- Helen Keller said, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

You know, I'm a little biased in this week's episode, because we are heading to my hometown, LaGrange, Georgia, America's greatest little city.

We're gonna hang out with the youngest business owner in the downtown area.

His story is remarkable.

Helen Keller had no idea she was writing that quote about our next Hope Giver, fashion designer, and owner of The Mind Clothing.

(upbeat music) - I grew up here in LaGrange, Georgia.

LaGrange is very country.

When I say country it's horses, you know, it's not- (Tamlin laughing) - When I first start talking about LaGrange, Georgia, the first thing you say, "there's horses."

- The spark has been in me since I was younger.

I raked the yard, I started, you know, mowing grass to make money, like, I developed that mentality of, "If you don't get the job done, who will?"

I did theater, you know, I did fashion.

I'm a avid reader.

I love to read books.

So, I was different and I was kind of weird, but it's okay, different is okay.

- Different is okay.

- You know, weird is okay.

(happy music) My entire life, I've been into fashion.

So, I used to always tell myself if I ever got into fashion, I would want to get into something that had a positive message behind it.

It was a long, lengthy process, but eventually everything was done and ready to go.

'Till 2019, March 17th, St. Patrick's day, (slaps hands together) traumatic car accident.

(somber music) I was going 85 south, seen a guy on the side of the road, the person in me, I have to help.

As soon as I looked down to check my mirror, (slaps hands together) immediately, I was hit.

(cars crashing) (sirens blaring) Rushed me to Grady Trauma Center, and I was there for about a week and a half.

And after that week and a half, they was like, "Hey, Brandon, we don't think we're gonna be able to save your leg."

They amputated my leg.

And I actually made a joke, (chuckles) just to loosen things up a little, I was like, "Can I keep it?"

(laughing) And they were like, "No, you can't keep your leg."

(uplifting music) - [Tamlin] Your clothing line had already been founded and started.

- I still had a lot of t-shirts, a lot of hats.

I have two close cousins.

I gave them all the merchandise I had, and I had boxes, and they were like, "Hey man, it's been a couple days and we've sold out.

Can we get some more?"

So I'm in the hospital, like, "I gotta get to work."

(upbeat music) (curtains opening) - Mm.

- No?

Let me see what else you got.

(laughing) Show me what else you got.

- Okay, okay, all right.

- Show me what else you can do.

- I'll be back.

(curtains closing) - Okie dokie.

- [Tamlin] You say, "mental health matters."

Why does it matter?

- Mental health matters because your mind is the most important tool that you have, honestly.

A lot of people blow it off.

I'm gonna be honest, especially in the black community, all the time, "Nothing wrong with you.

You okay," and it could be leading into depression, suicide, whatever the case may be, so there's nothing wrong with going to get a mental health counselor attention.

(curtain opens) (happy music) - Oh.

- Okay.

- Look at this.

- Yeah, you like it, I love it.

- Uh-huh.

- [Tamlin] Well, why is it so important to have a support system?

- Support encourages you.

It motivates you to want to do better.

It motivates you to say, "Hey, there's somebody out here watching me," or "there's somebody supporting me.

I have to get this right."

(relaxing music) Coming from where I come from, things of this nature don't seem attainable.

So for me to make it happen, I have to inspire the next generation, say, "Hey, I can do that too."

- You have found this resilience that lives inside of you, that is contagious.

So where does that come from?

- I'll be honest, it comes from practice.

It's not gonna be easy.

- Yeah.

I have times where I'm like, "Ah, like, this is crazy.

My leg is hurting, every day."

But I'm only anger, or upset, in a moment.

It's about, oh, you had a bad hour in your day, but you had six amazing days.

Life is just a whole bunch of baby steps.

It's just not, A Z.

It's A, B, C you know, (Tamlin laughing) it's an entire alphabet.

- Uh-huh.

- I, honestly, I was a runner.

I love running.

I haven't ran in almost two years now.

But, just know that I didn't get up and walk yesterday, that I wasn't able to balance myself on one leg yesterday.

This took time.

Focus on what the vision is, keep it intact, and you'll get there, one step at a time.

(happy music) - [Man] PSA crew, positive, - [Man] Sarcastic, - [Child] Animation.

(paper rattling) (paper rattling) - [Man 1] Wait, how come none of us are actually in this short?

- [Man 2] Tamlin ran out of money.

- [Man 1] What's a Tamlin?

- [Child] Tamlin Hall, host, producer, MC, all-around hope-giver.

He's the one that made this little classroom possible in the first place.

- [Man 2] I think he did a great job.

- [Child] Except of course, when it came to setting realistic goals and keeping production within his budget.

- [Man 2] True, it would be nice to have bodies in this one.

My mustache is itchy, but I can't seem to scratch it.

- [Child] Kinda makes you question things, like the reality of our very existence.

