Ludacris in Gabon? Lauryn Hill in Benin? Hollywood studios… in Saudi Arabia? Medical tourism in Türkiye? There’s a reason why our algorithms have been locked in on the African diaspora and the world beyond the West, and the marketing firm, 28th & Foster, just might be behind it. 

Growing up, founder Peter Brooks had big dreams beyond his childhood stomping grounds near 28th Street and Foster Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn. His old neighborhood was a cultural hotbed—a bustling hub of the Black diaspora.

That intersection was like an artery pumping inspiration into his adult life, and it’s the reason behind the brand’s namesake. With 28th & Foster, Brooks and his team are bridging U.S. brands with booming markets in Africa, the Gulf, and beyond, all while pushing for real economic wins for the Black diaspora. In a recent chat, Brooks laid out his unlikely path from biomedical engineering to sitting down with presidents, proving you don't need a straight and narrow path to pivot into high-stakes deals. 

In 2008, Brooks was on a PhD track in biomedical engineering, but it simply wasn’t his calling. Though after a chance encounter with a college teammate, who invited him to tag along for a trip to Facebook’s Palo Alto offices, inspiration struck. “I just knew. That was it,” he said.

Though before taking the leap, he’d have to pivot from his bio-med track. So he did what every PhD candidate would do: he researched.

“The way I first got into marketing was through just seeing that environment, knowing that I wanted to be a part of it, and moving forward,” he said. Brooks then combed through every Facebook job post he could get his hands on before realizing he had some work to do.

“I was like, ‘All right, I can't do this, can't do this…’” he said, trailing off. “But I saw a marketing role and literally spent the whole summer just learning everything that was on that job description.”

Through “YouTube University,” Brooks got the basics, and from that early career stage, he made his way up through the ranks. By 2018, 28th & Foster was born.

“It’s crazy just to go from that YouTube university path with learning marketing and to being in a place where not only am I dealing with large organizations, but I'm also dealing with presidents, and dealing with government…” he says with a reflective pause. “I’m just really grateful to do this kind of work.” 

While running his own company, Brooks cut his teeth and grew his network, also working as the VP of Growth Strategy for Paramount*, before leaving the role last summer. The experience taught him some major lessons, though it's the concept of Black cultural capital and knowing our worth as a community that seems to have stuck out the most. 

“I think we undermine our celebrities, our influencers, and our practitioners within the Black community; we don't realize how much value we hold,” he said. 

In Uganda, Brooks has met President Museveni twice, crafting a diaspora plan for business, relocation, and even citizenship paths. Through his work, Brooks has had the privilege of working with a lot of big names and celebrities, but even those big names can sell themselves short.

“I have a lot of relationships with talent, and the thing I always tell them is, they have access to spaces most people don't have access to,” Brooks says. “Whether it's Marlon Wayans going to the continent and meeting with a president, whether it's Lauryn Hill or Ludacris—they're the ones that open doors for us, and they hold such a pivotal point for our overall success because they can bring in the business people like me to really do meaningful business and bring in the rest of our community.” 

In February, the Department of Labor shared that the unemployment rate increased by 4.4%, and Black laborers across numerous industries are feeling the crunch: unemployment for Black workers specifically has soared to 7.5% nationwide. 

While entrepreneurship carries its own challenges, job security in corporate America has become a thing of the past, and it’s shifting the way we work. New data from Wells Fargo and research firm Ventureneer show that Black women‑owned businesses grew by around 13% last year.

It’s a climate that is all too familiar to Brooks, who, after years of balancing corporate life with his entrepreneurial passion, left the corporate world in 2025. Since then, he’s been leaning into the momentum of Africa, whose growth has, in many ways, outpaced the West. 

Black-owned agencies like his are rising, blending culture with capital in ways that big corporations can't touch. 28th & Foster’s team is ​small but mighty: Executive Director of global partnerships, Salomé Baranow, links West Africa-Europe from France, while influencer TravQue (with his millions of social media followers) crafts powerful digital narratives. Together, the trio weaves Black culture into strategies with impact.

For dreamers eyeing marketing or startups, Brooks only has offers some sage advice: "Take the leap,” he says. “Stay open, meet people, add value." His path—from Flatbush kid to presidential advisor—shows that when you learn to harness your skills, opportunities snowball.​

In an era of uncertainty, 28th & Foster isn't just a firm; it's a blueprint for Black economic muscle on the world stage. If you're plotting your pivot, his story says go see the gaps yourself—they're everywhere.

*Editor’s note: Paramount-Skydance is also the owner of BET.