In this extra special episode of Business Edge, listen to Dayna Thomas’ keynote speech at Alpha Kappa Psi’s Elevate!
Dayna Thomas, Esq. is a trusted and influential trademark and entrepreneurship attorney and author in the Atlanta area and nationwide. She thrives on helping people build their lives, careers, and businesses with the support of the law, and focuses her practice on assisting entrepreneurs and entertainers in reaching their goals, protecting their businesses, and building strong brands.
Dayna’s work has involved assisting entrepreneurs at every level to develop and protect their businesses and brands. She has served clients with their business needs, from business entity formation, operating agreements and bylaws, investor relations and funding, trademark and brand protection, contract drafting and negotiation, intellectual property, business disputes, and more. In addition, she has been involved in deals for television shows on major networks such as “Love and Hip Hop,” “My Super Sweet 16,” “Love and Marriage: Huntsville,” “Married at First Flight,” “WAGS” and “MasterChef.” She has negotiated deals for Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum recording artists, as well as platinum music producers, literary authors, screenplay writers, and film producers.
Along the way, Dayna transitioned her firm to focusing on trademark law, which she strongly believes is the most important element of a solid legal foundation and provides consistent value to clients nationwide.
Early into her career, Dayna acknowledged her true passion for entrepreneurship. After college, Dayna founded a business consulting company where she helped entrepreneurs establish their business entities, and advised them on business strategies to develop their business idea, understand their target market, create their brand, and build relationships. A few years later, Dayna chose the non-traditional route of starting her own law firm right out of law school.
As one of the nation’s most sought-after brand attorneys, Dayna has helped thousands of business owners establish solid foundations for their new and exciting ventures in entrepreneurship. She is particularly proud to serve as the official trademark attorney for the City of Atlanta – the chosen attorney to provide trademark advice and registration for the some of the most recognized brands across the city and airport. With trademark registrations for six and seven-figure brands under her belt, Dayna’s thrives on educating the public on the importance of brand protection from the beginning.
Along with providing legal services, Dayna also has an online school called where she coaches entrepreneurs through the startup process and trains new lawyers on starting their own law firm.
Not only has her faith and preparation led to inspirational success, such as being named in The National Black Lawyers – Top 100, selected as a Legal Elite by Georgia Trend, and honored with the Trailblazer Award by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Dayna also uses her journey and expertise to educate and inspire other entrepreneurs along the way.
In an effort to empower entrepreneurs across the globe, Dayna regularly serves as a speaker for conferences, accelerator programs, podcasts, webinars, radio shows and other events to empower aspiring, new, and veteran entrepreneurs. She has been featured in over 50 publications and events to teach and encourage creatives and entrepreneurs worldwide.
Dayna is also the author of Entrepreneur’s Guide To Building A Solid Legal Foundation, in which she exposes entrepreneurs to the fundamentals of business law so that they can build a business that they love, the right way. Her book is currently the required text for a course at Howard University as well as the Digital Entrepreneurship MBA at Strayer University.
Certified in transactions, Dayna received her Doctor of Law from Emory University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Dayna graduated magna cum laude and in the top 3% of her class at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. At Georgia State University, Dayna joined Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and has served as her pledge class president, the President of the AKPsi Atlanta Alumni Chapter, and the Georgia Section Director. She has also been named as an honoree for Georgia State University’s 40 Under 40.
Dayna’s life motto is “believe and act as if it were impossible to fail,” which is instrumental to her work and value as a legal professional. Her commitment to her community has been nationally recognized as she received President Barack Obama’s Volunteer Service Award for her dedication to education, income, health, and homelessness initiatives in the City of Atlanta.
In her daily grind, Dayna is dedicated to helping aspiring and current entrepreneurs make more money and live more fulfilled lives. You can also catch Dayna on her weekly talk show, “Launched & Legal” on The Atlanta Small Business Network.
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