As a kid from New York, with a mother from Bermuda, Kiwan Michael Anderson dreamed of working close to celebrities and musicians. Those dreams came true right from the start of his career at Arista Records and then Source Magazine doing communications. During the course of his professional journey, he moved to roles both in-house and in agencies where he had continued doing PR in the world of luxury and celebrity lifestyle brands. And then he landed a dream job and became the Director of Global Communications, PR and Content Development for the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
In this episode, Kiwan tells his story of how he made those moves by having an excellent reputation with peers and leaders, and through a very intentional approach to ensuring he maintained a strong network. Not only did he value that network — he showed up for them consistently over the years.
And through that network, he received a call to work for his mom’s home country, Bermuda. It was then that Kiwan was able to combine all of his talents to lead communications for a place that is near and dear to his heart.
Kiwan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiwananderson/
Kiwan Michael Anderson
Kiwan Michael Anderson has two decades of experience working in luxury, lifestyle, entertainment, publishing, corporate communications, PR, branding, and digital marketing. Kiwan is currently the Director of Global Communications, PR and Content Development for the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
In 2000, after finishing college at Hofstra University, Kiwan landed his first job as a Publicity Assistant at Arista Records and his career began very to flourish with PR and Marketing stints at The Source Magazine, and creative PR agency Nike Communications, where he managed prestige clients including Moet & Chandon, Hennessy, Stoli, and helped launch Grand Marnier’s NAVAN, which was marketed specifically to a multicultural demographic.
In 2007, Kiwan went in-house to work with the US corporate team at OMEGA Watches for 9 years as PR/Events Director. During his tenure at OMEGA, Kiwan led all marketing, PR, and experiential programs for the 2008/2012 Summer and 2010/2014 Winter Olympic Games, the PGA Championship, The America’s Cup regatta, The James Bond franchise & worked directly with NASA astronauts on brand initiatives. In 2016, Kiwan joined NY based lifestyle PR agency, The Chamber Group to lead strategic media relations and brand campaigns for A-List celebrity clients including global superstar Robin Thicke, director Lee Daniels, actresses La La Anthony, Jill Scott, Kelly Rowland, Tamar Braxton, and multi Grammy winner John Batiste.
In June 2019, Kiwan rejoined the luxury PR agency Nike Communications as Account Director to lead the spirits division across multiple Bacardi labels including, Bombay Sapphire, St-Germain, D’USSE, Dewar’s, and the corporate PR account for Bacardi Limited. In February 2021, Kiwan was promoted to Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) where he provided strategic action and day-to-day operational leadership on all diversity, equity and inclusion policies, programs, and practices at the agency. In this new and unique role created role, Kiwan developed and led all DEI strategies and programming and served as the lead for the agency’s DEI board. Kiwan also continuously provided the agency and clients with recommendations and feedback to focus on enrichment activities and strengthen key deliverables such as hiring, promotion, development, retention, and engagement.
In 2022, Kiwan was offered his dream job working for the birth country of his mother and was appointed Director of Global Communications, PR and Content Development for the Bermuda Tourism Authority. In this unique role, Kiwan leads all global PR and digital team’s efforts to ensure the tropical island is a top-of-mind destination for travelers.
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