Digital Marketing Leader & Former Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok
Kudzi Chikumbu: Biography at a Glance
- Kudzi Chikumbu, the longest-serving member of TikTok's U.S. team, is a trailblazer in the digital landscape renowned for his unparalleled expertise in social media strategy, creator partnerships, and emerging tech trends.
- Previously the Global Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok, Kudzi was responsible for connecting and building the creator community while advocating for diversity, inclusion, and representation online.
- He has been listed in Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list and The Hollywood Reporter's Next Gen: Hollywood’s 35 Rising Executives 35 and Under.
- Kudzi also advocates for making the world of luxury lifestyle more inclusive which is on full display with Sir Candle Man, his candle-loving account which aims to bring a new, relatable, diverse, and inclusive voice to the fragrance industry.
- He released his book, Let It Burn: Illuminate Your Life with Candles & Fragrance, which offers a guide to loving candles and the power of making simple choices to elevate your life.
- An author of Brand Up 2.0: Propel Your Early Career Success, Kudzi is also an expert at equipping professionals and early-career talent with the tools to navigate career transitions and build a strong personal brand through social media. He teaches at Stanford’s Business School on Strategic Pivoting for Your Next Chapter and Reputation Management: Strategies for Successful Communicators.
- Kudzi is a sought-after speaker who educates audiences on leveraging social media for growth and embracing their brand stories to drive impactful results with the help of Generative AI and other emerging technologies.
Videos
Biography
Empowered by his message that "authenticity is your cheat code to success", Kudzi Chikumbu is a trailblazer in the digital landscape, renowned for his unparalleled expertise in social media strategy, creator partnerships, and emerging tech trends. As the longest-serving member of TikTok's U.S. team and former Global Head of Creator Marketing, Kudzi played a pivotal role in shaping the platform's creator ecosystem from its inception all while advocating for diversity, inclusion & representation online.
Kudzi's passion comes from his background as a creator where he learned first-hand how video content can help you find your tribe, feel a sense of worthiness, and encourage people to live more authentically fulfilling lives. He has worked at the intersection of digital content, community, and communications to help change the face of culture online by discovering and amplifying diverse trailblazing talent. As a speaker, Kudzi teaches audiences the transformative power of connecting authentically with their consumers in digital spaces and the business implications of leveraging social media for business growth in an AI-driven world. He also shares inspirational career advice to motivate young professionals and creatives to embrace their personal stories to drive impactful results.
Kudzi was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in South Africa which informed his strong views on race relations and diversity across the world. He began his business career as an accountant and management consultant at Deloitte in South Africa. After this, he enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he completed his MBA before starting his career in the entertainment industry.
A torchbearer for authenticity, Kudzi is also an advocate for making the world of luxury lifestyle more inclusive which he displays in his candle-loving accounts as "Sir Candle Man" which aims to bring a new, relatable, diverse, and inclusive voice to the fragrance industry. Sir Candle Man has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, WWD, NY Mag, and on The Rachael Ray Show.
Kudzi lives in Los Angeles and has been listed in Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list, The Hollywood Reporter's Next Gen: Hollywood’s 35 Rising Executives 35 and Under. He received ADCOLOR's Innovator Award, a distinction that recognizes "an employee who embodies progress and imagination," and who consistently "stands out among peers as an inclusion game changer and brilliant pioneer in their role, creating breakthrough developments and/or improvements, whether tangible or intangible." More recently, Kudzi was awarded AdWeek's Experiential Executive of The Year, The Culture Creators Tech Honoree, and Variety's Hollywood's New Leaders.
Topics
Unlocking Growth: How Digital Communities Can Transform Your Business
In today's landscape, with increasing scrutiny on marketing budgets and evolving privacy regulations, reaching the right audience has become more challenging than ever. Yet, amidst these hurdles, Kudzi Chikumbu—widely known as Sir Candle Man online—has successfully built a deeply engaged niche community that exemplifies the kind of audience connection businesses aspire to achieve.
In this conversation, Kudzi reveals how organizations and creators can strategically build and sustain niche digital communities. He shares insights on effectively communicating core values, driving engagement, and ultimately converting community loyalty into tangible business growth. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to refine their marketing approaches, resonate authentically with their target audience, and drive key metrics.
The Future of Digital: AI and Other Emerging Trends on Social Media
In this ever-evolving conversation, Kudzi talks audiences through the latest trends in social media and discusses the obstacles and opportunities for your organization to get ahead in the digital space. He also explores the transformative impact of generative AI on creativity, addressing both its potential to enhance creative processes and the challenges it poses. Kudzi delves into how AI-driven tools are reshaping content creation, enabling more personalized and dynamic engagement with audiences, while also prompting important questions about originality, authorship, and the future of creative work.
Showing Up Online: How to Build An Effective Digital Strategy
Whether you're building a startup or managing a global enterprise, social media is indispensable. With his experience as the former Global Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok, Kudzi Chikumbu is uniquely positioned to guide businesses through the intricacies of the digital landscape. He offers a comprehensive blueprint for establishing a strong online presence, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and strategic engagement.
In this talk, Kudzi provides actionable insights for businesses to effectively tell their story, cut through the noise, and connect with their target audience. He covers the steps to staying ahead in the ever-changing digital world and offers practical solutions for navigating challenges when things go wrong.
Audience takeaways include:
- How to craft and share your brand's story
- Strategies for standing out in a crowded digital space
- Tactics to stay ahead of digital trends
- Best practices for crisis management online
- The often-overlooked key to long-term success in online branding
The Power of Authenticity: Fostering Diversity and Creativity
As a black, gay man working in tech, Kudzi Chikumbu stands out every single day. Instead of caving to the pressures of a world full of trends that promote replicating and copying others, Kudzi focuses on authenticity. He makes a point to bring his full self to work and encourages everyone to do the same, whatever their identity is.
Based on his own experiences in the workplace, Kudzi shares how diversity leads to creativity and discusses the power that comes from bringing together different perspectives to achieve success.
Create Your Dream Job: How to Launch Your Career and Find Your True Purpose
When Kudzi started his career, he didn’t set out to become the Global Head of Creator Marketing at TikTok or to make it as an influencer - partly because neither of those role existed at the time. However, Kudzi was preparing himself for these opportunities throughout his life simply by living authentically.
After working as an accountant and consultant at Deloitte, he took a leap of faith to follow his long-time ambition to monetize his creative mindset. In this talk, Kudzi meets the audience where they are - a generation that is obsessed with being influencers and creators online - and demonstrates how the principles that make a successful creator can lead to a successful career in any industry. He leaves audiences with the 5 guiding principles that have led him through the pivotal moments along his journey as a creator and an executive:
- Have a clear why. This is your guiding light.
- Have a creator mindset - you can create your best life. Take action.
- Be authentic and trust your instincts.
- Build a community. We are stronger together so make friends, help others, and ask for help (in that order).
- Pivot when you need to. You can change your why.
Audiences will walk away with actionable takeaways to bring their full selves to everything they do and, in turn, create the life and career they want.
