Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship Susana Santos provides remarks about Michael Boyce Award winner Lewis Thurston II. (Photo by Jim Moran College)<\/p>\nLickson,\u00a0director of Northwest Florida\u00a0programs\u00a0at\u00a0the Jim Moran Institute, also emphasized Thurston\u2019s impact on the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes you truly special goes beyond participation \u2014 it\u2019s the impact and kindness you bring to our community every day,\u201d\u00a0Lickson\u00a0said. \u201cThere is a generosity in how you show up for your clients, for your community and for all of us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thurston\u2019s story resonated strongly with attendees, offering both inspiration and practical insight. A central theme was the importance of community and giving back, as well as his perspective that \u201csuccess is a never-ending moving party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really inspired\u00a0hearing\u00a0Lewis talk about his work with Dance Marathon and the events he\u2019s led across Tallahassee,\u201d said Miller. \u201cEven in a short conversation, it was clear how passionate he is about delivering quality experiences while giving back to the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing being able to see Lewis recognized for everything he has done with VEZ Productions,\u201d\u00a0Kokales\u00a0added.\u00a0\u201cWorking with him as a student consultant in the LEAP program taught me so many things about entrepreneurship and inspired me to create my own business in the near future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing being able to see Lewis recognized for everything he has done with VEZ Productions. Working with him as a student consultant in the LEAP program taught me so many things about entrepreneurship and inspired me to create my own business in the near future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013 Samuel Kokales, Florida State University student<\/p>\n
During the discussion, Thurston also shared his vision for the future of VEZ Productions, including plans to expand into\u00a0additional\u00a0cities across Florida and continue delivering high-quality entertainment experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Upon receiving the award, Thurston\u00a0reflected on\u00a0both the recognition and the responsibility it\u00a0represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe award means there\u2019s still more work to do,\u201d Thurston said. \u201cThere are so many people counting on me to keep pushing forward and never give up. It also shows that people recognize the dedication and effort it takes to build something through entrepreneurship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lewis Thurston II was honored as the recipient of the inaugural Michael Boyce Award \u2014 a national recognition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,73690,62399],"class_list":["post-220681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fsu-jim-moran-institute-for-global-entrepreneurship","tag-jim-moran-college-of-entrepreneurship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LEAP_Awards.png\")
Lewis Thurston II was honored as the recipient of the inaugural Michael Boyce Award \u2014 a national recognition presented to an emerging entrepreneur who has overcome adversity while demonstrating exceptional leadership, service and commitment to community. (Photo by Jim Moran College)\t\t<\/p>\n