The Industry Cosign Spotlight: Kandis Knight

Originally published on The Industry Cosign June 1, 2015

Title: Publicist/Social Media Expert

Company: LuCreative Group PR

Location: Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Publicist and Social Media Expert, Kandis Knight ( @kandisknightpr ) graduated from the prestigious private Catholic Institution (and world class business school) University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Knight, a “City of Minneapolis” Scholar, earned a degree in Journalism and Marketing.

While in college, Knight was recruited and molded by The Rae Mackenzie Group. The CEO and founder, Sharon Smith-Akinsanya was instrumental in teaching Knight guerrilla-style marketing which was applied to the internet.

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Smith-Akinsanya, a long-time VP of Marketing for Prince and Paisley Park Enterprises is a well-respected Midwest marketing guru. Knight flourished under Smith-Akinsanya’s tutelage. Knight assisted The Rae Mackenzie Group to envision, plan and manifest one of the Midwest’s largest women’s annual events. The Gathering, was held annually at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The event attracted over 50K women the first year of production and grew enormously for each of the event’s seven years of production. In 2006, Knight relocated to Atlanta & was well-received by industry professionals as a New Media marketing expert working with major recording labels and magazines. Knight quickly became an industry tastemaker.

Knight has worked for some of the top music and entertainment organizations in the country, as well as being the Media Relations expert for several national concert tours. In 2008, Knight accepted the position of Director of Public Relations and Marketing for PZI Jeans International. Knight demonstrated the same marketing techniques used in the music industry translate into other fields such as the fashion industry. Knight took the 7 year-old jeans company into unchartered territory. The brand experienced a quadruple increase in sales with Knight at the marketing helm.

Currently, Knight is the Publicist for Rhymesayers’ Entertainment’s Annual Hip-Hop Festival, Soundset Festival. In 2014, the event broke attendance records with 50,000 in attendance. Knight has also helped to launch the Beauty In Beauty Out Tour. In October 2014, Knight was a featured Publicist in Black Enterprise Magazine.