LESSONS from LEADERS: Kent Matlock

Kent Matlock’s success is partially based on the fact that he has been guided by extraordinary men and women. Each of those influential people was focused on actions that were for the good of the greater community. But those actions also affected Kent as a developing professional in Atlanta.   

 His first major life event took place at age 13.  That’s when he morphed from being an average inner-city young person into a changemaker. Kent’s parents had moved him, and two siblings away from their urban Chicago, Ill neighborhood and into the rural, racially mixed town of Brownsville, TN.  That transition forced Kent to do a hard reset on his communication skills.  Brownsville taught him lessons about character that have influenced him for decades. 

 Several colleges tried to recruit him when he graduated from high school. He only applied to and was accepted by, one of them, Morehouse College.  The school’s president,  Dr. Hugh Gloster became the first of  Atlanta’s extraordinary leaders who saw something special in Kent.  He placed Kent in Morehouse’s public relations department. That position led to contact with Anheuser Busch beer and Kent’s first corporate job as the “Bud Man on Campus.” 

Morehouse College helped Kent find his calling in life. The close-knit college community also introduced him to Coretta Scott King. Though not in Kent’s class, both of Mrs. King’s sons attended Morehouse while Kent was a student. She immediately impressed the aspiring advertising professional with her grace and iron will.  Her goal during the early years of their professional friendship was to have her late husband’s birthday recognized as a national holiday in the United States. A few years later,  Kent played a minor role on teams from Georgia Pacific and Coca-Cola that aligned with Mrs. King as she pressed to achieve her goal.

 It was rare to spot Black or brown people in the advertising industry, working for major brands or targeting Black consumers, when Kent founded his advertising and public relations company, in the mid-1980s. He credits former mayors Andrew Young and  Maynard Jackson for allowing people like him to find professionally successful mentors within their own culture.  One of the people who mentored Kent was fellow Morehouse alum and  long-time Georgia Pacific corporate executive, Curley Dossman, Jr. Kent explains that Curley has helped him navigate the corporate decision-making process for 30 years. 

 Kent relied on the backdrop of Atlanta’s strong Black business community as he provided insights that helped his clients market to and motivate Black consumers to buy their products. He became one of the few Black advertising professionals who helped brands tap into what researchers McKinsey & Company described as the $1.98 trillion worth of buying power that exists in the African American community.  

During this 30-minute podcast, Kent explains his passion for his industry. He discusses the reasons it’s still difficult for Black and brown people and women advertising executives to land good positions at major firms.  He also talks about how the dollar-and-cents value of inclusion has little to do with diversity and equity.  Kent is candid about specific decisions in his personal life and why giving back to community organizations has allowed him to reap bushel-loads of emotional dividends.  

This podcast shows why he is a rare entrepreneur and how his success has changed lives for both consumers and advertisers in a meaningful way.