|
Krystal
Thomas has made a business out of helping people.
As President and CEO of Pooka Ventures she helps people
all the time or companies rather, to figure out how they can
use the resources that are available to them in order to
enhance their business and better market themselves.
That may seem like a tall order to fill, and it is, but
Kyrstal doesn’t mind because it’s in her blood and she has
the experience to back it up.
She
received her business degree from the University of California
Berkley: School of Business with an emphasis in Organizational
Behavior and Corporate Law accompanied by another degree in
African American Studies.
Then it was on to conquer the corporate world where she
worked with Fortune 500 companies (BMW, Nestle, IBM, AT&T
Wireless, Lucent, Showtime, Avnet etc.) helping them pinpoint
how the internet could best extend their marketing
capabilities. After
that she had a chance to run a marketing agency for a major
sports celebrity firm. “That
experience really taught me the essence of doing business
deals, ventures, marketing individuals as brands, and also
marrying those personalities to brands and corporations.
What I learned was that the key ways that we could
succeed was by creating our own properties for our guys, so
that in turn we could create a win- win situation, not only
for the athletes we were representing, but the businesses who
took a chance on them,” she acknowledges.
Last year
Krystal decided to “create” her own opportunity.
She thought long and hard about how she could take what
she did in the entertainment and business worlds and make them
work for herself as well as for the people who were trying to
marry them. From
that concept Pooka Ventures was born. Pooka: having two primary meanings, the first being Pooka
shells which people consider a symbol of wealth and prosperity
were used as currency for island barters. The other side of it
is Pooka as a spirit-which in many legends and cultures- was
called upon when people were looking for massive change or
transformation in their lives.
However, it is the latter meaning that has built the
foundation of her company and encompasses the mission she has
set for herself and each project that she takes on.
Perseverance
and preparation have been essential on Krystal’s journey to
success. “I would say that what prepared me for my previous job was
having ten years of corporate experience and understanding in
how corporations work externally and internally. Next,
understanding the foundation of brands, what it is, and how
does it affect the people and lastly, what strategies are
behind the companies that I am representing.
If you don’t have that business foundation behind you
it becomes difficult to make your creative ideas work because
at the end of the day it’s still business,” she concurs.
Blessed enough to have a strong support team and great
mentors who guided her through the doors of opportunity,
Kyrstal is more than thankful for everything that she has
accomplished and knows that she wouldn’t be where she is
today if those same people had not taken the time out to share
their experiences with her.
She also manages to pass on that same torch by being a
life coach for people who are in transition in life or career
wise. “It’s
so amazing to help others.
Having been through the process myself and been the
beneficiary of having a coach; it’s something that’s the
biggest key success factor that I’ve had not only in my
career, but in my life…It’s a powerful thing,” she
relays.
Recently,
Krystal aligned with Community Partners to launch an
educational initiative and fulfill a long time dream. [RAACE-short
for Revitalizing Arts and Cultural Education- is a movement to
implement an ethnic studies social course into college
preparatory high school curricula.
The program will be an exploration of African, Asian,
and Latin American studies across three disciplines:
literature, applied arts, and history.
It will prepare students for the academic rigors of
college level applications and allow them to explain practical
applications of the information in the business world through
development of corporate sponsored teaching modules.
Targeted for implementation in
2006-2007,
interest in the movement has caused the initiative to move
forward in its planning process.]
“I’m really being able to do many things that are
important to me and things that my clients can use as well.
Like for example launching this initiative is something
that is both needed and is also personally rewarding to me,”
she maintains.
When the
innovative CEO isn’t busy closing deals or coaching others,
she can be found indulging in the arts of yoga, kickboxing,
and salsa dancing. She
agrees that one of the nice things about having her own
business is that it allows her to focus a little bit more on
her well being and that freedom
is priceless.
Determined,
poised, seasoned, and always willing to lend a helping hand,
Krystal Thomas knows what her gifts are and uses that to make
it all work.
For more information on Krystal Thomas and Pooka Ventures log
unto www.pookaventures.com
|
