How A Complex Executive Builds Value At The Culture Commerce Intersection

Marketing can either borrow from culture or build with it, and the difference shows immediately. We’re joined by Kirsten Atkinson, SVP of Brand Partnerships and Sales at Complex (West Coast), to talk about what brand partnerships really are when you stop treating them like a transaction and start treating them like long-term brand stewardship.

Kirsten walks us through her journey from studying mass media and PR to running huge media budgets at top agencies, then stepping into entertainment and client partnerships before landing at Complex. We dig into the practical side of partnership strategy: starting with the problem a brand is trying to solve, using insight as the connective tissue, and designing campaigns that earn attention through storytelling. She breaks down early partnership thinking with Nissan and Complex, including a Mark Ecko apparel collaboration launched in a fashion context, plus the mindset behind culture-first integrations like the Lexus Black Panther partnership.

We also get tactical about how leaders stay relevant in youth culture and the creator economy: scanning social for sentiment, reading comments, getting outside, and building proactive ideas that actually fit the moment. Kirsten shares three simple filters that keep partnership marketing sharp: first to market, innovation, and technology. Finally, we talk legacy, opening doors for creators, and why reaching back to students and young professionals matters if we want this industry to change.

If you got value from this conversation, subscribe, share it with someone building partnerships, and leave a review. What’s the best brand collaboration you’ve seen recently, and why did it work?

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
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Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Kirsten Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Welcome back to the Elevate Collection Podcast. We're so excited today to introduce you to Kirsten Atkinson. Welcome to the podcast, Kirsten.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Thank you. Appreciate you guys having me. We're so excited to have you. Like, we actually don't get like nervous for episodes, but we're really nervous for this one. So excited, y'all. Today's conversation with Kirsten, who is the SVP of brand partnerships and sales on the West Coast at Complex. Kirsten sits at the intersection of culture, commerce, and long-term brand stewardship, which is, as you know, it's been a really big word for the collection this year. Her work isn't just about selling media, it's about designing partnerships that respect culture, create real value, and scale without delusion. Because I mean, delusion's fine too, right? I'm a little delusional, so it's fine. But how did you end up here?

