Author page: Ian Romaker

Within esports, specific brands tap into the solutions for issues and/or ailments that surround gamers in the industry. SummaForte is an esports company that provides CBD wellness tape with CO2 extraction technology to calm the everyday gamer. 

Throughout our youth, a lot of what they told us did not turn out to be true. For example, many people would tell us that video games are a waste of time.

However, there is an entire community of streamers who utilize their online gaming presence on platforms such as Twitch to establish financial freedom. And the merging of esports and CBD wellness changes the game even more.

SummaForte set out to fill a specific niche from its inception

Summaforte’s niche-specific product possesses top performer bioavailability and a special component called Dehydratech. Together with Lexaria Biosciences, these companies come together to implement kinesiology that reduces inflammation and irritation. 

The key component of our conversation with SummaForte Co-Founder and G2 (Go-To-Market Lead) Murtagh Thinnes and its brand representative, Brax, came down to proactive behavior. One should always care for their body whether or not it is ailing.

The conversation also consisted of daily healthcare routines and how the SummaForte CBD mixture with gaming tape benefits esports athletes.

A conversation with SummaForte

Kulture Hub: How would you say that your product connects you with a wide spectrum of people? And how did you get started being a part of this virtual community?”

Murtagh Thinnes: We are really focused right now on building an active community on our socials, the various touchpoints we have across the channels that were active on. There’s been a lot of interest in these products from different groups, esports teams, and a large orthopedic practice in the Mid-Atlantic that recently set up an esports Center of Excellence.

KH: Braxton had mentioned he played 15 hours a day when he was growing up, how much would you recommend is standard per day to maintain health?

Brax: Yeah obviously 15 hours is not healthy at all. And I do not recommend it. But when you’re just in school, and that’s all you got to worry about – you know, you can find time to do that. But I would say anywhere from five to six hours a day, if you’re trying to be professional and really take it serious. I think that’s a good number to start with.

“I started playing when I was seven I went pro at fourteen. So yeah, I’ve been around for a while. I think my relationship with SummaForte just made sense because they always promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Braxton “Brax” Pierce 

MT: You look at traditional athletics and traditional athletes have a number of resources that they can go to to take care of their bodies and keep their minds in peak condition. Gamers not so much. So that’s really where SummaForte fits in. And we’re excited to be a part of that narrative.

The world of esports and how athletes can benefit from CBD

KH: You mentioned that esports is a physical crucible. Can you take us through what that entails in terms of how physically taxing it is to be an online athlete?

Brax: The biggest thing with gamers is wrist pain, finger injuries, and arthritis. If you have to deal with something like that it can be career-changing.”

KH: Why is it better to be proactive rather than reactive?

Brax: To just stay ahead of the curve and really focus on your health. That’s the cool thing about the SummaTape – even if you don’t have a finger injury or inflammation – it can also prevent it.

MT: We’re really excited by the opportunity to bring a really high-quality nootropic and lutein ingredient to gaming.

The nature of gaming and CBD wellness’ role in it

KH: What are some ways you began to build rapport with your client base?

MT: We went out and talked to gamers, and confirmed that their main pains are in musculoskeletal and vision/cognitive strain. So our two products SummaTape and SummaMix were built to address those concerns.

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A post shared by SummaForte (@summaforte)

KH: Are there any other sectors besides gaming that your product has seen demand?”

MT: We feel that with our products being catered to healthy lifestyles and performance that we can find some strong traction in areas like orthopedic practices where gamers are getting serious musculoskeletal injuries. Also traditional athletics is an obvious one – we’ve had an Olympic runner try our products and gotten [sic] some really good feedback there. Blue-collar workers, octogenarians, you know, all over the spectrum.

Summaforte: a revolutionary CBD esports brand

Without a doubt, SummaForte has created a product that empowers its representatives. It makes them healthy, strong and also gives them the ability to overpower their opponents.

Longevity is key in the esports industry because gamers are held to a very small margin of error while not receiving equal amount of breaks and intermissions.

