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Meet Stanley Aughtry of Aughtry Brand

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Stanley Aughtry.

Stanley Aughtry, Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. to Brenda Barnes Battle and Stanley Aughtry, Sr. He spent his formative years in Goldsboro, North Carolina where he excelled as a scholar-athlete and musician. In 1997, Stanley was awarded a full tuition athletic scholarship to Hampton University.

While matriculating at Hampton University, Mr. Aughtry received several accolades, including the Dean List (1999- 2002) and Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges (2001). He served as captain of the football team and was instrumental in helping the Pirates win three championships — the Middle Eastern Athletic Conference title twice, and the Heritage Bowl. His accomplishments earned him recognition in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2002, Mr. Aughtry was awarded a degree with honors in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduation, he began his career as an engineer and shortly after, obtained a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis General Management. Since 2003, Mr. Aughtry has been employed with Norfolk Southern, a fortune 500 company. Currently, he serves as the Manager of Fuel and Horsepower Hour Equalization. In addition to his career as an engineer, Mr. Aughtry is an entrepreneur. He is a franchisee for a national cleaning services company and the President and Founder of an investment group.

Though he left Hampton years ago, Mr. Aughtry continues to give back to the university by serving as the Vice President of the Hampton University Atlanta Alumni Chapter. Mr. Aughtry values the education and experience Hampton afforded him and strives to provide the same opportunities for potential future Hamptonians. In 2018, Hampton University recognized Mr. Aughtry as one of their top Forty Under 40, which is a platform to celebrate the University’s young alumni who are excelling in their professional and personal ventures.

Lastly, when he is not busy with his career as an engineer and many business ventures, Mr. Aughtry is honing his skills as an actor. Around 2007, his acting career began to thrive as he landed his first big screen appearance in The Dark Knight (2008). Following the success of the Dark Knight was featured in the films, Step Sisters (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Jack Reacher (2012). In 2014, he expanded his acting horizons to include television series by contributing to the productions of The Revolution Will Be Televised (2014), Being Mary Jane (2015), and Survivors Remorse (2015 and 2016). In late 2016, Mr. Aughtry returned to the big screen in Boo! A Madea Halloween, followed by All Eyez on Me in 2017. In 2017, he also landed his biggest role to date as “Shombay, Merchant Tribe Warrior” in the blockbuster film, The Black Panther. The film, which was released in February 2018, has grossed over 1.3 Billion.

Mr. Aughtry continues to excel in all three of his chosen careers — engineering, business, and entertainment — and has coined the term, “actorpreneur”.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Time management and prioritizing has and can always be a challenge. Each hat I wear brings different demands and opportunities, and knowing when and how to go about accomplishing each piece to keep things cohesive and productive is always challenging. Also, finding the right people to entrust and work within all facets can be a true struggle. The good thing is, once you have found good people, life is made easier for a while longer.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Aughtry Brand – what should we know?
I am an Electrical Engineer by trade from Hampton University. This has allowed me to excel in management with Norfolk Southern Corporation for over 16 years. During this time, I have been able to establish entrepreneurial businesses with Coppertone Investments, LLC and the award-winning Aughtry Brand’s 360 clean Franchise. Starting my acting career in 2007 and appearing in “The Dark Knight” through working in other television and film to held a principal role in the blockbuster “Black Panther” has allowed my movie and television portfolio to improve to earnings of over $4 Billion collectively in sales.

They say it is hard to find people that use both the left and right brain, but I am indeed one that does. I have coined the term “actorpreneur” which speaks to allowing more people the freedom to explore and live out their many talents in multiple disciplines if so desired versus the traditional idea of working 30 years in potentially one discipline and/or company until retirement. My goal with this is to remind people and inform the youth that in elementary school through high school, children are challenged to learn many studies such as Math, Science, English, Literature, History, and add the ability to be involved in art, sports, music, drama, and more. Usually, there are many children that meet this challenge and excel in all these areas as a youth. Yet, by the time college rolls around, society typically asks them to select a major and look to work those 30 years until retirement in that discipline of major. Why should this be the case, when as children, we have been able to successfully grade out well in multiple studies along with extracurricular activities? We should push to get the most out of ourselves and live as much of a fulfilled life as possible or as desired.

For me personally, I knew I enjoyed doing and excelling in more than one area of study and discipline. If you don’t use it, you can lose it, and I didn’t want to lose all my talents I worked hard to exercise as a youth. So, thanks to my work ethic and time managementskills that I learned while playing football for Hampton University and majoring in Electrical Engineering, I was equipped to handle my schedule and efforts accordingly to perform in all my current positions and more. When I am booked for speaking engagements, I work to get this thought out to the people as I want to motivate all people to make sure they are getting the most out of themselves and can look back at their life when near completion with no regrets of not going after what they may really want to do and know what they are capable of doing. This also helps avoid the starving actor sentiment. In today’s world, there is no need for that. While breaking into the industry, there are more than enough ways to earn positive income that should not lead artists to sleeping in their cars until their big break.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Besides God and my Parents, there are three people that I would like to recognize in being instrumental in influencing this story directly.

My high school Coach Elvin James played the main initial role in getting my future started right through and after high school. He did more than coach, he was a father figure for many of the students. In 1996, Coach James was named the USA Today Weekend Magazine’s “Most Caring Coach in America” while coaching at Goldsboro High School. Coach James would submit film on me to colleges and take me on my official visits, as my parents weren’t equipped to do so at the time. With this help and guidance, I earned my scholarship and selected Hampton University that provided the education and work ethic to power the current career I have now.

Also, my friend Simon Flake, he has been a constant sounding board and motivation during my career path as well. He now also serves as my publicist for my acting career and speaking engagement management. I met him during my time at Hampton University, and we have always been there for each other ever since… as he recently has been promoted to Lt. Col. of the US Army.

Lastly, David Thornton, my longest standing friendship since age 3…we were fortunate to share almost every class together as well as sports, band, and other extracurricular school activities. We pushed each other every day academically and athletically. Because of this friendly brotherly motivation, we both have remained driven. We continue to build up one another and reach out to help others…as after his NFL career, he is still encouraging and developing NFL Players and their respective families as the Indianapolis Colts Director of Player Engagement.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Kelly Talk Show, Michael and Joi in the Morning, Goldsboro News-Argus, Blavity

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