Adrian Owen Jones

Melissa Thompson

Hometowns: Oklahoma City (Jones), Searcy, Arkansas (Thompson)

Artistry: Leadership development, event organizing, communication strategy; Partners, Success Labs

Links: tedxbatonrouge.com, successlabs.com, @tedxbatonrouge and @success_labs

From the swirling ocean-blue lights to the wavy structural designs, as Adrian Owen Jones walks into a huddle with the show’s technical directors, the black-clad stage crew buzzing about microphones and cues, everything inside Manship Theatre seems to be moving—except for Melissa Thompson. Leaning forward in her theater seat, scrolling through project files and emails, the lead TEDxBaton Rouge organizer appears almost zen as final preparations are made.

But she’s been here before. In late 2012, on her first day among the LSU faculty, she was asked if she knew what TED Talks are.

“I said ‘yeah, of course,’” Thompson recalls. “And they said, ‘OK, well, we have one—it’s in less than 100 days.”

The communications instructor and former director of talent development for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber pulled off that first mad-dash TEDxLSU with poise and then led successful annual TEDx Talks through 2019.

This Baton Rouge edition evolved from Thompson’s desire to continue challenging the community. Jones, a longtime business strategist, had joined Thompson as a partner at Success Labs, the Baton Rouge-based leadership development firm founded by Devin Lemoine, and together they became the perfect duo for this daring new vision for TEDxBaton Rouge.

“How do we have a conversation about climate change in South Louisiana?” Thompson recalls months after the event. “From sponsors and potential speakers, we got told ‘no’ a lot.”

With the theme of Unseen Currents, the 2025 edition of TEDxBaton Rouge featured seven diverse speakers, each meditating on the cultural and ecological landscape of South Louisiana and posing pointed questions about what we can do next.

“Who says no to a TED Talk, right?” Jones says. “But they did because they were worried about losing their job or losing their funding. So what I was surprised by is how open and willing our audience was to have that conversation. The feedback was great and overwhelming.”

With Jones a big-picture, experience-focused creative, and Thompson the detail-oriented executor, they utilize creativity in different ways. “Melissa is so in tune with people,” Jones says. “Reading a room is a superpower, and she’s really good at it.”

An avid gardener, Jones is a bold fashion maven, connector and networking pro. By contrast, Thompson recharges with needlepoint embroidery. “My grandma hobby at night turns off my work brain for a little while,” she says.

It’s this dynamic blend that has fueled the impact of TEDxBaton Rouge, and it’s an underrated factor for success.

Using creative thought and even some intentional play, Jones and Thompson help leaders get the most out of their own talent and improve how their teams communicate.

“Entrepreneurship and leadership are both about vision—you just have to have it,” Jones says. “And that’s creativity. A creative vision is where everything starts.”