Meet Keedran Franklin

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Keedran Franklin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Keedran, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

My purpose was placed on me very young. I remembered being around 7 or 8 years old. My grandmother had taken her 5 grandchildren to the store. Once there, she gave us all money to buy something out of the store. I was the last one out of the car and received $2 for my store snacks.

I left the car in tow behind my cousins, looked up and saw a shabby guy with a sign that read “Homeless” standing by the door, and right before I went inside of the store, I dropped my two dollars inside of his bucket and walked inside.

Once inside, watching my sister snd cousins buy the donuts and snacks that they like, I was happy to go back and tell my grandmother that I helped the homeless man..

She didn’t like that I had given my money up but she sure did appreciate that my heart was in the right place.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Peace Gods! I’m Keedran Franklin born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. My journey began in South Memphis where I was active in sports. My biggest inspiration however started from my grandmother, Marcell Franklin, who enjoyed being active in the community. It was from her efforts of giving back to community that fueled my passion of serving and giving back to others. From taking old clothes and patching them up, to starting a community food panty with our local church, she instilled in me the meaning of leadership. Fast forward to now, I’m very proud to say that I’ve created and been a part of impactful events on a local and national level such as the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, the Fight for 15 union rights campaign, Black Men Build, and much more.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Being in the community I learned that people skills are a must. I learned this early on as a child, but it’s different when you’re out in the field dealing with different individuals with various issues. Learning internal and external auditing skills allowed me to look at micro-macro-level situations from a systemic level. Lastly, learning social and emotional literacy. This was the most critical and life-changing for me. This was a process of learning myself internally through spiritual balance and harmony. Through this, I have mastered who I am. This allows me to give space and grace to others.

The best advice I can give is learning yourself first. Being grounded in yourself and staying humble. Standing firm on your beliefs and principles. I usually ask the youth, if money was not an object, what would you do in life? So basically do what you love.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

One of my favorite books to date is Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It highlights a seagull with hawk dreams. However, he exceeded the expectations of both tribes. This novella expressed to me never be stuck in one dimension and always maximize my full potential in all situations.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Keedran Franklin