Ki Ki Ayers drove herself from being homeless to becoming an A list celebrity PR. She was driven from day one, pushing herself to becoming the first generation college graduate in her family.
In 2016 Ayers spent a few months homeless and in search of her destiny. She began working on her career from a hotel bathroom, where she also slept at night.
Ki Ki worked hard and went from 0 to six figures in six months. She developed Ayers Publicity, a firm that would throw the hottest events for celebrities like Russell Simmons, P Diddy, Jamie Foxx, and more.
Her success got her appearances on the cover of The Connect Magazine and been featured in Black Enterprise, The Source, Life of Currency and The Huffington Post.
Ayers told forbes, “I’m defined by my life purpose,” Ayers says. “I genuinely love to help people. With PR, I can help the most overlooked, talented and hardworking people get the recognition they deserve. So many women in all industries don’t get the credit they should, and so many people of color don’t get their stories told in prestigious publications. I take pride in changing that.”
Ayers had been homeless more than once, earlier at the age of 16 she would sleep in the car with her family. She graduated from high school and enrolled herself into college, later transfering to Howard University. Her desires were to work in thw entertainment industry, landing her jobs at BET, MTV, BBC and with Sean “Diddy” Combs. But she felt uninspired. Each job was the same. “My imagination wasn’t matching the reality, so I lacked inner peace,” Ayers says. “Working for someone else wasn’t for me because though I had a nice income, I didn’t have freedom. If your work is your life and you hate your work, then you essentially hate your life.”
She decided to leave her job which resulted into becoming homeless.One night when she had no money and nowhere to stay, Ayers ended up in a hotel lobby. But instead of checking in, she walked into the bathroom – and spent the night on the floor.
She tells Forbes, “I kept thinking to myself, ‘How did I get here?’ Then I asked myself, ‘What can I do to make money while still doing what I love?’” Ayers says. “That’s when I got the idea and, more importantly, the motivation to start Ayers Publicity. You’d be surprised at what you can accomplish even when you have nothing to begin with. ”
Ayers spent her next year working through her celebrity contact lists and educating herself by attending financial workshops. “It was very hard. Everyone doubted me. I had no support money or place to live, yet even in that situation, I was happier taking a risk than working in a corporate environment with a steady income.” Her hard work and risk-taking paid off: Ayers currently is on track to make her first million by 2021.
“My career has value and meaning to me because of my past,” Ayers says. “I grew up very poor, a black girl from a small town who loved nothing more than writing and telling stories. I put myself through college and searched for a deeper meaning in life. I never in a million years thought I would meet, interview or work for my favorite celebrities. I absolutely never thought I would be an entrepreneur. Yet here I am. And every time my story is told, many young women and men tell me I’m an inspiration. I want to help people understand that all things are possible. You determine how your story will end. Having the power to inspire others is, for me, true wealth.”
The woman of African American descent faced double barriers by sex and race, telling Forbes: “the direct result of being two things that I can’t change: black and a woman. I battle misconceptions every day. A lot of potential clients assume that I only have ‘urban’ media connections or that my clients are only black. Men try to talk me into working for free or lowering my rate. They treat me like a child or refer to me as ‘babe’ or sweetheart.’ But I am far from naive or unintelligent. I insist upon them paying a 50% deposit before I begin working for them, and I demand that they address me by name. I prove that all of their assumptions are wrong. Trust me, I would love nothing more than to wake up and just be seen as a human first and a publicist second. Having my race and gender be seen first instead of my work presents many challenges.”
Young people can tap into their life purpose, Ayers says, by asking themselves, “’What makes it feel great to be me?’ Millennials get so comfortable living through other people that they forget to live for themselves. We spend so much time watching celebrities and social media and trending shows that everything becomes about perception rather than purpose. Ask yourself: How are you going to inspire someone the way your favorite role model has inspired you? What are you doing to change the world?”
Also, Ayers advises, do it now. “I hear so many people say ‘when the time is right.’ I’ll leave my job when the time is right. I’ll go back to school when the time is right. I’ll move when the time is right. There’s never going to be a perfect time to chase your dreams. Nothing worth having is easy to get or keep. Stop making excuses. Every time you fail, you learn and the victory is knowledge. Go for it.”
Ayers is not only achieving financial wealth and branding, she is also embarking on new life with becoming a mother. She has managed to build a new generation of wealth for her family.She wad destined to make money moves.
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