Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stefon Pettigrew. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stefon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

Accurately engaging with diverse audiences. They miss the mark when speaking to communities of color. Although we are all “Americans”, there is still a huge cultural difference amongst the communities of color. Corporate America gets this wrong when conveying a message to communities of color, because they will either hire a person of color that is far removed and out of touch with the community or a non-person of color that is culturally clueless.

Stefon, 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?

For folks that are unfamiliar with me, my name is Stefon Pettigrew and I am the CEO of KBF Marketing. We are a multicultural media and marketing agency that assists businesses with their diverse marketing and advertising efforts, and we work closely with black owned businesses to assist with their growth and sustainability by assisting with their strategic marketing, branding, and securing partnerships.

We have literally taken small business owners from the Black communities and have secured national partnerships for their organization. Changing their lives and making their dreams come true. We have uncovered grants and funding for community based non-profit organizations. As a Black man, I want to see my people win. When building a business, they don’t have all of the resources for sustainability, and we help build that for their longevity and their generational wealth.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Yes, I am not college educated. I always knew that I wanted to be successful but I never knew what that looked like. I just knew that I wanted to be something great and that I wanted to make a difference. My background is in Radio, as I have worked in Radio for over 15 years. I started out in Promotions and then I transitioned into Sales. In the Radio world, you make the real money by working in Sales, selling commercial spots on-air. I wanted to make more money and I wanted to learn how to sell and learn the value of what it is that I am selling. I purposely took a sales role because I knew I would need to learn sales in order to gain clients for my own business. I had to sell them on me first, and then on the services I had to offer. Sales isn’t for everyone; I walk into every meeting with the mindset that they are going to tell me “No”. You have to have tough skin, be persistent, and adamant. I am a full-time single father to my 5-year-old son. I want to give him a certain life, so he is my driving force behind my business. At times, I put him in a suit and tie, and he comes with me to my meetings. Some may say that it’s unprofessional, but I don’t believe in excuses as to why I can’t be available. I’ve closed deals with him in meetings with me. This will also shape and mold him at an early age as to how to conduct business.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Me getting the funding for my business was through patience and discipline. We are a service provider. We don’t have any tangible products. With my experience in sales, I knew that if I sold enough of our services and stacked the money, that we could build the capital that we needed. I worked a full-time day job to cover my living and personal expenses, and I worked my company part-time. I never touched any of the money that I made from my clients. I let the money pile up for two years. Once I felt that I was ready to walk away from the day job to commit to working for myself full-time, I did that. My patience and discipline are what held me down for two whole years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.KBFmarketing.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kbfmarketing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pettigrew-9b644b29/

Image Credits
Images by Kimberly Burton of Capture Thee Moments Photography