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TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

This FINAL encore experience will be unlike any other. Because like everything we do, it's been "reimagined" from beginning to end. It's not a virtual or hybrid event. It's not a conference. It's not a seminar, a workshop, a meeting, or a symposium. And it's not your typical run-of-the-mill everyday event crammed with stages, keynote speeches, team-building exercises, PowerPoint presentations, and all the other conventional humdrum. Because it's up close & personal by design. Where conversation trumps presentation. And where authentic connection runs deep.

SLIM SHAKY – Giving People with Parkinson’s a Voice

SEQUOIA LOWE

I‘m Sequoia. I made SLIM SHAKY to give people with Parkinson’s a voice, to spread awareness of life with PD, to show people with Parkinson’s that they’re not alone, and to raise funds for a cure. And I made SLIM SHAKY because I love my mom.

It was years ago that I first said at the family dinner table that I wanted to make a rap music video for my mom, but I meant it as a joke. My mom’s never been into rap music or rapping, and that’s exactly what made it so compelling. Even when I thought of the name “Slim Shaky”, she just smiled and rolled her eyes, but I wasn’t planning on making it happen.

When it came time to make my senior project in college, I realized that with this “Slim Shaky” idea, I had the opportunity to share my mom’s experience of Parkinson’s with the world in an honest and uplifting way. I realized that I could go even bigger and launch a fundraiser to help to cure Parkinson’s. And I realized that I could help make my mom the coolest rapper ever. It was a no-brainer. My mom was unsure at first, but then agreed to help.

This good plan became a great one when I connected with Heather Kennedy, an accomplished and talented Parkinson’s advocate who uses all forms of media to tell the world about PD. I was thrilled when she said she would love to join my mom and become the second rapper in the project, the second Slim Shaky!

I started by talking with my mom and Heather about their experiences with Parkinson’s, and then I wrote lyrics for each of them based on those conversations. From there we were able to hold “studio” sessions to record the rap, and then after plenty of editing, we started filming! Oh yeah, did I mention that Heather lives on the other side of the country? We collaborated entirely online!

After much planning, practicing, rapping, and editing, SLIM SHAKY is here for you to enjoy. As you watch, I hope you learn something, I hope you feel something, and I hope you see all the passion and love that went into it. I truly am so grateful for the incredible energy that my mom and Heather brought to the project, and for everyone who helped make this silly idea come to life.

SLIM SHAKY communicates a message of strength, but it also shows how life with Parkinson’s can really suck. About five million people worldwide are living with this degenerative illness, and there’s no known cure.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation vows to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease by funding high-impact scientific research.

We’re asking for your generous support so that these five million people can sing, dance, love, and be loved, and maybe even rap, long into the future. It means more than you know.

SUPPORT OUR CAUSE HERE


Sequoia Lowe has since graduated from WCSU and now works in the media industry. He’s thrilled fo the release of SLIM SHAKY as an opportunity to express his love for his mom, spread awareness about life with PD, and raise funds for a cure. “My mom and Heather are incredible,” he says. “It takes so much courage to do this, and they both killed it.”

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Special Guest Contributor
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