- [Man 1] Exactly, and what is the point of existence, if I never find my phone?

- [Man 2] I guess the lesson is- - [Man 1] That Tamlin scammed us, took the money for this short and ran off to the islands.

That's what I would do, it's all profit.

- [Man 2] If only there was an inexpensive way to talk about setting goals and achieving them, making sure you plan properly, and follow through.

(energetic music) (upbeat music) - Hey I'm Charlise, and I'm gonna show you my self-care technique of embroidering.

Whenever I'm feeling stressed out, or I just want to take some time to myself, I like to do this to just help myself calm down.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was on my phone a lot, and using social media a lot, and it was kind of stressing me out.

So I found something that would take me away from technology for a while.

So here, I have a t-shirt with the embroidery hoop on it and a little design that I drew on here myself, and you'll just take your needle and thread, and push it through the shirt, over and over, until you follow your pattern all the way around.

Just like this.

And doing this over and over for a while, will really help you to just feel at ease.

So, that's my technique and I hope you try it.

- Today's "Youth Across America" takes us to Statesboro Georgia.

(upbeat music) - Hi, my name is Tazmerria Wilson, I'm a Junior at Statesboro High, and I'm a Lady Blue Devil golfer.

(gentle music) I got interested in it because I wanted to find a sport to play, and, I wanted to play basketball, but it was too much for me to handle, so, my physical therapist from pre-K came and introduced me to golf, my eighth grade year, going into high school, during the summer, and I ended up enjoying it, so I'm playing still.

When I was three years old, I was diagnosed with a rare bone disease called bilateral tibial hemimelia, which is missing the tibia bone in both of my legs.

My mom either had two options, was to get 'em amputated, or was to get rods instilled in my legs, and I feel as if she chose the best option for me.

(inspirational music) For the ones that out there, who are similar to me, you just have to keep striving, you know, people are gonna talk.

It's going to be scary because I've been through a lot myself, getting off balance, phantom pain is the worst, but, you know, you just gotta keep going, and keep praying, if you believe in God, you know, and just hope for the best.

(upbeat music) - So let's talk about Brandon Todd.

"Weird is okay."

I love that line, and I subscribe to that line.

What is weird?

Weird is just expressing ourselves in our own way.

We're all original, every one of us, and what I love about Brandon is he's living his originality, and he's turned it into a business, he has such great resilience over the things that he's dealt with.

The other thing Brandon brought up was about men not wanting to talk about mental health.

And in my experience, it's very true.

First off, lots of people don't wanna talk about mental health, I don't care what gender you are, or what specificity you are.

But, it is true that men talk about it less.

And whether it's a testosterone thing, or a machismo thing, or a prioritization thing, it's this concept of mental health, mental illness, being a weakness, and, you know, the thing I would say to that is, I've talked about this a lot, we all live on a spectrum and there's nothing wrong with talking about your fluctuation in life, because it doesn't mean you're any less of a person or any more of a person because you have struggles and you have challenges.

So if you're a parent, an educator, first off, you have to understand that it's probably a little harder for men to talk about their mental health concerns.

If you can connect with men indirectly, it's better.

Like, if you're able to talk about something else, if you're able to talk about something else they're interested in, I guarantee you, if you dig enough, you know, you ask the why questions- there's a term we use in the psychological world, like, the six whys.

By the time you've gone to six why's, you've probably reached a point where you're getting the information you need.

So, you know, start at a familiar, comfortable place for them, and then just slowly, kind of, lead them into where you wanna go, and what you really wanna, you know, the information you really want to get.

And if you do it carefully enough and in a sophisticated way, you'll get that information, because it's not like people don't wanna share.

They do, but they have to feel safe, and they have to feel like they trust you, and they have to feel like it's gonna go somewhere.

Otherwise, who wants to share information that makes them feel a little uncomfortable, if they don't feel like there's gonna be any end result for sharing that information.

- [Woman] Do you know someone we should highlight?

Send us your suggestions and keep holding on.

(rhythmic music) - I want you to go follow Taz and her incredible journey as a golfer.

It is unbelievable!

Oh my goodness, what a remarkable story!

And understand, that you don't have to move to a big city to fulfill your dreams, you can do it right there in your hometown.

Performing his hit song, "Game On," here in the loft, This is Demo Taped.

♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Whoa I ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Just bounce with me ♪ ♪ Help yourself to everything ♪ you've always wanted ♪ ♪ Your body speaks another ♪ language almost got it ♪ ♪ And now I'm counting all my ♪ breaths and I can take it ♪ ♪ I know you don't want me ♪ ♪ I can't help my mind right now ♪ ♪ Its moving ♪ ♪ Got my heart rate bouncing ♪ ♪ Can't keep you out ♪ ♪ My thoughts it's classic ♪ ♪ Baby game on ♪ ♪ Game on ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Whoo ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Memories of the people ♪ that I have departed ♪