Ki Williams was honored last month at a “10 Under 10” event to recognize young alumni from Suffolk University. The Dorchester native, who graduated from Suffolk with a public relations degree in 2011, is now working as entertainment manager for Hearst Magazines in New York, a job that puts him in constant contact with bold-face celebrities.

He credits Suffolk’s training for his rise in the industry.

Williams was an assistant publicist for Sunshine Sachs and Associates, where he worked on the talent and special events team with clients such as Jennifer Lopez, the Golden Globes, MTV Video Music Awards, and iHeart Radio.

He started with Hearst in 2015 and is responsible for all celebrity bookings in Seventeen magazine—including cover appearances—and scheduling some of the famous faces for features in Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire magazines.

“My job is to consult with the editor-in-chief of each magazine, discuss which celebs I think are right for the brand, and try my hardest to get them featured in the magazine,” he said.

Williams says he has only been “star-struck” twice in his life— and it was with the same person: Jennifer Aniston. His favorite photo shoot thus far was with model and Twitter icon Chrissy Teigen.

“She is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” he said. “The entire day was filled with her witty one-liners, sometimes even at my expense.”
One of Williams’s main goals is to incorporate more diversity into the magazines.

“The entertainment industry still has a long way to go with creating more opportunities for women of color and members of the LGBTQ community,” he said. “But what I can do in the meantime is feature the ones that are making strides in the entertainment field today.”