A native New Mexican, Kyla was raised on a ranch in Maljamar in the southeastern part of the state. She graduated from Lovington High School and went on to the University of New Mexico. After college, she moved to Denver, where she says “my life story begins” when she founded Kyla Thompson and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in public relations, marketing, and crisis communication management.

Her client base has included industries and ranged from non-profits to hospitals, from large real estate development to hazardous waste sites, and the Universities of New Mexico and Colorado. She worked on developing the Denver International Airport and Coors Field and counts the Denver Broncos and Denver Avalanche teams as clients.

So, what exactly does she do? In her biographical and services handout she lists 14 areas that she covers, eight of those with numerous sub-headings. Just a sampling includes the following:

Counseling—providing advice to the management of an organization concerning policies, relationships, communication, and strategic planning.

Media relations—providing the go-between for communications media and an organization, especially as a crisis media expert.

Community relations—planned and active participation with and within a community to maintain and enhance its environment to the benefit of both an organization and a community.

Add publicity, special events, economic development, employee/member relations, public affairs, issues management and anticipation, financial relations, research, trouble-shooting and marketing communications, and you can see that Kyla is a very busy woman.

She says she averages three crises a month, ranging from serious to minor. Corporate crises can include bankruptcy, change of leadership, embezzlement, or anything else that might affect a company’s stock. She likens it to minor surgery. “What someone else sees as minor is probably very major to those directly involved.”

After entering a confidentiality agreement with the client, Kyla’s job is to “listen and reflect” a client’s feelings, offer long-term encouragement, and help them “navigate through crises.”

“A cookie cutter approach to what someone is going through doesn’t work,” she says. “I have to empathize with the individual personality and pain in order to do my job well.” She works by word of mouth, relying on referrals from satisfied clients to lead her to new ones.

After 25 years of running her own business in Denver, she closed it and went to work with other corporations offering the same kind of services. But in 1999, she decided to retire. “After the first week, I flunked out of retirement,” she says with a laugh. By this time, she was left with an empty nest, as sons Taylor and Brandon had grown up and were out on their own. Her husband, Roger, is a voice-over artist who could work from anywhere, so they made the decision to start over again in Santa Fe to be nearer to Kyla’s mother. That was in 1999 and, when Columbine happened, she returned to the work she does so well.

Word of mouth followed her to Santa Fe and on to Albuquerque, where she and Roger now reside. “While I miss my company and employees, I do enjoy working at home in my sweat clothes,” she says, and her garden is her “haven.” She also enjoys having the time to have lunch with Roger most days. One of the benefits of coming back to Albuquerque was “re-connecting with college friends” and she and Roger, both accomplished cooks, love to entertain.

She is active on many local boards, including the Albuquerque Museum and the Santa Fe Music Festival. When asked, she confesses her favorite is serving on the Development Committee of the University of New Mexico Foundation. “When I came back to New Mexico, I realized the desperate educational need in the state. UNM sets the tone for education. They are responsible for training the teachers, which affects the whole system. I’m using what I’ve learned to help at UNM.”

Kyla is an unabashed feminist, in the best sense of the word. “Women need to quit apologizing for being feminist. The word only means wanting equality and respect for each other and that’s something we all should strive for.”

For women entering the work force, she recommends finding “one profession, focus on that, and become the best. Stay current on technology. Enjoy your profession, make a difference, and love what you do or get out.”

Kyla can be reached by email at kyla@kylathompson.com or by phone at (505) 341-0699.

Sabra Brown Steinsiek (www.sabrasteinsiek.com) is author of the prize-winning Timing Is Everything . Her newest novel will be published in November 2007.