Michelle King Thomas graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in English and later pursued an MA in English Literature from Oregon State University. Michelle is a founding partner at Mata Traders - a social impact fashion brand - and a stage III cancer survivor. After living abroad in Germany, Australia, India and New Zealand, she returned to her midwestern roots and now lives with her husband and daughter in Chicago, IL.
Sales Consultant
As a senior sales professional, Michelle leads revenue across wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels, with a focus on driving profitable growth — not just top-line expansion — specializing in: expanding and optimizing wholesale distribution; aligning sales and marketing to drive conversion and retention; improving gross margins through pricing, product mix, and channel strategy
Activist
Michelle has served on the board of the Fair Trade Federation and Chicago Fair Trade and fundraises for the Sister District Project. She’s committed to galvanizing collective action in support of feminism, informed by economic empowerment data, to end cycles of poverty and inequity. Her approach is thoughtful, progressive, inclusive and measured.
Author
Michelle is currently working on a collection of short stories titled "Forty-five & Ten," a novel-length piece titled "Dirty Ferals," and a children's book series titled "The Mustard Sisters." Her creative work sits at the intersections of white privilege and travel, motherhood and cancer, and uses fiction to explore relationships with her feminist heroes like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem.