Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Reese.
Hi Karen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am Karen Criswell Reese – filmmaker, entrepreneur, community cheerleader, wife, mother, and sports enthusiast. I was born and raised in Morrilton, Arkansas, to a single mother and I am the oldest of five kids. I started college at the University of Central Arkansas but later moved to California in 1989 to start a new future. In 2004, I relocated to DeSoto, Texas, from Carson, California, with my husband of almost 28 years, Pete Reese, along with our three daughters and one son. I created a rainbow of businesses, ranging from tax services to film production to event coordination.
In 1986 I worked as a waitress at Shoney Restaurant from ages 18 to 21 and had a favorite customer that loved me. This gracious patron, Donna, was a CPA and gave me a job during tax seasons, planting the first seed for my interest in doing taxes. Donna taught me how to manually prepare taxes 16 years ago, and I never imagined that I’d one day own my own tax business (since, like most people, I’d been an H&R Block client for years, and I was under the impression that it cost millions of dollars to own a company). In 2004, Dee Smith Grigsby said, “You can do taxes as a business!” So I stepped out and never looked back, establishing KOAR Fast Tax in 2005, through which we have serviced more than 100 versatile clients. I am running a business just like Jackson Hewitt and others, and I am proud to inspire other working mothers to pursue financial independence for themselves.
I began volunteering for the DeSoto Football Booster Club in 2011 and continued to do so four years after my son graduated. I grew to love all our kids from DeSoto and the community. I am the #1 fan of DeSoto Football and have the championship ring to prove it. This love for serving our football players & parents grew into the importance of giving back information & sharing their stories to the parents who are coming behind them. This gave birth to the name Can I Play brand, which seeks to encourage our adults to 1) educate, 2) equip, 3) empower, 4) inspire, and 5) lead by introducing a modernized perspective. We created a promo video https://youtu.be/KWDnKiK7XvI and training video to teach athlete https://youtu.be/uMML_jjw8HU.
I also started a documentary series about sports and the community called “Path to the Draft: 7 DeSoto Players. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvtPhGS_DE. Before retiring from Donnelley Financial in 2020, I launched “Can We Talk Sports,” a sports talk show hosted by moms of athletes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vShUBRx2VjA. I also helped organized the first Adult Prom of Dallas in 2017, which attracted more than 1,000 paid attendees. I help others in the community with organizing events and helped with the Pure Elegance fashion show hosted by Isy Fashion.
With four children of my own to support, along with a grandchild that I keep close to my heart and community efforts, it is important for me to give back to our youth. I strive to make a difference in our community that will impact generations for years to come.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
NO! The road has definitely not been smooth, but God has given me grace for everything He has put in my hands to do. Juggling family, kids and grandkids, a full-time job (at the time), starting businesses AND volunteering in the community took a lot! But it made me get super-organized about things and start focusing on the major things and let go of the minor things. My vision is big and I don’t mind delegating tasks and hiring others because it raises everyone. Sometimes the vision was bigger than the paycheck, but I stayed focused, encouraged myself, and made it through. My family has been supportive. I always make time for them and for the community activities that I enjoy.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I love telling the stories of everyday people! My first documentary film chronicles the journey of seven DeSoto football players and their families in their pursuit of the NFL Draft. My current documentary, “Black Wall Street: Greenwood Ave Project,” shows the descendants of Black Wall Street business owners and how they have worked to rebuild their own community following the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed their town. There are many interesting stories out here and I am proud to give a voice to those stories that are striving to be told.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I am shy!
Contact Info:
- Email: canwetalksports@gmail.com
- Instagram: @CanWeTalkSports
- Facebook: Can We Talk Sports
- Twitter: CanWeTalkSport
