Almost a year ago, the music and lifestyle platform BitchBopz—led by Ashley Koehler—was born and has since taken the Memphis music by an ultra hot storm, highlighting all things femme, femme, femme. Frustrated with not being able to use her marketing and design talents for something that gave her purpose, Ashley formed BitchBopz out of a need to amplify authentic music she loved which blossomed into an engaged online community. Eventually, artists Taylor Mix and Ellen Whelan joined as co-Bopperz, and now, the trio is getting ready to throw a big anniversary bash at Ugly Art Co. after a wildly successful Grammys Watch party—their largest feat yet, but with so much more to come. 

At just four years old, DeMarcus Suggs experienced his first transformative moment on the dance floor, swaying with his grandmother to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" at a family wedding—a joyful awakening that revealed how movement could become both expression and liberation. He found a calling in movement through ballet, leading him to create imaginative choreography pieces centered around redemption. Fast forward to now: he’s made history as the first Director of Creative and Cultural Economy for the City of Memphis.