Meet One of the Back 2 B’ham Alum: Kent Lewis

By Sidra Knaus

I sat down with Kent Lewis, a WWU alum, to discuss his experience with how networking has impacted his professional life.

Kent is the founder of Anvil Marketing, recently bought by Deksia, a systematic marketing company. He worked as the Chief Marketing Officer for Deksia and has more recently shifted focus to being a thought leader - something he greatly enjoys and is well-qualified for with over two decades of experience under his belt.

Did you attend B2B in your college days? Why or why not?

Nothing like B2B existed during Kent’s time at WWU, and he thinks it’s a great event for Western’s students.

What does networking mean to you? What does it look like?

Networking in Kent’s mind consists of three parts: creating and identifying opportunities to meet new people, maximizing your time there, and following up after the fact with the people you meet.

You can create or identify opportunities with intentions that are more selfish (creating and strengthening your network) or unselfish (to connect and help others) - both are valid.

When attending events with networking opportunities, don’t be a wallflower. Approach people and initiate those connections, don’t wait for others to come to you.

“Reciprocity is a powerful tool.”

After establishing those initial connections, Kent stressed the importance of the follow-up. You are just one face out of many, so reaching out after the initial meeting and offering to buy them a cup of coffee or a beer is a good way to help stick in their mind. Reciprocity is a powerful tool and initiating contact will make them more likely to think of you when an opportunity arises and pass along your resume.

Any tips for socially shy people?

Kent is an extroverted, outgoing person, so he personally does not relate to the anxieties some face when thinking of attending a networking event. Despite this, I asked if Kent had any advice for people who are more hesitant to put themselves out there. His greatest piece of advice was to bring along a wingperson with you to help calm your nerves. As Kent put it, “it’s not easy to know nobody.”

He also recommended having an easy, low stress intro line to use when meeting new people. Kent’s favorite? “What’s your story?” Asking a person their story is a great open-ended question that allows the person to share as little or as much as they wish with you. It is better phrased than just asking someone where they work or what they do.

“What’s your story?”

Going into a social networking interaction with a mindset of how you can help others may help minimize your anxiety. It isn’t about you when you’ve got a service mindset, it’s about everyone else.

Ultimately, Kent says to just start with “hi”. You’ve got to start somewhere, and generally “hi” is a great way to do that.

Do you have any tips on networking for current marketing students, especially those who are graduating soon and will be entering the job market?

Before he got married and had kids, Kent was attending two to three, sometimes even four events a week for about a decade. His consistent presence over this time ingrained him into peoples minds, so much so that when he stopped going to as many events, attendees still thought he’d been there.

Kent also recommended utilizing your connection with your professors. They are smart and connected people that can definitely help you meet others in your field. They will have ideas for who or where to reach out to.

We live in an age where groups have internet presences - simply Googling local groups in your field is a great way to meet some people near you with similar interests. Handshake and LinkedIn are also great tools for meeting people and making connections.

Identify your industry’s thought leaders and influencers and follow them on LinkedIn. Join LinkedIn groups. Be present and participative.

Has networking had an impact on your career? If so, in what ways?

When Kent graduated from Western, he didn’t have a professional network. He didn’t ask professors for advice or recommendation letters and didn’t do any internships while in school. He had one connection to the professional world - his mom. She introduced him to someone who wound up giving him an internship, which helped him make more connections and gain experience that kick-started his career and led him to where he is today.

During and after his internship in Seattle, he continued building relationships in the industry by taking his own advice of joining groups and attending events and just being present.

When he moved to Portland, OR, he only knew his cousin. He again started building relationships through finding local groups to join and events to attend. This hard work led him to where he is today, so networking has had a huge positive impact on Kent’s career - he would not be where he is had he not leveraged his networking skills.

Can you tell us a little about what you do at Deksia as their Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)?

Kent sold his company, Anvil, to Deksia last March under the premise that he would continue on as a thought leader in the company. He was promoted to CMO shortly after, and realized what a difficult job this is. He much preferred being just a thought leader in the community, so he returned to doing that more recently. A thought leader is someone that has expertise in their field, and enjoys sharing their knowledge.

Something Kent said more than once throughout our conversation was how much he loves being a connector. He founded pdxMindShare, an organization dedicated to connecting Portland professionals. Learn more at their website.

Before he stepped into the CMO role, he did not realize how difficult a job it is. CMOs must be smart and aggressive - marketing drives sales leads. CMOs must understand technology, trends, and people.

Check out this podcast episode on Youtube or wherever you listen to podcasts and read this blog post where Kent talks about his journey from intern to vice president in 5 years.

Are there any final thoughts you would like to share, or any points you want to highlight as especially important?

It really is important to never stop growing your network and never stop curating it (taking care of it).

Your network is your safety net - it’s more like a trampoline. If you lose your job or leave, your network is there to catch you and bounce you back up into another opportunity. Use all the resources available to you - Google, LinkedIn, Handshake, and people you know - to grow your network.

Nurture your network.

Our conversation inspired Kent to write his own blog post about networking tips, so don’t forget to check that out for more words of wisdom.

Kent will be at the Back 2 B’ham event this weekend (5/19-5/21). Register to meet with him and others on Saturday, May 20th from 2p-4p through this link!

Connect with Kent via LinkedIn and check out his company at deksia.com.

Thanks for tuning in to another blog from the WWU Marketing Department’s Integrated Marketing Communications class, we’ll see you next time!