Mark Adams is a Birmingham-area native, University of Alabama engineering graduate and the spouse of one of last year's Haute Pink models, Stephanie Adams. After Stephanie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, Mark became her "co-survivor," her partner and caregiver. Mark says walking through Stephanie's cancer journey was difficult. "There were times that I wished I had another man that had been in a similar position as myself to reach out to, ask questions, vent to, get advice or to give me a prep talk of what was about to take place," says Mark. Toward the end of Stephanie's treatment, the couple attended a co-survivor support meeting at Forge. "Just being in the same room as other couples who are walking through the same journey was so enlightening and refreshing," Mark says. Now Mark volunteers at Forge as a co-survivor peer support counselor. "My desire is to be a little positive piece in the difficult journey," he says.

Darryl Peoples is the founder and designer of Heru Ra Creations, a company through which he creates his designs and collaborates with other fashion designers. He creates timeless and fashion-forward designs inspired by his own joys and struggles in life. His purpose is to inspire and motivate people to create and follow their passion in life whether through fashion, art or any other mediums of creativity. The impetus behind Darryl’s work is mental health awareness. Therefore, he uses fashion to bring light out of dark situations.