Greenwood Ave Project "Black Wall Street"

I am Karen Criswell Reese – film maker, entrepreneur, community cheerleader, wife, mother, and sports enthusiast.

I was born and raised in Morrilton, Arkansas, to a single mother and I am the oldest of 5 kids. I started college at the University of Central Arkansas but later moved to California in1989 to start a new future. In 2004, I relocated to DeSoto, Texas from Carson, California with my husband of almost 28 years, Pete Reese, along with our three daughters and one son. I created a rainbow of businesses, ranging from tax services to film production to event coordination.

Karen worked as a waitress at Shoney Restaurant from ages 18 to 21, and had a favorite
customer that loved her. This gracious patron, Donna, was a CPA and gave Karen a job to work
during tax seasons, planting the first seed for Karen’s interest in doing taxes. Donna taught
Karen how to manually prepare taxes 16 years ago. Karen never imagined that she’d one day
own her own tax business, as for years she’d been seeking out services from H&R Block just
like everyone else, because she was under the impression that it would cost millions of dollars
to own a company. In 2004, Dee Smith Grigsby said, “You can do taxes as a business”, and so
Karen stepped out and never looked back, establishing KOAR Fast Tax in 2005. Karen has
been able to serve more than 100 versatile clients nationwide through her independent tax
preparation services. Karen is finally running a business just like Jackson Hewitt Tax Service,
Liberty Tax and many others, and is proud to inspire other working mothers to aspire for similar
independence for themselves
Karen worked as a waitress at Shoney Restaurant from ages 18 to 21, and had a favorite
customer that loved her. This gracious patron, Donna, was a CPA and gave Karen a job to work
during tax seasons, planting the first seed for Karen’s interest in doing taxes. Donna taught
Karen how to manually prepare taxes 16 years ago. Karen never imagined that she’d one day
own her own tax business, as for years she’d been seeking out services from H&R Block just
like everyone else, because she was under the impression that it would cost millions of dollars
to own a company. In 2004, Dee Smith Grigsby said, “You can do taxes as a business”, and so
Karen stepped out and never looked back, establishing KOAR Fast Tax in 2005. Karen has
been able to serve more than 100 versatile clients nationwide through her independent tax
preparation services. Karen is finally running a business just like Jackson Hewitt Tax Service,
Liberty Tax and many others, and is proud to inspire other working mothers to aspire for similar
independence for themselves
Karen worked as a waitress at Shoney Restaurant from ages 18 to 21, and had a favorite
customer that loved her. This gracious patron, Donna, was a CPA and gave Karen a job to work
during tax seasons, planting the first seed for Karen’s interest in doing taxes. Donna taught
Karen how to manually prepare taxes 16 years ago. Karen never imagined that she’d one day
own her own tax business, as for years she’d been seeking out services from H&R Block just
like everyone else, because she was under the impression that it would cost millions of dollars
to own a company. In 2004, Dee Smith Grigsby said, “You can do taxes as a business”, and so
Karen stepped out and never looked back, establishing KOAR Fast Tax in 2005. Karen has
been able to serve more than 100 versatile clients nationwide through her independent tax
preparation services. Karen is finally running a business just like Jackson Hewitt Tax Service,
Liberty Tax and many others, and is proud to inspire other working mothers to aspire for similar
independence for themselves
In 1986 I worked as a waitress at Shoney Restaurant from ages 18 to 21, and had a favorite customer that loved her. This gracious patron, Donna, was a CPA and gave Karen a job to work during tax seasons, planting the first seed for Karen’s interest in doing taxes. Donna taught Karen how to manually prepare taxes 16 years ago. Karen never imagined that she’d one day own her own tax business, as for years she’d been seeking out services from H&R Block just like everyone else, because she was under the impression that it would cost millions of dollars to own a company. In 2004, Dee Smith Grigsby said, “You can do taxes as a business”, and so Karen stepped out and never looked back, establishing KOAR Fast Tax in 2005. Karen has been able to serve more than 100 versatile clients nationwide through her independent tax preparation services. Karen is finally running a business just like Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Liberty Tax and many others, and is proud to inspire other working mothers to aspire for similar independence for themselves.
I began volunteering for the DeSoto Football Booster Club in 2011, and continued to do so four years after my son graduated. I grew to love all our kids from DeSoto and the community. I am the #1 fan of DeSoto Football and have the championship ring to prove it. This love for serving our football players & parents grew into the importance of giving back information & sharing their stories to the parents who are coming behind them. This gave birth to the name Can I Play brand which seeks to encourage our adults to 1) educate, 2) equip, 3) empower, 4) inspire, and 5) lead, by introducing a modernized perspective. We created a promo video https://youtu.be/KWDnKiK7XvI and training video to teach athlete https://youtu.be/uMML_jjw8HU .
I also started a documentary series about sports and the community called “PATH the Draft:7 DeSoto Players. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApvtPhGS_DE .
Before retiring from Donnelley Financial in 2020, I launched “Can We Talk Sports,” a sports talk show hosted by moms of athletes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vShUBRx2VjA
I also help organized the first Adult Prom of Dallas in 2017 which attracted more than 1,000 paid attendees. I help others in the community with organizing events, and helped with the Pure Elegance fashion show hosted by Isy Fashion.
With four children of my own to support, along with a grandchild that I keep close to my heart, and community efforts, it is important for me to give back to our youth. I strive to make a difference in our community that will impact generations for years to come.
With the heart of the community and family, Terry Baccus reached out to me and wanted me to help tell the story of Greenwood, this gave birth to Greenwood Ave Project “From the People, For the People” documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82AJLavy3k&feature=youtu.be . Yes also gave me the love to bring stories to life, this birthed me doing a documentary about me uncle “I’ve Got One More In Me” https://vimeo.com/703922547