We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Carmen Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Carmen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Legacy is very important to me and my hopes is that my family will keep the nonprofit we started growing and advancing the opportunities we provide in other locations across the United States to support women of color with opportunities to start and grow their businesses that create systems, legacies and to become recession proof.

For me legacy does not just have to be family that is related to me, but individuals who believe in and support the mission and vision enough to delve deep into the work each day to make a positive impact in the lives of other women of color.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

1. Can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, I’ve owned businesses for several years and some were successful and some were not, however, I did not quit, I kept pursuing my passion of helping women and families. I first started with property management in the 1980’s and I learned so much about Real Estate and Property Management without a Real Estate License and marketing a property that needed millions of dollars in improvements and marketing in a very competitive climate took a strategic plan, excellent customer service, problem solving, relationship building, and an attitude of not giving up but to continue until you accomplish the mission.

2. What type of products/services/creative works you provide: Leadership development and training, emotional intelligence training, transition from job to developing your passion to become a lucrative career. Networking and identifying their gifts and talents to live their best life. How to plan networking events, and monthly events to support leadership and talent development. How to pursue grants, sponsors and supportive teams.

3. What problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others. I help my clients identify their gifts, believe in themselves with a mindset shift, and share opportunities to create multiple streams of income. What sets me apart is I’m an Authentic Servant Leader, who provides tools and resources to support my clients. I establish relationships with them, I care about their success. When my clients win, I win.

4. What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc. I’m proud of so much. I’m proud to see my family succeed in their endeavors. My 6 year old granddaughter became a self published author with the support of her mom, my youngest daughter. I’m proud of the women I support launching their businesses and becoming very successful. I’m happy about a women’s membership program I developed 3 years ago and the successful connections executed from the space. Finally, I’m very excited about the Nonprofit I founded in 2017, Transformation GEMS, which has supported over 100 women especially during the pandemic with funds and partnerships with credit unions and other community leaders to provide resources to several women. We have had 4 successful conferences and are currently preparing for our next conference to support up to 200 in attendance. Check us out at Transformationgems.com.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Yes, one most important time was when I was in business and the economy shifted and shook my world. This is when your income begins to disappear, you are forced to pivot or you could die along with your business. This has happened to me a couple times and the first time was during the Real Estate Crash in 2007, in which, I had to liquidate and sell all my assets to keep from drowning and apply for a job to bring in income. I switched from selling Real Estate to becoming a Real Estate Consultant. You often times don’t know how you have learned and studied your craft and the expertise you have is worth so much money, you have a gift to teach what you learned and how you thrived during perilous times. I found that gift inside and begin to share others how to believe in themselves and create strategies to get out of debt and look within to find other sources of opportunities to provide income.

My second pivot was when I founded the nonprofit Transformation GEMS business and all of a sudden in 2020 the pandemic showed up and shut us down. I had an office space where I helped women entrepreneurs with creating businesses and how to maximize their income. So, I had to think fast quickly. I immediately emailed the women and we begin meeting online with Zoom monthly meetings to keep the motivation and training going. This also identified a women’s memebership group I developed during that time called UnstoppableWomensEmpire.com, there were women who wanted a deeper more supportive connection and the women didn’t mind investing in themselves. That was my next business I launched and the target audience was immediately identified. We women are powerful and relentless and we love helping others. I begin connecting with the women who loved helping other women with their gifts and today we are still moving forward.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding for me came from asking individuals I had relationships with and who trusted me. I began asking my connections, then I had to invest in my own vision first and share why is was important for me to do what I do. I begin collecting testimonies from the individuals who supported and used the nonprofit. The message grew from me inviting others to a breakfast sharing what I did with the first $2,500.00 I collected to support women with starting their businesses. I tracked the women monthly to provide them with coaching and other resources to support the women. Then other local community businesses starting funding the vision and others began to share. Telling my story has made a difference and our mission has become a positive message of hope for our women in the community.

Currently we have received a few grants and opportunity to support others with the grants we are currently received. Over the last 3 years we have had opportunities partnering with the local and federal government for grants. We are believing we will continue receiving large grants as we continue to grow our organization. In addition, 2023 we grew to large and needed to move from 1200 square feet to 3200 square feet to support more women in the community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://transformationgems.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/transformationbycarmen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TGEMSGlobalSisterEmpire