From Salon Roots To PR Thinking

Media Buying Before Influencers Existed

The First Complex Partnership Pitch

Nissan Fashion Launch With Mark Ecko

SPEAKER_04 1:22

Wow, that's a long-winded answer. We got time. But I mean, I I I ended up here through a journey that I think I intentionally paved based upon my passions. Um, I was, you know, always sort of, you know, drawn to creativity. I'm uh was born in a family of entrepreneurs, they're a creative uh bunch, um, they're actually salon owners, and so it was always in fashion, always in sort of the hair industry. But my father, he was always very intentional about making sure I was on the business side. He's like, You're not gonna do hair, you are gonna be behind, you know, the desk, you're going to be, you know, in the office and really learning the business side of this industry. And that was at the age of like 12, 13 years old. Um, and so uh I, you know, obviously followed that direction and um grew up in Sacramento, uh, California. And I ended up um going to college at Clark Atlanta University here in Atlanta, Georgia. Um, and I majored in mass media arts with a concentration in uh radio, TV, and film. Um initially I thought I wanted to actually be a journalist in front of the camera and started to learn a little bit more about public relations. And so I shifted my concentration from radio, TV, and film to PR. Um when I did that, I um really started to love this idea of curating stories and being able to take a brand or an individual um sort of through that storytelling, but make an impact, right? And help shape uh that uh brand or or or individual into something that's meaningful. And so uh from there I uh started to interview when I graduated at PR firms, and it's a very tough industry to get into. I'm not sure if you all know any PR professionals, but uh some of the top agencies like Ketchum and Burst and Marcella, it was it was tough, you know, to try to crack into the PR world. And so back then, this was in 2000, so 25, almost 26 years ago, there was this uh industry that was booming uh called uh the media space uh and the media agency world, um, in the planning and buying part of advertising. And so um I started interviewing, I'm like, oh, it's media, it's you know, it's advertising, how different could it be from PR? Uh so I started to interview in Chicago, and I got a job at StarCom worldwide as they were breaking off from Leo Burnett. So if you know anything about the advertising industry, um agency world, um, I would say in the 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s, the media department was one small office or one person in this massive creative shop that would place and buy the media. Um, so meaning they'd buy the TV at, you know, spots for the ads, or they'd buy the radio spots for the ads. Typically it's one small department. Well, in the 2000s, late 90s, 2000s, that business started to grow tremendously, and large creative shops started to spin off and also create in uh dedicated media agencies to handle massive amounts of investment that clients like Procter Gamble or even Coca-Cola, hundreds of million dollars of advertising, um, that they started to build an agency around and staff uh individuals like myself coming out of college and people with this discipline to be able to buy and place media. And so that's how I got into the advertising space. Um, back then I don't think there was brand partnerships, right? It was about buying, placing media. Well, digital happened, right? Social media happened, influencers happened, creators happened, and you know, it started to evolve the media landscape into not just the impressions, but the impact. And how do you start to really move the needle in terms of engagement? And so um, probably I would say my third job, I was at OMD, and this is actually a full circle moment. I was at OMD, um, which is an Omnicom group agency. I was on the Nissan business, uh, running about$300 million worth of their media investment. 300 million. 300 million. And this is across broadcast, right? So TV, a little bit of digital print, um, out of home. That was their massive budget. A lot of it was done what we call in the upfront, where we would purchase a lot of that inventory at one time. Um, we call it the cost go by, right? Where you're going and getting the most efficiency for your client. Well, along the way, um a company had just launched called Complex. And the salespeople are coming, because I would meet with all the sales individuals, right? Because that's how I would understand the products, understand, you know, sort of what's new in the marketplace. So the salespeople of NBC would come and pitch to me. And so Complex comes in and pitches to me. And I'm like, hmm, this is a very interesting platform, brand new, 23 years ago-ish. And so we ended up creating, I think, what was one of the early days of brand partnerships. Now, I would have never guessed I'd be working here, right? 20 something years later. But what we did, and I'll share with you what brand partnerships is just through the lens of this engagement, was they came in and said, Hey, we're we're launching this magazine. We love Nissan to be a part of it. Um, let's create something unique together. So I won't go through the planning process because that takes weeks, months, right? You're you're trying to figure out where the strategies and where the marketing sort of magic really will happen. Um, but what we did was we said, listen, we want Mark Echo, is the founder of this media company. He's a clothing designer. He had Echo Unlimited. Echo Unlimited. And so, right, we were all wearing this stuff. And so uh we said, let's let's let's do something unique. Let's have Mark actually design apparel for Nissan. And we want him to design this apparel, but we want it to be one for the Pathfinder SUV, a different type of apparel from the Armada to show the difference of the vehicles. One luxury SUV and one sort of utility SUV. And Mark was so gracious and so great and understood the marketing engine. He understood media, he understood partnerships, and he's like, I'll do it. And he designed a really uh cool um jacket for the Pathfinder. It was a camo inspired, and it had the rhinos hidden in it because that's cool. Echo Unlimited had the rhino um uh mascot. And and so um we he made that, and then he made um a very different sort of upscale piece of apparel for Armada. And what we did, we took it a step further. We said, we're gonna launch this at a trade show, not a media trade show, not a car trade show, but a fashion trade show. We're gonna launch the apparel and have the cars at his um what's the magic show, if you've ever heard of it in Vegas. It's a pretty big um wholesale fashion retail trade show. And so that's what we did. Um, we had content that we created, we had both of those vehicles also modified to match the apparel. So that camo that I described was actually uh redesigned on the um sort of surface of the of the Pathfinder. Um, and so that and I share all of that just to give you the sort of manifestation of what a brand partnerships would look like, but also to share the full circle moment because um on the agency side where I was the quote unquote client, I did that for 18 years, and then so I did it for uh Deutsch, Mind Share, uh lots of agencies, OMD and Team One, which is a Saatchi and Saatchi agency, and went to boutique agency Walton Isaacson about 10 years ago, and there uh was able to launch probably one of the biggest brand partnerships um in the industry and of my career, of course, is the Lexus Black Panther partnership, where we integrated the Lexus vehicle in the movie with Chadwick Bozeman. And that franchise and relationship continues to this to this day, to my understanding. And after I did that, I said, you know what, I've done 18 years of agency work. I love what I've done. I'd love to try entertainment and potentially do something different, but yet still related. So I went to NBC where I was on the client partnerships team, selling portfolio partnerships and advertising. And I did that for almost four, four and a half years, and then I came to Complex, where I am leading brand partnerships on the West Coast, helping the organization of the last four and a half years go through two acquisitions, um, and just driving revenue and lots of relationships and fun partnerships that, like you had mentioned when we when you kicked off, really uh provides this intersection between commerce and culture. Um, and we're driving commerce uh not just for the client in terms of transactional sort of um marketing and sales, right? Because we want to we want people to buy things, but we're also driving commerce in our ecosystem by doing some unique collabs that inspire people to want to buy um and participate in a movement through the cultural lens. So that was a lot.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Like, I don't even know where to go from here. Like there's so many ways. To say that you're a pioneer is like the understatement of the year. Like you can't convince me you didn't come up from partnerships.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Literally the definition. No, but here because it's the way that you've articulated is so beautiful to me because you say partnership, because I guess that's probably the easiest word we have in what the English dictionary to define it, but I don't think it's that. I think you've created this like loop, this yes, ecosystem kind of fits for me, but like it's this like loop where you get to like touch all of these different spheres of society, not even just the like, yes, you said the intersection of like entertainment and culture and sport, like that's that's cool. But I think what you've done though is attached yourself when it comes to these brand partnerships in a way where they're touching these spheres of I don't see a world where this isn't the way that you've explained it and articulated how it doesn't cross into like government when you think of like a car brand and the incentives that are placed where they're building the vehicles and how that that plays into that. And then you've got you're in the sphere society of like sports, and then you've got entertainment, and then of course you've got media, and then you've got commerce, like it's so yeah, much bigger than I think the word partnership can contain.

