Coffee with Kristy

Coffee with Kristy Rachal

Here at the Georgia Experience Center, we're constantly working with our partners to help businesses get ready to move to or expand in our state. How do we do that? By having an awesome team of experts. Learn more about what we're up to during our quick coffee break Q&A sessions. Let's meet Kristy!

What part of town do you live in?

East Atlanta, in Lake Claire. We love it!

What’s your role at Georgia Power?

Community Development Manager. I get to manage an awesome team of community developers around the state who are helping their areas prepare for new jobs and investment.

Describe economic development in Georgia in two words:

Smart growth.

Tell us your favorite part of your job.

My favorite part, hands-down, are region visits with my team. Meeting their partners out in the communities helps me to understand the issues and opportunities there, and to get to know my team better. There are pockets around the state that you can't really understand fully until you spend time there. Then you see all this personality and what makes them special - then we really understand how we can help.

Favorite place in Georgia to get away to?

Stone Mountain- it's beautiful there, and I hiked to the top regularly when I was new to Georgia and going to Spelman. There's such a feeling of accomplishment when you get up there. It's like you're far away but still in the middle of it all.

What about outside Georgia?

Paris is one of my favorite places- my husband proposed there. It's so beautiful, the food is great, the history, the art, all of it.

What was your very first job?

I worked at the Gap! I quickly became the greeter because they said I was good with people. It was a fun job, and it led me to more external-facing roles.

What do you love about Georgia?

The food, the people, the culture. There are urban and rural areas - the best of both worlds.

What are you watching right now?

The Handmaid's Tale! Everyone was talking about it, so I just started it.

What are you most excited about when you come into work?

That every day is different. I have to look at my calendar to see where I'll be, who I'll get to be with. The variety of what we do and knowing that all of it, everything we do, is working to help communities grow and prosper. It feels good to do work that helps people.

Go-to karaoke song?

We just sang TLC's Waterfalls at the Regional Leadership Institute class! We were a big hit.