By increasing body function, SummaForte contributes to improved cognitive performance and stabilization. CBD wellness saves some people’s lives and livelihoods, and SummaForte understood that esports athletes can benefit from it as well.

The first step to becoming the strongest version of oneself is sheer confidence, self-sturdiness, and awareness of the fact that there is something you can do that NOBODY else can do. Nobody knows this better than the college graduates of 2021.

The graduating class of 2021 experienced a gradual sense of loss and shock during what has been deemed “The Great Pause.” The polarization of our modern world and government negligence at the time of the initial outbreak (Feb., March 2020) have combined to create quite a precarious situation for recent graduates.

Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show a 3.5 percent drop in college enrollment (ages 16-24) and an 8.7 percent decrease in employment since 2019 (ages 20-29). Thus, it is fair to say there has never been a better time to ditch the college debt and pick up a trade.

Demand for trade work is incredibly high at the moment

Many trades pay incredibly well because the work is tedious and not as widely encouraged as the college route.

When it comes to actual graduation ceremonies, it appears that the pushback has come from parents more so than students.

Regardless, the trend for 2021 college graduates seems to lean toward in-person and outdoor graduations. But, for those who are facing the virtual bubble ceremony, some decided to (Go)fund their own ceremony such as students at the University of Tampa. 

Using Covid as a collegiate stepping stone

Overall, it comes down to timing and setting. It just plain stinks to have to have gone to college during the COVID era. Plain and simple – the virus provided multiple limitations.

The biggest setback from a general perspective is the lack of networking that came as a result. It is clear that most of the time who you know is more important than what you know. COVID canceled countless social events which made it difficult to swarm social circles. 

Many college students call upon their mentors or people within their desired spaces to try and strategize the best path of movement for themselves.

via GIPHY

In a Zoom meeting, people are much less likely to divulge key pieces of information because of the formality that the setting provides and the fact that everything on the internet is recorded.

2021 college graduates will overcome

The entire process has provided challenges for recent college graduates. Many traditional styles of graduation have been foregone in lieu of health restrictions and protocols.

There is much less spectacle or circumstance surrounding the events. Yet, those young adults will carry on. There is no doubt that these unimaginable hardships will only make them stronger and more seasoned.

Imagine with me now for a second if you would. You know you are gifted and you even know what your gift is. The question then becomes – how will you implement your gift to make it accessible to the masses? 

How will you channel your pain and what torments you into a universally accepted medium? That is the challenge that we all face if we wish to help others.

So, as long as you know what you are doing is right and operate off of that gut instinct, just keep completing that journey. Your moment is right around the corner.

MTN Dew has launched their new, “Rise” campaign with LeBron James to motivate individuals around the world to get up and get after it.

Who better to exemplify the notion of morning greatness than LeBron James? Together with PepsiCo, Mountain Dew tapped LeBron in for their newest drink and it is a major rebrand from the previous “Kickstart” energy drink. 

The beverage itself is not touted as an energy drink, yet it has all the components of one.

The company boasts the fact that it has 180 mg caffeine (twice as much as Kickstart) natural fruit juice, antioxidants, Zinc and Vitamins A+C. Certainly, these ingredients are wonderful and provide immunity, brain boost and mental resilience.

MTN Dew Having LeBron James on board makes for a great campaign

It only makes sense to moonbeam LeBron James at the forefront of the ‘Rise’ campaign. He just signed a fresh multi-year deal with Pepsi and is the third most marketable athlete on the globe [according to Nielsen].

Not only that, but he personifies greatness and the ability to rise every morning, rise above adversity and rise to the upper echelon to be amongst the most elite company.

There is no doubt about it that LeBron James is a model citizen. He has nary a blemish on his record – we’re talking squeaky clean. He has risen above the naysayers and carried teammates oftentimes forcing them to rise further than their typical capabilities. Night in and night out, LeBron continuously demands more from himself and those who surround him.

That is exactly what this ad campaign is seeking to illuminate. The advertisement itself does a great job of showing what might have been the case if LeBron did not rise to the occasion and just settled for mediocrity. It then swirls around to show all of the things LeBron does have a stake in (HBO Show, I Promise School, Springhill Company etc.)

