From humble beginnings, the businessman became a kingmaker in the music business. He talks to Brunswick’s employees in a conversation led by Anthony Applewhaite and Erika Bell.
Benny Pough is now CEO of his own elite enterprise, DVERSE Media, “a full service global music distribution and publishing company” with the goal of disrupting the indie label recording industry. Formerly he was President of the entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z, Roc Nation, Executive Vice President of Epic Records, and Senior Vice President of Def Jam Recordings. Those are just the most recent steps in a 30-year turn across the music business game board that saw him help launch the careers of Boyz II Men, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Future and many others. Along the way, he’s also developed a keen talent for real estate and, most recently, has become the author of a much-anticipated self-motivation and leadership guide.
Brunswick invited Pough to talk to our internal employee resource group, BEAT (Black Employees and Allies Together). The ERG focuses building awareness of lived experiences that are often overlooked in the workplace and, because they are unspoken, can raise barriers in communication. It celebrates Black culture and offers a way for Black employees to take ownership of their background. And it gives potential allies a view into Black identities and challenges.
Pough was only too happy to help out. “This is what makes a difference and makes a change in an organization,” he commented during the webinar. “You’re stepping out of the comfort zone, having vision, while being thankful, being humble.”
The future media mogul lived in a drafty attic apartment as a child. He made his first mark while a student at Saint John’s University in Queens as a stand-up comic, supporting himself with a string of jobs in sales. A promoter spotted the energetic young man and invited him, though he had no music experience, to become an intern at Motown Records, New York office.
“The neighborhood I’m from, there was never conversation or dialogue about internships,” Pough recalls. “I didn’t know what it was. But I said, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’ I had sold cutlery door to door. I’d worked for Citibank selling their financial products. I actually sold fax machines as well. So I figured, you know, an internship, I could knock that out of the park, whatever that thing is.”