a reality and welcome visitors to celebrate the power of hope and change,” the Foundation said in the release. What Is The Obama Presidential Center? As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Obama Presidential Center — first announced in 2015 — is an $800 million museum and public gathering space honoring former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. Once completed, it will be the most expensive presidential center in the nation’s history. The 19-acre campus will tell...
“We got the trademark,” said well-known barbecuer Walter Johnson, also known as “Mr. Tendernism” and “Unc.” Johnson stole the hearts of many social media users with his passion for barbecue, which was on full display at Destination Smokehouse in Murrieta, CA. His presence and popular use of “Tendernism” led the establishment to go viral multiple times. @destinationmurrieta Leave your teeth at home ♬ original sound – destinationmurrieta Johnson also attracted the attention of food critic Keith Lee, who visited the restaurant in December 2025. “For me, the standout is absolutely the oxtail, but pass the oxtail the standout is Unc,” Lee said in a TikTok video . “Not only in my opinion is it extremely hard to get people engaged like that, to show your true personality, to be yourself no matter how fast things take off in this space. I don’t think he intended for it to go the way it’s going. I think he just wants to show his love for food and his love for what it is that he doing.”...
Chicago, IL, now has its first Black-owned and operated winery. Vintrendi Wine Company Vintrendi Wine Company opened in 2017 and is led by Rick and Carin Nesbitt, according to the winery’s website. Carin serves as chief financial officer and operations manager, while Rick serves as CEO and winemaker. Per the company website, Carin brings over 30 years of experience in the financial sector to the role. She worked at a boutique financial and investment firm as an operations manager before dedicating herself to Vintrendi Wine Company . In conversation with NBC Chicago, Rick made it clear he was no stranger to the wine and liquor industry, and his involvement dates back to 1998. He has worked as a salesperson, learning the fundamentals of merchandising and running wine floor programs at major chain stores, and as a marketer at various alcoholic beverage distributors in the state, according to the winery’s website. He reached a point where he recognized he wanted more ownership in the...
The Arthur M. Blank Spelman Innovation Lab has produced another technological advancement. The makerspace at Spelman College was created for creative inquiry, unconventional research, experimental pedagogy, and exploratory play, according to its website. It energizes students in art, science, technology, and engineering and provides tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, 4-axis CNC routers, and 3D scanners. PlantGPT Now, several students and alumni have used the lab to develop a project that improves plant health, called PlantGPT. Assistant Director and Lab Manager Eric Thompson and class of 2024 biology graduate Grace Burch started the project in August 2023. Others involved in the PlantGPT project include game development major Devyn Washington and computer science majors Joy Rutledge and Temple Dees. Now, they’ve built an AI-powered conversational assistant focused on plant health, intended for current and prospective plant and crop owners. The project is testing on a...
Khris Johnson paused his medical studies to make history in pursuit of another dream. Food & Wine reports that homebrewing became a hobby for Johnson while he was in college. He had been on a premed track and simultaneously secured a role at Cigar City Brewing Co. in Tampa, FL, working under Wayne Wambles, who was a brewmaster. Wambles had seen something special in Johnson and shared positive sentiments about him, stating he “had a great deal of love for creating harmonious, complex beers,” according to the outlet. Green Bench Brewing Co. Johnson’s passion for homebrewing prompted him to take a break from his medical career aspirations and focus on the venture full-time. He moved to St. Petersburg, FL and, in 2013, opened his first microbrewery, Green Bench Brewing Co., alongside Nathan Stonecipher, Steven Duffy, and Brian Wing, according to the company website. Green Bench Brewing Co. offers beers, mead, and cider made with fresh, local ingredients. Customers can choose from...
Myles Dantzler is making the city of Detroit proud. ClickOnDetroit reported that the parents of the eight-year-old noticed he was showing signs of excellence early on when he began asking questions and learning at a rate that other children his age typically do not. His mother, Jamilla Johnson, particularly noticed her son was learning at an accelerated rate when he began reading words she could not read and correcting her while she read books to him. Dantzler currently attends Bates Academy in Detroit, and when he is not at school, you may catch him watching YouTube videos on topics such as dinosaurs, geography, and more. Dantzler is now a member of Mensa, the world’s largest high-IQ society, reports ClickOnDetroit. Dantzler’s reading teacher, Elinka Lewandowski, described the feat as “well earned and well deserved,” per the outlet. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, to join Mensa, members must take an intelligence test and score in the top 2% of the general population. “I got one...
