GROW, Inc: Glenis Redmond's Outreach with Words" is a literary non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the cause of literature, poetry, and cultural enrichment in our community. It is founded by me, Glenis Redmond, a teaching artist and poet for the last thirty years. She is the First Poet Laureate of Greenville, South Carolina, and a 2023 Poet Laureate Fellow recognized by the American Academy of Poets; this non-profit is on a mission to cultivate a love for words, creativity, and personal growth.

A: My superpower is storytelling. I began writing and performing poetry professionally in my 30s. I leaped from counseling to poetry full-time. Though I had a chronic illness and was a first-generation college student, I followed the poetry path, and it created a livelihood for me. I have traveled the world and bought homes and cars from my poetry. Poetry has made a life for me materially and spiritually. It has served me and allowed me to serve others in my hometown as the poet laureate and across the country and the world. When I began to speak, pathways opened for me and others.

A: I meditate. I walk. I garden. I write. I dance. I spend time with my grandgirls. I love to escape to the mountains or the oceans.

My crown chakra. The violet field is what I see when I meditate and it has a calming energy that I see out in the natural world. This field has been with me and guided me since birth. It allows me to document beauty.

We can't wait to share Laura's live interview with Glenis - check it out here.