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Sep 17, 2018

Meet The Shop Members: Thurman and Torrence Thomas

In our Meet the Member series, we showcase the creative professionals in The Shop’s vibrant community who are making an impact in their industry. From non-profit organizations, to software developers, design firms, and more– our members represent a diverse range of backgrounds and businesses.

Your next personal or professional connection might be working in the Commons area right next to you. We’ll help you discover them.

 

Thurman and Torrence Thomas are the creative masterminds behind Tankproof, an organization focusing on facilitating swimming lessons to underserved youth in the Baton Rouge community. As creatives and musicians by trade, their natural inclination was to lean more towards serving the community in those respective fields. After additional brainstorming and research, a study conducted by USA Swimming that shows that 70% of minority children do not know how to swim helped the brothers answer their charitable calling.

The kids who receive swimming instructions are met through partnerships with faith based organizations, youth focused non-profits, and our own online registration. From there, the kids into small teaching groups by age and are then placed with instructor who are best suited to train based on the child’s needs.

When they’re not busy making a difference , Thurman and Torrence keep the creative juices flowing with creative projects which include branding, creative direction, and photography services (including shooting free headshots for other members in the workspace!).

We spoke with Thurman and Torrence to find out about how The Shop helps with their creative process in the nonprofit world.

 

 

How did you first become involved with Tankproof?

We started Tankproof back in 2012 behind a yearning to serve our community and the discovery of some startling statistics concerning minority children and swimming.

 

What does your day-to-day look like at your organization? Has The Shop’s coworking environment impacted your work?

Our day-to-day consists of working on various creative projects, correspondence, and connecting with cool people. The Shop’s coworking environment has positively impacted our work by providing us a beautiful space to simply do what we do.

 

What’s your favorite thing to do in New Orleans?

Our favorite things to do in New Orleans (besides work) is to eat, chill, play soccer, and discover vegan-friendly options at the most unsuspecting restaurants.

 

What are some exciting projects you or your org have coming down the pipeline?

For Tankproof, we’re excited to roll out some marketing initiatives to aid in fundraising. Concerning our creative work, we’re looking forward to planning and executing on a cool project we’ve got coming up with adidas.

 

 

Interested in joining our community as a Shop Member? Learn more about our Membership Details and schedule a tour!