Katrina Khouri was born and raised in Flint and attended
University of Michigan-Flint for marketing and operations management. “I always dreamt of being some sort of leader,” she says, and that is exactly what she has become. Katrina got an internship at
Financial Plus Federal Credit Union in 2007 as a Product Manager while the full-time Product Manager was on maternity leave. She decided not to come back to the position, and Katrina found herself with a plum full-time job straight out of college. “It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” she explains. “Luckily, I was able to prove myself.”
Katrina was recently promoted into Public Relations at Financial Plus. “I really, thoroughly enjoy it,” she says. “They have taught me the importance of community involvement. It’s now my job to get us involved and do those great things. We’re a credit union, which means we’re member-owned and so we HAVE to give back.”
In fact, over the years Katrina has been very actively involved with the community. “Flint is going through a post-automotive renaissance right now,” she states. “There has been a great amount of investment by private groups and lots of new bars and restaurants opening.” She recalls hanging out at
501 Bar and Grill one day while a meeting of young professionals was happening that she was inadvertently invited to and decided to check out. “It turned out to be this really great group of young guys who were really energized to go out into the community and turn it around. They were very enthusiastic and believed we
can make a difference.”
That group was called PLUTO — “People Like Us Taking Over.” Katrina got involved and eventually the group adopted a more palatable professional name, “Professionals Like Us Teaching Others” (still PLUTO). The community work they did as PLUTO caught the attention of the
Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce, which was looking for a young professionals group to partner with. PLUTO then became the
Genesee Regional Young Professionals (GRYP), a move they made to help them grow their mission and increase their visibility.
Katrina spent three years as chair of the group, during which time she was honored with the
ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award, which recognizes emerging leaders within the community who demonstrate professional excellence and serve as a personal and professional role model for young women. “I had just become chair of GRYP and there was so much excitement and momentum around the group, I was recognized as a young leader in the community leading women to become what it is they want to be,” Katrina explains. She was the first young Athena awarded in Genesee County.
She looks back at that fateful day at 501 Bar and Grill now and exclaims, “Thank GOD I was at that meeting!” 501 is still one of her favorites, which serves Spanish-style tapas, a wide range of signature drinks and a very popular house-made sangria. Another favorite restaurant of hers is
Cork on Saginaw. “It’s a wine bar but also has spectacular food,” she says. “It’s very unique food, all home-cooked with all fresh ingredients. I’m not always one to try new things but [the] food is wonderful and there’s a great wine selection!” Cork also features an Enomatic wine system which houses a large number of different wines to be dispersed in measured pours, while the bottles themselves remain fresh for several weeks (allowing the restaurant to offer more wines by the taste and by the glass to its customers).
Another one of Katrina’s favorite haunts is
Blackstone’s Pub & Grill, a 6,000 sq. ft. Irish-American pub.
Churchill’s is a longtime Flint favorite (from way back before there was any reinvestment in the city and it was the
only college hangout downtown), and still has the biggest college night in Flint. On weekends she always ends her night at
the Loft, the “young, hip hangout club.” And behind the Loft is the
Torch Bar & Grill, where you can grab a late-night Torch Burger. “The Torch Burger is famous, everybody in Genesee County knows this place!”
There are also a number of cultural events and attractions in downtown Flint. Every second Friday of the month, the
Greater Flint Arts Council (GFAC) puts on the
Flint Art Walk. It started six years ago, before the downtown redevelopment even started, and the momentum for the Art Walk has been progressively building over the years. “Then downtown development started and it blew up!” Katrina says. Restaurants, bars, yoga studios, galleries, salons—everybody participates in the Art Walk, each place putting out a beautiful spread of food and drink with artists displaying their work at all these different downtown businesses, and all of it absolutely free. Katrina says that the Art Walk has kind of taken on an identity all its own as a sort of self-sustaining event. “It’s very organic,” she says. “There is no one organization overseeing all of it. GFAC started it for their members but businesses have jumped on and they all do their own thing; it’s always different every month.” She adds, “People in Genesee County realize that this is our center, that we have to support [Flint] in order for surrounding communities to flourish.”
In 2009, the truly grand
Grand Fountain—an expansive concrete installation with water flowing over a network of cliffs and steps in different sections and at different elevations—was brought back to life by Flint resident and Flint Downtown Development Authority consultant Dave Johnson. And the
Flint Public Art Project regularly hosts DIY guerrilla-style outdoor art events. Katrina remembers one night last summer when the Flint Public Art Project presented a laser light show on the top of an abandoned building, then afterwards everyone moved over to the Grand Fountain where a live band was playing ON the fountain. “It was a very memorable and fun night,” she recalls. “[I remember looking around and thinking,] ‘Wow, I cannot believe this is happening in our town!’”