By Tim Ryan

Hey Innovate Hampton Roads, buckle up—something massive is landing in our backyard! On May 17, 2025, Portsmouth’s own Elevated Thoughts Academy (ETA) is flipping the script on personal growth and leadership, launching a global movement that’s all about turning your potential into straight-up purpose. This isn’t just another startup story—it’s a tidal wave of innovation crashing through Hampton Roads, and we’re here to ride it.
Picture this: Samuel “Coach Sam T” Tolbert—Navy vet, ex-corrections officer, teacher, youth mentor, and now a visionary founder—takes his own journey of grit and transformation and scales it into a platform that’s about to light up lives everywhere. ETA isn’t playing small. With a 7-City Book Tour hitting Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk, plus digital courses and coaching that scream next-level, they’re dropping tools to elevate your mindset, identity, and hustle.
What’s the secret sauce? ETA’s rolling out the MV-SOAR Model and Thought Seeking Methodology (TSM)—frameworks built to smash limiting beliefs, spark personal agency, and turn you into a leader from the inside out. “People might see your potential,” Coach Sam says, “but if you don’t believe it and act on it, it’s just noise.” Real talk from a guy who’s walked the walk.
This isn’t just feel-good vibes—ETA’s already eyeing collabs with local colleges and school districts, slinging digital and in-person courses, pro-dev workshops for educators and leaders, faith-based coaching, and a book, Potential to Purpose: The Power of Intentional Thinking, that’s about to be your new playbook. From classrooms to boardrooms, they’re taking this global, and Hampton Roads is ground zero.
The Founder’s Cohort kicks off the party on launch day, and the Book Tour’s bringing the heat to every corner of our region before blasting off to schools, churches, and corporations worldwide. Want in? Hit up ElevatedThoughtsAcademy.com to join the waitlist or track this rocket ship.
Hampton Roads, this is our moment—ETA’s proving innovation isn’t just tech and startups; it’s about unlocking what’s already in us. Let’s soar together!

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