SPEAKER_04 13:43

Yeah, and I think that's the exciting part of it because it's non-restrictive, yeah. There's no box, and there's you know, and I had someone ask me this week, what do you mean by partnerships? Right? Like that's such a like you're saying, such an open-ended kind of word, and and it can mean a lot of things to different people. And and I think for me it is ties back to a relationship. Um, but in the job that I have, it ties back to what problem am I trying to solve? And that problem can be a lot of things, and it could be, like you're saying, a societal issue. It could be a brand issue, it could be a perception issue. And that's where the PR skills I think that I acquired from the very beginning has helped me through my career. Um, because I'm able to look at something as a from a problem-solving standpoint. And and I'll just take an example from Black Panther, just to tie back to that. The client at the time, Lexus, said, we want to reach black men, but not in sports. I want a lifestyle solution. That could be a lot of different solutions, right? And so you have to be able to synthesize all of the information and opportunities and what's like you're saying, what's happening in the world, what's happening in culture, what's happening, you know, uh, what's what's what's you know important right now in this moment, what's gonna make a difference? And so, you know, you have to be a brand steward in that way and be consultative. Um and sometimes say, no, that's not that's not the right thing to do. This is let's think about this, not that. And I think clients really value someone who is participatory in their brand and not just transactional or trying to just sort of convert, you know, um, to move on to the next thing. And so that's why I said the relationship is important to the partnership side because this is long-term. A partnership, if you do it right, it continues, right? It renews, it becomes an evolution. Um, where I start is not where I want to finish.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Right.

SPEAKER_04 16:00

And so that's really the approach I've taken and try to push my team and and sort of, you know, um have had the privilege to succeed in um and not be um boxed in, like you said, um, or be asked to compromise that conviction.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

I love this conversation so so much. Because now I'm curious when it comes to saying yes and saying no, there's probably opportunities that I imagine that have hit your desk where they'd be like, it's this brand. Like, what do you mean? Like, we have to do it. Are there any moments where you've had to say no? And what was the reasoning behind it if you did? Like, hey, this isn't a good fit.

