Media Leader Paves It Forward to Next Generation of Influencers
Denise L. Bennett. (Picture by Trip Sirna via Encounter Your Potential)
Denise L. Bennett is an accomplished marketing media professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Despite her many accolades, her most significant accomplishment is uplifting the next generation of leaders.
Bennett is the Vice President of Brand Strategy at iHeartMedia. The media guru specializes in multicultural marketing partnerships at the company.
Being a seasoned marketing professional, Bennett has crafted her skills and exceeded them in the media industry. However, she credits a lot of her success to her upbringing.
“My dad taught me to always be on your toes,” she said. “He also warned me, ‘Look out for the daggers that will eventually come after you.’ And my mom’s approach came from a professional Black woman working in corporate America. She taught me to be aware of the people who will cause chaos all around them.”
Bennett uses these same lessons with her students. The media professional is an Adjunct Professor at Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, teaching advanced business communications at the graduate level. In the setting, Bennett’s business students learn how to use business communication with employees from a management perspective.
She wishes to do the same for the young professionals coming up in the industry. Starting as an intern with MTV Network in 2001, Bennett understands what it takes to become a successful media professional in the industry. The communications professor has adapted to the changes in media, including social media and digital marketing, and believes that the media professionals following behind her can learn on their feet as well.
Bennett uses her lessons in the media industry and the lessons her parents taught her to help other marketers in the field. (Picture by Trip Sirna via Encounter Your Potential)
“Being in a business that has changed so much has made me resilient,” Bennett said. “I started in this business in television and cable, and it has expanded to so many more things. Now, this generation is changing how we approach media and leadership, and I think it’s a great thing to see them evolve and come into their own. They’re teaching people like me how not to live to work but to enjoy life.”
Bennett also believes in sharing the ‘tricks of the trade’ with people in the industry. She wants to encourage individuals and help them not make the same mistakes she made.
“My parents taught me that as I come up in the industry that I make sure my hand is behind me, pulling someone up along the way,” she said. “I tell the people that I mentor that I made the mistakes, so you don’t have to. Instead learn from my mistakes.”
Bennett is grateful for her parents and the leaders who shaped and molded her into the person she is today. She also hopes to continue their legacy and teachings to others.
“I’m grateful for them believing in me,” Bennett said. “They made me believe in myself and think, ‘Well someone’s got to break the glass ceiling; why can’t it be me?’”