Kimberly Wilson's Media Career Was Inspired By a Rom-Com

Before the credits to 1999's The Best Man finished rolling at the theater, Kimberly Wilson was ready to mail her internship application to BET headquarters. Wilson was already looking for a career change when she saw actress Nia Long's character, Jordan Armstrong, a music and TV producer at the network. “I remember looking at the screen and thinking, ‘Oh my god, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I want to do that,'” Wilson said. “Her character was polished and educated and just seemed to have it together.” Wilson’s resume didn’t match the profile of a typical BET intern. The Chicago native had just gone back to college at 27 and had no experience in marketing, but her folder landed on the right person’s desk. “After I mailed the application, I got a call from a woman who happened to be from Chicago and also happened to have graduated from the school I was attending,” she said. “It was just so random.” That unpaid internship at BET led Wilson to a full-time job and a diverse career in media. After three years at the network, she moved to iHeart Radio as director of marketing, then spent 16 years working her way up the ladder in affiliate marketing roles at Disney and ESPN Media Networks. In her most recent role as vice president of multiplatform marketing at The Walt Disney Company, Wilson is most proud of helping the company strategize its tribute to the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which will launch in 2022. Now svp of brand and advertising at SiriusXM, Wilson is using her love for music to create “cultural connections” with listeners. Before her BET break, Wilson became accustomed to a steady stream of rejections from “every radio station, television station and magazine in Chicago,” which she links back to a lack of diversity in the industry. She doesn’t remember seeing herself reflected in a media role until The Best Man. “A few years ago, I got to tell the producer what his film did not just for me, but for so many of us who were looking for inspiration,” she said. Big mistake “I wish I had moved around more to different business units,” Wilson said, adding that it would have given her a better sense of how other lines of businesses work together to drive corporate goals. Lesson learned Wilson has realized that frequent position changes are valuable, and horizontal career moves can be just as helpful as promotions. “I grew up [at a time where you] stay put, you stay in your lane, and you grow vertically,” she said. “I now say to folks who may feel like they need to stay in a role for four or five years that it’s OK to move around.” How she got the gig After spending 16 years at The Walt Disney Company, Wilson was ready to try something new. After hearing about the open role and chatting with SiriusXM CMO Denise Karkos and CEO Jennifer Witz, she decided the job "would be a great opportunity to stretch [my] marketing muscles in the audio space where there’s so much growth potential." Pro tip “It’s never too late,” she said. “It sounds cliché or aspirational, but I was 28 and I was an intern. Do not get distracted by what others are doing. You can use it as motivation, but don’t allow it to discourage you.”