We were lucky to catch up with Otis Carter recently and have shared our conversation below.

Otis, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)? Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style.

I first got into entertainment under two friends of mine that invested into nightclub ownership. I have always been a “people” person and always enjoyed the nightlife so i naturally gravitated towards their endeavor and how to help them from a hands on level. These are two guys i still Love to this day but at that time in our life we were around each other almost daily so it was natural for me to come on board in some capacity. We always laugh because to this day i don’t know what my role or job title exactly was . They compensated me fairly for things i brought to the table and some things i assisted with for the love of them and wanting them to succeed. My experiences with my guys BJ and Walls gave me some of the same lessons and experiences they had w/o spending $100k like they did. That whole experience over the course of two years sharpened my blade on how to lead adults, how to deal with the entertainment consumers base , how to hire and fire individuals and various other skills needed in the world of entertainment. This was also my first time being involved in two young black men investigating and working on a dream together from scratch. So for that I’m forever grateful. That experience more so taught me what I did not want to do and helped me narrow down my entertainment interest.

Otis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Otis P. Carter IV. Im a black man that just so happens to be intentional about being concerned and invested in his community. I cofounded a nonprofit named the 200 Man Stand and founded a company that i now co-own with 3 other individuals named 4Ward Entertainment Group LLC. The 200 Man Stand is a non profit that focused on loving our communities and providing whatever resources that may be need at any given time. If the streets need cleaning, we’re literally there with trash bags and gloves. If the community needs information, we’re there set up with a tent and some signs ready to give them wisdom, game, knowledge, or whatever the term is for the situation. We serve a few communities over multiple states. We serve and have served the states of Tennessee and Mississippi. We’ve been in over 5 (Nashville, Moss Point, Kingsport, Johnson City, Memphis, Springfield) cities with our sights and network finally ready for expansion to Jacksonville, Dallas, and Atlanta for 2023.

As Far as Entertainment, we try to provide responsible yet satisfying entertainment. We try our best to curate, events, champion events, and book artist we personally enjoy. We’ve grown our company and brand to reflect us as we’ve grown and became more accomplished and knowledgeable about who and what we want our society to ingest. We’ve booked, co produced, or promoted acts from the likes of the late great Dick Gregory to Floyd Mayweather, to the late Great Young Dolph with quite a few notables In between! We pride ourselves in doing good business and being dependable not only to our supporters but to our partners and people who pay us for our promotion and production services.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I love telling the story of how i met Hambino Godbody and how we started the 200 Man Stand. I met Hambino in passing in my nightlife journey with nothing coming from it but him and his guys popping bottles and supporting my friend’s establishment. Little did we both know our relationship with Hip Hop Legend Starlito would lead us to a brotherhood that would later serve the communities we each individually grew up in. The official link started in 2017 when I partnered with Starlito to book about 7 dates on his 52 City Stepbrothers Tour with Memphis Rapper Don Trip. On the Nashville leg of the tour i officially met Hambino. After the tour Star was working on his album while simultaneously working with me on the Hot Chicken Music Festival at Basement East. Hambino happened to be at the studio a few times since he was featured on the album and caught a glimpse of my character and work ethic. It seems right as we became really acclimated with each other and that brotherhood started to form he faced some tragedy and had to bury two of his baby nieces to domestic gun violence.( (Rest In Peace Sam’Marie & Samii) That incident was the spark that ignited his passion for his community to start the 200 Man Stand with me. He called me and told me he couldn’t see it happening with anyone else. I’m not telling that part to pat myself on the back but to show how someone has to have the strength to start and self awareness to know you need help. It was a compliment to me and also showed humility in a man i consider very strong and capable. The rest in history and history in the making.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think me being an honest person and a person of my people helped to build whatever reputation i have. I don’t really care about that stuff but I’m self aware socially aware enough to know it matters sometimes. I’m a guy you’re going to respect whether you personally like me or not. You’re going to respect my work and what i stand for over everything. I don’t try to fit into cliques and groups. And i will say, I don’t mind saying I’m wrong or apologizing on the record for anything that i might have done intentionally or unintentionally to anyone . That goes a long way and people of all kinds respect that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.4ward.live
• Instagram: @o_4Ward
• Facebook: Otis Carter IV / O_4
• Linkedin: Otis Carter IV
• Twitter: @ocsippcash

Image Credits
Black Bear Networking