Ferdinand H. Thomas-Bey II is a business and brand creator, an author among many other titles, who has more than 30 years of grass roots experience operating and creating brands of all corporate structure builds and business types.  Ferdinand has created, guided or influenced more than 100 different brands globally, serving as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Technology Officer and other business roles.  He co-founded Root Tribez, which is a holistic health brand helping people heal from chronic disease, and he founded Ferdinand H. Thomas II Leadership Excellence Institute.  Ferdinand also gives back to the community by actively providing leadership mentoring through FHTII.com to leaders worldwide in efforts to play his role in uplifting humanity.  And he created time in the midst of his careers to author and self-publish two books titled The Last Book Of The Bible and The Ownership & Control 21 Day Journal.

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Ferdinand began his multimedia career with the Virginian-Pilot Newspaper as a sports reporter and international news correspondent in 2003.  He built a formidable foundation of leadership, survival skills and media while serving in the U.S. Army as a non-commissioned officer, photojournalist and broadcast journalist. He has deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and numerous locations in South Korea for various operations.  Ferdinand served as a Troop Leader, Photographer, Videographer, Graphic Designer, Newspaper Layout & Design Editor, Audio Technician, Video Editor and News Script Writer covering conflict, and documenting the life of U.S. and Coalition troops in combat. His storytelling passion opened many doors along the media career path.

Ferdinand’s stories and photos were published in newspapers and magazine publications throughout the world and on many websites including National Geographic, Washington Post, L.A. Times, N.Y. Times, Army Times, Soldiers Magazine and more. His combat video work was broadcasted on virtually every major news network in the world including CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, NATO TV, the Pentagon Channel and Al Jazeera News. He also collaborated with some of the world’s leading photojournalists on a book produced by National Geographic titled Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery.

Ferdinand earned his Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in Communications from Thomas Edison State University in Trenton, N.J.  He has also graduated six different Communications certification courses at the illustrious Defense Information School on Fort Meade, Md.  Those courses include The Editors Course, The Intermediate Photojournalism Course and the Advanced Broadcast Journalism Course.  Ferdinand is also one of the youngest graduates of Virginia Tech University’s Master Gardener course, and is an active volunteer within the program in Hampton, Va.

Ferdinand enjoys gardening, cooking, playing sports and being with family in his free time.