Meet Dontaye Carter of Carter Media Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dontaye Carter.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I own and operate Carter Media Group; a multi-media PR firm focused on telling the story behind the law firms that we work with. Stories have always been important to me because I feel like I’ve fought to find mine since I was a young boy.

The identity crisis runs deep in my family. Before I opened the doors to CMG, I asked a Private Investigator that I came to know from working at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, if he could help my mother find her biological family. My mother was adopted at a very young age. She never knew her mother or father.

I told myself for years that it didn’t matter if my mother ever found her parents because she had family that loved her. My perspective changed, however, when I met my father for the first time at the age of 27 years old. It was the worst experience in my life in recent history, but for the first time, I knew where I came from.

My father doesn’t live far from Atlanta. I decided one day to take the initiative and look him up. It’s funny how in life people, loved ones, are so much closer to you than you realize. I was reporting at CBS46 News. My father was one of the viewers, yet the closest he ever got to me was watching me cover the news. But there’s so much closure because my questions were answered. In my spirit, I knew that I couldn’t deny my mother of that. She sacrificed too much for me. My work ethic comes from her.

As a 10-year-old, I watched her work overnight and attended college full-time without ever knowing she was so close to giving up. All discussions that we’ve had as adults. This is what fuels me. It was because of her that I took my first television news job as a sophomore in college. When I should’ve been partying hard, I was working a midnight to 8am shift and going to class after. I had a few professors worried about the toll the load would take on me. They talked about how smart I was and how my grades were slipping because of my job.

But honestly, my mother couldn’t afford to provide for me in college, and I couldn’t justify it in my mind. How could I quit when I saw my mother do the same thing with four kids. When people didn’t think I could be a great reporter she inspired me with her words to put in the extra hours to work on my voice and I gained confidence. I worked for less than two years in Valdosta, GA before moving to Tulsa, OK, and two years after that I moved to Atlanta. I took some risk. Risk that I learned how to take from my mother, a woman of great faith and prayer.

I moved to Atlanta without a gig in TV news. My wife and I had dated long distance for over two years. I remembered a brother from the church asking me, “What is the church to Jesus?” I smiled and replied, “his wife.” I said it so prideful and almost arrogantly that the next part hit hard. He replied, “What was Jesus willing to do?” I said, “Die, of course,” He went on to say, “Well if you think you’re ready to get married you’ve got to be ready to die for her.” It reminded me again of the word sacrifice. I was out of television news for ten months and prayer, faith, a friend making a call, and a good resume lead to my debut on CBS46 and as they say, the rest is history.

But none of my stories is possible without my mother’s sacrifice. She’s given up so much yet only wanted one thing, and that was to meet her biological family. I used my connections and reached out to a good friend and private investigator. He’s known for either finding people or finding their graves. Unfortunately, my mother’s parents had passed. But we couldn’t have been more proud to hear that he found my mother’s biological family who welcomed us in with opened arms.

There were a lot of tears, smiles, and questions but the path is so much clearer now for my mother. This is why I am so passionate about storytelling because I understand that it provides an emotional connection that money can’t buy. So, when I go to work with attorneys, my first response when they tell me they’re having trouble connecting with their target audience is, where’s the story?

A good story beats a call to action any day!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overcoming poverty. Stats show 1 in 3 African American boys will end up in prison. I know few, and they’re serving for sentences for convictions from drug trafficking to murder. Growing up Fatherless.

The road hasn’t been smooth, but I am grateful for the people who have helped me to obtain this success in life. It’s funny, many of the kids that I mentor don’t realize how hard it was for me until some of my older pictures pop up on social media, and they say, “your one of us.”

I want them to see me as an example. I want to be an example and a role model. I encourage them to see beyond their surroundings and to take ownership of their stories as they rewrite it.

Carter Media Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Carter Media Group is a full-service Public Relations Firm that specializes in helping attorneys to own their story. We created a framework around O.W.N. to assist our clients.

O – Original: We focus on your unique story.
W – Work: Sharing the impact of your work on the lives that you have changed.
N- Network: Forming a community around you that breaks barriers, builds trust and influences people to act.

Our focus on the power of the firm’s story allows clients to connect with your company and drives growth. Your brand is a promise to your clients. However, it’s not your brand until you own your story.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Becoming a Christian. I was baptized on January 11, 2009.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cartermedia.net
• Phone: 678-551-1864
• Email: dontaye@cartermedia.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pr_carter03/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarterMediaGroup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DontayeCarter

Image Credit:
Sharron Starks, Mario Page, Jamarc Hurd, Kyleigh, Dr. Karen Creed

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.