A Bev With Multiple Flavors 

The Mountain Dew Rise drink (16 oz. cans) comes in seven different flavors: Pomegranate, Blue Burst, Orange Breeze, Strawberry Melon Spark, Tropical Sunrise, Berry Blitz and Peach Mango Dawn.

The part that the company fails to mention is some of the other ingredients included: Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and Ace-K. Most caffeinated drinks contain a standard 10 mg of caffeine per ounce whereas Mountain Dew Rise has about 11.25 mg of caffeine per oz. It also contains aspartame which is an incredibly toxic chemical often seen in most ‘Diet’ drinks. 

“’Winning with Purpose’ reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of our business strategy and brands.”

(PepsiCo)

Winning with purpose sounds great but what is the point of providing an ingredient list without giving the amount as well? On any can of soda, you will see that they list ingredients in descending order. Meaning, the first ingredient that it listed is often the one with the highest content volume.

For instance, on Mountain Dew Rise they do not tell you how much Citicoline is in the drink – but it is one of the most highly touted ingredients. You can ‘conquer the day’ with Citicoline as it boosts your metabolism, learning, focus and overall mental capacity. 

Citicoline is listed directly before caffeine on the list so therefore it contains more than 180 mg – which is good. Citicoline’s benefits are unclear here because while we know it has somewhere above 180 mg but we do not know how much exactly. The minimum effective dosage for citicoline is 250 mg in order to achieve the desired results mentioned. 

So, you can see how it might be tricky to gauge if this product is definitively and absolutely beneficial for your morning health. Most people are on the intermittent fasting train anyway and only start to nourish their bodies once it fully awakens around lunchtime.

Regardless, this product could be the jolt you need to get you started in the morning. Rise above the status quo and break boundaries with a Mountain Dew Rise drink today!

Monique Lorden, the artist working under the name 1985 Poet, is a revolutionary individual, through and through. Growing up, there were never any limitations placed upon her endeavors, and rather boundary-pushing was encouraged.

Monique and her sister were the only two girls to make the all-boys basketball team and she continues to carry that can-do attitude with her daily. 

In collaboration with Brandon ‘Bmike’ Odums – Monique won the Red Bull x New Orleans Pelicans ‘NOLA Has Wiiings’ contest with her “Hoop Dreams & Poetry” backboard.

The goal of this transformative project aimed to replace backboards in the Crescent City. All eight participants contributed artistic prowess toward the embetterment of the community. We took some time to chop it up with Monique and tap into her basketball background.

Monique Lorden/1985 Poet

Kulture Hub: Who are you? What’s your brand? What are you all about?

Monique Lorden: I create under the name ‘1985 poet’ because I am a poet, not just an artist but also a writer. But that’s also the year I feel like the most high put someone on this earth to create change.

KH: What is your basketball playing style? How has this contributed to your artistic style if at all?

ML: I’m a shooting guard, my sister was a point guard. I had a pretty good shot. I love basketball. And I think it does translate into my art. Because if you played sports, that’s resilience, that’s practice, discipline and focus. I think that me growing up as an athlete prepared me for the arts.

KH: How does your backboard represent New Orleans?

ML: I like to think it screams New Orleans because it’s got the lights, the colors, the flair. If you’ve ever been to New Orleans then you know that’s what we’re all about. You go down Canal Street, you go down to the second lines [parades], you go down anywhere on Claiborne and that’s what you see – lights flashing, people partying and bright colors.

I guess the goal itself, my basketball goal aesthetically relates to New Orleans because I find that it is a contrast. You know, I use the black and white stripes. New Orleans is very colorful. We are a city of greatness and a city of improvement. 

Variety in art installations

KH: What other artistic endeavors have you pursued?

ML: I did two other installations with metals. I have another installation at Studio Be in New Orleans and another metal installation that was a part of a city initiative exhibit. 

KH: What factors do you think made you the winner of this contest?

