Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendrick Thomas.
Hi Kendrick , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always believed that where you start doesn’t have to determine where you finish. I’m originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, and my journey has taken me from the classroom to school leadership, entrepreneurship, media, authorship, and community work—but education has always been at the center of it.
I started my career in education in 2001. I’m a special education teacher by training, and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to teach and work with students at virtually every level. Some of the students who impacted me the most were the ones who didn’t always fit neatly into the traditional school environment. They taught me early that behavior is often communication and that what we see on the surface rarely tells the whole story.
One of the defining moments in my career came when I was working as a behavior-unit teacher at Hicks Elementary. My principal at the time, Mrs. Kesler, saw leadership in me before I fully saw it in myself. She began putting me in positions to lead, and that exposure changed the trajectory of my career. Eventually, I moved into administration and have spent years serving as an assistant principal, including my current work at the Alief Learning Center, an alternative education campus.
But somewhere along the way, I realized that my purpose wasn’t limited to what I could accomplish inside one school building.
That realization led me to create KTTEEV Media & Consulting LLC, where I have been able to combine education, professional development, media, consulting, entrepreneurship, and creativity. I also founded The Bright Futures Initiative, a nonprofit focused on creating opportunities and educational support for young people and families in underserved communities.
Media became another extension of that work. Through Education Unleashed, I’ve created a platform where educators, leaders, entrepreneurs, and community members can have conversations that matter. I’ve learned that sometimes leadership happens behind a desk, sometimes it happens in front of a classroom, and sometimes it happens behind a microphone.
My experiences working with students—particularly Black and Brown boys and students who are often defined by their behavior before anyone takes the time to understand their story—also led me to become an author. I wrote A Pencil Is the Least of My Worries because after more than two decades in education, I knew that many of the biggest obstacles our students carry into school have absolutely nothing to do with pencils, paper, or supplies. The book challenges educators to look beyond behavior and consider the invisible barriers students may be carrying with them.
That work has continued to grow into The Pencil Principle™ Institute, where I work with educators and organizations around relationships, student engagement, belonging, leadership, and seeing the person behind the behavior.
Now, 25 years into my career in education, I see all of these things as connected. I’m an educator and school leader, but I’m also an entrepreneur, author, speaker, consultant, nonprofit leader, and media creator. I don’t really see those as separate identities anymore. They are different vehicles for the same mission: helping people recognize possibility—in students, in communities, and in themselves.
And I still feel like I’m building.
If there is one thing my journey has taught me, it’s that you don’t have to wait until you arrive at some imaginary destination to start making an impact. Sometimes the next version of your purpose is already sitting inside the work you’re doing right now. My story has really been about continuing to recognize those opportunities, having the courage to step into them, and then creating something that can open the door for somebody coming behind me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, and I think I appreciate the journey more because it hasn’t been.
One of my biggest challenges has been learning that doing good work doesn’t automatically mean the next opportunity will come when you think it should. There have been opportunities I believed I was ready for that didn’t happen, doors I thought would open that stayed closed, and moments when I had to ask myself, “Okay, what now?”
Over time, I’ve learned not to allow someone else’s decision—or one disappointing outcome—to determine the value of my work. Sometimes a “no” isn’t a stop sign. Sometimes it forces you to sharpen your skills, expand your vision, or create an opportunity for yourself.
Building outside of my primary career has brought its own challenges. KTTEEV Media & Consulting, The Bright Futures Initiative, writing a book, producing shows, creating professional development, and building a brand all started as ideas that had to be developed while I was still working a full-time job. There have been plenty of late nights, financial investments that didn’t immediately pay off, projects that didn’t get the response I expected, and moments when I wondered if I was trying to do too much.
Being multi-passionate has been both a gift and a challenge. For a long time, I felt like I needed to choose one identity. Am I an educator? An entrepreneur? A media personality? An author? A speaker? A nonprofit leader? Eventually, I realized I didn’t have to choose. The real challenge was learning how to make all of those things connect to one purpose instead of becoming a collection of unrelated projects.
I’ve also had to give myself permission to evolve. People can become comfortable with the version of you they first met. When you start expanding beyond that version, not everyone will understand it—and I’ve learned that’s okay. Growth sometimes requires becoming comfortable with being misunderstood.
Probably the biggest lesson has been learning how to respond when things don’t happen according to my timeline. I’ve experienced disappointment, rejection, ideas that didn’t work, and opportunities that didn’t materialize. But some of those moments pushed me toward things I might never have created otherwise.
At this point in my life, I don’t measure the journey by whether the road has been smooth. I measure it by whether I’m still growing, still creating, still serving people, and still willing to bet on what’s possible.
So no—the road hasn’t been smooth. But I wouldn’t trade the lessons from the rough parts, because many of them helped shape the person and leader I am today.
As you know, we’re big fans of KTTEEV Media & Consulting LLC . For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
KTTEEV Media & Consulting LLC is really the intersection of everything I’ve spent more than two decades building—education, leadership, media, entrepreneurship, creativity, and community impact.
At its core, KTTEEV is a media and consulting company focused on helping people and organizations educate, communicate, create, and make an impact. Our work includes professional development, educational consulting, speaking and facilitation, media production, branding and promotional products, and digital content.
What makes KTTEEV different is that it wasn’t created from a business plan that said, “Here’s a market we can enter.” It grew organically from things I was already doing and problems I was already helping people solve.
