OYP Episode 22: Kendra King

Kendra King, VP of Customer Experience & Innovation and Consumer Products Vertical Lead at Publicis Sapient, tells us about how critical maintaining her roots, learning and upskilling, and the willingness to take a step back in order to successfully pivot have been in her career journey so far.

Interview

Peter Szczerba - Welcome back to the Own Your Potential Podcast, where you'll hear stories from leaders across the globe about how they've taken control of their career growth and lessons on how you can to. Hi, I'm Peter Szczerba.

Adrienne Graham - I'm Adrienne Graham.

Peter Szczerba - And today we're excited to be speaking to Kendra King, who's the Vice President of customer experience and innovation consulting at Publicis Sapient.

Adrienne Graham - Hi, Kendra, thank you for joining us today. Can you tell us a little bit about your career journey?

Kendra King  - Sure. I started out in the advertising, discipline, I guess, the advertising part of our industry, and started out at Leo Burnett recruited out of graduate school at Northwestern, and was very excited. Leo was my, you know, my ideal, like the place I wanted to work. And I started in the research department. Knowing that they were going to transition people from research into an account planning department, they were just starting account planning, and I wanted to be a planner, a brand planner. And so it was very exciting. And I also, you know, traditionally I'm classically trained, in market research, in brand planning, like we did it by the book brand building the Leo Burnett way. So that was that was fun. I started out, just doing things, working on accounts like Reebok and Coca Cola, and Kellogg's, just a wealth of experience, you know, right out the gate. And then I, I stayed in advertising, I got into multicultural marketing at a agency down here in Atlanta, moved from Chicago to Atlanta, and was, quite honestly was kind of bored after working, you know, at a multinational agency, And then went to a smaller regional agency. So a group of us got together, we formed a multicultural arm of the company called Black Sheep. So that was actually a lot of it was a lot of fun. And, yeah, just making things up, that's actually been a thread throughout my career, was recruited to work in to work at the largest multicultural marketing agency, and moved to Detroit part time. I kind of refuse to admit that I was moving to Detroit. So I kept my house in Atlanta, which is also a theme there. But that was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun in Detroit or in Southfield, working with global hue, met some great people, and got to hone my skills in multicultural marketing. At that point. I because of the way that multicultural marketing works, there's a sure there's a content play. But, you know, oftentimes, these agencies produce content that no one sees, because they don't have the media budget. So I started to actually teach myself media planning and buying, just so I could understand how we could have a bigger impact in the multicultural space. You know, unbeknownst to me, my first boss at Leo Burnett called and asked me if I'd be interested into jumping over to the media side. And because they were looking for account planners, to go into media, to help elevate the strategic thinking. So you know, if you know anything about media planning and buying, and this was years ago, so at that point, it was very, what they call spots and dots, you know, reach and frequency very numerical, very quantitative, and really didn't take into account the human, you know, human factors, you know, insight, creativity, quite honestly. I mean, there, there was some creativity, but there was just an opportunity to even make it, you know, do more innovative things. At this time, the internet was exploding. And the, really the job of a media planner was expanding, because now they were all these different touch points. And so I was like, that's really interesting. So, so it was like check box on learning new things. And then also check box on New York, New York is somewhere I always wanted to be. And so that that role was actually at Starcom in the New York office, working on the Coca Cola account, which was great because I still had my house in Atlanta, and still wanting to be attached to Atlanta, but then also got to work in New York and live there. So I lived in Harlem and you know, for a good 10 years, I commuted back and forth between New York and Atlanta. So, let's see, I was there working on Coke's business, it was absolutely amazing opportunity to, to learn from, you know, the marketers at Coca Cola, both in North America and globally. And also to be in media at a point where we were being able to really imagine and create what's now connection planning, or channel planning, all those things didn't exist. And so being at the forefront of creating new opportunities in media, you know, that was a lot of fun. Left startcom Media fast, because my first boss there actually became the global CEO at a competitive agency. And I joined his executive leadership team. And my role was really to help elevate insight and innovation across the global network. So, you know, that was that was definitely a, you know, a role that was expansive. But what was interesting, I'm really brought me where I am today is that I discovered something that was design thinking, like it was this thing, you know, I was just reading about it. And I just got really interested in design thinking. So you know, whether reading books from IDEO, or Frog, and realizing there's this whole other way of approaching problem solving, and also to imagine experience. So remember, I'm still on the media side. So I actually was putting wireframes together for media plants. I didn't know that at the time. But I saw where you could really dimensionalize the role of media to make it more experiential, to really become a driving factor of brand experience. And so in doing so, I realized that I perhaps was on the wrong side. And I needed to have a better understanding of digital. It was during my explorations in design thinking, whether it was workshops at scad, or reading everything I could get my hands on, that there was this role called user experience. And I did not, I just didn't know it, I tried to get my head around it, but I couldn't understand how, you know, I was reading just so much about it and seeing different job descriptions for UX, and trying to just bring it together without knowing a lot about digital. So at that time, I guess, personally and professionally, I started to take interest into wanting to learn more about digital. But then Personally, I had gotten married, I had a I think, I think my son was two or three at the time. And it was becoming really challenging to really juggle this global job, and really a crying, three year old, every time I left the house, Robbie would just cry, my son would just cry. And, you know, my nanny would reassure me that he was fine. Like she cried with him on the stairs when I left. So that kind of thought there was really no way to spin that, that, you know, that I really needed to rethink, you know, this idea of at that time, I was still commuting, if you will. My office was technically in New York. I also had an office here in Atlanta, but I just needed to simplify things, personally. And so I was like, You know what, I'm gonna learn digital. And I called some of my friends, old clients, people who I knew in the digital space, and I asked if I could get an internship. I'll never forget when I asked Carl Crawford, I was like, do you think someone give me internship and digital? And he was like, absolutely not. Like who would give? Like, you can't become an intern. And I was like, but I gotta learn it. How I was like, Okay, well, there's got to be, you know, there'll be a different way. And so it just so happened. I was connected with a headhunter who was looking for someone to write creative briefs at Razorfish. And he was like, well, you want to learn digital, you know, they need someone to write a brief and I was like, Okay, I can totally do that. You want to creative brief, that's fine, just learn me. So I wanted to learn user experience and just what you know, quote, unquote, digital from the ground up, and that's exactly what I did. So that's how I got into the digital space. And then, you know, fast forward, the opportunity to work with Publicis Sapient. As we started to migrate or evolve into digital business transformation. I was just I was very intrigued by Because I had been doing campaign work, you know, writing briefs, brand planning for quite some time. And the idea of, and I've always considered myself a problem solver. And so the idea of solving even bigger problems for companies and our clients, just it was very appealing. At that time, I also applied to the fellowship in transformation leadership program here, and guardian. And that was, you know, not to use the word transformation too much, but it was transformative. It was it was a great experience, again, personally and professionally. And it really solidified me wanting to stay on the Publicis Sapient side when you know when when Razorfish with us, so here I am, Vice President of customer experience and innovation consulting, and I am aligned to our transportation and mobility, consumer products and retail vertical, where I lead, CX&I, so I lead our discipline, focused on consumer products. That's it. That's my that's the story.