ML: For a woman to pick up a sander and all these different tools that are needed for metal fabrication to learn how to weld and put things together [helped teach] the difference between iron and aluminum. So to learn lighting installation, I don’t think anyone saw that coming. They were expecting me to paint a basketball goal. And I in turn, do some welding. And you know, drill through that iron rim and then installed lights. 

“I always say the only difference between someone who’s done it and the person who dreams of doing it is the decision to just do it.”

Monique Lorden

KH: How did your background contribute to the specific medium you are working in?

ML: I come from acrylics and topicals. So I’ve always had that visual approach, but I never boxed myself in. I decided I want to do something a little different – I want to work with metals, I want to challenge myself.

KH: It is clear that you were raised within a culture of perseverance. In what ways did your family teach you to embrace the struggle in order to overcome?

ML: Being raised in a pretty modest upbringing and sometimes seeing my parents live check to check – I don’t even think it’s an embracing the struggle, it is being [immsered] within the struggle. The struggle is not enough. We don’t have to exist and live in the struggle. It has its place to teach us – to help us be better. But beyond that, you gotta rise above that.

Love at the heart of 1985 Poet

KH: What is your most crucial daily affirmation? The most resounding statement that you live by?

ML: I tell myself every day that I am love, and I am worthy to be loved. Because we know love is truly the revolution. Love is gonna change everything. 

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A post shared by Monique Lorden (@1985poet)

KH: It is clear you have a commanding presence and magnetic aura. How does love, faith and rebirth play a role in your artistic process?

ML: We try to define love so often – I think it’s only human to do so. You have romantic love, friendship or familiar love with families. But when you love your community and you have a purpose, and love is at the center of your core, there is no difference in love, love is love, right?

The same way that I love community, I put my heart out there for my community, I like to think that I do the same for my family. Because after all, we are all apart of something bigger than us, which is community. 

I don’t try to isolate or define what love is, I just try to be it. I find that if I am love, I won’t have to figure out how to love.

It’s kind of like the way that I define peace. We always hear people say, “I gotta find my peace of mind. I’m trying to find peace right now.

I challenged myself a couple years ago. I was standing in the middle of Times Square, and you know, New York, and everything is moving around me. Everything was moving. I’m like, if I can be peace in this moment, then nothing can touch me.

In summation…

Indeed, nothing is coming near the radiance and glowing magnificence that 1985 Poet personifies. She has found what makes her whole, the love she deserves and puts her 10K80 to max capacity every week.

Clearly, she continues to discover her why and is a living testament of the fact that, “There’s More to Life.” Now, it is your turn to do the same. Spread Love. One.

Pele, FIFA’s most decorated soccer star, launched his own NFT to commemorate his life’s efforts and further cement his legacy. The 80-year-old legend is seen by many as the GOAT in soccer, and now Pele has entered the crypto space.

In collaboration with Kingsletter and Visual Lab, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (better known as Pelé) released 3D collectible trading cards to be purchased in NFT form. The licensed collection dropped on May 2 and consisted of 3-6 highly authentic minted pieces. 

Pele links up with Ethernity Chain for crypto wonder

With the ever-growing platform, Ethernity Chain, the two powerhouse entities combined forces in order to make it possible to grab a share of history.

“The Pelé NFT is likely to be the gold-standard of football NFTs. In recent months, several of Europe’s major clubs, including Juventus, Barcelona and AC Milan, have released digital tokens to better engage with fans via the popular Socios platform.”

Ethernity Chain

The beautiful part about the entire process is the fact that 90 percent of the proceeds will go to the Pele Foundation. The Pele Foundation directly contributes its donations to children who are facing the unimaginable hardships of poverty and food insecurity. 

via GIPHY

Pele makes a difference

In the short duration that we are placed on this universe, we try to make life last as long as we can. Some people choose to invest, others choose to splurge. But either way, it is how we affect change between the margins that really counts.

Those who think not just of themselves but of others in their times of prosperity deserve our notice and praise. Pelé has long been beloved by fans across the world; this is just another reason.

Certainly, Pele’s foray into the crypto world is one of the more noble NFT releases as the majority of funds will go directly to the less fortunate. Bravo, Pele!