Dr. Willie Underwood III is the president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA). The Buffalo, NY, native is a Morehouse College alum who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1988, according to his LinkedIn profile. This was a dream for his family and simultaneously a reality check for an education system that attempted to write him off during his adolescent years and hold him back from realizing his potential, according to the National Press Foundation. “I went from a private Catholic school that was all-Black that believed in educating me to make me the best person I could be, to a school that was predominantly white, and the teachers had a policy, ‘We’re not educating them,’” Dr. Underwood said, per the outlet. “So they took all of us, all the Black males in the school, in that third-grade class where I started, and put us in remedial classes where I’m now in kindergarten. And I was there under the guise that I had a learning disability.” Underwood went on to obtain...
NiJaree Canady has achieved a new feat, launching a player edition cleat with adidas. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the softball player transferred from Stanford University to play for Texas Tech. She r eportedly secured a one-year deal with Texas Tech’s collective Matador Club that was valued at $1.1 million. According to The Athletic, this was the highest NIL deal for a softball player at the time, the second-highest deal valued at nearly $175,000. What’s more, the following year, she received a $1.2 million renewal, according to Forbes. Photo Credit: IG/ nija.canady Today, Canady continues to make historic strides, becoming the first college softball player to launch a player edition cleat with adidas, On3 reported. She debuted the shoe during a team victory against Fresno State University on Feb. 19. Fans will be able to snag a pair of the cleats later this season, according to Front Office Sports. “Such a dream come true! So incredibly blessed and thankful to have the...
History is being made at Johns Hopkins Hospital . ABC News reported the hospital’s flagship Halsted Service in trauma and acute care surgery is now led by an all-Black team of senior residents and fellows, marking a first for the institution. The history-making team is composed of doctors Valentine S. Alia, M.D. (second-year resident); Lawrence B. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (seventh-year resident); Ivy Mannoh, M.D. (third-year resident); Zachary Obinna Enumah, M.D., Ph.D., M.A. (ninth-year and critical care fellow); and Ifeoluwa “ Ife ” Shoyombo, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. (third-year resident). This is significant because while 13.4% of the U.S. population is Black, only 5.6% of surgeons in training are Black, according t o the National Institutes of Health. “Between us, there are five MDs, two PhDs, and six master’s degrees —but more importantly, a shared commitment to serving the people of Baltimore,” Alia and Brown said in a joint post on Instagram . “We are Black history. We are our...
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is strengthening medical education across several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). According to information on RWJF’s website, an estimated 70% of the nation’s Black doctors and dentists are educated at HBCUs. These professionals often return to work in underserved areas and conduct inclusive research, notes the website, adding further importance to the foundation’s investment in HBCU medical programs. Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine Awarded $1.75M In early February 2026, The foundation awarded a $1.75 million grant to the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM), supporting advancements in medical education and healthcare across the Gulf South and other regions, according to a news release. XOCOM leaders will receive support for development and engagement as they pursue preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education to become the “fifth allopathic HBCU medical school” in the nation, notes...
Entrepreneur Anna Cobb has landed her products in one of her dream retailers. A few years ago, Cobb visited a GNC while searching for a supplement to boost her energy. At the time, she was a 20-year-old student at Tuskegee University pursuing a degree in plant sciences, according to her LinkedIn profile. However, the women’s energy vitamin triggered a life-threatening allergic reaction, leaving her in a coma for a week. “…I realized my survival meant a greater purpose,” Cobb wrote . “This experience prompted extensive research into the harmful chemicals present in energy supplements. During my time at Tuskegee University, I observed a lack of healthful food and beverage options on campus, inspiring me to transform my personal research into a campus-wide plant-based catering company during my senior year.” Rejuvenation That company didn’t survive the COVID-19 pandemic, per LinkedIn. Still, it did serve as a launch pad for Rejuvenation Beverage Co., which started in 2020 with its...
Black-led Waymo has received a new round of funding. Waymo is the world’s first autonomous ride-hailing service and positions itself as the “world’s most experienced driver, ” according to its website. The service uses highly detailed, custom maps, real-time sensor data, and AI to determine its exact position on the road at all times, rather than relying solely on GPS, the company states. Waymo, owned by Alphabet Inc., has served more than 20 million riders, with more than 400,000 rides being completed weekly across the following metropolitan areas, per its website: Atlanta Austin Los Angeles Miami Phoenix San Francisco Bay Area New Round Of Funding Waymo intends to scale its technology across the U.S. and globally. According to a press release, the company secured $16 billion in funding in an investment round, valuing it at $126 billion post-money. The round was supported by majority investor Alphabet, with Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital leading the...