Education is a major part of that work. After 25 years in education, I understand schools from the classroom to leadership. That experience allows me to create professional development that feels practical and authentic rather than theoretical. One of the things I’m most proud of is developing The Pencil Principle™ Institute, which grew from my book, A Pencil Is the Least of My Worries. The idea behind the work is simple but important: sometimes the things preventing a student from being successful have very little to do with what we see on the surface. We help educators look beyond behavior, understand the “invisible backpack” students may be carrying, build stronger relationships, and create environments where students feel seen and valued.
Media is another major part of the KTTEEV identity. Through platforms like Education Unleashed, I’ve been able to create conversations around education, leadership, community, entrepreneurship, and issues affecting Black and Brown students. I love being able to take meaningful conversations that might normally happen in a conference room or at a dinner table and give them a larger platform.
KTTEEV also works with schools, organizations, and businesses on branding, apparel, promotional products, and creative services. That may seem completely different from education or media at first, but to me it all connects through storytelling. Whether I’m facilitating professional development, producing an interview, helping an organization communicate its message, or creating something people are proud to wear, the question is always: What story are we trying to tell?
I think what sets the brand apart is that there is real experience behind it. I’m not talking about education because I studied it from the outside; I’ve spent my career doing the work. I’m not talking about entrepreneurship without understanding what it means to build something while working a full-time career. And I’m not talking about media without actually sitting behind the microphone, producing shows, interviewing people, creating content, and learning what connects with an audience.
Brand-wise, I’m probably most proud that KTTEEV has become bigger than a logo. It represents the freedom to create without putting myself into one box.
I can walk into a school and facilitate a conversation with educators, step behind a microphone and interview a community leader, speak to an audience about reaching students others have given up on, help an organization develop its brand, or create a product that brings someone’s vision to life—and all of it still feels authentically KTTEEV.
Going forward, I want people to recognize KTTEEV as a platform for education, creativity, conversation, and impact. I want to continue expanding The Pencil Principle™ Institute, speaking and consulting with schools and organizations, growing our media platforms, and developing products and experiences that extend the work beyond any one event or audience.
Ultimately, I don’t want KTTEEV to simply be known for what we sell or the services we provide. I want it to be known for what we help people create, change, and believe is possible.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Absolutely. I don’t believe anyone builds anything meaningful completely on their own. My name may be attached to the brand, but there have been a lot of people who have encouraged me, challenged me, opened doors, trusted my ideas, and sometimes believed in something I was building before there was much evidence that it was going to work.
First, I have to give credit to my family and the people closest to me. Entrepreneurship sounds exciting when you talk about the finished product, but the people around you experience the late nights, the phone calls, the traveling, the equipment everywhere, the ideas that suddenly have to be worked on at midnight, and all the other things that come with building something. Having people who allow you the space to dream and create matters more than people realize.
I’ve also been fortunate to have mentors throughout my career who saw something in me before I necessarily saw it in myself. One of those people was Mrs. Kesler, a former principal of mine. When I was a behavior-unit teacher, she began giving me leadership opportunities and exposing me to a different side of education. Sometimes one person saying, “I think you can do this,” can completely alter the direction of your life. That happened for me.
There have been many other educators, leaders, colleagues, and friends along the way who have challenged my thinking and pushed me to grow. Some gave advice. Some opened doors. Some told me the truth when I needed to hear it. And some simply gave me an opportunity and trusted me to deliver.
I also have to credit the people who have helped me build the media side of KTTEEV, including the many guests who have trusted me with their stories and perspectives. Those conversations have helped turn the platform into something much bigger than me sitting behind a microphone. Every great conversation adds another layer to what we’re building.
My fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the relationships I’ve developed within that brotherhood and throughout the Divine Nine community have also expanded my network of service, leadership, friendship, and collaboration. Those relationships have reinforced something I already believed strongly: success means more when you can use your relationships and resources to create opportunities for other people.
And then there are the clients.
I can’t talk about the growth of KTTEEV without thanking every school, educator, business, nonprofit, organization, and individual who has trusted me with an idea. Somebody had to book the first training. Somebody had to order the first product. Somebody had to say yes to an interview. Somebody had to buy the book. Somebody had to recommend KTTEEV to someone else.
Those “yeses” matter.
I’m especially grateful for the people who supported the vision when KTTEEV was still becoming what it is today. They didn’t just purchase a service; they helped me prove that an idea could become a business and that a business could become a platform.
I’ve learned that your cheerleaders aren’t always the loudest people in the room either. Sometimes it’s the person who sends your name when an opportunity comes across their desk. It’s the person who shares your post. It’s the client who comes back. It’s the friend who asks, “What’s next?” It’s the person who tells someone, “You need to call Kendrick.”
I don’t take any of that for granted.
So although I’m proud of what I’ve built, I would never describe this as something I built alone. My story has my name on it, but there are fingerprints from a whole lot of people on these pages—and I’m grateful for every one of them.
Pricing:
- A Pencil Is the Least of My Worries — $19.99
- Book \+ Companion Workbook Bundle — **$34\.99**
- • Professional Development & The Pencil Principle™ Institute — Custom pricing available
- • Speaking, Consulting & Facilitation — Custom pricing available
- – Branding, Apparel & Promotional Products — **Pricing based on project scope and quantity**
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Ktteev.com
- Instagram: @ktteev
- Facebook: @ktteev
- Twitter: @ktteev
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@educationunleashed?si=-dj8Ndfy51lIkWp0
