Velma Trayham has come a long way from her humble upbringing in Houston’s Third Ward. 
She attended Ryan Middle School, Jack Yates High School and Texas Southern University.
As a child growing up, Trayham wanted to be a lawyer and was considered quite the troublemaker. A lot of her acting out came as a result of the adversity she dealt with as a child. During her childhood, her mother was addicted to drugs. In addition to that, Trayham was often bullied in school because of her looks. She struggled with self-esteem issues early on, but as she grew older, Trayham began to deal with her insecurities and not allow the adversity she experienced to deter her from her goals of being successful in life.
Trayham was able to overcome the odds, and today she owns one of the hottest and most innovative public relations firms in the country – ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group.
Some of Trayham’s clients include Black Entertainment Television (B.E.T.), Checkered Flag Run Foundation in Phoenix, Velma Hart-COO of Thurgood Marshall College Fund, GO DJs Global, California Public Schools, University Of Phoenix College of Security & Criminal Justice and even Forward Times Publishing Co., to name a few.
ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group is headquartered in Houston and has offices in Los Angeles and Atlanta. ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group helps clients fulfill their business marketing and public relations needs by researching market trends and adapting them to clients’ needs to deliver the best value.
“We refine existing brands or redefine the brands of the future, and help clients bring their visions to life,” said Trayham.
Trayham uses her education in marketing and business development and experience in PR and branding to lead the ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group team with an inspired, high impact passion that produces inspired, high-impact results.
Trayham says that she got into the public relations business because she began to realize that businesses wanted to brand themselves, but most don’t know how to do it. She considered branding and marketing an integral part of any business’ success and growth, so she wanted to help those who were concerned about cost and how to actually make it happen for themselves.
“Most people I talk to really don’t even know what a brand is,” said Trayham. “To create a brand you must carefully think about what your business will be, what makes it unique, who your customers are and what it is they will want. A brand is the essence of what makes a business unique. It combines the business name, logo, and problem the business solves into an identifiable whole. I love making a business look bigger and better than they could ever imagine.”
Building a brand is Trayham’s forté and her work has contributed to the personal success of powerhouse individuals like national businessman Alan M. Powell, who is recognized as the nation’s preeminent authority in Hispanic marketing; motivational speaker and businessman Bruce Johnson; media professional and producer Alex Green; and internationally-recognized evangelist and inspirational speaker Pastor Keion Henderson.
Corporations and entities that have benefitted from the ThinkZILLA touch include health brand J.I.V.E Juice Company; IRS ProSolver; Superior Investment Firm; California Public Schools and many more. She has definitely made her mark in various arenas with her public relations and branding expertise. The strategic public relations and brand development services of ThinkZILLA were instrumental in launching and developing the entertainment careers of multimedia child star, fashion designer, and radio personality Iyanni Pradia; innovative movie producer Michael Sterling, whose movies are in distribution by New Kingdom Pictures; and several others.
Trayham has secured diverse multimedia placements for ThinkZILLA clients, including print and online publications (Rolling Out, Sister 2 Sister, Jet, CNN.com,WND.com, Bloomberg Business, Wall Street Journal, Travel Weekly, Ohio News and others); exposure on broadcast radio and television (The Yolanda Adams Morning Show, Oprah’s Life You Want Tour – Houston, The WORD Network); nominations for national and international awards (CNN Heroes, John C. Maxwell Leadership Awards) and many more outlets.
Many high-profile, signature events have benefitted from the magic PR touch of Trayham’s impressive firm. First-time events like The Lighthouse Church’s Easter Expo, one of the mega churches in Houston; the “My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge” launched by President Barack Obama; Secret Society Media Awards; “The Son Of God” movie premiere; and the Annual GO DJ Hip Hop & Entertainment Awards in Houston, which boasted thousands of attendees and national sponsorship exposure from top-shelf brands like Disney, Sports Authority and New York Life Insurance. Well-established events like the Women’s Health & Fitness Expo and the ESPY’S Beauty & the Beast Swag Suite have experienced the ThinkZILLA brand-touch, with the results being exponential attendance growth and double digit sponsorship growth.
Trayham has grown her business to be a nationally-recognized public relations firm that consistently places her clients in top shelf magazines, at the right events, in front of the right people and at the top of search rankings to maximize visibility and return on PR investment. She is quick to confess that she really became focused on helping businesses with branding and marketing after she failed in multiple past business endeavors and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in making mistakes. Because of that experience, she grew passionate about helping others to avoid those same type of pitfalls.
“I’ve always been an entrepreneurial driven individual who has hired PR individuals that did not help my business in any way or get any results,” said Trayham. “After literally giving away my money to people who never delivered, it motivated me to learn and create systems and grassroots strategies for myself and others. As a communication arts major, I must say that my personal business experiences are what really showed me that there was a need for what I do now.”
Trayham is also an expert at crisis management and has worked with scandal-plagued sports and entertainment stars like boxing bad boy Antonio Tarver, on his brand and personal image rehabilitation. She consistently gives back to her community through a variety of philanthropic endeavors, for which she has received public accolades, including being recognized as one of the “Faces of Black Houston” by Defender Magazine and as a Stellar Leader by The Lighthouse Church. She has also been recognized by Worldwide Branding as an honored Executive of Who’s Who Nationwide and was featured on the cover of “Texas Oil & Gas Magazine,” where she was heralded as their Community Spotlight Business Leader for Houston.
Trayham encourages all businesses to consider what they are doing to grow their business and properly brand themselves. As it relates to increasing brand awareness, Trayham recommends proper planning, research, content strategy and execution, as major keys to take any business to the next level.
Trayham says that ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group is a one-stop shop for optimized exposure, which includes marketing, public relations, event management, brand management, value chain analysis and much more.
For more information on Trayham and ThinkZILLA PR & Consulting Group, please visit their website at www.itsthinkzilla.com.