Kita Williams
Biography

Kita Williams’ immediate goal is to help Terrell Owens match his NFL achievements with similar success off the field. As one half of TEAM Image, the public relations company she founded with partner Monique Jackson, Kita functions as matchmaker, therapist, and best friend while managing the Terrell Owens Brand. Jackson and Williams’ commitment to client service extends all the way to their on-camera participation in VH1′s The TO Show.

After a traditional small-town upbringing in Kentucky and a stint as an ABC affiliate news reporter, a talent development deal with MTV brought Kita to Los Angeles at age 24. A foray into publicity at Rogers and Cowan, the legendary PR and marketing firm, led her to a similar gig at Island Def Jam Records, which “gave me a whole new swagger as a publicist,” Williams says. Her association with Def Jam also led her to partner up with Monique Jackson in establishing Team Image, a full-service publicity, brand marketing, and special events company.

Kita is single and is a member of the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and also holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Monique L. Jackson
Biography

With the dawn of the Internet and a news cycle that rotates in real time, the days of routine publicity, marketing, promotions and media relations are gone. The amalgamation of what Public Relations, Marketing and Promotions can now do for a brand are expertly and daily captured by Monique Jackson, one half of Team Image PR. Just ask clients like Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboy Ken Hamlin, Philadelphia Eagle Brian Westbrook and Journalist Nischelle Turner (Fox Sports). “A ‘client’ is no longer an individual, but a global enterprise”, Jackson says. Monique’s savvy in culling the critical skills along the Public Relations, Marketing, Promotions, Brand Marketing and Management spectrum have not only helped her to keep pace in an ever changing field; she has set trends, as well.

Jackson’s experience in all the aforementioned areas and more including creative advertising and brand marketing are what has made her the powerhouse in the field she is today. Monique Jackson’s own brand evolved from an entry level position in Creative Advertising and Brand Marketing at Universal Pictures in 1996 to Public Relations, Marketing and Promotions professional at Island Def Jam on to television producer (VH 1′s The T.O. Show) and business partner in Team Image PR, a company she formed with colleague and friend Kita Williams while they both worked at Island Def Jam.

At Universal Jackson’s responsibility was to creatively find ways to research, position and expose movie projects to their targeted audience. Monique worked on the films Out of Sight (Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney); Hurricane (Denzel Washington); Half Baked (Dave Chappelle) and The Best Man (Nia Long and Taye Diggs) to name a few. Monique’s confidence and hard work ethic got her noticed by music industry luminary, Kevin Liles. “She was brilliant, she was confident but not cocky, she was a hard worker, 110% committed to the project. I knew she was a superstar and I needed her on my team”, Liles said.

Monique joined the Island Def Jam team in 2000, working as the West Coast Promotions & Marketing Manager. Jackson quickly earned the respect of the artists and her peers with a take-charge attitude and a consistent can-do/will-do spirit. Known to be a type “A” personality who not only likes it done right, but “right now”; Monique also became known to many as “Momma Mo” for her ability to nurture and encourage clients to be and give their best. TEAM Image partner and co founder Kita Williams said, “She will definitely go that extra mile to make sure all the client has to do is show up.” Monique explains further, “I have found that some of our greatest and most artistic talents carry unique personalities that need a ‘certain’ kind of handling to manage the flow of what must be done.” It is Monique’s balance of empathy, sensitivity and professionalism that help maintain the house that Team Image PR has built.

When asked what prepared Monique Jackson for her career in Public Relations, Marketing and Promotions and more, she answers “life”. With childhood dreams of becoming a minister, a nurse and an entertainer she has managed to fulfill all three vocations across the continuum that the fields of Public Relations, Marketing, Promotions and Brand Management have become. “I wanted to be an minister (and evangelist, actually). I wanted to be a nurse and I wanted to be an entertainer. I just wanted to make people smile and feel better.”

During her tenure at Island Def Jam her Grandmother was diagnosed with Cancer. Monique took a leave of absence to care for her grandmother; the one whom she says was her best friend in childhood and throughout her adult life. Monique credits her with having “made me feel loved, safe, secure, understood and heard; all of these things that are important to a child and a woman.”Jackson cared for her grandmother until the end.

This very challenging time realized Monique’s dream of working as a nurse. Resuming her work in Public Relations, Marketing and Promotions often brought Jackson face to face with the specific needs of clients where her brand of Public Relations, Marketing and Promotions became a ministry. It was the intangibles given by her own grandmother that “Momma Mo” passes on to her clients. Her connection with clients and industry colleagues garnered Jackson and soon-to-be business partner Kita Williams a higher profile than they imagined.

In 2002 Kita and Monique founded TEAM Image a public relations/ brand marketing company that specializes in sports, entertainment and personal management. “Kita and I were getting recognized and pursued by other companies within the industry because of the work we did and at the time my biggest reservation was I knew I would miss my staff and my artists, fortunately our relationships with the artists and contacts stretched beyond Island Def Jam and since then we have not looked back.”

Notable client and NFL Superstar, Terrell Owens’s career path has put the work of these ladies to the test. Owens is not just a client or a brand; he is family. Five years ago at the height of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, the ladies pitched a reality show to MTV. The show would chronicle life on and off the field for the talented and sometimes controversial public figure. Fast forward to spring 2009 and sister network; VH-1 has wrapped production on the “T.O. Show”.

Monique and Kita’s pitch of the show not only sealed the opportunity for production, but unbeknownst to them they’re on camera participation, as well. That Monique Jackson and her partner Kita Williams bring something special to the field is an understatement. They are changing the face of it, as well. The ladies will launch the Jack ‘n Will clothing and accessory line Spring 2010. Team Image PR like New York Life is definitely the company you keep.

Monique Jackson is a married mother of two young sons.