Kristyn’s Shining Debut

Kristyn Jania Renfro, known to most as “Kris”, was born on December 16, 1989—a crisp Saturday evening in Beaumont, Texas. When she was barely a year old, her mother moved their family back to her hometown of Houston, Texas where she was raised. As an adolescent, Kristyn was very extroverted. 

“I remember my middle school theatre arts teacher, use to constantly tell me how loquacious I was,” she says. “After looking the word up, I realized she was saying I talk too much. However, I wasn’t offended, I kept that in the back of my mind to ensure that I use my loquaciousness for the better.” 

Kristyn is the middle child with two brothers who she grew up playing sports and video games with daily. But don’t get it twisted, her love for all shades of the color pink and striking fashion sense are definitely the result of being the only girl.

A Childhood of Dreams

Kristyn grew up in a community called Sunnyside, located on the southeast side of Houston, Texas where she attended primary and secondary school. While in middle school, Kristyn began acting as a hobby in an afterschool program, and later developed a love for theatre. Studying acting was at the top of Kristyn’s list as a teenager and remains near and dear to her heart. Her boldest memory from high school was being a part of the Evan E. Worthing High School Marching Band.

“I briefly played the clarinet during my freshman year, then decided the instrumental part of the marching band wasn’t for me,” she added. “I was later asked to be the half-time announcer for the band—using my bold, theatric, crowd demanding voice to lead the band onto the field.”

As a junior in high school Kristyn began to weigh career options since graduation was right around the corner. Growing up in a lower-class family, her mother constantly stressed that education was a priority. Kristyn initially decided to study law, but later focused on journalism after realizing her love for writing and telling stories. One of Kristyn’s fondest memories at home is when her family would gather in the living room and watch television while eating dinner and discuss the happenings of their day. One of the things that they watched faithfully was local, national, and international news.

“My mother would have Good Morning America on the television every morning before we went to school,” she says. “We would sometimes be a little late to school because we wanted to finish whatever story was on at the time.”

Kristyn’s role model is her hardworking, loving mother.

“I admire my mother’s tenacity, loyalty, and class—all characteristics I know I got from her,” she says proudly. “My mother has always been my best friend and everything I do and everything I am, is because of her. She always taught us to work hard, follow our dreams and most of all, do what makes us happy.”

On a professional level, Kristyn looks up to the notable Oprah Winfrey.

“I admire how Oprah’s broadcast news beginnings led her to movies, successful businesses and her own history making talk show,” she says. “I aspire the break barriers and be an inspiration to young black girls as well.”

Just like her idol, Kristyn’s long-term goal has always been to have her own talk show.

My HBCU…Where it All Began

In May of 2008, Kristyn graduated in the top 10% of her class at Evan E. Worthing Senior High School, also known as “The Pride of Sunnyside”. With acceptances and scholarship offers to multiple schools, Kristyn decided to attend Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), where she was offered a full four-year scholarship. HTU is a historically black university and the first institution of higher education established in Austin, Texas.

“My entire life I wanted to attend the University of Texas at Austin—especially when my oldest brother, who I call my twin, became a longhorn,” she remembers. “It was down to two schools, UT and HT and I ultimately chose HT because deep down I wanted to attend an HBCU.”

During her undergraduate career at HT, Kristyn maintained well above a 3.4 grade point average, participated in several on-campus organizations/activities and held several positions including—an Anthony Viaer Scholar, a member of the W.E.B. Honors Program, captain of the Ramnites dance team, freshman class vice-president, and NPHC (National PanHellenic Council) secretary, just to name a few.

In April of 2010, Kristyn became a member of the illustrious and FIRST Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. As a member of the Beta Kappa Chapter, she served as the secretary, historian, ivy leaf reporter, and community service chair.

During her junior year Kristyn focused solely on her passion, broadcast journalism. With the help of her advisors, she landed her first internship and from that point on she dedicated everything to becoming a successful news reporter.

In May of 2012, Kristyn graduated from HTU with a bachelor’s degree in English-Communications and a minor in Pre-Law with Cum Laude honors.

A Dream Deferred

Upon graduation Kristyn was unsure of whether she wanted to go directly into the field of media or attend graduate school. She later decided to take a year off and during that time she became an in-school Math tutor, at a local middle school in the Sunnyside area where she grew up.

“I knew that if I was going to take off a year and move back home to figure things out, during that time the least I could do is give back to my community and show the kids that you can be from a low-income area and still be educated and become successful—I am living proof,” she says.

During this time Kristyn decided to pursue a graduate degree and eventually got a second chance at becoming a longhorn when she was accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. On May 23, 2015, Kristyn received her Master of Arts degree in Journalism.

After graduate school, Kristyn got her first paid news job in her hometown. It was a part-time job, she wasn’t reporting, but she was working in a news station and in her element. She eventually got a full-time position at a news station and back to Austin she went. After nearly three years of trials and tribulations in television news, Kristyn decided to step away from broadcast news.

“It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make,” she expressed. “After years of studying and hard work, I could not believe I was going to turn my back on my dream. However, I was not happy and during that time, I would constantly think back to when my mother would tell me do what makes you happy.”

Kristyn eventually resigned and made her way back home to Houston with no plans for the future. After an abundance of hardships, she was blessed to find a new career in corporate communications.

“I truly believe this was a blessing in disguise,” she says. “I have always wanted to be well-versed in all aspects of media and communications and this opportunity in corporate allows me to become an experienced professional in newsrooms and in board rooms.”

The Best Has Yet to Come

As Kristyn continues to hone here skills as a communications professional, she remains the driven, loquacious journalist with a thirst for all things media and communications. She recently added social media manager to her skill-set and is excited to see where new-media takes her.

She lives by the motto:

“Education is the key to success, and I am going to take advantage of what my ancestors fought for and use this knowledge as a platform for my ultimate achievements.”