PCSB Alumni Spotlight: Kham Inthirath ‘03

Named one of this year’s Worcester Business Journal’s 40 under 40, the Envision Digital Group President and Founder sheds light on his PC experience, journey to entrepreneurship, and current digital marketing trends. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Inthirath to hear his unique story.

Kham Inthirath ’03 enrolled at Providence College as a biology major, looking to become a physical therapist due to his love of helping people. He had a history of high school leadership roles, such as class president, that stayed with him as he became the first Board of Multicultural Student Affairs (BMSA) president at PC. He noticed these leadership skills came naturally to him and he switched his major to Business Management. He loved it, excelled at it, and the rest is history.

Envision Digital Group is currently located in Providence, Rhode Island and Worcester, Massachusetts. The digital media company offers a wide array of marketing solutions to local businesses as well as large clients like the American Cancer Society. “What makes us different is that we pride ourselves on telling our clients’ stories,” Inthirath states, “If you can tell your story and people can trust you as a go-to authority figure or resource, then leads will start coming in, and your business will start building its own brand.”

How did this bio-turned management major end up in the ever-changing world of digital marketing? Like many entrepreneurs, Inthirath saw an opportunity in the market and took it. Previously working with large enterprises like Verizon and their beta company, Dex Media, Inthirath noticed the size of these organizations held them back from keeping up with and adapting to digital trends. From his own practice with clients to outside research, Inthirath learned the ins and outs of SEO, Google Adwords, analytics, and web development. While he was providing these services on the side to his clients for free, he realized he had the expertise to turn this into a business. Inthirath states, “All you have is your reputation, my wife and I talk about this all the time, it’s so true, if this is going to be my career, I want to make sure I’m providing good value. If I want to promote a product or service, I want to be behind it 100 percent, so I left and I started my company.”

Inthirath explained the trials and obstacles that entrepreneurs have to face every day, and for him this was managing a busy schedule while trying to recruit employees who were just as passionate as his was about the field. But it was all work it since hearing his clients’ problems, creating a solution for them, and having them come back with great results and gratitude is a total reward. Inthirath states, “We have small wins every day. Seeing something come to life, internally and externally, seeing the vision and doing it… that’s rewarding.”

Inthirath’s skillfully diverse team at Envision Digital, a HubSpot partner, is constantly keeping up with the fast-pace world of digital marketing. He discussed that the most engaging current trend of the digital world is creating good content and videos. Visually capturing the user’s attention is key in the saturated social networking world. It’s imperative that companies create photographic, video, or blog content. This process is called “inbound marketing,” and is a promising solution opposed to merely “selling” a product or service. Inthirath gives high regards to text marketing, and states, “It can play a vital role because, who doesn’t have their phone on them? The conversions are much faster. Real-time engagement and conversions are definitely a trend right now.” Possibly the most break-through trend of the digital marketing realm is live stream virtual reality. Similar to virtual goggles, this live stream device would “be the eyes” for someone not present at a business meeting, class, or sporting event. Although live stream technology hasn’t become mainstream, Inthirath is heavily looking into adapting the software for client use in many different fields.

When speaking about his experience at PC, Inthirath related many of his business skills from his doings at the College. He was an extremely motivated and active student as BMSA president, a member of Student Congress, Friars Club, and a student representative to the Board of Trustees, all while holding both an on and off campus job. Inthirath explained that these opportunities he sought at PC shaped his ability to motivate others, to problem solve, and to manage time efficiently while still remembering to have fun. His experience with Friars Club particularly stuck with him. “That’s what sold me to go here, from my tour with two Friars Club members,” Inthirath states. “Seeing that dynamic of the two women speaking on behalf of the school resonated with me—that’s what I wanted to do and that’s what we do at Envision when we tell our clients’ stories. They try to captivate their own clients in the same way. They aim to tell their unique story. We are so digital, but at the core of us as human beings, we still want some type of strong connection, and I saw that in those PC girls.”