SPEAKER_04 16:49

Right. That's a great question. Have I ever had it? I have to come back to that. We can come back to that because you know, it's a great question, and I think the only reason I struggle with answering it is because there's always a way, right? It's a it's not a hard no. It's always here's a yes and um, and let me show you how um to make that happen. And I'm trying to think of a great example of maybe where it's been a yes and. Um because we do so many partnerships in a day.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Like do your beliefs like leverage into that, like your own personal beliefs as a human being sometimes. Like, hey, this isn't okay. Like, have you ever had to use like your own like beliefs and morality in any of those dynamics?

SPEAKER_04 17:49

I mean, you you have to be careful with the the the personal beliefs and and morality when you're in a marketing, you know, sort of mindset. Um but I've been blessed because where I've chosen to work and the the projects that I happen to be involved in um typically align, right? Like I'm in a place of culture, right? Where I have the opportunity to help brands connect with young people. And um that I have teenagers, and so that speaks to me is what's the right way, and how do we give them a voice? How do we um champion the next generation? Um, and so that fits with my values because I parent every day, right? And so whether it's through music, through fashion, through art, through design, through events, through social, we are every day connecting brands to that youth cultural voice. And so um I don't have to compromise, right? Because they are looking for me to help shape what that looks like and what that sounds like.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Um it's so cool to have that type of influence, like ahead of time, to be like, this is how this idea is gonna roll out into culture, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:10

It's shaping it instead of like being influenced by you're literally shaping it.

Partnerships As Long Term Problem Solving

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Right. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, just a small example, you know, we had a brand come to us um recently, and this is very small, but where we have to say, hey, you can think about this, but maybe let's consider this. Is um one brand came to us and said, Hey, we just we just want to do a social post for Super Bowl. We just want you to post something on social. Like we're doing our own event, but we just want to use your 60 million, you know, social following just to kind of, you know, zhuzh up what we're doing. And so we said, you know what, instead of just doing a social post, why don't we actually bring our complex news franchise and talent to your event and really speak to and highlight the activation that you're doing. And it's still, you know, pretty simple for you, but it also gives you an opportunity to storytell and be able to, you know, sort of um ignite our capabilities in a in a in a more unique way, but yet still give you the impressions and the reach that you're looking for. So super small, but just an example of how you can just sort of tweak, you know, just one simple format or you know, formula that they might not really realize is just a step down from what they could be doing. Uh, or we could go to that same client and say, listen, let's go to Playboy Cardian, let's actually do a custom sneaker or a merch collab. How about that? I had a client call me, and I'll keep clients' names confidential, but this week as well, and said, hey, we're moving our launch up. We might not be able to do complex con. However, you know, we're open to doing other unique things. And so uh we talked about just that. Why don't we do a long-standing merch collab for you that leads up to your launch? You know, if you can't be at the big show, let's make a big story. Let's go to an Adidas or a Nike and do a sneaker, or you know, let's do something very unique where you can storytell and brand tell leading up to that launch. Or we're launching a new platform called Market, which is a, you know, sort of marketplace um format. We're launching it at All-Star Weekend. Um, we're we're gonna have um folks selling anything from sports paraphernalia to memorabilia. Um, and why don't we bring you into that space and really talk about your launch in that context through an experience that is more tempole driven or in a cultural moment? So those are just conversations that I'm trying to like articulate and bring you into uh contextually what it sounds like and what it looks like, because there is never um, you know, sort of you don't start where you finish, like I said, you know, you talk through what about this? How does this feel? Or let's take a step back and create together. And I think. That is what makes brand partnerships and what we do very unique than, let's say, the transactional selling of here, buy a banner or buy a commercial, right? That should be the sort of table stakes and the foundation. We sell that too. We have media, right? But it's a part of your plan. It's not the plan.

Turning A Simple Post Into Story

SPEAKER_00 22:57

I'm curious, how in your position, do you feel like you're or do you get to be a combination of proactive versus reactive? Like, are you is it the client coming to you and they're like, hey, we want to do this? Or like, do you sometimes just sit at your desk and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna reach out to these two companies because I've ideated on this immaculate like concept?

