Kira Karlstrom is the Co-Founder of Triple Threat, the premier IP development and brand intelligence agency helping athletes, artists, and creators turn their influence into lasting businesses they own, and brands identify and develop ownable, repeatable proprietary content properties. A former professional basketball player turned creative strategist, Kira is an Emmy Award-winning marketing executive and creative director at the intersection of sports, entertainment, music, and technology. After graduating from Drexel University in 2007, where she led the nation in rebounding for sub-5’5” point guards in her senior season, Karlstrom spent a year playing professional basketball in Europe on the Trustul CRE Cluj team in Cluj-Napoca Romania before retiring.
Karlstrom then began her career as a Producer and Art Director at ESPN, before moving on to hold prominent roles at Marvel Entertainment, Comcast NBCUniversal, and Capitol Music Group. She has worked on 360-marketing execution for major cultural pillars including The Marvel Universe, the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and ESPN’s SportsCenter, as well as talent strategy and digital marketing for a diverse roster of A-list talent including Sir Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry, Andrew Garfield, Scott VanPelt, David Ortiz, Hilary Knight, and more.
In 2021, Karlstrom joined Twitch as Senior Label Relations Lead, quickly advancing to Head of Music Label Relations and then Head of Global Entertainment Marketing, a first-of-its-kind role bridging traditional media and live-streaming technology. She fundamentally re-engineered how the entertainment industry engages digital audiences, with live-streaming initiatives that drove 10% year-over-year growth of music in 2025 and millions in branded revenue through activations with global brands including Coca-Cola, PUMA, Discover, Starbucks, and Maybelline. She also worked with Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, and Lizzo to facilitate their entrance to the platform and build their livestreaming content strategy and was instrumental in the strategy and execution of the Twitch DJ Program, a historic partnership between a major tech platform and the global music industry. Serving as the primary leader for the program’s launch and global campaign, she brought world-class talent to the platform including Steve Aoki, Tiesto, Zedd, Fred again.., Diplo, and Sofi Tukker, helping to define a new digital blueprint for the electronic music community.
Karlstrom has been featured on the 2026 Billboard Women in Music and Dance Power Players lists. She won three Webby Awards in 2026 for her work with Justin Bieber in the Best Livestream, Creator Launch or Drop, and Events & Live Streams categories, as well as Silver and Bronze Clio Awards in 2024 for her work with Charli XCX. She has spoken at events including Cannes Lions 2026 and Harbour View Private Equity General Meeting & Create Summit 2024 and been a featured guest on the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Insiders podcast. She was also featured in the SXSW digital docuseries “The Music Blueprint.” Karlstrom is a member of The Recording Academy.
Karlstrom is a cancer survivor and an active supporter of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, Coaches vs. Cancer, and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. She is passionate about travel, the arts, and reading. Karlstrom is based in Los Angeles.