Isaiah Mākar | Founder, Impact Mākars
Isaiah Mākar overcame social anxiety and the fear of pubic speaking after discovering his voice in the Spoken Word Club at Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF). Isaiah once said, “I hate poetry” to his freshman English teacher, Peter Khan, but was inspired by a JAY-Z lyric used in the writing workshop. Isaiah discovered the music he listened to was poetry and began teaching himself to write.
Before graduating, Isaiah performed in four spoken word showcases. He was a junior slam poetry finalist and he rapped in front of the entire school at the MLK assembly. Isaiah discovered his classroom performance improved as a result of performing on stage. A week after performing in his third showcase, his mom suffered a life threatening stroke. Isaiah began his next act; becoming a caregiver to his mom.
Isaiah’s mom was a Human Resources professional for over 20 years, working many long and stressful hours. She spent over 9 weeks in the hospital and needed emergency brain surgery to survive.
While taking care of his mom, Isaiah earned a degree in Organizational and Corporate Communication from The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He won the Outstanding Oral Presentation award at the Illinois Summer Research Symposium by performing his research on how poetry develops transferable communication skills. Isaiah has served as a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. He taught poetry at nearly 20 schools in the Chicagoland area as an artist-in-residence and is a two-time poetry slam finalist at the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards. His poem, Interstellar Birth, is featured in the book, Respect The Mic: Celebrating 20 years of Poetry from a Chicagoland High School. Isaiah’s journey inspired his third act, Impact Mākars.
Isaiah Mākar is the founder of Impact Mākars, a lifestyle brand that provides innovative experiences and products to inspire and connect people with their creative spirit. Impact Mākars achieves this through the Mākarshops.
Mākarshops are music-infused poetry workshops that inspire participants to unleash their creativity, create authentic connection, and boost happiness. Mākarshops are gamified, creating a fun team-building experience that sparks play, joy, and self-discovery in each participant. Many organizations have experienced Mākarshops– including Yelp, Grainger, Grant Thornton, Thresholds, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), and the Society of Human Resources Management Association (SHRM).
Isaiah’s journey of self-discovery was a spiritual training camp preparing him for his calling. Being a caregiver taught Isaiah how to serve a purpose greater than himself. Isaiah learned how to be happy, grateful, and at peace during difficult times. The OPRF Spoken Word Club taught him how to create space for others to discover their voice and build community. Isaiah Mākar envisions Impact Mākars as a world-wide movement that inspires people to live happier, peaceful lives by reconnecting with their creative spirit.
Experience Mākarshops Now!
Are you ready to create connection through creative expression? Let’s create together.