SPEAKER_04 23:19

Well, internally we say we do no proactives because resources are limited. However, corporately so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's our that's our corporate answer. But no, no, no. When you have a relationship with a brand, you're always thinking about what you want to do with them. You know, like if you really love your job and you like what you're doing, right? I'll see something on TV and I'm like, oh my gosh, Uber's doing this. Why don't we okay, let me go call the marketing person? Have you thought about? And then now I have a conversation with him, right? Or her. And then we start to ideate. So I think to answer your question, like if you love what you do and you're um passionate, and that's where I go back to. Like, I'm passionate about my job and the work I get to do. So I'm always thinking, I'm I'm looking at social, but I'm scanning social. Yep. What is this? What is this brand doing? What is that brand doing? What is this, what is the conversation? I'm in the comments laughing, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

That's the place in the comments.

SPEAKER_04 24:23

But it gives you the sentiment of the audience, right? What's exciting to them? And so I get to take that information, plug it into the way in which I present opportunity. Like, hey, you guys know Cardi B is, you know, tours coming up, you know, uh, elf beauty, you know, what are what are we doing? Is there any way we could do a pop-up merch collab or not even a merch collab? Let's do a let's do something fun, you know, um in and around a city where she's where she's gonna be and and and perhaps connect with her. Um so knowing culturally what is happening and what is in the moment is part of connecting to the brand and getting them excited about anything proactively that you want to pitch to them. But I think it's important to qualify it because not every idea is a good idea, and not everything that I want to do will get done. But if you're excited about it, you have the research, you have the insight, and that's super important. And that comes from my agency training. You always lead with a strategy and an insight because that is the connective tissue between the brand and the idea, right? And so that's that's really what drives it. Um, in terms of reactionary, we typically get RFPs from brands like, hey, I'm launching this thing, or we're thinking about moving in this direction as a brand next year. How can we, you know, work with you? And so it's a combination of all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

You all have expanded so much beyond just like media, obviously, and really having the pulse. Obviously, you're doing that independently. Like, that is something you're doing as a leader, which I find so beautiful, instead of waiting for people to get reports to your desk and say this is what's going on, like you're so tapped in. In your leadership and how you lead your team and those that you're collaborating with internally, are there skills that you've gathered, not from like education, traditional education, or your career backing that you believe contribute to your success of you being able to do this role really, really well? Like you mentioned about like parenthood, like being a parent. Yeah, you you've got your own little home focus group, you know. Right. Um, but when you're speaking to that audience, but are there any other like life experience or skills that you've acquired that help you do this so well?

Proactive Ideas And Reading Comments

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Yeah, I think um now I'm older now than I was, you know, 20 years ago. But I think the consistent thing is just being out in the world. I think COVID, unfortunately, you know, the the generation that went through uh that time and grew up during that time, it took us a while to really understand how to get people back, you know, outside, literally, and wanting to participate in not just life, but in culture and events. And I think it's exciting what we're doing is because we're bringing those moments to the audience and to the marketplace. So I think the first thing is, you know, if you want to be able to advise your clients, you have to be number one, you know, up on the latest trends. You have to be outside experiencing the world and connecting to people who, even if you don't know it all, that sit next to the people that do, you know, and absorb. Sit in a concert you wouldn't normally go to because you know everyone else likes it, right? Or go to a golf event. You're not a golfer, but just absorb it, you know. So I think being curious and being out in the world and being almost a sponge, you know, of you know, and I say culture, but like you said, that means a lot of different things, right? It means things that you're passionate about and things that drive fandom for not just you, I should say, but for others that you're trying to target. I think being a steward of your audience is important because I can't legitimately advise a Yahoo or a you know truest bank or a Delta what they should be doing to reach this audience. I'm not the target, by the way, right? So why are you listening to me? It's because I truly do, first of all, I'm curious about it. I am interested in it. I actually happen to um enjoy what young people are into as well. And like you said, I have a focus group. Not only do I have my two teenagers, but my three step kids are 20, 21, and 30. So I have a good range of just people around me um daily. Um, and so yeah, that's those are some of the things I would say is just get out in the world, be curious, tap into, tap in, right? Tap into the to the culture, tap in. That's sorry guys, tap into the audience and keep keep moving. I love that. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

No, no, no, because we're so excited. I am very excited. Is there anything someone who's on the fence about dabbling in the brand partnership world that you know they've got a cool brand, they're up and coming, or or maybe they're they're well established, but they're not utilizing brand partnerships to their maximum potential. Is there anything you wish they knew or would consider?

