Tommy Nichols is the president and CEO of Glorified Media, a media marketing company that creates, acquires and manages media base assets. He is the founder of the Charlotte Black Film Festival and Executive Director of PowerUP USA, the leader in art, business, media, science, and technology vocational training. While attending Wilberforce University a keen business acumen and a strong appreciation for Technology and content creation were developed. Through continued education, Nichols subsequently graduated from The National Federation of Entrepreneurship, American Guild of Court Videographers, and The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute. He later completed extensive and specialized training at the Hollywood Film Institute in New York, which boasts Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee as graduates.
With over twenty years experience in technology, media, and entrepreneurship, Nichols has managed multi-million dollar projects to include participation in a $10 million dollar district-wide computer and network integration project for the BDM/Dayton Public School System; and the procurement of a $1.2 million dollar media upgrade for the Department of Defense. Appointed by the Mayor of Charlotte to the Charlotte - Mecklenburg Public Access TV board of directors where he was recently voted as Vice President by his peers. In addition, he has trained over 700 youth and adults in the areas of technology and media. He is in the process of sharing his lifelong experiences in his first book called "Coding Black".
His professional accolades are numerous and include: Director of Photography for the movie, “Johnny, Mattie and Smooth White Stone, II and III,” (filmed in Ripley, Ohio and Ontario, Canada); author and director of four stage plays, one of which was performed at Winthrop University in April 2010, to a crowd of over 650, recipient of “The Business Journal’s 40 under 40, “The YMCA Black Achievers Award, Kennedy Charter School “Life Savers Award”. and received a proclamation from the mayor of Charlotte for his work in the community. His experience and reputation in media and business have made him a sought-after consultant and workshop presenter. Nichols attributes his success to his faith, hard work, and being a cheerful giver.