As CEO and Founder of Think Tank Digital — a marketing and promotions firm — it’s rare that Tynicka Battle feels like the odd one out. She’s used to being the one who calls the shots and runs the show. Though two weeks ago, standing in Highline Ballroom surrounded by hundreds of teenage girls, she didn’t feel as powerful.

“I felt like the old lady in the room,” she said. Nonetheless, T. Mills —a 22 year-old rocker/rapper who performed that night — was someone Battle knew very well. T.Mills along with Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Ledisi, Timbaland and many more artists are clients of Think Tank Digital.

Five years after its Founding, Think Tank is a top competitor in the world of digital marketing. Thriving largely off of the rise of digital media and an excellent track record, Battle remembers when Think Tank was just a thought.

When she graduated from Rutgers University in 1996, she immediately put her psychology degree to use. Hired straight out of college, she worked in an outpatient facility supervising patients that suffered from clinical depression and in some cases suicidal ideation. “I think I realized really quickly that I didn’t want the rest of my life to be about that,” she said.
Later, Battle transitioned to a career where she was happier, focusing on research and library science. She worked at Rutgers and Princeton University. "I was very good at finding citations in online databases. I got several promotions, new jobs and raises, "she remembers. “One of my supervisors told me ‘you know you ought to get your library science degree.’ She thought she was complimenting me, but I remember it being a really sad moment. I didn’t want to be a librarian.”

From library science she ventured into marketing —a professional area with more opportunities and career choices. “I did think I was really good at the research aspect [of library science] and using online databases, so I basically figured out what I really wanted to do was marketing. I just had an aptitude for the online side of things.”

Through a job she landed in digital marketing, Battle discovered something that she was good at and really enjoyed. However, being one with a broader mindset, she sought out to reach a higher level of success in the field. After putting an ad in the Rutgers University newspaper, she linked up with Amina Somaya Elshahawi who answered the call to work as her business partner.

“She just had a great energy, she was willing to do anything and she was very passionate,” she said. “She was hands-down the best person I’d ever worked with. We just became friends really quickly. People were inspired by two ladies, particularly minority women having this company. People were just very supportive and we very quickly began to make a name for ourselves.”

In January 2006, they launched Think Tank nabbing rapper Speech of Arrested Development via Bluhammock music and India Arie via Universal Motown as their first clients.
“I’ll never forget that. In our first month we did pretty well. By month two we knew that we were going to be permanent and had a lot of sleepless nights ahead. We were getting calls and e-mails from everybody.”

For the first couple of years the company focused on music campaigns. In November of 2008, Think Tank’s Los Angeles office opened and began servicing film studios, creating and promoting movie campaigns. “As far as our [music] clients are concerned, they allow a little more room for creativity in a campaign and they let us take the lead,” she said. “At the end of the day our heart is still in music, but we recognize the need for what we do in other spaces that are pretty similar.”

In addition to film companies, Battle and her small staff expanded to corporate, social action and government campaigns including Pepsi Inspired, The 2010 Census and most recently The Bombay Company. “I’m pretty sure me and my business partner go on the verge of a nervous breakdown every 24 hours. It’s a lot to be responsible for yourself and employees. Even though you work for yourself, you really do have a lot of bosses.”

Luckily Battle’s background in psychology allows her to understand and accept others’ perceptions of her. “Psychology comes in handy because most of what you do in marketing and business is understanding your audience. I definitely feel I have an aptitude for dealing with people.”

As if constantly running meetings, making calls, attending industry events and perfecting proposals isn’t enough, Battle finds herself doing everyone else’s job at times. Even when putting in overtime, she still faces extraneous difficulties in her career. “There are people who will introduce me sometimes and say ‘Tynicka, she works for Think Tank’. I don’t correct them depending on what kind of conference call it is. There’s no need for me to make a point and say it’s actually my company,” she said.“I don’t attribute that only to race and sex, it’s also because Amina and I get our hands dirty. We roll up our sleeves and we’re pretty involved in all of our campaigns simply because of quality control. In this space you have to be on top of everything. If you lose sight of that, you’re going to lose touch. You’re no longer a digital marketer, you’re just a boss and I always want to be a digital marketer.”

It is her mission to continue proving that she — and her company — can do anything. Yes, Battle is an African- American CEO and digital marketer, but she’s surpassed the limiting ambition of only catering to the African-American community. When clients try to sell her on pushing campaigns that target minorities, she politely lets them know that Think Tank can handle those along with any other campaign or artist. “I remember the first time I had to work on a country album, a movie and corporate campaign. It scares you to death, but you have to keep pushing yourself.”

Since launching Think Tank, her life has been in overdrive. Still, she manages to put her family before the business. “Think Tank is always taking over my life, but from the very beginning I’ve been very good about prioritizing my family. I have two little children and I didn’t have a choice but to prioritize them. They’re dependent on me and keep me grounded.”

Determination has definitely worked in Battle’s favor. That’s why she encourages any and all with ambition to do as she did. “A lot of people get really bogged down in all of the planning. They say ‘I have to get my site together, business cards, t-shirts and a full business plan.’ Some of those things allow too much time and space between you and your dream. Sometimes you just have to do it.”

With that said, Tynicka nor Think Tank is going to slow down to make room for competitors. “It’s a really small world, this digital marketing space. I always want to be on the next great project that does something bold and risky and that I can brag about at the meeting or presentation. If I ever stop doing that then I’ll be unhappy.”