Peter Szczerba  - Kendra, you've had so many diverse experiences. And I think like you mentioned, the line to where you are today in your career certainly wasn't a straight one, it was filled with pivots and decisions that were both based on professional development, and your life situations. I think what's really clear in your career journey, though, is that you really embraced continuous learning. And I guess what I'm curious about is, how did you find that by embracing that continuous learning and development mindset, how did that translate into you playing a really active role in the decisions being made about your career?

Kendra King  - Sure, I will say that, you know, my parents were very big on education, I must say, I was a pretty good student. And I always liked to learn things. So taking that, you know, transitioning that into my career. I guess, it was deliberate. Like, when I was in advertising and needed to know media, I didn't know that I would get into the media side of the business. But I felt the need to know, I don't like to be in situations where, where I don't know things, quite honestly, I at least need to understand, you know, the conversations that are going on around me, and also to know where the opportunities are for, for my clients, or for my company, you know, the company that I'm working for. So I think at that point, it was more informative. I think it became more deliberate when the pivot from media into digital, it was about eight years ago. And it became just very apparent to me that industry was changing. You know, we talk about that it's changing now. But it, it really didn't just all of a sudden get here where the advertising and the advertising agencies or communication agencies are being faced with challenges, whether it's, you know, being an agency or consultancy. Really the role that digital plays, like you could see that it was it was on the horizon. And you just from reading, I felt that if I didn't, you know, really get into digital, that I thought that it would shorten my career quite, quite honestly, advertising, the advertising side of things, you know, tends to be kind of fleeting. And, you know, digital, just from what was what's happening not only in the industry, but just in our world and society, and the role, how it was transforming people's lives. So that was just something that I felt professionally that I needed to get my hands around. And so that actually was deliberate. As for working at at Publicis Sapient I also think that was that was deliberate as well. I do feel that the advertising, the agency game has changed. And the the idea of really consulting, being able to really provide value to your customer versus something that may be that's important, because obviously, I mean, you have to know how to sell so I definitely believe that brand and advertising are important components. I do think that there's a lot you know, there's just greater longevity and you can make a bigger impact. If you are a bit more upstream.

