We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Gerald Thomas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Gerald, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Is there a lesson you learned in school that’s stuck with you and has meaningfully impacted your journey?
I never would’ve imagined back in 2008 during freshmen orientation at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR that the commitment I made to graduate as an academically accomplished student, grounded as an advocate for social justice, determined to change the world for the better would come full circle almost 15 years later.
9 months ago, I committed myself to leading the social impact strategy for KFC GLOBAL, a YUM! Brand owned entity. Everyday I wake up tasked with developing and implementing global purpose programs and partnerships. More specifically, I get to both provide resources and capital to the world’s most marginalize (and I do mean the world as I cover over 145 countries) . It’s not easy, but definitely my purpose.
When I think about where I am today, I’m reminded of the saying “The way you word your goals matter”. When I finished undergrad in 2012, I hopped on a plane to the Philippines and committed myself to serving in social justice ministries. I enter new communities across the globe and worked to understand their challenges and assets with a long-term goal to overcome systemic oppression and while I didn’t just work as an Elder ( male title for missionary), the site of social impact never left my side.
Gerald, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
While I always felt hugely connected to social impact and doing good for others, another passion of mine was being a great communicator. Most people who know me, would connect me to my earlier work as an Entertainment Publicist/ Event Curator. I got my start in 2008 while a freshmen at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR. My college President Walter M. Kimbrough encouraged me to apply for an internship with The Source Magazine. It was an opportunity to be a campus representative for the brand. I wrote articles, took polls on new music and artist, and got to distribute magazines to the campus community. I also got to spend a summer working in their NYC office. I learned the process of laying out the magazine, pitching, building contacts and that experience led me to experiencing red carpet management life for the likes of BET Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards, MTV awards and The Grammy’s .
In addition to all of that, my college Student Involvement and Leadership Coordinator (who has become a friend and mentor) Almeta Ellis saw me on campus one day and told me (literally told me) that I was going to coordinate our HBCU Homecoming Fashion Show. She told me two things; “that I had $150 budget and to make the show good. She said people will boo if the show isn’t good and that I should never want to get booed”. With the combination of both things transpiring while in college, it birthed the launch of The GDT PR Agency, a luxury Entertainment PR/ Event Management company that turns 9 on September 12th.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What has helped build my reputation within my professional market are two big facts: I treat people good, so that they treat me better and the fact that I never get too comfortable with what my peers may consider “success”. I define success by how often I get to do things that are purposeful, that are meaningful. Success is defined by how much I choose to maximize my potential, and how often I get to help other people in a meaningful way.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Ultimately, I have a very robust process when it comes to creating brand loyalty with clients. Prospective clients are required to participate in our signature consultation call, which is a hands-on exploration of their business needs. A bi-weekly call (45 minutes) is used to build momentum if my agency decides to move from prospective to current. Additionally, we have weekly “putting out fire” calls in which any issues facing the business are discussed. In the off weeks, my agency is busy working the plan and every 30 days client receives a activity report detailing the things worked on and/or accomplished.
I believe full transparency and showing the client how we value them, what is being done to create value, leads to the loyalty they give.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegdtproject.com/
- Instagram: TheGDTProject
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geralddthomas/
- Twitter: TheGDTProject
Image Credits
GDT iPhone