Kathy Thomas ('84 M.B.A.) was frustrated with her job.

Thomas had already been through a change in positions at her workplace, KERA-FM radio station in Dallas, while earning her M.B.A. at North Texas in the mid-1980s.

One day, a friend saw an opening for a marketing director at Half Price Books, a national chain that sells used books, records and more.

"It was really good timing for me, because sometimes you have to be pushed to change jobs," she says. "You have to have a bad day, and you go home, and you're like, 'I'm going to leave.' I didn't have a current resume. I had finished my M.B.A. And I loved where I worked -- I loved the people. It was just a bad day, but it was the perfect day because then I got home. I put a resume together and have never looked back."

She got that job in 1989 and, after years of navigating the book industry's drastic changes, now serves as president. The job is perfect for her personality -- always a go-getter, but also an avid reader.

"I had applied at different jobs in my life, and I can't see myself selling Fritos," she says. "I mean, selling books is so much more fun, and it's something that I absorb. I eat it like candy, you know?"

Her M.B.A. from North Texas helped pave the path.

She drove from Dallas to Denton for her classes so she could continue building her career while working toward her degree.

"North Texas went above and beyond for its professional students and rearranged schedules so they could fit me in, because I couldn't go at noon or had to go to a night class."

As marketing director at her new company, Thomas spearheaded new ideas -- such as printing 10,000 bookmarks instead of just 1,000 at a time -- to make the business run more efficiently. She brought in advertising and she learned about new markets around the country, helping the chain expand from 28 stores in seven states to its current 115 locations in 19 states.

Through the decades, she's seen other chain stores, such as B. Dalton and Borders, close and other companies, such as Amazon, transform the industry from brick-and-mortar to online sales. One major change in the industry came when the traditional paperback was phased out for the bigger-sized trade paperback, affecting the space for Half Price Books' stores.

But the company has also relied on their faithful customers, who Thomas says are different from online consumers. Thomas notes they are concerned about the environment and they love the printed page.

"We've always been a shopper's treasure hunt -- a place for people to browse and discover and get inspired. There's not a lot of people, but there's enough for us to survive."

Through the years, Thomas worked her way from marketing director to chief strategy officer to president, a position she earned three years ago.

"I'm constantly challenging myself and I challenge my teams," she says. "I don't want us to go under. I mean, everyone says, 'When are you going to retire?' And I say, 'I can't retire unless I know that we're going to be in business forever!'

"I'm a pusher. I say, 'Let's try this, let's try that. Why are we doing this?' We have to diversify everything we do because, I hate to say it, there are less people shopping. But when you do come in, we have to make sure you buy vinyl, and you buy movies, and you buy stuffed animals, and you buy everything else."

She keeps busy when she's not on the job. She started several of her own businesses. First there was Ready Ritas, a margarita mix in different college colors. Then she and a few relatives pivoted to creating Texas Party Bingo, in which state icons -- such as the state flag, bluebonnets and tacos -- are used instead of the traditional numbers. It was inspired by her family, who played bingo on Sunday afternoons on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thomas also serves as a member of UNT's School of Merchandising & Hospitality Management Advancement Board and the board of Feed the Children.

"I have to do something, and I literally get to go and feed the homeless -- not just sit on the board, but get to meet the people. So, I've done a lot of civic and nonprofit work, and I like it. I like meeting wonderful, interesting new people. Be careful if you're around me. I like to keep pushing."