“Kenwyn is a very social person, he could make friends with the devil … it’s true,” said a laughing Jason Forgenie, brother of Kenwyn Forgenie.
Described by family as a social butterfly, Kenwyn Forgenie, 37, taps into his best traits to reach his dreams.
Forgenie is a social media marketer and advertiser born in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. He arrived in Canada as a young kid and currently lives in the heart of downtown Toronto. He has worked with and alongside Nike, Beats by Dre and Roots International.
He did not find success overnight and his journey did not start traditionally. His background is not in marketing and advertising. Forgenie went to George Brown College for early childhood education.
He attended six different high schools. At the time he was not fond of school: “I would say that I was a below average student, but teachers liked me.”
As time continued to college, he lived on his own which caused him to mature greatly. This maturity led to an understanding from his teachers. With growth it was no surprise he fit well into the role of a teacher.
He was involved in the field of early childhood education for 13 years. In 2008, he got a job offer to teach in China. Jumping on the new opportunity in a foreign land, Forgenie spent nine years out of the country. He started at a school called XieHe and spent time living between Shanghai, Tokyo and Los Angeles.
His time in China was not just teaching though. Part way through he received an opportunity not related to his field of work but a relative to his personality: Advertising.
The opportunity came through a contact he met while in China, who believed he would be good in marketing and advertising.
From there he started working with his first advertising company and his first client Porsche. He started off quick and in 2013 he joined Beats by Dre helping the brand expand in the Chinese market.
That lasted until December 2018. Next, Forgenie worked for Lebron’s company: Uninterrupted followed by Roots, 6ixBuzz, Timberland then Google.
He made his way around the world but stayed connected to his teaching career.
He remained close with some of the families of the kids from his early teaching days. He currently mentors a few of the kids who are now grown up. One of those kids are now in the marketing field and he has been able to help him with part of the experience.
The skills he has taken from teaching have proven to be transferrable to the marketing world. One of the most important of the skills was studying people.
“Marketing is the study of people… I had to study the kids and walk a view the room from a 50-foot view.”
He also believes his friendliness and authenticity carries him through all aspects of life, a sentiment that is held by his older brother Jason.
“Kenwyn could come into a room and flow like water, he’s a peoples person,” said his brother.