Leadership Through Curiosity And Being Outside

SPEAKER_04 30:03

Hmm. Something that I wish that if if someone's in brand partnerships but not tapping in fully, what I would encourage them to consider. Um, I think it's just keep going. Right? Like sometimes you just haven't hit your stride, or maybe you just haven't come into that moment where you've done the partnership that really sets the tone for what gets you excited. Uh, keep looking around that corner and seeing like what possibilities you know are ahead of you. Because, you know, I've been in the industry for 25 years. And so when I look back, I'm like, there are nuggets and little moments, you know. I remember being at the agency and they were launching at CNN a brand new uh customizable sort of dashboard for how you consumed news. It was called CNN X, and that was a big thing. It wasn't there, we didn't have AI back then. Digital was brand new, and and I remembered being a launch partner for them. So I think you know, one lens that I've always used that I could encourage uh the anyone to think about in brand partnerships is first to markets, innovation and technology. And innovation and technology are tied together. So if you can look at opportunities in the through those three lens, you're going to find a sweet spot and something special. Because if it's never been done before, if it's a first to market, it's never been done, that means you're taking a risk, right? So it's only it's either gonna work or it's not gonna work, so to speak, right? If it's innovation, that's also new, right? And you're paving a way and you're you're being you know thoughtful and and again taking a risk, but you're you're tapping into um the future. Um, and then if it's technology, you know, tech is always leading, you know, it's always going to be sort of a defining barometer of what's happening in our society and in the world. And so you're you can you can't lose. Um, and so I would just encourage folks to kind of use those three as you know, sort of filters for the work that you do and the partnerships that you're thinking about and how you can infuse one or various um, you know, uh, of the three.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

With you shaping culture, really the way that you are and the influence that you currently have, what is one thing that you would like to be a part of your legacy?

SPEAKER_04 32:56

One thing. I can be it could be multiple.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

There's no box, all the things.

First To Market Innovation Tech Filters

SPEAKER_04 33:01

Um, I think part of my legacy is I think because there aren't a lot of women and black women in this career, I think part of my legacy is just continuing to pave that way for those behind me. Of course, I have a daughter, and she's been very clear she does not want to go into marketing or business. She's like, you're too busy. No, thank you. Um, however, I think it's important. Renetta McCann, and I bring her name up a lot, um, she was the global CEO of StarCom. She ended up rising from being like a receptionist or an assistant in her career to all the way up to the global CEO. And if you look her up, she's gone on to do amazing things. She's a black woman, and she led with so much integrity and just you know, grace. And so I didn't work with her day to day, right? I was like a media planner, I was entry level, but I watched her. I saw her get in the elevator, she said, Hello, Kirsten, how are you? Oh my god, how'd you know my name? Like, you know. Um, but that left an impression on me is that you know, someone who looks like me could do this job, right? You know. Um, but I also think aside from that, the legacy I want to the leave is um creativity has no limits and it has no bounds. Like creativity can come from anywhere. And I think that um once we start losing the partnerships piece of creativity and become transactional again, I'm excited about where we're going because we truly are, like I mentioned earlier, relationship-based. But like that creativity and partnerships piece is so important to doing more of this work, unlocking opportunity for creators, right? Like we're doing partnerships with brands, but we're giving up-and-coming designers an opportunity to get paid, to work with brands. You know, we're looking around the corner, finding the next big artist, right? That we can then pull in, give them a job. And I think that's what excites me as well is when I'm seeing up-and-coming brands and up-and-coming you know, music artists. It's like I can help give them opportunity. I can help unlock things. And I think that's the legacy is pushing creativity, giving opportunity, and really helping, you know, sort of shape, continue to shape what this industry looks like.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

That is so powerful. Is there anything you can share with us about what's next or what we should be on the lookout for?

