NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) –  Award-winning actor, poet and speaker Rashad Rayford recently visited Tennessee State University to promote his new book, “Elevate Your Vibe: Ten Ways to Grow You.”

The book signing was sponsored by TSU’s Avon Williams Library and the National Hook-Up of Black Women, Inc.

Rayford, who was recently crowned Moth Story Hour Nashville Grand Slam Champion, has been featured at TEDx and on National Public Radio, as well as in the Wall Street Journal, HuffPo, and USA Today.

“This book is a tool to help us activate or sharpen the necessary attributes that we need to elevate to our highest selves,” said Rayford, also known as Rashad Tha Poet. “How can we add value to other people if we haven’t first acknowledged the value within ourselves?”

His company, Elevate Your Vibe, LLC, is a nontraditional speaking company that blends spoken word poetry, and inspirational speaking to help businesses tell more compelling and concise stories.

Department of Media Relations

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Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a  premier, historically black university and land-grant institution offering 39 bachelor’s degree programs, 24 master’s degree programs, and seven doctoral degrees.  TSU is a comprehensive research intensive institution with a R-2 Carnegie designation, and has a graduate school on its downtown Avon Williams Campus, along with the Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center in McMinnville, Tennessee.  With a commitment to excellence, Tennessee State University provides students  with a quality education in a nurturing and innovative environment that prepares them as alumni to be global leaders in every facet of society. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.