Adrienne Graham  - Kendra based on your diverse experience across all the elements of marketing and advertising, can you pinpoint or think about a time that you Had to openly talk about your personal and professional accomplishments? Was it difficult? Why or why not?

Kendra King  - No, it's actually, you know, easy for me to speak about myself and where I've been, and, you know, goals and what I've accomplished. But I will say that when I got into the digital space, that was uncomfortable, because my experiences to date, I don't think at that time were really valued. So the things that I had done, I just don't think the, you know, they weren't received well, but I realized it wasn't because they were they, they weren't important or actually relevant. It's the fact that that, oftentimes, I'm speaking to people who are a bit more narrow, focused. So they're experts in digital, but they don't know much about the other part, you know, how to connect the dots. On the marketing side, or the media side, you know, thinking about things more holistically from an experience standpoint. And so I had to become comfortable with being that lone voice in the room, who challenged maybe some, you know, the way that people think about experience, and the role, you know, people would laugh off, you know, I do remember that I had worked on, it was something that was actually multicultural. So if you think about multicultural from a niche or segmentation, the way that you have to communicate the way that you have to leverage all those nuances to make impact, somehow I had thought about it in the context of something we were doing on a project. And I remember, one of my colleagues, he couldn't, he just thought it was he was just like, why would we even think like that, like, how is that even relevant, so I had to break it down to him. But again, it was and then at the end, it was like, Oh, well, she actually had something to contribute. So that's the part when it becomes just when the conversation, you know, can be there can be tension, because I'm often in a situation where I have to educate people who think they know a lot about something, and they may be missing the mark, just because of their perspective isn't as broad as it could be.

Peter Szczerba  - Kendra, I really love that that sentiment of making the conscious decision that you're not going to let what you clearly see the right way of doing things had slipped by, and the opportunity to communicate that slip by and making that conscious decision, I think is, is an important skill set to have, especially when aiming to control the narrative around your own personal brand and story. And I wonder, you know, is that an example of some of the things that you've done throughout your career to control that, that personal brand and story?

Kendra King  - You know, when I made my pivot into digital, you know, things were, it did change. So I had been in the advertising in the media space where I had not here to achieved some success. At one point, I was probably the highest, maybe one of two highest ranking black women in the industry. And when I got into digital, you know, it was definitely one I didn't know. I was learning so so I, you know, I was learning the space. But then I went into a space where it was, you know, male, it was white. And I was definitely not I was neither of those. And so, you know, I didn't know the space. I didn't know the players. And I think people challenged me. And, you know, just I had to prove myself, I think professionally, but then also really had to prove why I was even there. And in doing so, I mean, I was, you know, I was performing. I mean, they started to see that. Wow, you know, Kendra has a lot to contribute. And one of my colleagues, he would call me, he was like you, you are you are our secret weapon. Because I did think differently. I think, you know, I thought a lot differently than some of the traditional digital folks. I think as I wanted to make sure that, you know, my standing in the industry, you know, what I had achieved professionally, just across the board, not just within an agency, but in the industry. I wanted to maintain that. And so I made sure that my contributions were I was kind of fighting my way on the digital side at the agency that I continued to have, you know, impact. And I worked through the American Advertising Federation or the AAF as working with the Mosaic Council. So at that time, I believe I became the chair of the Mosaic Council, which is the think tank, the multicultural think tank of the industry. And so got to tackle issues that were really important to me, like, the perceptions of African American women or black women in in communication, you know, changing the narrative, not just for myself, but for all black women, how we're perceived in the media. And so, you know, I just continue to do my thing. And I do recall the moment when I had gotten an award, you know, at the, at the agency. I, I think I mentioned, I went from being an EVP, to an associate director in digital, which was, you know, quite a shift. But I wanted to learn digital. And so, you know, I did move up. But at that point, I was still being recognized in the industry for what I had done. So I think black enterprise had given an Award from Black Enterprise. And someone, like one of my allies internally, he made a point to let people know about this recognition, I think it was, like, top women in advertising or something like, you know, it was, it was something like that, which, you know, is an incredible honor to be to be a part of this group of women who were who were, you know, given this recognition, anyways, he I remember him bringing it to the agency. And the reaction, I think people were like, well, Who is she, you know, because, again, they saw me in a different light. And so, this was, you know, with help, I was able to start to control you know, my narrative, or continue to control my narrative. Let people know who I was and what I can do, just because you may not know me, and and you may not value, you know, what I bring to the table, lots of people do, and, you know, eventually you're going to see it too.

Adrienne Graham  - Kendra, thank you so much for sharing your inspiring story with us today. It was a pleasure having you as a guest on our podcast.

Kendra King - Thank you for having me.