SPEAKER_04 35:56

There's so much going on. Um, always. I think um we launched Versus with Apple Music. Um did you guys see it? Cash Money No Limit. Um so fun. And we did it at ComplexCon in Vegas back in October. That was a moment because for those of us during COVID, it gave us life, like it was a whole thing. And so to bring that in-house um was very special. And I think you're gonna see more uh verses uh throughout the year. We have one coming up on the 30th. Um, and so I'm excited about you know the opportunity to continue to grow that platform um and and and see how we can continue to integrate brands there. The other thing is um Complex Con is turning 10. And so if for those who don't know what Complex Con is, it's our we call it Cultural Super Bowl. So it's a you know part festival, uh part uh, you know, food and culinary experience, part marketplace where you can come in and get the latest merch. Um and you're almost you know the first to be able to get access to um these um highly coveted uh retail experiences, right? And so we'll have big music performers there, but we're we've never been in Los Angeles. So we it's for seven years we were in Long Beach, California. We took it to Vegas for two years, and for the first time, 10th anniversary, we're coming to LA proper at LA Live downtown. And so I think it's gonna be the biggest ever. Um, and that requires a lot of planning. You know, we have brand partners um, such as Toyota activating on the ground, alongside, you know, what we call energy brands um and up-and-coming streetwear brands. So we're democratizing, right, um, this idea of access to this younger demographic, access to uh what's cool. And that's what's exciting to me is to see it happen in LA on the 10th anniversary and seeing even bigger partnerships that we'll do as a result and other categories that we'll be able to introduce that may not be there, um, have have may not have ever been there. So that's exciting to me.

Legacy And Creating Access For Creators

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Congratulations. Thank you. So incredible. Thank you so much. We're so awesome. If I'm speaking for you, if that's okay, so inspired by your journey, your poise, the grace, and your approach, and how relational you have taken a business and industry that tends to be a bit transactional. So thank you for that. To anyone under the sound of our voices or watching this right now, is there anything that anyone can do in this season of life that could be listening to this or whatever that would help move your needle forward?

Reach Back And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_04 39:09

I think there's just one thing that comes to mind pretty heavily. And speaking from someone who went to an HBCU who may not have known this industry had I not sort of stumbled upon it because the type of job I was looking for was not necessarily opening the doors for me just because of the circumstance, not because of who I was or just couldn't find the job. I stumbled upon media and advertising. I stumbled upon brand partnerships and sales. I would love for others to look in places where we're not exposing students or young people to opportunities like brand partnerships. Um, and give them the opportunity. Talk to them about these types of careers, these creative careers. Um, bring them in and allow them to intern. Um, allow them just to ask you questions. And that's one thing I inspire um others to do a lot is take calls from young people that reach out to you on LinkedIn, just an hour or 30 minutes. Give them 30 minutes to just ask you questions. I do it at least monthly. Um, and so that's really my ask is go reach back. You know, look at look at some students that you might even realize, you know what, they don't have this major at this organization or this institution, and I I live down the street. Why don't I go? I'm gonna be speaking at Clark Atlanta on Tuesday. I make it a point to go back to my college. Um and I've I've spoken in classes at CAU and I've talked to those students ongoing. So that's really, and again, I'm a mom, so I'm also that where I'm like this, I'm just a mama bear anyway. But I think it's important, even if you do have kids, you don't have kids, these young people they would really benefit just from some of our uh day-to-day advice uh to reach back wherever you can.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

And Clark does have an incredible sports and entertainment program. Absolutely. You are looking for a school, and the team over there is just amazing. We love Marquisha. So we're so excited to hear you're going back. But Kiston, we cannot thank you enough for the time that you've given us today. We do not take time lightly. We know it's a finite resource. So we appreciate you so much elevating our community and all the people out there and just inspiring us. Thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Well, thank you. It was a really great conversation. I appreciate you inviting me.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

Thanks for the time. Y'all, we'll see y'all at ComplexCon.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Let's go.

unknown 41:57

No.