Meet Dr. Allen Lockhart | President/Founder of Stand Tall, Inc

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allen Lockhart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My God and my family empowered me to start our family business. God has blessed me with a nonprofit business called Stand Tall, Inc. I was raised by two amazing parents that were very supportive and protective. My sister and I were blessed to have parents that loved us and cared for us. We had our family issues, but with a lot of support and encouragement. Unfortunately, growing up I was bullied a lot. My dad spent a lot of his time in the military, so I had to depend on my mom, my sister, and my uncles to provide me with support and protection. My mom and dad encouraged my sister and I to pursue academic excellence, which prompted me to earn two master degrees and a Ph.D. Also, my parents empowered my sister and I to invest our lives in careers that enhance people and communities. I was employed in several school systems and mental health agencies that worked with our youth.

Working over the years as a teacher, mental health therapist and now as a school program coordinator, I have been blessed to work with students who have been stricken with mental health issues, self-esteem issues, and crime related issues. In addition, as a mental health therapist, I have worked with children and teens with a history of violent behaviors and have been exposed to violent related incidents in their families and communities. I wanted to do more than just provide individual and group counseling sessions.

God blessed me to write and publish a life skill workbook for teens called, Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction. My beautiful wife, Gloria Lockhart, and I would provide group sessions in churches, community centers, and schools using this book. With the success of reaching out to teens and families, we thought it would be impactful if we could do this outreach with the Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction workbook as a business adventure in which empowered my wife and I to pursue an nonprofit business. Stand Tall, Inc was started while my family and I lived in Orlando Florida. We provided services in many neighborhoods at community outreach programs and organizations. Currently, we have been blessed with a 501 (c) (3) and are partnering with school districts and communities to provide services to youth and families.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I mentioned earlier that I was raised by two amazing parents that were very supportive and protective of my sister and me. We had our family issues, but with parents that were very supportive and encouraging that believed in family, we survived! I remember growing up feeling insecure and experiencing the devastation of being bullied and picked on, my world went crashing! Thank God for family! I know how it feels to feel invisible to people, to feel that the other kids do not want you around them, to feel like your presence do not matter. It hurts me to see young people experience those feelings. Feeling angry, unimportant, isolated, and like their lives do not matter. That’s what prompted me to invest my life, my career choices, working with our youth and families.

Working over the years as a teacher, mental health therapist and now as a school program coordinator, I have been blessed to work with students who have been stricken with mental health issues, self-esteem issues, anger issues, and crime related issues. In addition, as a mental health therapist, I have worked with children and teens with a history of violent behaviors and have been exposed to violent related incidents in their families and communities.

God blessed me to write and publish three books, Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction, Secret Pain, and Daddy Do You Care If I Perish. I mentioned earlier that my wife, Gloria, and I would provide group sessions at churches, community events, and schools while living in Orlando Florida. I would provide anger management and conflict resolutions groups to students that were very angry at the world and could not focus and function properly in the classrooms. My wife and I used the book, Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction, because it is a life skill book with topics such as: Anger and Aggression, Substance Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Violence and Crime, Dropping Out of School, and other issues that our youth are confronted with.  Our passion to serve the communities and schools with our services from Stand Tall, Inc is to empower families and communities to stand tall against anything that’s negative and destructive in the communities and schools. Our services provides tutoring, reading clubs, male’s leadership mentoring program, a community outreach program, and an empowerment activity for dads. Stand tall Inc mission statement is: To educate, encourage, and enhance communities through tutoring, male mentorship, and community activities.

To get a better understanding of Stand Tall Inc. anyone can visit our website at standtallinc1.com

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take anyone who visits my family and I to downtown Dallas. I am so intrigued with downtown Dallas! One of my favorite spots to eat and just hang out is Dallas Farmers Market which is a large place with a mixture of local specialty foods and artisanal food vendors.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to recognize my amazing dad, Mr. Alvin Lockhart, who is my support system, prayer partner, very best friend, and who have provided me with support, love, and encouragement my entire life!

I would like to recognize my beautiful and amazing wife, Mrs. Gloria Lockhart, who is the love of my life, my support system and best friend. Without my God, my dad, and my wife, I would have no positive story to tell.

Last of all, I would like to recognize my three amazingly awesome children, Joshua, Candace, and Jeremiah. The have supported me, encouraged me and have enhanced my passion to keep pursuing opportunities to provide services to the families and youth in the communities. Also, they have been my cheering support when I was blessed to publish three books and earn my Ph.D.

Website: standtallinc1.com

Facebook: facebook.com/allen.lockhart.98/