Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Porter.
Ken Porter is the Chief Visionary at the PMG Agency (aka Porter Media Group), an Asset-Framed Communications company founded in Detroit, MI, in 2010, where he leads a team of 10 visionaries. The agency provides brand strategy, activation, digital marketing, content creation and messaging. PMG intentionally represents organizations which positively impact communities of color as well as those that work towards changing false narratives in urban America. These are generally nonprofits, funders and social entrepreneurs. Mediums include storytelling through film and photography, brand design, web development and print-comm.
He is an active member of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), BMe Community Vanguard Fellow through The Skillman Foundation, serves on the board of directors for “Caught-Up” which is a Black male youth mentorship program and founder of new non-profit “A Few Black Men”. Recently, Ken was recognized by several publications for his work and service. He was awarded the Michigan Chronicle’s Top 100 for “Who’s Who in Black”, Michigan Chronicle 40 under 40, Crain’s Detroit feature for 10 Black Entrepreneurs on the Rise, and also received an award for “20 to Watch” during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Dinner in Washington, DC. Currently, Ken is a scholar in Cohort 18 for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program held at Tech-Town at Wayne State University in Downtown Detroit. PMG is also honored to be a featured Agency by JPMorgan Chase & Co. under the leadership of Jamie Dimon, through their partnership with the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Detroit.
Last summer Ken conducted a workshop with the first cohort of Black Tech Entrepreneurs from around the nation for the Advancing Black Pathways program by Chase. He provided training on how to properly position brands and pitch to investors as they all competed for funding in New Orleans at the end of their five day tour. This year the PMG Agency celebrates ten years of successful business in the great city of Detroit, and giving back to the community is apart of the culture.
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?
Most business-savvy individuals can confirm that the road to success always comes with struggles. I’ve endured my own, including building a team that adopts the vision and mission of PMG, as well as creating a culture for growth and scalability. Creating and defining the vision of your organization will be one of the most critical components of the operation. Because of this, we now live by The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) which is a great system made up of a core group of six key components: Vision, Data, Process, Traction, Issues and People. This system, inside the book “Traction” is a great tool to help business leaders with their internal challenges.
I’ve had other challenges in the past which included a need for more equipment, new space and funding, but personally, looking back now those struggles seem so minor compared to the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus that we’re all dealing with today. As a result, my team and I are all working remote and maintaining our culture is my new challenge but we hope to experience victory very soon.
Please tell us about PMG Agency (formerly Porter Media Group).
Our mission is to connect partners with their audience through comprehensive communication strategies. As mentioned previously, PMG is an Asset-Framed communications company. Asset-Framing is defining a group by their aspirations and contributions. Deficit-Framing is focusing on the negative or words that are degrading, such as at-risk, low-income, poor, thug, ghetto, uneducated, and so forth. We provide total comms based on the positive aspects of our community and we work to change the false narratives in black America by partnering with non-profits and social entrepreneurs who are dedicated and in alignment to this mission.
We provide an array of services: Content Creation; Storytelling, Photography, Creative Design, Copywriting, Branding; Positioning, Messaging, Digital Marketing, Consultation, Research, Strategy and Organizational Tactics. In simple form, we are a comprehensive strategic comms agency.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Wow, now my mind is racing. I come from a large family (7 Boys and 8 Girls). Holidays with the family, great moments of laughter, great cooking are all memories I can appreciate as a child. I grew up a “PK” and church was a part of life. We didn’t take many family vacations over the summer because as young kids, we worked the family carpet cleaning business which is where I got the bug for entrepreneurship and excellence. Entrepreneurship is in our blood, we watched our dad build a sustainable family business while serving the community with quality work and fair pricing.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2801 Clark Ave Detroit MI 48210
- Website: www.portermediagroup.com
- Phone: 3136716174 – Direct
- Email: kenneth@portermediagroup.com
- Instagram: portermediagroup
- Facebook: PMG Detroit
- Twitter: PMG_Detroit
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/porter-media-group
Image Credit:
Justin Millhouse (Headshot), Action Shots (PMG Agency)
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