It's hard to tell you everything there is to know about me, relay my personality, or paint an accurate picture of the person that I am through a Cover Letter or in a Resume. How do you bring your WHOLE SELF to a new role? After 25 years of working in systems engineering while simultaneously deejaying events around the world I want to take a different approach at telling the tale of Antoine Kinch.
What you WON'T read on my résumé is that I am friendly & extremely extroverted (my laugh is loud & infectious or so I have been told). I am a New Yorker (born in Brooklyn), my family is from Barbados 🇧🇧 and I talk with my hands. It has also been said that I am approachable & people are comfortable around me. Because of this I make friends easily, am a natural leader and possess the ability to influence others. It probably stems from my upbringing. I developed a passion for the arts (singing, dancing, acting) and sports (basketball) at an early age. Participating in these activities taught me group/team dynamics and how to lean on other’s strengths to reach common goals. Whether it was trying to place at a singing competition, give a stellar performance or compete for a state championship, I knew that it would take more than one person’s talents.
Naturally, Communications was a great major for me to choose in college because I had little to no fear of public speaking or performing in front of a crowd. In this field of study my love for technology was conceived. At the time, new forms of sending and receiving information with computers and the Internet were rapidly changing people’s lives like no other time in history and I wanted to be a part of it. They called it the dot-com era. Silicon Valley was calling and I answered.
I want you to take away from this site that I have always been open to challenges, learning new things and taking advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. That is why I moved from New York to Boston for college, then relocated to San Jose, Philadelphia, Washington, and Raleigh for different roles in my career. At each stop I was the new guy. I relied on my adaptability to develop & leverage new relationships, learn new environments, systems and languages, work with new management, and perform. I have also exhibited these same character traits in my personal life. I have visited all of the new seven UNESCO world wonders, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and conquered my fear of heights by first zip-lining in Costa Rica and then para-sailing off of a mountain in Rio de Janeiro. After training for months, my best friend and I also completed a “Tough Mudder” run (12 miles)!
Now, things haven't always gone smoothly. One of my mentors said to me years ago: “the path to success is not always linear” and I believe it. In my career, I have been laid off a few times. I have had to reinvent myself, train new skills, and grow with the changes. I learned how to market & sell services, build a brand, negotiate contracts and use Social Media to start & run my own mobile DJ business. Always adhering to the crucial lesson: never stop learning.
The last few years have also been a whirlwind! I was featured as one of Essence magazine’s Most Eligible bachelors! I got married, bought a new house, adopted toy poodles, our daughter Naomi Joy was born in 2018, my son Amari now attends college at North Carolina A&T University (Aggie Pride!) and our daughter Crisette Raine was born in 2020!
Hopefully this has given you some insight into who Antoine Kinch is. Thank You for your time!
